Ben, he's an old groom who has ridden a few races.' Ben grinned from a small, deeply-lined face, looking the part. 'This is Giles: don't be taken in by his good looks, he's our murderer. This is Angelica, who you won't see much of as she's the first victim. And Pierre, he's a compulsive gambler in love with the Bricknells' daughter, Donna, and this is Donna. And last, this is James Winterbourne, he's a big noise in the Ontario Jockey Club.'
I don't think I jumped. The big name in the Ontario Jockey Club wore a three-day beard and a red trilby hat, which he lifted to me ceremoniously. 'Alas,' he said, I'm not travelling. My part ends with giving the train an official blessing. Too bad.'
David/Zak said to me, 'We're walking through the first scene now. Everyone knows what to do. This is Union Station. This is the gathering point for the passengers. They're all here. Right, guys, off we go.'
Mavis and Walter said, 'We're chatting to other passengers about the trip.'
Pierre and Donna said, 'We're having a quiet row.'
Giles said, 'I'm being nice to the passengers.'
Angelica: 'I am looking for someone called Steve. I ask the passengers if they've seen him. He is supposed to be travelling, but he hasn't turned up.'
Raoul said, 'I put my two cents' worth into Pierre and Donna's quarrel as I want to break them up so I can marry her myself. For her father's money, of course.'
Pierre said, 'Which I furiously point out.'
Donna: 'Which I don't like, and am near to tears.'
Ben: 'I ask Raoul for a hand-out, which I don't get. I tell a lot of people he's stingy, after I worked for him all those years. The passengers are to find me a nuisance. I tell them I'm travelling on the racegoers' part of the train.'
James Winterbourne said, 'I ask for attention and tell everybody that we have horses, grooms, racegoers and all your owners and friends on the train. I hope everyone will have a great time on this historic reenactment, etc., etc., for the glory of Canadian racing.'
Ricky said, 'I arrive. One of the station staff- who will be Jimmy (not here now) in staff uniform-tries to stop me, but I run in among the passengers, bleeding all over the place, shouting that some thugs tried to hijack one of the horses off the train, but I shouted and the maintenance men in the loading yard chased them away. I think the owners should know.'
Zak said, 'Jimmy runs off to fetch me and I stride in and tell everyone not to be worried, all the horses are safe and on the train, but to make sure things are all right in future I will go on the train myself. I am the top security agent for the railway.' He looked round the company 'All right so far? Then James Winterbourne calms everyone down and tells them to board the train at Gate 6, Track 7. I'll check that that's still right, on Sunday morning, but that's what we've been told so far.'
The Bricknells said, 'We ask you which horse they were trying to hijack, but you don't know. We try to find Ricky, to ask him. He's not our groom, but we are always anxious sort of people.'
'Right,' Zak said. 'So we are all board. It'll take a good half hour. Ricky gets bandaged by Nell in plain view, beside the train. The train leaves at twelve. Then everyone gathers shortly afterwards in the dining room for champagne. We do scene two next, just before lunch.'
They 'walked through' scene two, which was shorter and chiefly established Zak as being in charge, and had Ricky coming to say that he didn't know which of the horses the horse-nappers had been making for… they had come into the horse car wearing masks, brandishing clubs… Ricky had been alone out there in the loading yard as all the other grooms had gone back to the station's coffee shop.
The Bricknells were a-twitter. Angelica was distraught that Steve hadn't turned up. Who cared about a horse, where was Steve.
Who was Steve? Zak asked. Angelica said he was her business manager. What business? Zak asked. None of yours, Angelica tartly said.
'Right,' Zak said, 'about now it has dawned on the thickest passenger that this is all fiction. They'll be smiling. So lunch is next. Everyone gets the afternoon to relax. Our next scene is during drinks before dinner. That's the one we rehearsed before Nell came. Right. We may have to change things a bit as we go along, so we'll do the rest of the final walk-throughs in one of the bedrooms, a day at a time.'
The others thought this reasonable and began to put on their coats.
'Don't you have a script?' I asked Zak.
'Not formal works to learn, if that's what you mean. No. We all know what we've got to establish in each scene, and we improvise. When we plan a mystery, the actors get a brief outline of what's going to happen and basically what sort of people they are, then they invent their own imaginary life stories, so that if any passenger asks questions in conversations, they have the answers ready. I'd advise you to do it, too. Invent a background, a childhood… as near as possible to the real thing is always easiest.'
Thanks for the tip,' I said. 'Will you let me know your plans each day, and also tell me instantly if anything odd happens you don't expect? Even small things, really.'
'Yes, sure. Ask Nell, too. She knows the story. And there are some actors who weren't here today because they don't get activated until later on the trip. They're on the passenger list. Nell will point them out.'
He stifled a yawn and looked suddenly very tired, a complete contrast to two minutes earlier, and I suspected he was one of those people who could turn energy on and off like a tap. One of Aunt Viv's best friends had been an elderly actor who could walk down to the theatre like a tired old pensioner and go out on the stage and make the audience's hair stand on end with his power.
David Flynn, offering me a lift if I needed one, was beginning to move with a sort of lassitude that one would never have seen in Zak. He picked up Nell's large envelope, opened it and distributed its contents to the others: luggage labels saying 'Merry amp; Co', and photocopied sheets of 'Information and Advice to Passengers'.
Scene dressing, I supposed. I asked him if he would be going anywhere near the Merry amp; Co office and he said he would detour that way and was as good as his word.
'Do you do this all the time?' I asked on the way.
'Act, do you mean? Or mysteries?'
'Either.'
'Anything I'm offered,' he said frankly. 'Plays. Commercials. Bit parts in series. But I do mostly mysteries now that they're so popular, and nearly all for Merry amp; Co. I write the stories to suit the occasion. I was engaged for a doctors' convention last week, so we did a medical crime. Just now it's racing. Next month I've got to think up something for a fishing club weekend train trip to Halifax. It keeps me employed. It pays the bills. It's quite good fun. It's not Stratford-upon-Avon.'
'What about the other actors?' I asked. 'The ones in the garage.'
'Much the same. It's work. They like the train trips, even if it does mean shouting all the scenes against the wheel noise when we're going along, because the dining cars are so long. Not by any means the right shape for a stage. We don't always use the same actors, it depends on the characters, but they're all friendly, we never take anyone who can't get along. It's essential to be tolerant and generous, to make our sort of improvisation work.'
'I'd no idea mysteries were such an industry.'
He gave a small sideways smile. 'They have a lot in England too, these days.'
'Um… I said, as he braked to a halt outside the Merry amp; Co offices. 'How English do I sound to you?'
'Very. An educated Englishman in an expensive suit.'
'Well, the original plan was for me to go on the train as a wealthy owner. What would you think of my accent if I were dressed as a waiter in a deep-yellow waistcoat?'
'Harvest gold, that's what they call that colour,' he said thoughtfully. 'I wouldn't notice your accent so much, perhaps. There are thousands of English immigrants in this country, after all. You'll get by all right, I should think.'
I thanked him for the lift and got out of the car. He yawned and turned that into a laugh, but I reckoned the tiredness was real. 'See you Sunday, Tommy,' he said, and I dryly said, 'Sure thing, Zak.' He drove away with a smile and I went into the Merry amp; Co office where the earlier calm had broken up into loud frenetic activity on several telephones.
'How could twenty-five of our bikers all burst their tyres at once?'
'They won't reach Nuits St George tonight.'
