Read Murder Mysteries a Play for Voices (9781466109827) for Free Online

Weaving
and circling and clustering and breaking apart again, so just as
you think you understand the pattern, you realise you don't, and
you never will? It was like that, only better.
    (beat)
    Above me was the sky. Below me, the shining
City. My home. And outside the City, the Dark. Lucifer hovered a
little below the Host, watching their maneuvers, calling
directions.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Lucifer?
     
    LUCIFER
    Yes, Raguel? Have you discovered your
malefactor?
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    I think so. I hope so. Will you accompany me
to Zephkiel's cell? There are others waiting for us there, and I
will explain everything.
     
    LUCIFER
    (a beat, then)
    Certainly.
    (he calls)
    Azazel!
     
    /SFX/ FLAPPING OF WINGS
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    An angel broke from the circle; the others
adjusted almost imperceptibly to his disappearance, filling the
space, so you could no longer see where he had been.
     
    AZAZEL
    Yes, sir. You called?
     
    LUCIFER
    I have to leave. You are in command, Azazel.
Keep them drilling. They still have much to perfect.
     
    AZAZEL
    Yes, sir...
    (he begins calling formations, under...)
    Wheel left! Now, gold squadron rise... and
break! Silver squadron spiral fall... don’t anticipate... Bronze
squadron, fill in, and ascend, and fall...
     
    LUCIFER
    Fare well. I shall not be long.
     
    /SFX/LUCIFER AND RAGUEL FLYING THROUGH THE
AIR. AZAZEL FADES INTO THE BACKGROUND AS THEY FLY.
     
    LUCIFER (CONT’D)
    He's my second-in-command. Bright.
Enthusiastic. Azazel would follow you anywhere.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    What are you training them for?
     
    LUCIFER
    War.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    With whom?
     
    LUCIFER
    How do you mean?
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Who are they going to fight? Who else is
there?
     
    LUCIFER
    I do not know. But He has Named us to be His
army. So we will be perfect. For Him. The Name is infallible and
all-just, and all-wise, Raguel. It cannot be otherwise, no matter
what --
    (he breaks off)
     
     

     
     
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    You were going to say?
     
    LUCIFER
    It is of no importance.
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    We did not talk for the rest of the descent
to Zephkiel's cell.
     
    /SFX/ALL SOUNDS QUICKLY CROSS-FADE WITH
    /SFX/ LOS ANGELES AT NIGHT. DISTANT TRAFFIC,
CRICKETS, UNDER...
     
    NARRATOR
    I looked at my watch: it was almost three. A
chill breeze had begun to blow down the LA street, and I
shivered.
     
    RAGUEL NOW
    You okay? You’re not bored or nothing?
     
    NARRATOR -- LIVE
    I'm fine. Please carry on. I'm fascinated.
it’s a whodunnit, isn’t it?
     
    /SFX/ CROSSFADE TO
    /SFX/ZEPHKIEL’S CELL. WE HEAR THE BEAT OF
WINGS AS RAGUEL AND LUCIFER ARRIVE.
     
    ZEPHKIEL
    Ah. There you are, Raguel. I believe you
must be responsible for my visitors.
     
    RAGUEL NARRATION
    They were waiting for Lucifer and me in
Zephkiel's cell: Phanuel, Saraquael, and Zephkiel. Zephkiel was
sitting in his chair. Lucifer took up a position beside the window.
I walked to centre of the room, and I began.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    I thank you all for coming here. You know
who I am; you know my function. I am the Vengeance of the Name: the
arm of the Lord. I am Raguel.
    (beat)
    The angel Carasel is dead. It was given to
me to find out why he died, who killed him. This I have done. Now,
the angel Carasel was a designer in the Hall of Being. He was very
good, or so I am told...
    (pause)
    Lucifer. Tell me what you were doing, before
you came upon Phanuel, and the body.
     
    LUCIFER
    I have told you already. I was walking.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    Where were you walking?
     
    LUCIFER
    I do not see what business that is of
yours.
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    (light voice treatment)
    Tell me.
     
    LUCIFER
    Very well. I was walking in the Dark. I have
been walking in the Darkness for some time now. It helps me to gain
a perspective on the City -- being outside it. I see how fair it
is, how perfect. There is nothing more enchanting than our home.
Nothing more complete. Nowhere else that anyone would want to
be
     
    RAGUEL THEN
    And what do you do in the Dark, Lucifer?
     
    LUCIFER
    I