‘That’s very kind. I’ll tell him to be on his best behaviour. When exactly is the party taking place? You mentioned the end of the month.’
‘The invitations have gone out for people to come a week on Saturday. Most people will arrive in the morning, so we’ll lay onlunch here, and the main event will be a big dinner that night, and that will include the murder mystery. Sunday will be more informal, with the opportunity for those who’re interested to do some sightseeing. Sunday will also be the day when I can sit down and talk to some of my guests. I expect people will head off again on Monday.’
‘Could I ask who these people are going to be? Will they be family members, friends, business associates, fellow actors? I imagine they’re people you know and trust.’
‘They’re a mix of actors and movie people – you know, producers, directors, that sort of thing.’
I felt my hopes soar again at the thought of rubbing shoulders with what would undoubtedly be a highly influential group of people. Maybe people looking for a couple of murder mysteries to turn into blockbuster movies?
Unaware of my high hopes, she carried on. ‘I know what you’re going to say: you’re going to ask me why I’m invitingyouin particular. After all, you aren’t from the TV or movie world. The answer is that you have what none of the people at the party actually have – me included – and that’s direct personal experience of real murder investigations. People know me as Elisa Banbury, supersleuth, but I’m a fraud – I just recite the lines they give me. I want my murder mystery to be as authentic as possible, and what could be more authentic than a real live Scotland Yard detective running things?’
‘I can’t thank you enough but, given my lack of experience of these murder mystery games, you’re going to have to talk me through what you want me to do, if I really am going to be running things.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll see that you’re well briefed, and we’ll have a full rehearsal before the event. As for what you’ll be doing, it’s quite simple really: I’d like you to play the part of an investigator,a detective, not dissimilar to DCI Armstrong of the Metropolitan Police.’
I smiled back. ‘I think I should just about be able to remember how to do that.’
‘Excellent. Although the guests will be arriving a week on Saturday, would you be able to come on the Friday, so we can do a dummy run of the event with the actors that evening? That way, we should all know what we’re doing.’ I nodded in agreement and she glanced at her watch. ‘Twelve-thirty already. We mustn’t keep Valentina waiting.’ She jumped to her feet. ‘Let’s go and have lunch while I tell you more about what awaits you at the end of the month.’
I followed her out through the door onto the terrace and along to the next building. Here, she ushered me into a large dining room with a table in the middle big enough for twenty people. We perched rather forlornly at one end of it.
Lunch was exquisite. The meal had been prepared by Diego’s wife, Valentina, and I learned that she, together with her husband, had come to live on the island, where they looked after Miss Graceland’s home throughout the year. Alice Graceland told me that she had been exceptionally lucky to find such a talented pair, and I soon realised what she meant. Over an amazingly tasty starter consisting of a salad of fresh crab meat mixed with slices of apple and pieces of a hard blue cheese, she told me that Valentina and her husband did everything from tending the garden to cleaning the house, and that their daughter, who lived in Mestre, just outside Venice on the mainland, was going to come and assist when the house party took place.
After the antipasti, Valentina arrived with homemadecrespelle. Unknown to her, these folded pancakes stuffed with cheese and ham are some of my all-time favourite Italian dishes, and Valentina’s tasted excellent. For somebody used to living inTuscany, where most meals are accompanied by Chianti – a red wine – it came as an interesting change to find that we were served white wine from an unlabelled bottle. Miss Graceland told me that this was in fact Prosecco. What was particularly interesting about this version was that, when first poured into our glasses, the wine fizzed like the sort of Prosecco with which I was familiar, but then immediately settled down to an extremely palatable table wine. She told me that Diego sourced the wine locally indamigiane– fifty-litre glass containers – and bottled it himself. I told her that I did the exact same thing with my local red, which is excellent, but I couldn’t fault this white wine either.
Thecrespellewere followed by another of my favourite dishes –fritto misto. This lightly fried mix of prawns, squid, whitebait and octopus was exquisite, and I found myself marvelling at how Alice Graceland managed to stay so slim and fit if she ate and drank like this all the time. Later on, unprompted, she offered me an explanation as Valentina served us panna cotta smothered with blueberries in syrup.
‘I don’t normally eat anything like as much as this. I’m going to have to go for a good long swim and spend an hour in the gym later on.’ A look of what might have been regret appeared on her face. ‘And then I’ll be back on rabbit food again.’
The conversation carried on, covering everything from murder cases I had investigated to life in Italy, and I told her that this sort of meal was also far more than I normally ate. Valentina arrived and asked if me if I would like adigestivo, but I thanked her and asked for just an espresso. At the end of the meal, I asked for more details of the people invited to the house party and Miss Graceland’s answer was inconclusive.
‘I’ll get Mary to email you the list when it’s finalised. She sent out the invitations a few weeks ago, and some have already said yes, but I’m still waiting to hear from the others. Desmond, that’sDesmond Norman, doesn’t like committing himself to anything in a hurry, but I imagine he’ll come.’
I immediately recognised the name. Desmond Norman had for many years been the modern-day equivalent of Cecil B. DeMille, probably the most important and influential film producer in the world. He had to be in his eighties now, but I’d heard that his name still commanded massive respect in movie circles.
I was impressed. It looked as though Alice Graceland was inviting the crème de la crème… and me. I suppressed an apprehensive gulp.
‘And the others?’
‘Mary will supply you with their details as and when they reply but, like I say, they’re a mix of people I’ve known for many, many years.’
‘What about wives and girlfriends?’
‘Some, but not many… Mary will be able to tell you more.’ She glanced at her watch and stood up. Taking the hint, I hastily rose to my feet as she held out her hand to me again. ‘Thank you so much for taking the trouble to come and see me. I’m delighted you’re going to be able to help out. I’ve written the script for the murder mystery myself and I plan on showing some of these big-noise directors and producers, not only that I’m the best actor they’ve ever worked with, but that I can do their own jobs better than they can, too.’ Her eyes sparkled as we shook hands. ‘I’m not really that conceited, Mr Armstrong. It’s just that Hollywood is still very much a boys’ club, and it’ll be fun to show them what a woman can do. Now, I think it’s time for me to have a little siesta – it always happens when I drink at lunchtime – but Mary will be pleased to show you around before Diego takes you back to catch your train. I look forward to seeing you at the end of next week.’
4
TUESDAY AFTERNOON
Mary was sitting outside on the terrace reading a book. She looked up as I appeared and gave me a bright smile.
‘Good lunch?’
‘An amazing lunch. If I had a cook like Valentina, I’d be the size of a Zeppelin by now.’ I went on to ask her what time I needed to leave to be sure of catching the three-thirty train. She told me that any time before three should be fine – traffic jams in Venice are a rarity – so I asked her if she could drag herself away from her reading material to show me around the island first.
She picked up a dry bougainvillaea leaf from the ground and used it to mark her page in the book. ‘Is there anywhere special you’d like to see?’
‘The whole place, really. I imagine Miss Graceland has told you that she’s asked me to come along at the end of the month, when she has her murder mystery party. I’d just like to get a picture of the place in my head in advance.’
