The Mousetrap and Other Plays (121 page)

MEREDITH
. Yes—(
he points
L
) and that is where he painted her—out there on the terrace. Well, I'll just dispose of these—(
he takes the dust sheets from Justin
) in the next room, I think.

(
MEREDITH
exits
R
.
CARLA
rises, goes to the french windows, unlocks them and moves onto the terrace.
JUSTIN
looks at her, then follows and stands on the step just outside the windows
)

CARLA
. Justin—do you think this scheme of mine is quite crazy? Jeff thinks I'm mad.

JUSTIN
. (
crossing to the exit above the pergola and looking off
) I shouldn't let that worry you.

(
MEREDITH
enters down
R
and crosses to the french windows
)

CARLA
. (
sitting on the bench
) I don't.

MEREDITH
. I'll just go and meet the others.

(
MEREDITH
exits up
C
)

CARLA
. You understand, don't you, just what I want done?

JUSTIN
. (
crossing to
R
) You want to reconstruct in your mind's eye what happened here sixteen years ago. You want each witness in turn to describe the scene in which they participated. Much of it may be trivial and irrelevant, but you want it in full. (
He moves to her
) Their recollections, of course, will not be exact. In a scene where more than one witness was present, the two accounts may not agree.

CARLA
. That might be helpful.

JUSTIN
. (
doubtfully
) It might—but you must not build too much on it. People do recollect things differently. (
He moves upstage and looks around
)

CARLA
. What I'm going to do is to make believe I
see
it all happening. I shall imagine my mother and my father . . . (
She suddenly breaks
(
off
) You know, I think my father must have been great fun.

JUSTIN
. (
moving behind Carla
) What?

CARLA
. I think I should have liked him a lot.

JUSTIN
. (
turning and peering off down
L
;
dryly
) Women usually did.

CARLA
. It's odd—I feel sorry for Elsa. In that picture in there she looks so young and alive—and now—there's no life left in her. I think it died when my father died.

JUSTIN
. (
sitting below Carla on the bench
) Are you casting her as Juliet?

CARLA
. You don't?

JUSTIN
. No. (
He smiles
) I'm your mother's man.

CARLA
. You're very faithful, aren't you? Too faithful, maybe.

(
JUSTIN
looks at Carla
)

JUSTIN
. (
after a pause
) I don't really quite know what we're talking about.

CARLA
. (
rising; matter-of-fact
) Let's get back to business. Your part is to look hard for discrepancies—flaws—you've got to be very legal and astute.

JUSTIN
. Yes, ma'am.

(
Voices of the others arriving can be heard off up
C
, with
MEREDITH
greeting them
)

(
He rises
) Here they are.

(
CARLA
. I'll go and meet them.

(
CARLA
goes into the room and exits
C
.
The lights slowly dim to
BLACK
-
OUT
,
JUSTIN
moves down
L
,
then a spotlight comes up revealing his face. He acts as compere
)

JUSTIN
. Now, are we all ready? I will just impress on you once more why we are all here. We want to reconstruct, as far as we can, the happenings of sixteen years ago. We shall endeavour to do this, by asking each person or persons to recount in turn their own part in what went on, and what they saw, or overheard. This should make an almost continuous picture. Sixteen years ago. We shall start on the afternoon of the sixteenth of August, the day before the tragedy took place, with a conversation that Mr. Meredith Blake had with Caroline Crale in the garden room. Out here on the terrace, Elsa Greer was posing for Amyas Crale who was painting her. From that we shall go on to Elsa Greer's narrative, to the arrival of Philip Blake, and so on. Mr. Meredith Blake, will you begin?

(
The spotlight fades.
MEREDITH
'
S
voice can be heard in the darkness
)

MEREDITH
. It was the afternoon of the sixteenth of August, did you say? Yes, yes, it was. I came over to Alderbury. Stopped in on my way to Framley Abbott. Really to see if I could pick any of them up later to give them a lift—they were coming over to me for tea. Caroline had been cutting roses, and when I opened the door into the garden room . . .

(
The
LIGHTS
come up. It is a glorious, hot summer's day.
CAROLINE
CRALE
is standing in the french windows looking on to the terrace. She carries a trug with roses, etc., and wears gardening gloves. On the terrace,
ELSA
poses on the bench, facing
C
.
She wears a yellow shirt and black shorts.
AMYAS
CRALE
is seated on a stool
C
,
facing
L
,
before his easel, painting Elsa. His paintbox is on the ground below him. He is a big, handsome man, wearing an old shirt and paint-stained slacks. There is a trolley
L
of the terrace with various bottles and glasses, including a bottle of beer in an ice-bucket. In the room, a landscape now hangs in place of the portrait.
MEREDITH
enters up
C
)

Hullo, Caroline.

CAROLINE
. (
turning
) Merry! (
She crosses to the stool, puts the trug on it, removes her gloves and puts them in the trug
)

MEREDITH
. (
closing the door
) How's the picture going? (
He crosses to the french windows and looks out
) It's a nice pose. (
He moves to
L
of the stool and takes a rose from the trug
) What have we here? “Ena Harkness.” (
He smells the rose
) My word, what a beauty.

CAROLINE
. Merry, do you think Amyas really cares for that girl?

MEREDITH
. No, no, he's just interested in painting her. You know what Amyas is.

CAROLINE
. (
sitting in the armchair
R
) This time I'm afraid, Merry. I'm nearly thirty, you know. We've been married over six years, and in looks, I can't hold a candle to Elsa.

MEREDITH
. (
replacing the rose in the trug and moving above the stool to
L
of Caroline
) That's absurd, Caroline. You know that Amyas is really devoted to you and always will be.

CAROLINE
. Does one ever know with men?

MEREDITH
. (
close to her and bending over her
) I'm still devoted to you, Caroline.

CAROLINE
. (
affectionately
) Dear Merry. (
She touches his cheek
) You're so sweet.

(
There is a pause
)

I long to take a hatchet to that girl. She's just helping herself to my husband in the coolest manner in the world.

MEREDITH
. My dear Caroline, the child probably doesn't realize in the least what she's doing. She's got an enormous admiration and hero worship for Amyas and she probably doesn't understand at all that he's maybe falling in love with her.

(
CAROLINE
looks pityingly at him
)

CAROLINE
. So there really are people who can believe six impossible things before breakfast.

MEREDITH
. I don't understand.

CAROLINE
. (
rising and crossing to
L
of the stool
) You live in a nice world all your own, Merry, where everybody is just as nice as you are. (
She looks at the roses. Cheerfully
) My “Erythina Christo Galli” is in wonderful bloom this year. (
She crosses to the french windows and goes on to the terrace
)

(
MEREDITH
follows Caroline on to the terrace
)

Come and see it before you go into Framley Abbott. (
She crosses to the upstage end of the pergola
)

MEREDITH
. Just you wait till you see my “Tecoma Grandiflora”. (
He moves to Caroline
) It's magnificent.

(
CAROLINE
puts her fingers to her lips to quieten Meredith
)

CAROLINE
. Ssh!

MEREDITH
. What? (
He looks through one of the arches of the pergola at Elsa and Amyas
) Oh, man at work.

(
CAROLINE
and
MEREDITH
exit by the upstage end of the pergola
)

ELSA
. (
stretching herself
) I
must
have a break.

AMYAS
. No—no, wait. There—oh, well, if you must.

(
ELSA
rises
)

(
He takes a cigarette from a packet in the paintbox, and lights it
) Can't you stay still for more than five minutes?

ELSA
. Five minutes! Half an hour. (
She moves down
L
) Anyway, I've got to change.

AMYAS
. Change? Change what?

ELSA
. Change out of this. (
She crosses above Amyas and stands behind him
) We're going out to tea, don't you remember? With Meredith Blake.

AMYAS
. (
irritably
) What a damned nuisance. Always something.

ELSA
. (
leaning over Amyas and putting her arms around his neck
) Aren't you sociable!

AMYAS
. (
looking up at her
) My tastes are simple. (
As though quoting
) A pot of paint, a brush and thou beside me, not able to sit still for five minutes . . .

(
They both laugh.
ELSA
snatches Amyas' cigarette and straightens up
)

ELSA
. (
drawing on the cigarette
) Have you thought about what I said?

AMYAS
. (
resuming painting
) What did you say?

ELSA
. About Caroline. Telling her about us.

AMYAS
. (
easily
) Oh, I shouldn't worry your head about that just yet.

ELSA
. But, Amyas . . .

(
CAROLINE
enters down
L
.)

CAROLINE
. Merry's gone into Framley Abbott for something, but he's coming back here. (
She crosses below the bench towards the french windows
) I must change.

AMYAS
. (
without looking at her
) You look all right.

CAROLINE
. I must do something about my hands, they're filthy. I've been gardening. Are you going to change, Elsa?

(
ELSA
returns the cigarette to Amyas
)

ELSA
. (
insolently
) Yes. (She moves to the french windows)

(
PHILIP
enters up
C
)

CAROLINE
. (
moving into the room
) Philip! The train must have been on time for once.

(
ELSA
comes into the room
)

This is Meredith's brother Philip—Miss Greer.

ELSA
. Hullo. I'm off to change.

(
ELSA
crosses and exits up
C
)

CAROLINE
. Well, Philip, good journey? (
She kisses him
)

PHILIP
. Not too bad. How are you all?

CAROLINE
. Oh—fine. (
She gestures towards the terrace
) Amyas is out there on the terrace. I must clean up, forgive me. We're going over to Merry's to tea.

(
CAROLINE
smiles and exits up
C
.
PHILIP
closes the door after her, then wanders on to the terrace and stands in front of the bench
)

AMYAS
. (
looking up and smiling
) Hullo, Phil. Good to see you. What a summer. Best we've had for years.

PHILIP
. (
crossing below Amyas to
R
) Can I look?

AMYAS
. Yes. I'm on the last lap.

PHILIP
. (
looking at the painting
) Wow!

AMYAS
. (
stubbing out his cigarette
) Like it? Not that you're any judge, you old Philistine.