Mystery Lady: Episode Two (audio story)

←Previous

***Episode Two*** was the second release in the *Mystery Lady series* written by Paul Magrs and prominently featuring the character of Dodie Golightly originated in the 2013 *Iris Wildthyme* story *The Ninnies on Putney Common*.

## Publisher's summary

Dodie meets the Chief Editor at Mephistopheles & Co., who seems frightened of some unseen force. She learns about the mysterious editor, Fox Soames, before there are strange shenanigans on the studio floor when Timothy appears on his live TV show. Dodie, Tim and Cassandra have got themselves a mystery, a road map and a brand new mini. Will they make it to the first anthology author before he meets the same fate as the character in his own macabre short story?

## Plot

During a meeting with Henry Duke, the editorial director of Mephistopheles and Company, Dodie learnt about the disappearance of Vaughan Fretwell - one of the anthology contributors. She was also informed that Helen Spedding was a fraud and had not been hired as a copyeditor for the manuscript. Together Dodie and Cassandra visited Vaughan's home at Shepherd's Bush only to find that the place had been abandoned for some time. The house was in complete disarray with maggots and moldy food making the smell unbearable. It wasn't long before Dodie and Cassandra discovered Vaughan - who was barely still alive and attempted to warn the girls about the manuscript before succumbing to death.

Not wanting to remain in the house any longer the pair tip off the police anonymously, and then attend Timothy's Spin the Bottle television appearance. However, things again take a turn for the worse as Timothy is enlisted to perform a magic act - in place of magician Carswell Hobbs who has taken ill - and his assistant, and Carswell's second wife, Doris Hobbs turns up dead on stage having been strangled by her own feather boa after stepping inside the magic box with Timothy. Amidst the chaos Cassandra was approached by Lucrezia Noggins who invited her meet someone who wanted to talk with her, and to Cassandra's shock the individual turned out to be Doris Hobbes herself - who wished to inform Cassandra that Timothy had no part in her murder.

The trio found a strand of synthetic orange hair which they deduced belonged to the murderer, and Cassandra realised that Carswell Hobbs was known for wearing a long nylon orange wig. When Dodie and Cassandra, along with the Detective Inspector, inspected the magic box they discovered Carswell hiding behind a rotating panel. Upon being accused of Doris' murder, Carswell confessed that he had loathed her and wished to frame someone else live on television. Despite Carswell's confession Timothy was forced to head to the Shepherd's Bush prison to make a full statement.

While Dodie and Cassandra were waiting for Timothy at the station, Cassandra was again approach by Lucrezia Noggins who revealed that she was on the the contributors for The Horrible Book of Terror. Lucrezia stated that Fox Soames was a huge fan of her work and that she had contributed to every anthology in the Book of Mayhem series, despite having died long before the first book had been punished.

## Characters

* Dodie Golightly
* Timothy Bold
* Cassandra
* Henry Duke
* Vaughan Fretwell
* Doris Hobbs
* Director
* Floor Manager
* Detective Inspector Olliphant
* Lady Lucrezia Noggins
* Derek

## References

* Henry Duke's father previously ran Mephistopheles and Company.
* Dodie's previous editor was Mr Figgis who operated from a used bookstore in Morecambe.
* Vaughan Fretwell lived at Shepherd's Bush which was close to the BBC Television Centre.
* The first short story in The Horrible Book of Terror was *Grub Street* written by Vaughan Fretwell.