Not Dead Yet

everyone. And the smell was quite different. A vile, sickening stench of drains.
    Members of the film crew, scruffily dressed and with shocked expressions, stood motionless, seemingly rooted to the spot. One woman, in baggy jeans, had turned away from the horror in the centre of the room, and was sobbing in shock in the arms of a huge, bearded man, who was holding an aluminium foil lamp reflector behind her back.
    The fallen chandelier looked like a giant, beached, jewel-encrusted jellyfish, with tentacular chains sprawling all around, a metal shaft, like a broken spear, protruding several feet from the top of it.
    Two paramedics were in the middle of the wreckage, while one team of fire officers were manoeuvring cutting gear into place, and another two officers were working on placing a blue and yellowairbag, attached by a line to a compressed air cylinder, under one part of the wreckage. A third officer stood beside them, with a small stack of wooden blocks to place beneath as the wreckage rose.
    A young uniformed woman police officer greeted Detective Inspector Tingley’s arrival with relief, as if happy she could now delegate responsibility to someone more senior.
    The Detective Inspector stared up at the ceiling. He could see the dragon claws and the painted palm leaves, with a small, dark hole in the centre, where he presumed the shaft had been. Then he turned to the PC.
    ‘What do we know so far?’ Tingley asked her.
    ‘Well, sir, I just got here a few minutes ago. What I’ve been able to ascertain so far is that there is one person, male, known to be under the chandelier.’
    ‘Could there be others?’
    ‘No, sir. I’ve spoken to several eye witnesses who say there is just one person.’
    ‘What do we know about how this happened?’
    ‘Well, it’s very sketchy. It seems that Gaia’s son was sitting at the table, playing. This man, who must have seen that the chandelier was about to come down, dashed across the room and literally threw the boy clear.’
    ‘Is the boy all right?’
    ‘Yes, sir, he’s with his mother in her trailer.’
    ‘Who is the man? One of the film crew?’
    ‘So far, no one recognizes him.’
    ‘A maintenance worker, perhaps?’
    ‘Could be, sir.’
    Tingley looked around. ‘Right, get some back-up here fast. I’m treating this as a crime scene. I want the entire building cordoned off, get everyone out, but take the names and addresses of everyone in the building, including the security guards, as they leave.’
    She nodded, looking around, taking it all in.
    ‘Start with this room,’ he said, helpfully. ‘Tape it off. No one leaves until you have their name and address.’
    ‘Yes, sir.’ She radioed for assistance, then hurried out.
    Tingley strode across the room towards the wreckage. As he did so he caught the eye of the male paramedic, Phil Davidson, whom he had met on several previous occasions.
    Davidson nodded grimly. ‘It’s like that scene in Only Fools and Horses when the chandelier came down.’
    ‘What do we know about who’s under there?’ Tingley asked, ignoring the comment about the TV sitcom.
    ‘One male, according to witnesses.’
    Aware of almost everyone in the room looking at him, Tingley went as close as he could to the edge of the chandelier.
    ‘Fifteen,’ the female paramedic announced grimly.
    ‘It’s looking like it’s going to be a fatality,’ Davidson said quietly to the detective. Then, using gallows humour jargon he added, ‘A scoop and run at best, I’d say.’
    An agitated American voice said, ‘Excuse me, can I help you?’
    Jason Tingley turned and found himself facing a short, lean man, with a tanned bald dome, dressed in a black shirt with silver buttons, open almost to the navel, black jeans and Cuban-heeled boots. The detective flashed his warrant card in his face. ‘Detective Inspector Tingley, Sussex CID. Can I help you ?’ he said, pointedly.
    ‘Good to meet you, sir. I’m the producer of this movie. Larry Brooker.’
    Tingley shook his hand. It felt like patting the head of a poisonous snake whose venom had been removed.
    ‘I just heard you’ve ordered the entire building to be cleared,’ Brooker said. ‘Did I hear right?’
    ‘You did.’
    ‘Well, the thing is, officer, we have a bit of a situation here, as you can see.’
    The detective gave him a sideways look. ‘I think you could say that, yes.’ Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the young woman PC hurrying back into the room with a reel