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

it.
     
    RAGUEL NOW
    Damn right. So I asked him if he was
Zephkiel. And he said,
     
    /SFX/ IN ZEPHKIEL’S CELL...
     
    ZEPHKIEL
    Indeed. I am Zephkiel. Yes. You are staring,
Raguel. I have no wings, it is true, but then, my function does not
call for me to leave this cell. I remain here, and I ponder.
Phanuel reports back to me, brings me the new things, for my
opinion. He brings me the problems, and I think about them, and
occasionally I make myself useful by making some small suggestions.
That is my function. As yours is vengeance.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Yes.
     
    ZEPHKIEL
    You are here about the death of the angel
Carasel?
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Yes.
     
    ZEPHKIEL
    I did not kill him.
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    When he said it, I knew he was telling the
truth.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Do you know who did?
     
    ZEPHKIEL
    That is your function, is it not? To
discover who killed the poor thing, and to take the Vengeance of
the Name upon him.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Yes.
     
    ZEPHKIEL
    What do you want to know?
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Do you know what Lucifer was doing in that
part of the City, before the body was found?
     
    ZEPHKIEL
    I can hazard a guess.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Yes?
     
    ZEPHKIEL
    He was walking in the Dark.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Yes. Of course he was... You know. I’ve
almost got it. It’s like having a shape in my mind, or a pattern.
I’m just missing one piece...
     

     
    ZEPHKIEL
    Well, if I can do anything to give you your
missing piece, Raguel.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Maybe you can. What can you tell me about
love?
     
    ZEPHKIEL
    Love. Ah yes, love. Well, it’s what we call,
an emotion...
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    And he told me. And I thought I had it
all.
     
    /SFX/MUSIC, WIND, CHIMES, MUSIC.
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION (CONT’D)
    I returned to the place where Carasel's body
had been. The remains had been removed, the blood had been cleaned
away, the stray feathers collected and disposed of. There was
nothing on the silver sidewalk to indicate it had ever been there.
But I knew where it had been.
    (pause)
     
    /SFX/ THE RUSHING OF WINGS.
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION (CONT’D)
    I ascended on my wings, flew upward until I
neared the top of the spire of the Hall of Being. There was a
window there, and I entered.
     
    /SFX/ ALL SOUNDS CROSSFADE WITH
    /SFX/ INTERIOR OF THE HALL OF BEING,
UNDER...
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION (CONT’D)
    Saraquael was working there, putting a
wingless mannikin into a small box. On one side of the box was a
representation of a small brown creature, with eight legs. On the
other was a representation of a white blossom.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Saraquael?
     
    SARAQUAEL
    Hm? Oh, it's you. Hello. Look at this: if
you were to die, and to be, let us say, put into the earth in a
box, which would you want laid on top of you -- a spider, here, or
a lily, here?
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    The lily, I suppose.
     
    SARAQUAEL
    Yes, that's what I think, too. But why?
Spider - lily -spider- lily ...
    (sighs)
    There's so much to do, Raguel. So much to
get right. And we only get one chance at it, you know. There'll
just be one universe -- we can't keep trying until we get it right.
I wish I understood why all this was so important to Him...
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Do you know where Zephkiel's cell is?
     
    SARAQUAEL
    Yes. I mean, I've never been there. But I
know where it is.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Good. Go there. He'll be expecting you. I
will meet you there.
     
    SARAQUAEL
    I’m afraid it’s quite out of the question. I
have work to do. I can't just...
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    (voice treatment)
    You will be there. Go now.
     
    /SFX/ STEPS, THEN WINGS
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    He said nothing. He backed away from me,
toward the window, staring at me; then he turned, and flapped his
wings, and I was alone.
     
    /SFX/ AS HE SPEAKS WE HEAR HIM TUMBLING
THROUGH THE UNIVERSE, UNDER...
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION (CONT’D)
    I walked to the central well of the Hall,
and let myself fall, tumbling down through the model of the
universe: it glittered around me, unfamiliar colours and shapes
seething