Stephen Leather - Take Two

‘Or we could put her on a diet.’

Laura frowned and then she realised he was joking. ‘Ha ha,’ she said.

‘But do you think she can act?’

‘Probably not, but this is a soap, not the Old Vic. If she screws up, Phillippa can reshoot. If necessary, we can lose most of the dialogue and she can just nod and smile. But I think she’ll be fine.’

‘Yes, you’re right,’ said Day. ‘And I like the way she stood up to that little shit Waites. He had it coming to him. ‘ He nodded. ‘All right, then, I’ll go and talk to her.’

Day left the office and headed for the Props Department. He pushed open the door and Jenny and Terry looked up, startled as if he’d interrupted them in the middle of something. Terry was sitting in front of his computer and Jenny was leaning against his desk, her legs crossed at the ankles. ‘Hi, Paul, yes, something you want?’ asked Terry.

‘A chat with Jenny, actually,’ said Day.

‘Has Carolyn been in touch?’ asked Jenny.

‘No, sorry,’ said Day. He thought about asking her to go back to his office but realised there was nothing to stop him asking her in front of Terry. Terry headed the Property Department but he worked closely with Wardrobe and he’d be helping to turn Jenny into Diana. ‘This might seem a strange request, but we were wondering if you could possibly help us out?’

‘Sure,’ said Jenny.

‘Well, you’d best wait to hear what we want before you go agreeing to anything,’ said Day. ‘We’re shooting some scenes tomorrow and we’d like you to play the part of Diana.’

Jenny frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

‘We really need to shoot the scenes and you’re Carolyn’s twin. You’re probably the only person that can take her place.’

Jenny laughed. ‘But I’m not an actress.’

‘We can work around that,’ said Day. ‘We can keep your lines short, cut back on close-ups, you’ll be surrounded by some of the best actors in the business and they’ll watch your back.’

Jenny folded her arms. ‘I don’t think I can,’ she said. ‘Carolyn was always the actress. I was the nerd.’

‘A nerd?’ said Terry. ‘You were a nerd?’

‘I always had my nose buried in a book,’ said Jenny. ‘We were twins but personality-wise we’re chalk and cheese. I can’t pretend to be someone I’m not.’

‘You did a great job reading the lines in there,’ said Day.

‘That’s true,’ said Terry. ‘There were times when you sounded just like her.’

‘And acting is just moving around while you say the lines,’ said Day.

‘God, don’t let the cast hear you say that,’ said Terry. ‘You’ll have a mutiny on your hands.’

‘You know what I mean,’ said Day. ‘In the right clothes, with the right hair, the right props, you could do it. And it wouldn’t be for long, just until Carolyn comes back.’

Jenny looked pained. ‘I just don’t think I can do it.’

Day walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. ‘I think you can, Jenny,’ he said. ‘In fact, I’m sure of it.’ He looked into her eyes, exuding confidence. ‘Just try it, that’s all I can ask of you. Give it a go and let’s see how you get on. Just try, please.’

She nodded slowly. ‘Okay, I’ll give it a go,’ she said.

Day kissed her softly on the forehead. ‘You’re a lifesaver,’ he said.

‘Wait until you see how I do,’ she said. ‘You might not be thanking me tomorrow.’

Day released his grip on her shoulders. ‘Where are you staying? I’ll get a car to pick you up.’

‘I’m at Carolyn’s house.’

‘Okay, I’ll sort that out. Now, we start shooting at eight-thirty but we’ll need you in make-up by seven so the car will pick you up at six.’

‘Wow, you believe in the early bird, don’t you?’

‘We work long days,’ said Day. ‘It’s the nature of the beast.’ He turned to look at Terry. ‘Can you work with Jenny this afternoon?’ he said. ‘Go through wardrobe with her and get her sorted. Watches, jewellery, bags, shoes, get her fixed up for the week. And we need to get her hair colour closer to Carolyn’s. We can’t do anything about the length but I’ll talk to the writers and see if we can get a scene in the hairdressers.’

‘I’m on it, Paul,’ said Terry.

‘I’ve got to dye my hair?’ asked Jenny.

‘Just a bit,’ said Terry. ‘It won’t be permanent.’

‘If I’m in the hairdressers, why can’t I keep the colour the same? Diana might have dyed her hair.’

Terry looked at Day. ‘Okay with you?’

Day nodded. ‘Sure, why not. But let’s tidy it up a bit, give it the Rags To Riches look.’

Terry winked at Jenny. ‘It’ll be a hoot,’ he said.

Halpin picked Richards up at precisely seven o’clock. It had started to rain and the wipers flicked back and forth across the windscreen as they drove through the evening traffic. Richards lit a cigar and settled back in his seat. ‘Any joy with the birth certificate?’ he asked.

‘I’m on the case,’ said Halpin. ‘I tried to do it on line but didn’t get anywhere. I’ve got a pro on the case. It won’t cost more than a couple of hundred.’ He braked to allow a black cab to pull in front of them. ‘What’s your interest, boss?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’m guessing it’s not because you want to buy her a birthday present.’

‘Spit it out, mate. What’s on your mind?’

Halpin sighed. ‘You’ll only bite my head off.’

‘If you carry on like this, I’ll rip it off with my bare hands,’ said Richards. ‘What’s bugging you?’

‘Okay, boss. It’s this. We’re in the clear. She’s at the bottom of the North Sea where no one will ever find her. We’re alibied up to the gills. Even if the cops do come sniffing around about Cohen, there’s no forensics and no witnesses.’

‘There’s still the truck driver.’

‘I’m on that case, too. Looks like he’ll be away on Wednesday, so I’ll do it then. I’ll let you know in advance, give you a chance to get your alibi set up. But once he’s gone that’s it. There’s nothing to tie us in with Cohen. And no one can tie us into the disappearance of the woman. We’re totally in the clear.’

‘So?’

‘So why go and spoil it by making waves around the sister? It’s bad enough you went around to her house. You don’t want to be doing anything that puts your name in the frame.’

‘She’s her sister. She wasn’t even in the country when we…’ He grimaced, unable to finish the sentence.

‘Exactly, boss,’ said Halpin. ‘So why are you talking to her? Why are you checking up on her? She shouldn’t even be on your radar.’

‘She’s the spitting image, it’s like she’s back from the dead.’

‘Yeah, well I can tell you for sure that’s not true. Boss, can’t you just leave it alone?’

Richards took a long pull on his cigar and then blew smoke out of the window.

‘Boss?’

Richards turned to look at him. His eyes had gone cold. ‘Time for you to shut the fuck up, mate,’ he said, his voice flat and emotionless. ‘You ever question me again like that and you and I are going to fall out, big-time. Got it?’

Halpin nodded as he stared through the windscreen. ‘Got it,’ he said.

Billy was outside Carolyn Castle’s house at six o’clock on Tuesday morning and this time when he rang the bell, Jenny opened the door bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She grinned when she saw him. ‘Before we go any further, none of this Mrs Hall nonsense,’ she said. ‘Every time I hear that I think about my soon-to-be-ex husband and it gives me the heebie-jeebies.’