Murder Mysteries a Play for Voices (9781466109827) Read Online Free PDF Page A

It’s beautiful. It’s all there is.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    I may want to talk with you some more,
later.
     
    SARAQUAEL
    Very good... Sir? Do you know if they will
be assigning me another partner? For Death?
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    No. I’m afraid I don't.
     
    /SFX/MUSIC UNDER. RUNNING WATER -- A
RIVER...
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    In the centre of the Silver City was a park
-- a place of recreation and rest. I found the Angel Lucifer there,
beside a river. He was just standing, watching the water flow.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Lucifer?
     
    LUCIFER
    Raguel. Are you making progress?
     

     
    RAGUEL THEN
    I don't know. Maybe. I need to ask you a few
questions. Do you mind?
     
    LUCIFER
    Not at all.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    How did you come upon the body?
     
    LUCIFER
    I didn't. Not exactly. I saw Phanuel,
standing in the street. He looked distressed. I enquired whether
there was something wrong, and he showed me the dead angel. And I
fetched you.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    I see.
     
    /SFX/ THE SOUND OF WATER.
     
    LUCIFER
    The water’s so cold... Is that all?
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Not quite. What were you doing in that part
of the City?
     
    LUCIFER
    I don't see what business that is of
yours.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    It is my business, Lucifer. What were you
doing there?
     
    LUCIFER
    I was... walking. I do that sometimes. Just
walk, and think. And try to understand.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    You walk on the edge of the City?
     
    LUCIFER
    (a beat)
    Yes.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    That's all I want to know. For now.
     
    LUCIFER
    Who else have you talked to?
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Carasel's boss, and his partner. They both
feel that he killed himself -- ended his own life.
     
    LUCIFER
    Who else are you going to talk to?

     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Maybe everyone.
     
    LUCIFER
    All of them? There must be thousands of us.
Millions. You’d speak to each of us?
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    If I need to. It's my function. I cannot
rest until I understand what happened, and until the vengeance of
the Name has been taken on whoever was responsible. But I'll tell
you something I do know.
     
    LUCIFER
    What would that be?
     
    /SFX/ WATER DRIPPING...
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Carasel didn’t kill himself.
     
    LUCIFER
    How do you know that?
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    I am Vengeance. If Carasel had died by his
own hand, there would have been no call for me. Would there?
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    He did not reply.
    (beat)
    I flew upwards, into the light of the
eternal morning.
     
    /SFX/ SEVERAL BEATS, AND THE LA NOISE RISES
UP...
     
    RAGUEL NOW
    You got another cigarette on you?
     
    NARRATOR -- LIVE
    Here.
     
    RAGUEL NOW
    Obliged.
     
    /SFX/ A MATCH IS STRUCK, THE CIGARETTE IS
LIT, AND THEN THE NOISE FADES BACK INTO THE CITY OF ANGELS
UNDER...
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    Zephkiel's cell was larger than mine.
    It wasn't a place for waiting. It was a
place to live, and work, and be. It was lined with books, and
scrolls, and papers, and there were images and representations on
the walls: pictures. I'd never seen a picture before. In the centre
of the room was a large chair, and Zephkiel sat there, his eyes
closed, his head back. As I approached him he opened his eyes. They
burned no brighter than the eyes of any of the other angels I had
seen, but somehow, they seemed to have seen more. It was something
about the way he looked. I'm not sure I can explain it. And he had
no wings.
     
    ZEPHKIEL
    (elderly, wise, tired)
    Welcome, Raguel.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    You are Zephkiel?
     
    /SFX/ LA NOISES COME BACK GENTLY THROUGH
THIS NEXT SPEECH...
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    I don't know why I asked him that. I mean, I
knew who people were. It's part of my function, I guess.
Recognition. I know who you are.
     
    NARRATOR -- LIVE
    You know who I am?
     
    RAGUEL NOW
    That’s what I said, didn’t I?
     
    NARRATOR -- LIVE
    (pause, then) Who am I?
     
    RAGUEL NOW
    You think I came here by accident? You think
you met me by accident? There are no accidents. Now.... You want to
hear this story or don’t you?
     
    NARRATOR -- LIVE
    ... I want to hear