Wicked in Wonderland: Strawberry Éclair Murder

by Lotta Smith

  “So she begged me to come back, using our parents in Wisconsin as some kind of blackmail tool,” Holly said. “At first, she’d promised to set me free as soon as the current series ended. But recently, this Wizard series was being turned into a TV series, and she was getting busier and busier, and she asked me to stay longer—as in years and years, or worse, decades. In retrospect, I should have hired an attorney and made a contract with the duration of employment, but I didn’t. Silly me… I’d been turning down Eve’s demands to stay with her for like forever, over and over, but she wouldn’t listen.”

  “I see,” I muttered. I hadn’t known Eve for long, but I could assume her persistence.

  “Right.” Holly nodded. “The night before her death, she brought up that subject again. She said, ‘Okay then, what do you say about another five years? Or three, maybe? Pretty please, sugar on top? Look, you don’t have any dreams or anything you want to accomplish or anything big, right?’”

  “Ouch,” I muttered. Eve seemed blasé about personal feelings for anyone except herself and her characters, but that comment appeared to have crossed the line.

  “Oh my God, did she actually say that?” Jackie exclaimed, popping up by my side from out of nowhere, prompting me to gasp.

  Rick glanced at me but didn’t say anything, and the ghost explained, “Look, Eve wanted me to come here and see if any progress has been made and—”

  Holly, who didn’t hear or see Jackie, went on. “So I said, ‘I might be married someday, and you don’t want me to keep on living here with my future husband, do you?’ And then, what do you think she said?” She looked me straight in the eyes.

  “I don’t know. Can I ask you what?” I said, trying not to provoke her.

  “She told me to marry Frank,” she said, turning red in the face. “She said Frank was sure to accept my career as her manager, and she even mentioned calling him to persuade him to marry me. And when she said that, she was smiling… and the smile wasn’t anything sarcastic. It was more like a little kid’s smile, without a care in this world. When I saw that face, I knew I had to kill her. And I couldn’t let go of that feeling.”

  “Excuse me? Did she kill her own sister?” Jackie shrieked. I covered my ears, pretending I was holding my head due to a headache or something.

  “So, Frank wasn’t your type,” Rick said calmly.

  “No. I didn’t mean to say that!” Holly said breathlessly, shaking her head. “I’ve always had a secret crush on him, and that’s why something snapped inside me. I felt so violated, and I was so angry. I imagined myself having to live for my intrusive sister who never bothered to care for my feelings, and suddenly, going to the prison for fifteen to twenty years seemed like a rosier option.”

  “Oh,” Jackie and I muttered in unison.

  “I wanted to live as Holly Wellington, as an independent individual. And I desperately wanted my life back instead of being an accessory to my sister,” she said in a determined tone. “On top of all that, I was sick of the strawberry fucking éclair! Okay, so I liked it in the beginning, but believe me, you’ll start to loathe your most favorite food when you’re force-fed it like you’re a pig or something!”

  “Oh,” I muttered, unable to come up with something sensible to say.

  Then she turned to Rick. “When did you start to see me as the prime suspect?”

  “That’s a good question,” he said. “At first, everyone was a prime suspect, especially the assistants. Their alibis weren’t solid, and they could have had some trouble while working with her. Especially Jess, who raved about Eve’s goodness. I had to wonder if it was some tactic to divert our attention.”

  “Oh, Jess? She’s a total Pollyanna. She wouldn’t even think about killing anybody.” Holly shrugged. “I was in the same shoes with her in terms of having no solid alibi, right?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Rick agreed.

  “Then did you have something like a bias that a sister wouldn’t kill her own sibling?”

  “Not really. Siblings do kill each other, but with this case, I have to admit a preoccupation that you’d have killed her in this house,” he said. “It’s easier to dispose of the body, and considering you lived alone with Eve, the risk of being reported to the police in the middle of the murder is small. Also, if you did a good job hiding her body, you could have faked her disappearance by making it look like a capricious, impromptu travel.”

  As he spoke, Holly listened in silence, a small smile on her lips.

  “Besides, committing murder in the middle of a public street ran a huge risk of having someone witness the act,” Rick went on. “Hey, why did you continue to look after the garden and the rabbit?”

  “Is there anything wrong with keeping this house as pristine as possible?” Holly cocked her head to the side.

  “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but if you were sick of taking care of the rabbit and the garden, you could have done away with both of them. By giving the rabbit away or selling it to someone, you’d be able to use as many herbicides as you like.”

  “Please, Rick, don’t tell her she could have stewed the rabbit and eaten it,” I mumbled, prompting him to frown.

  “That’s sick, but not impossible.” He shrugged.

  Jackie rolled her eyes.

  Holly started to chuckle. “Look, I couldn’t afford to stab her in this house,” she said, looking around the stylish salon. “Just because I’m a reluctant manager doesn’t mean I’m happy to ruin this place. I’m responsible for keeping this house clean and comfy, and bloodstains wouldn’t be kind to the walls and floors. After all, I’m the one who has to clean up the mess. Okay, by changing the mode of killing into strangulation, things could be different, but I wasn’t sure if I had enough power to choke her to death. Still, wasn’t it well-plotted considering I came up with the whole plan in just a day?”

  “Oh my God.” Jackie sighed. “How should we explain everything to Eve?”

  I didn’t have an answer to that question.

  “A well-plotted plan coming from short notice?” Rick said. “I agree with you for some part. If it took a day or two to ID the victim, you’d have had enough time to dispose of the raincoat and the knife, and it might not have been as easy to finger you as the killer.”

  Holly let out a small sigh. “I should have taken the bakery bag as well, but I didn’t want to. Killing your little sister is one thing, but taking away the last gift from her while she bled to death is… sick.”

  “By the way, Mandy,” Jackie whispered, “Eve says she had ordered thirty roses to be delivered tomorrow morning while she was waiting for the éclair. It’s Holly’s birthday. You’ve got to tell her about that so she learns that her little sister loved her.”

  “Speaking of gifts, Holly, tomorrow is your birthday, right?” I said.

  “Yes… so what?” She glanced at me in puzzlement with a dash of suspicion.

  “While she waited for the éclair at the bakery, Eve ordered you a birthday present online, thirty roses,” I informed her.

  “Oh….” Holly massaged her temples. “Really? I… I… I did the right thing. I’m glad I killed her eight days ago.” Her voice was shaking.

  “Excuse me?” Jackie and I gasped in unison, and Rick raised an eyebrow.

  “If I saw the flowers for my birthday, I might have aborted my initial plan to kill her, and in that case, I’d definitely have gone back to my old self, secretly loathing her but pretending everything is all right.” She shivered. “On the contrary, I feel so peaceful right now. I won’t have bad feelings toward Eve. All I’m going to do is resent myself for the rest of my life.”

  Her cheeks trembled and her lips quivered uncontrollably, as if her facial muscles had developed their own will and didn’t know for sure if they wanted to make her laugh or cry.

  “I’m sorry,” Rick said softly.

  “Me, too.” Holly sniffled, looking down. “I feel really bad for her… but I couldn’t help it.”

  “A
ctually, I said I was sorry about you, Holly.”

  She looked up at him. “Why?”

  “Look, a person like you could have obtained success. You were full of possibilities. Whatever career path you might have taken, or whether you got married or not, you were eligible to spend a lot of happy times in your life… but now you’re headed for the confined life of prison. Talk about a sacrilege.”

  “I don’t know….”

  “I haven’t mentioned how I stopped regarding the assistants as suspects, right?” Rick looked straight in her eyes.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Jess, Kylie, and Beverly, all three of them seemed honestly troubled about Eve’s death. They seemed too fond of their workplace to ruin it by killing their employer.”

  “Oh. Eve was so loved….” Holly took a deep breath.

  “That’s not my point.” Rick shook his head. “Okay, so she was loved, and I don’t disagree with that part, but the person the women truly love and appreciate isn’t Eve Wellington the graphic novelist. You, and the comfortable workplace you’ve been creating and managing, are what they loved.”

  Holly’s jaw dropped, but no words came out.

  “No matter what your little sister told you, you’ve been doing the job no one else could do,” Rick concluded.

  “I… I….” Holly attempted to chuckle, but instead of laughter, a muffled cry came out. Covering her face with both hands, she openly sobbed, her tears wetting the floor.

  Framboise came hopping toward her and put his nose on Holly’s knee. He was supposed to be in the work studio, but had apparently escaped again.

  EPILOGUE

  After that, Rick, Jackie, and I left the Wellington residence and headed for the alley where Eve was still entrapped.

  “What should I say to Eve?” I asked, my stomach feeling really heavy.

  “The truth,” Rick and Jackie said in unison.

  “Oh,” I groaned. “According to Detective Frank Drebin from Naked Gun, truth hurts.”

  “Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with the seat missing.” Rick wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

  “Right. The worst scenario is lying to her,” Jackie agreed.

  “But it hurts,” I mumbled.

  “Don’t worry, you won’t be alone coping with Eve. Right, Jackie?” Rick said, pulling me close.

  “Of course!” Jackie bounced.

  When we reached the destination, Eve was waving her arms at us, like she was quite happy and contented in her own world.

  “Oh, it was Holly?” She widened her eyes as I explained—with help from Rick and Jackie—about the identity of the killer and her motive.

  Covering my face with both hands and ducking, I braced myself for Eve’s temper tantrum. I knew she had the power to create a small storm, and considering she was facing the most painful truth….

  Still, I didn’t feel strong gusts of wind. Not even a rustle of leaves.

  With her lips shaped in a small O, Eve was standing there in silence.

  “You know, Eve… we’re very sorry for….” Jackie approached Eve and started consoling her.

  “I think I’m partly to blame,” Eve said calmly. “Holly has always been so kind and caring, and in retrospect, there were times I took advantage of her. When she was totally firm about quitting the manager thing, I begged Mom to persuade her… and that happened over and over.”

  “Eve, were you aware of your sister’s feelings toward Frank?” Rick asked.

  “No, not at all.” She shook her head. “Holly is always nice to everyone, regardless of whichever publisher the editors are from. If I knew her feelings, I wouldn’t have made such a stupid remark. Oh, poor Holly… she’ll have to face the trial and possibly prison time?” The ghost of a star graphic novelist covered her face in both hands.

  “Oh, Eve.” Jackie sniffled.

  “You know, Mandy, Jackie.” Eve lifted her head. “I know I sound like a total bitch, but what I’m sad about is the fact that I didn’t get to finish my series. I know I should be ashamed of driving Holly until she snapped, but all I can think about is my series, my story. I was planning a ton of twists and turns, and I have it all planned out until the final page.”

  “Eve….” While I was fumbling with my words, Rick touched my arm, and I realized that I wasn’t relaying her words to him.

  “Because of my egomaniac personality, I was killed.”

  As she let out a resigned sigh, Jackie opened her mouth. “Egomaniac? Come on! That’s a trait every successful creator manifests.” Her tone was firm and strong, as if she’d forgotten about her usual flamboyance for a moment.

  “I was so looking forward to the Wizard being made into a TV series, but now it’s gone, baby, gone… canceled before even it started.” Eve sobbed.

  I clutched Rick’s arm. “She’s sad about her TV show being canceled before its beginning.”

  He nodded. “Hey, Eve, suppose your TV series project goes on. Would you feel more peaceful?” he asked abruptly.

  “Of course!” Eve nodded desperately. “But it’s over, right?”

  “According to Frank, the main reason for Hollywood to consider aborting this project is because the screenwriters and directors aren’t sure if they’d be able to wrap everything up for the series. Then again, if you can help them by providing your idea, things could be different. Don’t you think so?” he said.

  Eve turned to me. “Mandy, will you be kind enough to be my interpreter?”

  “I think you have a better candidate for the task,” Rick said as I passed on her reaction.

  Jackie perked up. “He’s right! We have Brian!”

  “Brian?” Eve tilted her head to the side.

  “Yes, Brian.” I nodded. “He’s a part of your team working for the Wizard series, right? And he knows a lot about the characters and the plotlines.”

  “Oh my God! America’s hottest exorcist helps create the show of the star graphic novelist who suffered an untimely demise. Oh my God, can you say smoking hot?” Jackie pumped her fists in the air, bouncing around in apparent excitement. “People’s Choice Award, eat your heart out!”

  “Seriously?” Eve gasped. “But Brian is super busy. Will he have time for this?”

  “Of course he does.” Rick winked as I told him her concerns. “He loves big publicity and bigger bucks.”

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can’t say how much I appreciate you for everything.” Eve was all smiles.

  * * *

  For the next couple of days, the media raved about the sisterly rage murder involving a famous graphic novelist, but when a certain big TV studio announced they were making Eve’s hit series into a TV series with the help of Brian Powers, they totally went nuts.

  As for Holly, she’d confessed everything, and her bloody fingerprints were found on the knife.

  Kathy, the daughter of Hernandez and Chief DeLaurentis, was saddened for the outcome, but she had closure. And she was extra excited about the TV series being realized.

  I was sitting at my desk in the corner of Rick’s office at USCAB, chatting with Jackie, each of us naming the best candidate for the main characters of Eve’s upcoming TV series.

  “Hey, Mandy, can you believe that?” Rick stormed inside.

  “What’s up?” I waved at him.

  Waving back, he said, “Remember Framboise the rabbit? Who do you think has adopted him?”

  “That should be Jess, right?” I guessed.

  “Or maybe Kylie,” Jackie chimed in.

  “Guess what? It’s Beverly. She took in the rabbit,” Rick said in a stage whisper like it was top secret or something.

  “Seriously?” Jackie and I said in unison.

  “Right.”

  “Wow, I didn’t see that coming,” I commented. She seemed like the least likely person to volunteer to look after an animal who’d just lost his owners. But according to Rick, she happened to be an enthusiastic animal lover.

  “Speaking of unexpected, who co
uld have guessed a rabbit would be able to locate the murder weapon? Perhaps Framboise wants to be trained as the first police rabbit. Imagine the little fluffy guy sniffing out evidence and jumping onto the killer. How cool and cute is that?” Jackie interjected.

  “So true,” I agreed and relayed her words to Rick.

  “Actually, the item that guy detected wasn’t the knife or the blood.” Rick chuckled.

  “Then what?” Jackie and I said in unison.

  “It’s polyester. He loves the material, and no matter how deep in the trash Holly had buried polyester, all securely covered in plastic bags, Framboise knew where it was, dug it up, and chomped on it until it was tattered into pieces.”

  “Oh, that’s why Holly tried to keep him in the work studio.” I rolled my eyes.

  “What will Framboise have as the prize for helping you crack the case?” Jackie asked.

  “That’s a good question.” Rick crossed his arms thoughtfully. “I’ll send a box of assorted carrots to Beverly’s place as a token of thanks from us. How does that sound?”

  “Perfect,” Jackie and I said in unison.

  “By the way, Brian called and he’s exhausted by Eve’s intervention, starting from the cast members and the details about the plots and the lines.” He chuckled.

  “Hey, God is in the details,” Jackie chimed in.

  “He was practically tearing his hair out, regretting that he’d negotiated more diligently for the payment.” Rick chuckled. “Still, he’s scored bigger for interpreting the upcoming new series by Eve Wellington.”

  “What did you just say?” I said, for a moment not understanding.

  “Eve had come up with ideas for a new series with a whole cast of new characters and settings. And when Frank learned about that, he thought about having Eve work as the original author of the series, and have the three assistants work on the visual arts part,” Rick explained.

  “Isn’t that crazy?” I muttered.

  “But that’s a good kind of crazy, you know,” Jackie cooed.

  “Right.” Rick nodded. “Eve, Frank, and the assistants are already working on the new project, and Kathryn Anderson is even more excited for her competitor’s new series. She’s getting ready to beat Eve back in the popularity ranking.”