by Grace York
Holly hesitated before answering. "I think so. I don't know who it is, but I get the feeling he isn't as open about it as Corey. So they're keeping it quiet. I respect that."
Addison figured Holly knew exactly who Corey was dating, but she wasn't going to push it. Her gut told her the young clown didn't have anything to do with Frankie's death.
"I'd better get back to work," said Holly, signalling to the other girl with a wave.
"Thanks for introducing me to your friends," said Addison. "They're very nice."
"They're clowns, it's their job," said Holly with a grin. "See you later."
Addison waved goodbye and set off home. The carnival was set up at the local sports field, which was about halfway between the township of Getaway Bay and the beach. As it was close to home, Addison had walked instead of bringing her car.
She went home via the beach, taking off her shoes and walking through the sand, letting the waves wash up over her feet and ankles. It was late afternoon, but the sun was still shining, the air was warm, and Addison was once again thankful that she got to live in such a beautiful part of the world.
Her thoughts turned to her late husband, and she allowed herself a moment of sorrow. Rob certainly would have liked Getaway Bay. In the two years since he passed away Addison had fought through the stages of grief in her own way. She'd eventually come to the realisation that it was okay to feel sad sometimes. When sadness threatened to overtake her, she allowed the feeling to instead pass through her. She let herself feel the pain of loss. But she didn't let it overtake her anymore. She pulled herself out with a happy thought, or a moment of reflection on what Rob would have done, and then she got on with her life.
Now, feeling the sand between her toes and the pull of the ocean, Addison decided Rob would have liked to holiday in Getaway Bay, but he couldn't have lived here. He'd have missed the hustle and bustle of the city too much.
With a smile and a nod to the blue sky, Addison turned and headed for home.
The beach house was a hive of activity when she arrived. Adam and Layla were in the great room, Layla setting the big dining table and Adam talking to her a mile a minute. By the sounds of it he'd finished his latest draft and was hyped up with excitement.
"Where are the kids?" Addison said when Adam took a breath. She'd taken to referring to Olivia, Justin, and Emily collectively as 'the kids'.
"In the kitchen," Layla replied. "But you're not allowed in there," she added just as Addison was about to open the connecting door.
"Why not?"
"They're cooking dinner," said Layla. She took Addison by the hand and led her into the lounge area of the great room. "They wanted to surprise you. I'm to make sure you don't go in there, under any circumstances. Sit."
Addison did as instructed, already mildly concerned as to the state of her kitchen. "What am I supposed to do then?" she asked.
"Relax," said Adam. "I'll get you a drink. Glass of wine? Or would you prefer a beer?"
"Um, I'll take a glass of wine, please."
"Coming right up." Adam paused at the door. "No peeking," he said, twirling his finger in a 'turn around' motion. Addison obeyed, and heard the door open and close before she turned back to face Layla.
"So he's allowed in the kitchen?" she asked.
"Of course. I am, too. They're not trying to surprise us." Addison's concern must have shown on her face. "They wanted to do something nice for you, Addison. Relax and enjoy it. And don't worry – we can put your kitchen back to normal tomorrow after they've gone home."
Addison took a deep breath and loosened her shoulders. She'd read a news article the other day about being mindful and appreciating the small moments in life, rather than rushing and trying to get everything done at once. It had sounded like good advice, and now she had an opportunity to use it. She'd had other people in her kitchen before, of course. She wasn't that precious. But she'd always been there as well. Being calm about letting the kids loose in there on their own – that was going to take a lot of deep breaths.
Adam returned and handed Addison a glass of wine. She sipped it and tried to relax, tuning out as Adam resumed his conversation with Layla about his latest draft. She was staring out the front window, just getting to a place of calm acceptance that her kitchen was going to look like a bomb hit it and that was okay, when a car pulled up outside.
It was Isaac.
"What's he doing here?" Addison asked.
Layla craned her neck to look out the window, then smiled when she recognised the detective. "Oh, that's their other surprise," she said. "Justin invited your boyfriend to dinner."
15
"He's not my boyfriend." Addison tried to wipe the scowl off her face as she went to answer the door.
"Yeah, whatever," said Layla, then disappeared into the kitchen. Addison looked around for Adam, but he'd slunk off somewhere quietly too.
Addison composed herself and opened the door. "Hello," she said, with what she hoped was a convincing smile. "How are you feeling?"
"A little better, thank you," said Isaac, wiping his feet on the mat. "The chicken soup must have done the trick." He thrust a bottle of white wine into Addison's hands and followed her into the great room.
"That's good to hear. Don't ask me what we're having tonight. I've just found out you'll be joining us for our mystery dinner."
"Mystery dinner?"
"Well it's a mystery to me," Addison said. "I've been banned from my own kitchen."
"Oh." Isaac looked nervous. "Is everything okay? Should I not have come?"
Addison pulled herself together. "No, it's fine. I'm just… I guess I'm not used to being told what's happening. I'm usually the one organising."
"Let me guess – they wanted to surprise you."
"Something like that."
"And I'm not a good surprise?"
Addison looked from Isaac to the bottle of wine in her hands, and then back up to him. "You'll do," she said with a smile. "But you'll have to take this into the kitchen for yourself," she added.
"Fair enough." He took the bottle back and went through to where the action was, leaving Addison feeling left out in her own home. So far this surprise dinner wasn't much fun.
It wasn't long before Isaac retuned, and Justin followed him clutching the open bottle of wine from the fridge.
"Hi Mum," he said, topping up her glass and filling Isaac's empty one. "I hope you haven't been peeking in the kitchen."
"And ruin the surprise? Of course not."
"Can I get you anything else? Some chips or something?"
"That depends. I wouldn't want to spoil my dinner. What is it you said you were cooking?"
Justin laughed. "I didn't. Nice try, though. I think Emily is preparing a cheese platter. I'll bring it out shortly."
He disappeared before she could ask him anything else.
"Is it a total disaster in there?" Addison asked Isaac, sipping her wine.
He grinned. "This is really hard for you, isn't it? Staying out here while someone else is in charge in your kitchen."
"There's no need for you to laugh about it," said Addison. He was right, dammit. It was so hard not being in control in her favourite room of the house. But the kids were trying to do something special for her, and that made up for any control issues she was feeling. Sort of. She changed the subject.
"I met the two clowns at the carnival today," she said. Might as well take advantage of being alone with him. "Corey and Luc."
"Oh yes? Did you find anything out?"
"Not really. Corey seemed like he might be hiding something, but I'm not sure. He had problems with Frankie because he's gay, and Frankie was apparently homophobic. Gave Corey a hard time, but Holly says Corey mostly just ignored him. It's not really much of a motive for murder."
"No, it's not. We did a background check on both of them. Corey left home at fifteen, had a few minor run-ins with the law, but nothing to raise any red flags. Just your typical angry youth stuff. He joined the Hanleys
four years ago, started on the rides, but studied at clown school in the off-season one year and he's been a clown for the last two years."
"Clown school? That's a thing?"
Isaac shrugged. "Apparently."
Addison smiled, a picture of a class full of clowns juggling and tumbling forming in her head. She shook it off and returned to the task at hand. "A clown for two years – that fits with what Corey told me."
"But you think there was something he wasn't telling you?"
"That's the feeling I got. I asked Holly if he had a boyfriend, and she said she thinks he does and is keeping it quiet. That's probably all it is. The boyfriend isn't as open about his sexuality yet, apparently."
"Okay. We'll keep him on the list, as we can't rule him out yet. What about the other one, Luc?"
"I didn't get much from him. He seems nice, quite young, but then they all seem young compared to me. He didn't want to talk about Frankie's murder, and he didn't want to tell me what was troubling Corey, either."
"Any chance he could be the secret boyfriend?"
Addison hadn't thought of that. She cast her mind back to the meeting earlier, tried to remember the body language between the two clowns. She hadn't noticed anything that told her they might be more than friends.
"I don't think so, but I suppose I can't rule it out. I'm not great when it comes to spotting things like that, to be honest."
"That makes two of us," said Isaac. He took a sip of his wine. "This is nice," he said, holding up the glass and examining the wine as if looking at it closely would confirm how good it tasted.
"Just the right amount of fruitiness," said Addison. She was no expert on wine, but she knew what she liked. An expensive bottle of red was completely wasted on her, but give her a nice, crisp, sav blanc and she was happy.
"Indeed," Isaac agreed.
"So how are you going with your background checks on the rest of the suspects?" Addison asked. She knew they couldn't talk about the case in front of the others, so she wanted to keep him on track now while she had him to herself.
"Very good, actually. We've ruled out both of the trapeze artists, for a start."
"Oh? How did you manage that?"
"They were having an affair." Isaac leaned forward in his seat and lowered his voice. "They've both got spouses back home, but spending eight months a year on the road, things happen. We found a couple of charges for motel rooms on both of their credit cards, and the dates match up. When we confronted them with that evidence, they admitted it. Don't know why they didn't tell us in the first place. They were together in the guy's bunk when Frankie was murdered."
"That just makes them each other's alibi, doesn't it? Is that good enough?"
"Normally, no. But they… um… let's just say there's a recording that shows them together at the time of the murder. We're satisfied they had nothing to do with it."
"Oh." Addison blushed and tried to hide her embarrassment behind her wine glass, but she ended up laughing. Isaac smiled too.
"What's so funny?"
They both turned in the direction of the voice. Layla had entered the great room carrying the cheese platter. She sat it on the coffee table, and then called up the stairs to Adam before taking a seat on the lounge.
"Well?" she said. "What were you laughing at?"
"Nothing," said Addison, then quickly changed the subject. "How's my kitchen?"
"No permanent damage." Layla raised her eyebrows then popped a square of cheese in her mouth. She turned to Isaac. "How's the investigation?"
"It's ongoing," he said, then concentrated on cutting himself a slice of cheese and choosing a cracker to pair it with.
"So you haven't caught anyone yet?"
"We're following a number of lines of enquiry."
Adam came down the stairs at a jog then and dove straight into the cheese platter. "That's all we're going to get?" he asked Isaac. "Ongoing, following lines of enquiry, yada yada yada?"
"I'm afraid so," said Isaac.
Adam crammed a large piece of cheese and two whole crackers into his mouth.
"Adam!" said Addison.
He finished the mouthful. "What? I'm hungry!"
Addison shook her head and let it go. He was a grown man, responsible for his own actions and social interactions. She changed the subject.
"How is your book coming along?"
It was either the wrong thing to say or the right thing to say, depending on your perspective. Adam launched into a monologue about his book and, while she enjoyed hearing him so animated and passionate about his work, she felt sorry for Layla who'd heard it all already. Isaac seemed interested, though, so that was good.
Before long Justin emerged from the kitchen to tell them dinner was ready. Layla and Adam headed for the table, but Isaac held Addison back.
"There's one more thing we found out today I wanted to tell you," he whispered.
"What's that?" she asked.
"You know Harriet and Owen Hanley have a son?"
"Yes, Holly told me. What was his name?"
"Henry."
"That's it. Owen's mother looks after him a lot. What about him?"
"He isn't Owen's."
16
There was no time to get any further information from Isaac before the rest of the household arrived at the table, so Addison was left with the news of young Henry's parentage swirling in her mind throughout dinner. If Owen Hanley wasn't the boy's father, who was? And did it have anything to do with Frankie's murder?
Justin had marinated a butterflied leg of lamb and cooked it to perfection in the barbecue. He carved it at the table and couldn't hide his delight when the knife slid through to reveal deliciously pink flesh.
Olivia had excelled herself, too. She'd made some scrumptious-looking roast potatoes and sweet potatoes, as well as some honey-glazed baby carrots and butter-braised Brussels sprouts. There was gravy and mint sauce to top it off, and Addison couldn't wait to dig in.
"Emily made dessert," said Justin, beaming at his fiancée. "It looks amazing, so make sure you save room."
There were murmurs of 'yes' and 'definitely' around the table, then everyone filled their plates and passed around the gravy.
"This all looks wonderful," said Addison as they tucked in. "I'm so proud of you both."
"Remember that when you look in the kitchen," said Olivia.
"I don't care anymore," said Addison. She cut a piece of lamb and popped it into her mouth. "Wow," she said, almost involuntarily. "That's delicious."
"We learnt from the best," said Justin. He raised his glass. "Cheers. Thanks for having us this weekend, Mum. It's great to see where you've moved to. I'm glad you're happy here."
"Thank you, Justin. Of course, I'm happy to have you, anytime." Addison tipped her glass towards Emily. "And it's so lovely to finally meet you, Emily. Welcome to the family."
Everyone toasted, then got busy with their food. There was hardly a word spoken as they all devoured the meal. Rob popped into Addison's mind once again, and she smiled to herself. He would have been just as proud of their children as she was.
"So I guess it's pointless asking…" Adam began.
"It certainly is," said Isaac, cutting him off. "I'm sorry, mate. I wish I could share the details of the investigation with you, but you know I can't."
"But you can tell Addison?"
"She's an official police volunteer. She's been through a police check, and signed a confidentiality agreement."
Adam helped himself to more roast potatoes. "Can I do that too?"
Isaac paused. "I guess so. You won't get through if you've got a record, though."
Adam frowned. "Those charges were dropped."
"I know," said Isaac. "Let's discuss it later."
Adam cut into his roast potato with more force than was necessary. Addison's heart broke for him; all he wanted to do was help.
"So about that – Mum being a volunteer, I mean," said Justin. He rested his knife and fork on the side of
his plate. "I assume you won't be putting her in harm's way at all, Detective Wilcox?"
"Of course not," said Isaac. "The role of a police volunteer is strictly administrative. They're there to support sworn officers, not take their place."
"Right. So she'll fulfil this support role from the safety of the police station?"
Isaac nodded. "That's correct."
Justin persisted. "Can you guarantee—"
"Justin," said Addison. "I don't need you—"
He held up a hand to interrupt her. "I'm just concerned, Mum. I'm not going to be here. Emily and I are a long way away in Melbourne. Since Dad died… I just feel… I can't stand the thought of you being in any danger, that's all."
Isaac put down his knife and fork. "I understand your concerns, Justin," he said. "Believe me. I promise not to put your mother in any danger. You have my word."
That seemed to appease Justin, but Addison had no idea how she felt about it. Having her son concerned for her safety was natural, she supposed. But the two of them discussing it in front of her, and one promising the other to keep her safe, it felt like the nineteen fifties.
"I am a grown woman, you know," she said, unable to let it go. "I can look after myself."
"We know, Mum," said Olivia. "But Justin has a point. He's all the way down in Melbourne, and I'm four hours away at uni most of the time too. We miss you, and we just want to know you're being looked after. There have been three murders since you arrived in Getaway Bay, after all."
Olivia had a point. Addison decided not to press the issue further. It was a tiny bit gratifying to hear how much her kids cared about her. She changed the subject.
"Is anyone else ready for dessert?"
Layla and Emily swung into action, clearing plates and dishes as Adam took one last swipe at the remnants of the lamb. Isaac asked Olivia how her course was going, and Addison listened as her daughter talked about her subjects and how much she was enjoying what she was learning. She asked Isaac a few forensics questions, and he was happy to share what he could with her. He even told her to contact him when she needed or wanted to do any work experience, and he'd see what he could do to set her up with the forensic services team in Riverwood.