The Corpse at the Carnival

by Grace York

  "I understand," said Addison. "I felt the same when I lost Rob. I couldn't imagine life going on without him."

  "But it did," said Layla. "You moved up here and bought the beach house. You're so strong, Addison. I don't think I'm that strong."

  "I wasn't strong at first," said Addison. "Yes, I moved up here and I've entered the next phase of my life. But I couldn't do it straight away. To be honest with you, the day they lowered Rob into the ground it was all I could do not to crawl down in there with him. I was a mess, Layla."

  A couple of tears silently ran down Layla's face.

  "It took me two years to get here," Addison continued. "Jenna and your dad have only been gone a couple of months, and in that time you've already been busy rebuilding your home and the gallery. It's normal that you're feeling overwhelmed. Give yourself a break."

  Layla nodded. "I suppose you're right."

  "You know I'm right. You're doing fine, Layla. Rebuilding is the right thing to do. It's what Jenna and your dad would want you to do. You can't bring them back, so there's no point feeling guilty that they're gone and you're still here. But if you want to slow down a little, then you know I'm here for you. I love having you here at the beach house. You have a room here for as long as you like."

  Layla wiped away her tears and managed half a smile. "Thank you. I'm so glad you chose to come to Getaway Bay."

  "So am I." Addison heard activity in the kitchen. She finished the last of her coffee and stood. "I think the troops are gathering for breakfast."

  "We'd better go feed them then."

  They enjoyed a leisurely morning, feasting on pancakes, hot cross buns, and multiple cups of tea and coffee. Layla perked right up, and Addison once again thought how lucky she was to have her family around her for the holiday long weekend. She was sorry that Justin and Emily would be leaving tomorrow, but they had jobs to get back to in Melbourne.

  When the eating was finally finished, Easter eggs distributed, and the kitchen cleaned, Emily and Layla took themselves off for a walk along the beach with Charlie. Adam retired to his room; he was close to finishing his first novel and was eager to get back to it. Which left Addison with Justin and Olivia.

  "Can we sit in the lounge room?" asked Justin.

  "Of course." Addison led the way, and the three of them settled into the comfortable chairs by the window. Olivia tucked into her stash of chocolate eggs.

  "How can you eat chocolate after all that breakfast?" Justin asked her.

  "It's Easter. Eating chocolate is virtually mandatory."

  Justin laughed, then turned to his mother with a more sombre face.

  "What is it?" asked Addison. She knew that face well.

  "I'm not sure about this new role you have with the police, Mum." He rested both hands on the arms of his chair, looking stiff and uncomfortable. It was his serious stance. Justin didn't get serious often, but when he did everyone knew it. Even Olivia looked up from her egg unwrapping task.

  "What's your concern?" said Addison.

  "I think you might be taking on too much. You've done a great job with this place, but it must be a handful. And with the baking as well, do you really have time to be a police volunteer?"

  Addison suspected the time requirement wasn't his issue, but she addressed it anyway.

  "The house looks after itself," she said. "Now that the renovations are almost complete, all I have to do here is cook dinner every night and wash the sheets once a week. The boarders take care of themselves. And besides, there's only Adam and Layla at the moment. Plus, they help out a lot."

  "And the baking?"

  "That only takes me a couple of hours each morning. I enjoy it, and I'm usually done by nine o'clock. Really, Justin, I've nothing else to do to fill my days. I'll be only too happy to help Isaac and his team."

  Justin looked to Olivia, but she sided with Addison for once.

  "I had the same concerns," she said after finishing a mouthful of chocolate. "But Mum is amazing. She's done so much to this place in three months. You should have seen it when we first moved here. And she's made heaps of new friends. She can do anything, Justin."

  "She should be taking it easy, not taking on more work," he said.

  "She's fifty-five, not seventy-five," said Olivia.

  "And she's right here," said Addison. It was nice to hear Olivia defend her with her own words, but she didn't need them arguing about her. "I appreciate your concern, Justin. I really do. But I can handle this. I want to help the police."

  "You mean you want to help Isaac," said Olivia with a smirk.

  "He's the police," Addison countered.

  "It's all right if you like him, Mum," she said. "He's kind of cool."

  Addison couldn't hide her surprise. "He's kind of cool? Do you really think so?"

  Olivia shrugged. "Yeah. Besides, he obviously needs your help. He couldn't have solved the last two murders without you."

  That got Justin all flustered again. "I'm still not sure about all this. What would Dad say about you being involved with a murder investigation?"

  "If he thought I could help, he'd be fine with it," said Addison. She had no idea if this was actually true, but she'd like to think so. Rob had been passionate about his own job as a homicide detective. She had to believe he'd be proud of her helping the local police in her new home town.

  "I think Dad would have liked Isaac," said Olivia. "He's a good guy. Not full of himself, like some detectives can be."

  Addison wasn't sure where Olivia was getting her information on detectives from, but she couldn't disagree. Isaac was definitely one of the good guys.

  Justin was silent for a minute, and Addison knew he was making a mental pros and cons list. He was like his father that way, always taking the time to analyse a situation before jumping in.

  "I just want you to be safe, Mum. Can this Isaac guarantee you won't be in any danger?"

  "There are no such guarantees in life. You know that. But I'll just be a volunteer, helping out with administration stuff. I'll probably spend the whole time in the police station. You can't get much safer than that."

  "That's a good point," said Justin. "Okay… I'm on board."

  Addison gave him a hug. "That means a lot to me," she said.

  "Right," said Justin, turning to Olivia with a cheeky grin and stealing one of her chocolates. "Tell me everything you know about this Isaac fellow."

  13

  After enjoying a lovely morning with her family, Addison decided to put her new credentials as police volunteer into action and headed off to the carnival in search of Holly.

  She didn't have to look too far. Holly was working the fairy floss machine. She told Addison she was due for a break in half an hour, so they agreed to meet, and Addison wandered off to kill some time.

  The carnival was run like a well-oiled machine. Hanley Brothers had been operating for many years, as she knew, so no doubt they had all their systems worked out and optimised by now. Still, it was interesting to watch.

  She'd been to carnivals before, of course, but she'd always been either a kid herself or there with her own children. Either way she'd been totally engrossed in the carnival atmosphere, taken in by the bright lights and loud noises and constant distractions. Now, looking at it from a different angle, she could see the business aspect. Everything was designed to get the patrons to spend their money. Which was fair enough. The Hanleys were entitled to make a living just like anyone else.

  Addison's thoughts returned to the motive for killing Frankie. It had to be something personal. She couldn't see any business reason for anyone to want the man dead. He was a performer in a stage show, not even the lead act. As she watched things continue two days after his murder, she realised the knife thrower's death hadn't had much impact on the carnival.

  The show must go on. Isn't that what they say?

  Addison went through the usual motives for murder in her head. Money or greed was a common one. Did Frankie owe someone money? Or did someone owe h
im? She wondered whether he had any next of kin, anyone who stood to inherit whatever he left behind. She wondered whether he left anything behind at all. She couldn't imagine a performer in a travelling show would amass much of a fortune. Even if he had been well-paid, from what she'd been told about the man Addison couldn't see Frankie stashing large amounts of cash away to leave to a relative. He seemed more like the type who would spend it on himself any chance he got.

  Revenge was another possible motive. She could definitely see Frankie as someone who would cause others to harbour a grudge against him. Had he upset the wrong person? Pushed someone too far?

  Addison wandered down the main avenue where all the sideshow games were set up. She reached the laughing clown stand and watched as a couple of small children tried their luck pushing balls in the clowns' mouths. They each got a small prize, and were immediately offered the chance to play again and upgrade to a larger prize. Their father dipped into his pocket again, and they had another go. Addison watched as the mid-sized prize was then upgraded to something even larger, and before he knew it the man had spent well over twenty dollars. Addison exchanged a good-natured shake of the head with the father and moved on.

  At the end of the line of trucks was the entrance to the staff area. A large sign on a chain advertised the area as restricted to staff access only, but there was no-one there to police the out-of-bounds section. Addison hovered nearby for a few moments but didn't see anything interesting. She was about to turn back and go find Holly when she overheard an argument.

  "Back off," said a male voice. He sounded exasperated, rather than angry.

  "I want my money," said another male voice. Addison peered as far as she could around the end of the last truck, but she couldn't see the owners of the voices.

  "You'll get it. I just need a little more time."

  "You're running out of time, pal."

  Addison realised it was the end of the conversation, and she managed to turn away and start walking just in time to make herself less conspicuous. A man in a red uniform shirt and blue jeans rounded the corner and almost ran into her.

  "Sorry, got a little lost," she said.

  The man stormed off without speaking, unfortunately, so she had no idea whether he was the one who owed money or wanted it back. She recognised who he was from Isaac's photos on the white board, though.

  Jake Hanley.

  Addison followed Jake for a minute, down the main avenue of sideshow games and over to the area where the rides were operating. Then she ran into Holly.

  "There you are," said Holly. "I thought you were going to come back and see me."

  "I was just on my way," said Addison. "Sorry, I got a little lost."

  "Yeah, that happens. It took me ages to get used to the set up. Plus, it's slightly different at every place." Holly linked her arm through Addison's. "Come on, I haven't got long on my break and I want you to meet some people."

  Holly led Addison back to the staff area. They stepped over the low chain meant to keep patrons out, and Addison had a look around to see if the owner of the other voice was still there. She didn't see anyone, though, until they got to the trailers.

  A circle of folding chairs was arranged in the centre of three trailers, all of which had a number of doors leading to individual bunks. There were two young men sitting in the circle, one of them smoking a cigarette, the other sipping on a can of cola.

  "Hey, Holls," said the one with the cigarette. He was quite young, Addison thought, with spiked blond hair and a pale complexion. "Whatcha doin'?"

  "I'm on break. This is Addison, she bakes all those awesome cakes and things we get from the cafe."

  Both young men stood and held out a hand in turn. The first one introduced himself as Corey, and the other, who looked even younger, was Luc. "Great cakes," said Corey, as they both retook their seats.

  "Thank you," said Addison.

  "You were up in the Ferris wheel when it broke the other day," said Luc.

  "Yes, I was. Were you there?"

  "I got you a bottle of water once they brought you down," he said.

  Addison thought for a moment, then remembered. "Ah, yes. You were half a clown."

  Luc smiled. "I was in the middle of putting my makeup on when the call came in to help out at the rides. Probably shouldn't have gone, might have upset a few kids only being half done like that."

  Addison waved a hand at him. "I'm sure it didn't matter. They were probably too busy staring at the silly old woman panicking because she got stuck on a ride for a few minutes."

  "Don't be so hard on yourself," said Holly. She pointed to two of the folding chairs. Addison chose the more sturdy-looking of the two and lowered herself into it, relieved that it didn't give way. She'd never been a fan of chairs that had the ability to collapse without warning.

  "I think you did pretty good," said Luc. "We've seen a lot worse, put it that way."

  Addison smiled at the young man. "So are you both clowns?" she asked.

  "Yeah," said Corey. "We've had a double act going for a couple of years now. It seems to go down all right with the kids."

  "What's it like, working with a travelling carnival like this?" Addison asked. "Do you miss your homes?"

  "No-one at home misses me," said Corey. He took a long drag of his cigarette, then stubbed it out and put the butt in an empty cola can. Addison couldn't get a read on him. His pale face and gaunt features gave him a serious air, but there was a cheekiness in his eyes that shone through when he spoke. Addison got the feeling Corey made an excellent clown when the makeup and costume went on, but underneath it all there was something sad about him.

  "Where is home?" Addison asked him.

  Corey shrugged. He picked up the empty can he'd used as an ashtray and started absently shaking it. "This is home, now." Addison stayed silent, as did Luc and Holly. Eventually Corey went on. "I'm from Sydney, originally. But I left home when I was fifteen. My parents aren't big fans of my lifestyle."

  "You mean joining the carnival?"

  "No. I mean being gay."

  "Oh. I'm sorry," said Addison.

  "That I'm gay?" Corey sat forward in his seat, eyes narrowed.

  "No, of course not. I'm sorry that your family doesn't accept you as you are. No-one should have to go through that."

  "Oh. Thanks." Corey waved a hand in the air. "It's okay. I'm not a big fan of their lifestyle, either. Each to their own."

  "Do you enjoy the carnival life?" Addison asked.

  Corey smiled. "I love it. I fit right in. We're all freaks, here."

  "Speak for yourself," said Luc. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of juggling balls. Addison watched for a minute while he effortlessly juggled them with one hand.

  "That's impressive," said Addison. She remembered being delighted at the clowns' performance when she'd seen the show last week. It felt so long ago now, with all that had happened.

  "Thanks," said Luc. "So, forgive me for asking, but what are you doing here? We get the odd journalist asking us questions, but never a baker."

  "Luc…" said Holly, her voice drawn out.

  "No, it's okay," said Addison. "It's a fair question. I'm working with the police, actually. Just doing some background stuff to help them out with their investigation."

  "Oh," said Luc. "You're here about Frankie."

  "I am," Addison replied. "Do either of you know what might have happened to him?"

  Corey stood, spat on the ground, and threw his makeshift ashtray into a nearby garbage bin. "He got what he deserved, that's what happened."

  14

  Addison spent another ten minutes talking to Luc about life at the carnival, and Frankie's murder. Corey had walked off after his little outburst.

  "Don't mind him," Luc had said. "He never liked Frankie."

  "I'm getting the impression he wasn't the only one," said Addison, hoping to get more information from the younger clown. But Luc had only smiled and nodded, then changed the subject, and Addison f
inally left when Holly was due to return to her post selling fairy floss.

  "I wish they'd put me back in the food truck," said Holly. "I hate fairy floss. I just get all the sugar out of my hair and then I have to go back and it all cakes straight up again," said Holly, scratching her head. "You'd be surprised where this stuff ends up."

  "No, I probably wouldn't," said Addison. "I can imagine all sorts of places spun sugar could find its way into."

  Holly laughed, then her face dropped. "You didn't tell me you were working for the police."

  "I'm sorry about that," said Addison as they walked side by side. "I should have mentioned it. I hope it didn't seem like I was questioning your friends in any official sort of capacity."

  Holly shrugged.

  "I just want to try and understand what happened, that's all," Addison continued.

  "You don't think Corey and Luc had anything to do with it, do you?"

  Addison shook her head. They'd reached Holly's work station, and Addison stopped a couple of metres away so the girl currently spinning fairy floss couldn't hear them. "I don't think so. But I got the feeling Corey was hiding something, though. Do you know what that might be?"

  "No. Luc was right when he said Corey didn't like Frankie, but that was true of half the people here. Including me, and I certainly didn't kill him."

  "Do you know if there had been anything specific between Frankie and Corey? Or was it just a general dislike?"

  "I'm not sure. Frankie was homophobic, I know that much. Corey is pretty open about his sexuality, which he has every right to be. Frankie was always making snide comments. I can't see it being enough to cause Corey to want to hurt him, though. Mostly Corey just ignored it. He's got pretty thick skin."

  Addison was pleased to hear it. She couldn't imagine what life must be like for someone society still saw as 'different'. It upset her to know that even now, in a country that overwhelmingly voted to legalise same sex marriage, some people still felt ostracised because of who they loved.

  "Does he have a boyfriend?" Addison asked.