by Mayes, June
“Oh Beth! That’s awful,” Karin sounded truly upset for her. “Do you want me to call someone to help?”
“To be honest, I didn’t think he was too serious but if he’s checking up with my friends… it sounds like he might be,” Beth grew quiet. She chewed gently on her bottom lip. This was really not good. Beth wondered if they would let her design lingerie in prison.
“No,” Karin rushed to reassure her. “Beth, really no. He came to see me because I was in Brian’s little black book,” she explained, effectively distracting Beth from her morbid thoughts.
“Brian had a little black book? What?” Beth thought she must have misheard.
“You’d think we would be use to how sleazy your brother was,” Karin laughed. “He kept a little black book of all the women in his life. Like a list of his conquests or targets or whatever.”
“You’re kidding?” Beth was stunned. “Don’t little black books only exist in the movies? Who actually has a black book? Oh wait, that’s right - Brian. Please tell me you’re kidding” Beth begged Karin, laughing despite herself. She wouldn’t put it past him to have a black book. He also owned a sleeping jacket and smoked a pipe when he thought anyone was looking. Brian was not known for his good taste.
“Nope – the detective showed it to me. Page after page of women’s names and numbers. My name was in there. Oh and to add icing on the cake …” Karin’s voice hushed. This was going to be good. “He added a few comments.”
“No! What! Oh Karin, how awful!” Beth paused and thought for a second. “What did he say about you?” This was going to be even better.
“Oh that creep,” Karin giggled. “Apparently I have a great ass and he ranked me eight out of ten.” Beth and Karin dissolved in laughter “You can imagine the detective’s face when he had to read it to me,” Karin managed to get out. “And I can’t believe that he ranked me only an eight… I think I’m insulted!”
“Oh how mortifying!” Beth choked off her laughter.
“Wait a minute, does that mean you were one of Brian’s conquests?” She asked stunned. There was a silence on the other side of the phone, a complete and utter silence. It was unheard of for Karin to be that quiet unless she utterly guilty.
“You slept with Brian?!” Beth’s voice rose an octave. “Ugh – why?” she swallowed and paused. “I mean I’m sorry. You must be devastated that he’s dead?” Beth didn’t know what to think. It seemed impossible that Karin and Brian were an item. How had she managed to keep it a secret? Poor Karin.
“Not likely,” Karin retorted putting Beth’s racing mind to rest. “I thought you knew! It was after one of your parents parties. One of the themed ones, ‘Roman Rulers’ I think, when they made us dress as vestal virgins and serve up drinks.” Beth remembered that party particular well. They had all gotten a kick out of parading around in the draped sheets.
“I remember,” Beth replied as she laughed. “We kept tripping over those sheets that mum had wrapped around us toga style. We must have been about seventeen?” That had been a memorable night.
“We must have been. All I remember is that I was young and stupid. I thought that under every creep there was a true gentleman just dying to get out,” they laughed together again and Karin continued, “Never slept with him again, thank goodness. We ended up getting together in the shed in the backyard. Oh no,” Karin shrieked as Beth sputtered with laughter. Karin rushed on with her explanation, “I can’t believe I told you that. Listen just ignore the last bit. As far as Brian is concerned there was nothing going on between us. I mean every now and then he liked to ask me out but luckily, I don’t make stupid mistakes more then once! I mean who would be dumb enough to sleep with him once they knew what he was like?”
Both of them were quiet for a long second.
“Charlotte,” they chorused with glee. Beth made a mental note to discuss the garden shed at a later date. That little titbit would give her a bit of leverage next time Karin and Charlotte ganged up on her.
“Hang on I’ll conference her in,” Karin said. Beth could hear the beeps as Charlotte’s phone number was dialled. She took a deep breath feeling her lungs open up and lighten. It felt good to be talking about something else, something that wasn’t about the murder, even if that something did revolve yet again around Brian.
“Yello!” Charlotte’s cheerful voice filled the line.
“Hello Charlotte,” Karin and Beth sang back. They tended to do conference calls pretty regularly when they wanted to chat. It helped all four of the friends keep up with the news. While Karin and Beth were self employed, Charlotte worked for a fashion magazine as an editor. Nine times out of ten she was in her office whenever they called. Beth couldn’t even remember what Charlotte’s home even looked like. She only got a flash of ultra modern sleek metal and glass everywhere. It suited the flamboyant fashionable Charlotte down to a T. Of course she wasn’t sure if Charlotte even remembered what her home looked like, let alone where it was.
“Oh Beth. I heard about Brian. Are you and Vickie okay?” Charlotte asked. They could hear her dropping the papers as she turned her attention to the conversation. Beth felt her stomach tightened. Try as she might, every time they mentioned Brian dead, she felt ill. The fact that two of her closest friends knew Brian on a more intimate level without any hint to her was disturbing as well. She tried to quell the impulse to wonder if any of them could have had anything to do with his subsequent death.
“It’s all been a bit of a shock but we’ll survive, I think,” Beth replied quietly to Charlotte. “We didn’t have a great deal to do with him these last few years.”
“Unlike some we might mention,” Karin chirped in unable to contain herself any longer. Charlotte had a reputation for going through men like tissues. She was also not too particular as long as she was having fun. Charlotte was a firm believer in living for the moment.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Charlotte retorted ever in denial.
“Well how did you know he was dead?” Beth asked laughing. It felt good to smile. Morbid in a way but smiling was good.
“A detective came by to tell me and ask a few questions,” Charlotte confessed.
“And?” Karin and Beth asked in unison. This was going to be good.
“And what?” Charlotte asked nonchalantly.
“And how did you end up in Brian’s little black book?” Beth said pointedly. This was going to be really good.
“And yes, of course I slept with Brian,” Charlotte replied exasperated. She laughed. “It was about a year ago. I wanted to find out what all the fuss was about,” she paused for dramatic effect while the other two gasped in laughter, “And I can tell you it was all hype and no action. I started calling him slinky after that little indiscretion. The things I do for science,” she added trying to sound huffy. Beth couldn’t believe it two of her friends had slept with that reprobate. Just thinking about it was starting to make her skin crawl. Charlotte continued, “He was just so slimy with it. I swear that man thought his tongue should be bronzed!”
“Oh stop,” begged Beth laughing so hard she had to wipe tears from her eyes. “I really don’t want to hear the details.” The three friends tried to catch their breath.
“Doesn’t sound like he learned anything over the years then,” Karin mused when she could speak again.
“Like that is it?” Charlotte asked with a note of interest in her voice.
“Ugh I can’t believe that two of my closest friends have slept with my brother.” Beth said before the two of them could start to compare notes. She decided she just wasn’t going to think about it. “Ick you two just ick,” she said shaking her head. “Did the police tell either one of you that you were a suspect?” Beth added. Whatever they had experienced with the dearly departed was probably cause enough for his murder. She wondered if Detective Joe had considered bad sexual performance as a motive in the case.
“No,” they both replied in unison and Beth’s stomach dropped to the fl
oor.
“Hey look at the bright side of all this,” Karin continued cheerfully ignoring the panic that they were all no doubt feeling.
“Bright side?” Beth asked hoarsely.
“It could have been worse! Brian could have gone through all of your friends.” Karin replied sounding nonchalant and distracting Beth amazingly well from her suspect status. It wasn’t going to go away but Beth appreciated that her friends were going to such lengths not to let her dwell on what was happening. Then she thought about what Karin had said.
“There is just no way that …no,” Beth stuttered stunned. There was silence as they all paused.
“No way... she wouldn’t,” Charlotte confirmed sounding slightly shocked.
“Not in a million years,” Karin agreed, “although there is only one way to truly be sure. Hang on.” A phone rang in the distance and another voice got on the line.
“Matsuma residence,” a slightly husky eloquent female voice answered slightly breathless.
“Hello Bee,” The three friends chorused. Beth grinned. It was such a pleasure to talk among friends after the day she had. She just wanted to regroup and this was the best possible way. Sneaking out on a one night stand, finding out her brother had been murdered and being considered a suspect took a lot out of a person.
“Hello!” Bee replied cheerfully and then grew quiet. “Beth, are you okay?” she asked conveying her worry in a few simple words.
“We’re fine thanks,” Beth replied readily. She really was feeling much better with the support of her friends. Brian was dead but life had to keep going. People still worked and even Brian’s own office was business as usual. If she was really honest the world might probably be a bit better off without him being around. At least the woman in his office would be safe from his affections. On the plus side as well, was the fact that Beth wasn’t the only strong suspect the police would be investigating. She didn’t know how her friends had managed it but once again they were in as much trouble as she was from the sounds of things.
“Cut out all the chitchat you two. Okay Bee, how did you know?” Charlotte cut in. She was not one for patience when there was gossip afoot.
“What?” Bee asked surprised sounding puzzled and then said, “Oh a detective phoned me and asked me some questions.”
“Ah the elusive detective again,” Karin snickered. If it was the same one that came to visit her, he really did get around Beth thought. She wondered if this was routine for an investigation or if he had some clue he was pursuing. Whatever it was, he was looking into Brian’s little black book with gusto. Maybe he was giving the bad sexual performance motive some credit after all.
“What have I done?” Bee asked with a note of resignation in her voice. She was used to being dragged into trouble so all the chortling on the other end of the phone didn’t phase her a bit. Bee had always been calm and collected. She also had an amazing talent for getting the friends out of the trouble they might have found themselves in. Nothing shook Bee up.
“Well we’ve established that Karin was a dumb youth and slept with Brian when we were eighteen,” Beth began gently leading up to their ultimate goal of getting Bee to spill the beans.
“Way to go,” Charlotte hooted in the background.
“That’s gross,” Bee said with a snigger.
“And Charlotte is just a glutton for punishment so she slept with him last year,” Beth had to stop for a second as Bee gleefully screeched in outrage. As she was giggling, Beth finished, “The question now is how did you end up in Brian’s little black book?” Could it be that they had caught their sensible friend in some act of rebellion? Well in an act of rebellion that the other three hadn’t instigated, Beth amended to herself.
“Oh that. Well he kept calling me to ask me out. Blah,” Bee, who was normally never fazed by anything, sounded embarrassed. “I finally had to tell him I was a black belt in judo and wasn’t afraid to use it. He sort of backed off after that. Seriously guys, I can’t believe that the two of you slept with that man. That’s bad even for the two of you. Yuck.”
“Hey!” Karin yelped.
Before anyone could say anything else, the phone suddenly ticked in Beth’s ear. “Hang on everyone I have another call coming in,” she muttered and clicked over to the other call.
Chapter 12
“Hello,” she said using her best ‘don’t-mess-with-me’ voice in case it was the detective again.
“Elizabeth?” a deep very male voice asked. If a telesales person had this kind of voice they would probably get a much better response rate, Beth thought briefly. She picked up a pencil from her desk and twiddled it between her fingers. At least it wasn’t the detective.
“Yes?” she replied wondering who it was. The voice also sounded warmly familiar. Where had she heard it before? Tossing down her pencil, Beth fiddled with the volume buttons on the telephone to get a better earful.
“It’s David Andrews,” Ah yes Beth thought nearly dropping the phone. That would be why her insides were feeling all warm and gooey.
“Oh. Hello,” Beth replied pensively trying to get the thought of a telesales person out of her mind. She never thought he would actually call her. One night stands didn’t call, did they? She thought about it. With her luck it could be anything. She went over the possibilities in her mind, they wore a condom… which ruled out most sexually transmitted diseases and he certainly couldn’t be pregnant. What was going on? Believing that he was calling for anything but bad news was just giving in to her romantic side, Beth decided. Maybe he wanted her to pay half the hotel room rate. That would just be the type of thing she would expect today.
“What can I do for you?” she asked hoping that she came off nonchalantly.
“Yes that’s sort of the response I figured I’d get,” David replied dryly making her insides churn in their liquid state. His voice sounded like hot melted chocolate- rich and creamy. “You sound worried,” he added.
“What do you mean?” Beth asked feeling breathless, so much for sounding nonchalant. Beth tried to stop getting distracted by the sound of his voice flowing over her.
“Well usually after a one night stand,” David said drawing her back into the conversation, “one of the participants doesn’t leave the other to be woken up by the police.” He waiting patiently for the penny to drop. Beth shook her head to stop herself from being distracted and thought through what he said. For a brief minute she had forgotten Brian and his murder but it all came flooding back.
“OH!” Beth leaned down and banged her head against the desk top. “I’m sorry. My brother was murdered last night. The police needed to verify everyone’s location. I wouldn’t have given your name unless it was truly necessary.” She assured him feeling very contrite. He must have thought he had slept with someone psychotic.
“And I appreciate that, I assure you. The detective explained the situation this morning. They were particularly keen that I give a blow by blow account of your time here,” he said quietly.
“WHAT!” Beth exploded mortified for both their sakes. There was no accusation or stress in his voice. Beth realised he actually had called her just to let her know.
“Wanted to be sure that I could account for you the entire time you were here. I explained that given there was some actual sleeping involved, they couldn’t expect full disclosure. It sounded like he wanted to find a loophole in your alibi to me.” David replied sounding slightly amused and then asked, “Exactly how involved are you? Did you have anything to do with your brother’s death?” There was some wariness in his voice. No doubt he was thinking of ways to defend himself from a would-be murderer Beth thought and rushed to reassure him.
“Thank you for dealing with the detective and no – yes – I mean I didn’t have anything to do with my brother’s death but the police think I might be a suspect. They needed to speak to you to prove I was where I said I had been,” Beth wanted to run screaming from the room. What was she saying? This conversation was going from bad to
worse. She couldn’t see it getting better either. Maybe if she hid in her bedroom for a few weeks it would all blow over?
“So you’re a suspect?” David asked. He sounded bemused and Beth realised that she wasn’t making things any clearer for him. Her mind was going in all sorts of different directions. How was she going to get out of this one?
“No – well maybe – I threatened to kill him so the police have to follow up.” Beth explained taking a deep breath. This was really going from bad to worse.
“So what you’re telling me is that I slept with a complete stranger who is a murder suspect,” David summarised succinctly. “Did you do it?” he asked in a matter of fact tone of voice.
“No, absolutely not,” Beth wailed. What could this guy be thinking? One thing was for sure, she wasn’t giving him a great deal of comfort with her answers. She wasn’t giving herself a great deal of comfort come to think of it. She quickly tried to explain again, “It’s not like that, promise. I didn’t have anything to do with the murder but the police have to make sure.” There, that sounded calm and collected. It even made sense.
“But you did threaten him,” he stated. David sounded like he didn’t know if he should be laughing or asking her if she was insane.
“Well, yes but he deserved it,” Beth explained. “He was a sneak.” She couldn’t believe it. Even dead Brian was making her life a misery.
“A sneak, I see,” David said. Beth shook her head. A man had been murdered, her brother and all she could think about was how amazing David’s voice sounded. Something must be wrong with her.
“Look it’s not like that.” Beth still couldn’t believe she was having this conversation. So much for hearing this sexy voice again she thought and quietly sighed.