Chapter 1: Private Lives, Part III

III.

A few more minutes passed, and then a fanfare of ominous piano music poured through the loudspeakers. A portly young man clad all in black – looking a bit like Victor Buono – came onto the stage carrying a hand-held microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “Thanks so much for coming. Our first re-enactment is a particular fan favorite. Vincent Price made quite a career of acting in “Three Skeleton Key.”

A chorus of cheers rose from the audience.

Vincent Price? thought Tracy. He was involved in horror radio before he got typecast in horror movies?

The announcer was continuing.

“ "Three Skeleton Key" tells the story of three lighthouse keepers trapped in their lighthouse by a swarm of giant rats. This episode was first produced on Escape in 1949, with Elliot Reid in the role of Jean. It was so popular that they remade it the following year, but this time they had Vincent Price. Today, of course, everyone only remembers the versions done by Price. He reprised the role of Jean a couple more times for Escape, and finally for Suspense. Most people who have only heard of one old time radio story will have heard about "the one with the rats."

Now, we are very pleased to present “Three Skeleton Key,” featuring our special guest star, Nick Belfour, as Jean...”

He had to pause as the entire audience cheered.

He continued with a grin, "Scott Audley as Louis, the head lighthouse keeper, and James Conrad as Auguste. Douglas Smith is performing the sound effects."

The announcer raised a hand, and four men walked onto the stage, one of whom was Nick Belfour. The room erupted into cheers and clapping again.

Tracy grinned as she heard a few boos and  added her own boos to that chorus. (In one of the episodes of the first season of The Coldest Equations, the two deadly enemies had had a little chat. Mr. White had revealed that as a youngster he’d acted in a few melodramatic school plays where he’d always played the villain, and been booed off the stage in consequence. His fans had gotten it into their heads that the way of showing appreciation of his character would be to boo him rather than clap when he was introduced at conventions.)

One of the four men who had walked onto the stage peeled off to stand behind the special effects table, and the other three took their seats behind the microphones.

The room lights dimmed, and three spotlights focused on the three actors. A dimmer spotlight focused on Douglas Smith the sound effects man, and an even dimmer light on the announcer.