The Nicholas Bracewell Collection (68 page)
‘Sicinius …’
‘Who, Edmund?’
‘Sicinius.’
‘Ah, your play.’
‘I still do not know who stole my part, Nick.’
‘Is it that important to you?’
‘I would give anything to learn his name.’
‘Then let me put you out of your pain,’ said the book holder. ‘I made enquiry about the performance by Banbury’s Men of
Pompey the Great
.’
‘Well? Well?’
‘Your play was much admired in spite of their poor treatment of it.’
‘And Sicinius? My Sicinius?’
‘Gabriel Hawkes.’
‘But he is dead.’
‘Along with Mark Scruton.’ He patted Hoode on the back. ‘Be happy, sir. Do you not see what this means?’
‘No.’
‘You are the only man alive to have played Sicinius. The part is solely and wholly yours again.’
Edmund Hoode let out a whoop of joy.
‘Thank you, Nick. This puts me in Heaven.’
‘Close enough to it.’
‘What?’
‘Jerusalem.’
The playwright’s smile widened into a broad grin.
A spiritual journey had finally come to an end.
E
DWARD
M
ARSTON
was born and brought up in South Wales. A full-time writer for over forty years, he has worked in radio, film, television and the theatre and is a former chairman of the Crime Writers’ Association. Prolific and highly successful, he is equally at home writing children’s books or literary criticism, plays or biographies.
T
HE
B
RACEWELL
M
YSTERIES
The Queen’s Head • The Merry Devils • The Trip to Jerusalem
The Nine Giants • The Mad Courtesan • The Silent Woman
The Roaring Boy • The Laughing Hangman • The Fair Maid of Bohemia
The Wanton Angel • The Devil’s Apprentice • The Bawdy Basket
The Vagabond Clown • The Counterfeit Crank • The Malevolent Comedy
The Princess of Denmark
T
HE
R
AILWAY
D
ETECTIVE SERIES
The Railway Detective • The Excursion Train
The Railway Viaduct • The Iron Horse
Murder on the Brighton Express • The Silver Locomotive Mystery
Railway to the Grave • Blood on the Line
The Stationmaster’s Farewell • Peril on the Royal Train
The Railway Detective Omnibus:
The Railway Detective, The Excursion Train, The Railway Viaduct
T
HE
C
APTAIN
R
AWSON SERIES
Soldier of Fortune • Drums of War • Fire and Sword
Under Siege • A Very Murdering Battle
T
HE
R
ESTORATION SERIES
The King’s Evil • The Amorous Nightingale • The Repentant Rake
The Frost Fair • The Parliament House • The Painted Lady
T
HE
H
OME
F
RONT
D
ETECTIVE SERIES
A Bespoke Murder • Instrument of Slaughter
Five Dead Canaries
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This ebook collection edition first published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2013.
The Queen’s Head
© 1988 by E
DWARD
M
ARSTON
The Merry Devils
© 1989 by E
DWARD
M
ARSTON
The Trip to Jerusalem
© 1990 by E
DWARD
M
ARSTON
The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–1600–5