A Vicious Cycle

by Eliza Brookes

She slammed the front door behind her, hating the way she reacted but not willing to apologize. No one would take away her choice and make her feel fragile. She knew what she was doing. At least, she hoped that she did.

  Chapter Ten

  “Allegra?” James asked gently, snapping her out of her anger-fueled haze.

  “Yes?” she asked calmly, trying to ignore images of her strangling Crane. It wasn’t the most effective way to calm down, but it was satisfying. James stood at the foot of the stairs, watching her carefully as if he expected her to explode from anger.

  “Sarah would like to talk to you. I think she wants an update on how things are going.”

  Allegra nodded slowly and walked past him, her thoughts racing in her head. Crane and Matty’s warnings echoed in her head and she wondered if she had been too hasty when she dismissed them. The thought of Crane’s condescending demeanor and her anger propelled her up the stairs. Whenever she decided to go back to the gym, she would have to ask Crane for some motivation. He was a nasty piece of work, but at least he got her to do things.

  “Sarah?” Allegra asked gently, knocking on the door James had pointed her to.

  “Come in, my dear,” Sarah said weakly.

  She walked in to find the elderly woman lying on her back with a cool cloth on her forehead. Suddenly, the thought of her being the murderer seemed preposterous. Sarah looked too fragile to commit any crime. Then she remembered how Crane had dismissed her as fragile and she felt a renewed surge of suspicion well up inside of her.

  “James said that you wanted to see me?”

  “Yes, I’d like a progress report, if you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t mind,” Allegra said soothingly. “I spent the morning searching Penny’s favorite hiding place. Yesterday I found her laptop and a secret site that she created. It’s like a video diary. There was a password, but I managed to guess it. I was looking through it before the police interrupted me.”

  “Penelope,” Sarah said simply, closing her eyes.

  “Pardon?”

  “Don’t call her Penny, I hate that nickname. Her name is Penelope. If her mother wanted her to be called Penny, she should have named her Penny. I never understood the nickname craze.”

  “I’m sorry,” Allegra said slowly, “and that’s all the progress I’ve made so far.”

  “And what about Ruby? Did you find anything in the attic? I know she kept a diary, I just hope it wasn’t destroyed in that fire.”

  ‘No, I haven’t found the diary yet,” Allegra admitted, “and to be honest, finding out what happened to Ruby will be a lot harder than finding out what happened to Penelope.”

  “It’s the way Ruby would have wanted it,” Sarah muttered to herself.

  “Do you really think so?” Allegra asked in surprise.

  “There’s no doubt in my mind,” Sarah said with a fond smile, “she was such a contrary person. She loved the spotlight but hated prolonged attention. If you told her to do one thing, she’d do everything in her power to do the exact opposite.”

  “She sounds a lot like Penelope,” Allegra said with a small smile.

  “No, they were very different,” Sarah said with a frown. “Penelope always did what I asked. She was such a good girl.”

  “I’m sorry,” Allegra said, frowning in confusion, “I must have been mistaken.”

  “Yes,” Sarah said absently, “be a dear and pass me that glass of water, will you?”

  “Sure thing,” Allegra said, handing her the glass of water on her bedside table. “Are you alright?” she asked when she noticed that Sarah couldn’t open her hand properly and that she was shaking.

  “Yes,” Sarah said with a grimace, “I have a severe form of arthritis. It makes things difficult sometimes.”

  “I’m sorry,” Allegra said again, feeling like a broken record player, “that must be very hard for you.”

  “You have no idea,” Sarah said tiredly, closing her eyes again, “I used to be able to do everything, now I can barely lift a glass of water. Don’t get old my dear, it’s a curse.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way,” Allegra said sympathetically.

  “We’re all very sorry,” Sarah muttered. “Well done on everything. You’ll crack the case in no time. If you’ll excuse me, please.”

  Allegra nodded and retreated without a word. She stood outside the door and shook her head slightly, in a single conversation, Sarah had taken herself off the suspect list. There was no way that she would have been able to hold Penny down long enough to kill her. Not to mention digging a grave and burying her. Sarah was not a fragile person; her body was just weak.

  “Do you understand now?” James asked, leaning slightly against the wall, a look of concern on his face.

  “She’s sick, and in pain,” Allegra said slowly. She felt empathy for the woman inside the room, but no pity. You couldn’t pity a person like Sarah. There was no reason to.

  “She also just lost her sister and her granddaughter. She’s lost a lot in her life, she puts on this brave face but that’s all it is. I can’t agree with everyone else when they call her a dragon lady.”

  “She’s still a dragon,” Allegra told him simply, “that doesn’t change because she’s human underneath it all.”

  “I suppose that’s true,” James said with a smile. “What did she say when you gave her diary back?”

  “I didn’t tell her,” Allegra shrugged.

  “Why not?”

  “James, tell me the truth. If I told Sarah Kinsleigh that I have her diary from when she was seventeen years old, is there any chance she’d let me read it?”

  “No,” he admitted, “that doesn’t make it right.”

  “Neither is murder. People need to give up a few things to get the truth. Sarah is going to help in ways she can’t even imagine. If I don’t use that diary, it’s going to be harder to find out what happened. You’re welcome to tell her but know what you’re doing to her in the long run.”

  Allegra stepped to the side to let him pass her and he straightened up in determination. His eyes flickered to the door and back to her. After a few moments, he slouched and walked off in the opposite direction. She sighed and rolled her eyes. What was going on with all the men today? They seemed intent on making her life difficult.

  She made her way back to her room and locked the door behind her. The house was not a safe place for her, and every minute she felt more paranoid. It felt as though someone was waiting to pounce on her around every corner. She wasn’t sure how long she would be able to last in the house. Allegra shook her head and turned back to Penny’s laptop. While she waited for everyone to wake up, she checked the time. Ashlee and Greta would be feeding their children lunch by now, she would just have to update them on her progress later.

  To her surprise, when she picked up her phone she noticed that she had dozens of missed calls from Greta.

  “Hello?” she answered when the phone rang again.

  “Where have you been?” Greta yelled in anger, “I’ve been calling forever! Do you know how worried I was?”

  “Why were you worried?” Allegra asked in confusion.

  “Crane called, and he told me everything. Allegra, you need to come home. This isn’t funny anymore!”

  “Crane called you?” Allegra seethed, just as she’d forgotten about that particular problem, he decided to go and make it worse.

  “Yes! And he was right. I’m coming over there right now.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Allegra stood up. “Greta, Crane was overreacting. Don’t worry, I’m safe. I’m finding some real clues and I’ll be done in no time. Stop worrying about me.”

  “You’re in the house with that murderer!”

  “Sarah?” Allegra asked in confusion.

  “Yes! Her!”

  “Greta, Sarah has severe arthritis. There’s no way she killed Penny.”

  “Oh,” Greta said softly, “wait, there are other people there!”

  “Yeah, but they’re all
hiding in their rooms. No one has tried to hurt me, and I’ve found some serious stuff. Don’t worry, I’m going to be fine. The minute I feel threatened, I’ll come home. I swear.”

  “Okay,” Greta said meekly.

  “Thank you, now go feed Eric. I know he must hate me right now because you’re not feeding him.”

  “He could never hate you,” Greta scoffed, “he loves you too much.”

  “I know, but I have to work. Bye Greta.”

  “Bye,” Greta said, sounding a lot more cheerful.

  “I’m going to kill him,” Allegra vowed, glaring out the window. After she took a few deep breaths, she turned her attention back to Penny’s video diary.

  “It’s so weird being home,” Penny told the camera. She looked a lot less cheerful than the last video. Her eyes were rimmed with red and her hair hadn’t been brushed. It looked like she made this one during the night. “Everyone is so nice. Mom took me to the salon today and we had this whole discussion about my mental health. She said that there’s too much pressure on young people nowadays and that it’s only natural to want a break from it all. They’re being so nice, I wish I could tell them”

  Penny stopped talking and looked down at her nails. She was busy picking at them, as if there was something weighing heavily on her mind. She let out a shaky sigh and looked back at the camera. Allegra felt her heart break when she saw that Penny had tears running down her cheeks.

  “I need to tell someone, otherwise I’m going to go insane.” Penny admitted, wiping the tears away. “I can’t tell anyone in my family. Their reputation is too important. Even my mom says she hates it, but she’s not different from them. I mean, she’s always telling me to be careful and respect the family name. I think she’s been brainwashed. You know she used to organize rallies and protests? Now she’s organizing tea parties and fund raisers. It’s so sad. I’m never going to be like that.”

  Something crashed in the background and Penny jumped up, looking spooked. She calmed down slightly when she saw that it was just a potted plant that had been knocked over by the wind. She quickly closed the window and sat down again, shaking slightly.

  “Sorry,” she smiled apologetically, “I’m a little jumpy these days. Anyway, I better get to the point. That’s what Professor Brand always says. Gosh, listen to me. After everything, I still can’t call him Richard.”

  Allegra frowned at the screen when she realized what Penny was trying to say. She started shaking her head, hoping that she was wrong, and that Penny had just broken up with a classmate.

  “Here’s what happened,” Penny sighed heavily. “I’ve been having an affair with Professor Brand. I didn’t come home because I was under too much pressure at school. I came home because he threatened to kill me. I know that I’m the bad guy in this story, and everyone’s going to say that I seduced him or something. To be honest, I thought it was exciting. I thought that he loved me. It all started when he offered to give me extra lessons, and then he started flirting with me. I thought I was special, but then these other girls came forward and warned me about him. Apparently, he has this wife who is a lot older than him or something.

  “When I confronted him, he went ballistic and threatened to kill me if I ever told anyone about us. He threw a camera at me,” Penny said tonelessly. She sighed and lifted her shirt to show a large bruise on her stomach.

  “You know, I always thought that love was this beautiful thing that connected two souls,” she shook her head slowly, “I was wrong. I just hope that the man Ruby ran off with really loved her. I think it would be worth it then. Can you imagine it? Loving someone enough to leave everything behind? I thought I loved Professor Brand like that, but I was able to leave him instead of everything else. It really makes you think.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Allegra sat there for a while after the video had finished. Penny’s words kept coming back to her and she felt sad that in the modern day and age, women were still treated as dispensable by some men. Penny had been a naïve young girl who only wanted to be loved, she had gone about it in the wrong way and she had paid a steep price. Allegra wondered briefly if the professor had suffered half as much as Penny had. She dismissed the thought very quickly, of course he hadn’t.

  It also occurred to her that she now had a suspect for one of the murders. Penny’s story was beginning to take shape, but Ruby’s was still frustratingly murky. She had hoped that Penny would talk more about the diary, but at the moment she was focused on getting answers from Professor Brand. As soon as she had her thoughts in order, it became clear that she needed a little help.

  “Allegra,” Matty said sounding more than a little shocked, “this is a surprise.”

  “No, it isn’t,” she snapped, “which one of you decided to call Greta?” The line on the other side went quiet and she wondered if it would have been better to use a video call. That way she would be able to see the guilty expression on his face. She cursed the Kinsleighs for deciding to live so far away from the town. It was beginning to frustrate her. “Matty, I’m waiting.”

  “Okay, fine,” he sighed, “it was my idea. I thought that she could talk some sense into you. You’re being stubborn, Allegra. This isn’t one of those amateur cases that we took on back home.”

  “I thought you were on my side,” she said, feeling hurt by his confession. His actions proved that despite his support, he always thought she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t wait to prove him and Crane wrong.

  “I am on your side,” he said softly, “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “That’s a very convenient excuse,” she snapped, “you two are jealous. Those amateur cases, as you so bluntly put it, are cases that I solved before either of you could. I thought you were bigger than this.”

  “Don’t say that,” he said in a firm tone, “I have always supported you. You’re forgetting that you nearly got shot the last time you caught the bad guy. Oh, and what about the time someone tried to burn your house down while you were still in it? Can’t you see that this is so much worse than those times. No one is going to come rescue you when you decide to take on whoever did this. No one helped Penny, and she lived there her whole life.”

  “I don’t need saving,” she spat out, “I’m fine. Besides, whoever killed Ruby is probably dead or ancient and I think whoever killed Penny didn’t even live on the estate.”

  “How do you know?” Matty asked in surprise.

  “I have her video diary. There was more going on than any of us realized. Penny wasn’t the saintly daughter everyone is making her out to be. I think someone from her school had something to do with this.”

  “I don’t know,” Matty said hesitantly, “she and Ruby were buried in the same grave. Whoever buried her had to have a good idea of where to do it. How would a stranger know where to put the body? You’re also ignoring the fact that they both died of asphyxiation.”

  “Their grave might be a coincidence. Like I said earlier today, asphyxiation is a common way to kill people.”

  “How would the grave be a coincidence?” Matty asked curiously, “I think that is way too specific to rule out double homicide.”

  “Let me rule out a double homicide for you. Ruby was killed in 1956. That was exactly sixty-two years ago. Ruby was eighteen, so whoever killed her must have been older than her. Whoever did it will be in their eighties or nineties, or dead. How is someone that old going to kill a spirited girl like Penny? If it was the same person, they would have to have poisoned her or incapacitated her in some way. That’s extremely unlikely, especially if that person is dead. Now, as for the grave. It is literally the furthest point away from the house that is still easy to reach. Ruby was there for that long without anyone knowing she was there. Penny spent all her time there, it was her favorite hiding place, according to one source.

  “Now, Penny was out on her own for the first time. She was far from home and enjoying her freedom. I’m guessing that she told more than a few people about her awful home
and how she would always hide in that big tree where no one else on the estate ever went. A person who never explored the grounds but heard her talk about it must have realized that it was their best option. The same goes for Ruby. I don’t think we should focus on the coincidences so much that we rule out any other possibilities.”

  “Fair enough,” Matty admitted wearily when she finished her explanation. “Why did you call? I’m guessing it wasn’t just to tell me all that. Or was it to yell at me for telling Crane to call Greta. I get that was uncalled for, I’m sorry.”

  “You have the attention span of a goldfish,” she sighed, “I told you I think someone at her school did it.”

  “Okay,” Maty said tiredly, “explain your theory.”

  “I just watched one of her video entries. Penny said the real reason she came home was because she was having an affair with a professor at her school.”

  “Whoa,” Matty whistled under his breath, “I was not expecting that. Sarah made her granddaughter out to be such a do-gooder angel type who could do no wrong.”

  “Don’t be so judgmental,” Allegra told him imperiously, “she was young and in love. Just because she did something like that doesn’t mean that she was a bad person.”

  “I’m not saying that, but admit it, she couldn’t have been this straight-laced goody-two-shoes if she was running around with a professor. She was more of a wild child than Sarah is willing to admit. Girls don’t just start doing stuff like that, I guess she was attracted to trouble.”

  “Don’t be so sure,” Allegra said slowly, “I agree that she wasn’t as straight-laced as Sarah says, but doing something like this shows how sheltered she’s been. Remember that this was her first time away from her parents. She was also obsessed with these romance novels. She chewed through them like candy. If she was more experienced, she would have known better than to fall for the smooth-talking professor.”

  “Once again, I see your point. Carry on.”

  “Anyway, Penny didn’t know that the professor was married.”

  “Oh, come on!” Matty interrupted, “You’ve got to be kidding me. How do you not know that someone was married? Next, you’re going to tell me that she thought love was going to fix it for her.”