FORGET television soap script whodunnits, this well-known play penned by the mistress of murder, can still pull in the audiences.

By the end of Act One, the obligatory corpse is left on the stage - the self-pitying and irksome invalid Anya Hendryk (Irene Holmes).

The wheelchair-bound wife of gifted scholar Professor Karl Hendryk lies dead of a drugs overdose.

Confessions and mis-guided loyalties abound as the plot takes a sudden and unexpected twist, leaving the finger of guilt pointing at an innocent party and a courtroom verdict is needed to bring matters to finality.

Ian Hunter as the gifted Prof plays an impassioned scholar well, while Alison Partington deserves praise in her role of love-struck student Helen Rollander.

And Carmela Horne, in the role of Lisa Koletzky, conveyed all the emotions of the unrequited love interest.

But it is the one-line delivery of Dorothy Jones in the role of snoopy cleaner Mrs Roper which proved the best performance, raising the laughs as the comic interest in an otherwise dark plot. She was great.

The cast worked hard throughout although first night nerves led to a few fluffed lines and the prompter was called into action towards the end, affecting the build-up of tension as the audience awaits the courtroom verdict.

Among the backroom crew, Bert Halliday and Terry Bowden deserve particular praise for the work on the set, transforming the stage into the living room of the Professor's flat where all the action unfolds. Dave Roberts