Oliver Twisted (An Ivy Meadows Mystery Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

redhead. “I need a few minutes with Ivy.”
    Ada muttered something under her breath and hopped onstage.
    Jonas sat and patted the seat next to him. I sat, glad for a moment to take in my surroundings.
    The Royal Victoria Theater looked like the photos I’d seen of European opera houses: shaped like a U with ornately carved wooden boxes on either side. Tasseled gold velvet drapes framed the boxes and swaths of burgundy velvet cloaked the proscenium. Dark green walls bore a faint gilt pattern that caught the light.
    Ahh. The theater. My shoulders relaxed, the sight of Harley’s dead eyes faded away, and I sighed with relief. I loved theaters in general—the plush seats and high ceilings and sense of expectation they all held. This one was all that on steroids.
    “Let’s start over.” Jonas smiled at me with teeth that looked like they belonged in a toothpaste commercial. “I’m Jonas, your director. Glad to have you on board, so to speak.” He looked at me more closely and his smile faltered. “Uh, your hair…”
    “I’ve been told it’s sexy hair.”
    “It’s something. We’ll get it fixed first thing in the morning. Right now we need to get you up to speed. It’s going to be crazy. That’s the other thing stressing me out. I’ve never known anyone to…never mind.” He ran a hand through his blonde hair, which was long on the top and short on the sides. “You got the script I emailed?”
    “Yeah. Thanks.”
    Oliver! At Sea! was a reworked, condensed version of the famous musical Oliver! Wasn’t sure if the new title was a wink at the original’s strangely upbeat title or if Get Lit! just liked exclamation marks. Our show followed the musical’s basic plot line, with song lyrics revised to emulate life onboard the S.S. David Copperfield (and probably to avoid copyright issues). As Nancy, I didn’t have many lines, but I did have a great death scene and two songs: a bouncy number with Oliver and the Dodger called “Consider Yourself Onboard” and a mash-up ballad “Where is Food?/As Long as He Feeds Me.”
    “Great script,” I lied.
    Onstage, the redhead tugged on a rope, and a length of red fabric fell in a waterfall to the stage floor.
    “I’ve memorized all my lines and songs,” I said. “I rehearsed the dances too, as much as I could.” Two of the show’s numbers had dance breaks, which I saw via links to YouTube videos.
    “Good. Timothy said you’re a strong dancer. You’ll need to be.”
    Huh. The dances didn’t look that difficult. Ada released another red cloth from where it was looped up in the fly space. She was about my age, with the strong back and shoulder muscles of a swimmer.
    “Tonight we’re going to rehearse Fagin’s Magic Handkerchief .”
    I nodded. That explained the lack of cast members. My contract did mention this magic act, though I didn’t get a script for it. I hoped the show’s benign-sounding name meant I wouldn’t be sawn in half. Didn’t want to put myself in harm’s way any more than necessary, especially now I knew there was a murderer onboard.
    “Ada’s our choreographer.” Jonas nodded at the red-haired woman hauling a mat onto the stage from one of the wings. “Let’s get going.” He jumped onstage. “I wish we didn’t have to work this late, but you’ll need every bit of rehearsal you can get. Be extra careful tonight. I know you’re probably tired, but at least you can learn the silk basics.”
    “The what basics?” I followed him onstage.
    “The silks. The aerial silks?” Jonas motioned to the two lengths of red cloth suspended from the catwalk forty feet above our heads. “You’re going to be an aerial dancer during the magic show. Didn’t they tell you anything?”
    “Umm.” Another thing left off my contract. A pretty important thing.
    “Please tell me you’re not afraid of heights,” said Jonas.
    “I’m not.”
    It wasn’t a lie. I wasn’t afraid of heights. I was afraid of dangling forty feet above a hard