‘Searching for Hannah’
Dear Hannah,
What a crazy night I had last night. I went to the murder mystery party at Melinda’s house as planned. She had a board game version of several plots and had chosen one set in a restaurant. It was a complete laugh from start to finish. This one was set in a restaurant called Chez Vincent and involved the murder of a chef. I played the part of a kitchen hand who is terrified of the volatile chef and who is fired for burning the cakes. James, who played an ex-con employed to wash up, was actually the murderer and ‘stabbed’ the chef with an extremely sharp Sabatier chef’s knife belonging to Georges, the sous-chef, played by Lewis, a new neighbour. Lewis is cool and we had a crazy few minutes messing about in the kitchen, behaving like kids and then had such a laugh. Sean (who played a very convincing bad-tempered chef) was murdered after the first course. He went to get some wine and after a while we decided he had been gone too long. We discovered him lying in the kitchen with a knife by his side and blood on his apron. Don’t worry. It was fake blood. We dragged him back to the lounge so he could hear us then we had to work out who had murdered him and why. To be honest, after the second course and several bottles of wine, no one could remember who they were supposed to be and we all kept dissolving into giggles. Lewis played his part brilliantly although he spoke his lines like a character in the television show ’Allo, ’Allo! Sean and I kept sniggering at him. Sean got told off by Melinda because he was supposed to be dead but kept snorting with laughter. Lewis shrugged his shoulders in mock Gallic annoyance at the questions we asked him, and when he went into a panic about losing his ‘leetle sharp kneeves’, none of us could keep a straight face. He was most entertaining. Lewis had to rush off afterwards but he’s going to come to Melinda’s next party. She’s planning another one for a few weeks’ time. Tomorrow, I’ve got the important audition in Birmingham. Cross your fingers for me. If you are reading this, Hannah, please, please contact me.
Once she’d published her post, she reread the email she’d received the day after submitting her application to What Happens in...
Dear Bryony,
Thank you for applying to be a contestant on the fabulous new game show, What Happens in... We are very pleased to be able to invite you to an audition for the show. This will in take place on Monday 10th July 12:00 p.m. at the Royal Theatre, Broad Street, Birmingham. We look forward to seeing you there.
There was no further information about the show in her email and she studied the advert on the game show website for clues as to what might be expected of her:
Are you a quizzer? Do you like challenges? Are you better than the rest? We are urgently seeking lively contestants for a brand new, game show – What Happens in... This show takes place over several days and will be unlike any other quiz show on television. Only the best will remain and go onto the next challenge and ultimately win the prize of £10,000! Filming takes place in France in July. Have you got the brains to take on this exciting new quiz? Then apply now.
She read it again even though she knew what it said by heart. There was nothing to help her prepare for the audition. She’d have to rely on intelligence and enthusiasm. Bryony wouldn’t be there for the same reasons as the other contestants. She wasn’t interested in winning the loot. She had a greater prize in mind – finding Hannah – and being on a game show that was going to be broadcast day after day on national television might just help her do that.