The Story
BusyBody
Written by Jack Popplewell and Directed by Rebecca Walters
October 27 – November 17 with Sunday Matinées November 4 & 11
Lily Piper is an office cleaner in 1960’s London who knows everybody’s business. One night while cleaning, she finds a dead body in one of the offices – the body of her boss and the owner of the company, Richard Marshall. She calls the police, but by the time young Detective Constable Goddard arrives, the body has disappeared.
Detective Superintendent Baxter arrives on the scene, yanked from his sick-bed by the reported murder. It turns out that he and Mrs. Piper know each other, having grown up in the same neighbourhood. She is delighted to see him, a feeling that is very much not mutual!
The body is gone, but a call to his home confirms that Marshall is missing, and a bloodstained chair provides proof that some sort of mischief has occurred.
The next morning, Mrs. Piper “helps” Baxter to interrogate the other employees as they arrive: Marian Selby, the plain, dedicated secretary who held a torch for Marshall, Robert Westerby, the charming young accountant, and Vickie Reynolds, the giddy young typist, as well as Claire, Marshall’s glamourous and unfaithful wife. It looks like almost everyone had a reason to want Marshall dead. Just as Baxter is about to reveal his theory of “whodunnit”, another surprise arrives on the scene: Richard Marshall himself, very much not dead.
The next day, Lily is still convinced that a murder took place, and she is determined to find out whose. While cleaning, she has found a pair of clues – a set of keys, and a distinctive button. She shows Marshall, and tells him that she has called Baxter to give him the evidence. Goddard arrives, and confirms that the set of keys is actually his. Only slightly deterred, Lily hides the button in her “secret” pocket, only to have it stolen when a mysterious figure turns out the lights.
When Baxter arrives, all the evidence is gone, but a call to the station confirms that a dead body, missing a button exactly like the one Lily found, has turned up in a back alley. It is the body of John Cameron, the lover of Claire Marshall. After protesting that he is innocent and being set up, Marshall escapes.
It looks as though all is lost, but Lilly has a theory as to who actually killed John Cameron, and a way to prove it. While Baxter hides in a cupboard, Lily will get the killer to confess. What could possibly go wrong?”