Strawberry Kiwi and Slayings

by Allyssa Mirry

  “I suppose you’re right,” Mrs. Mills said. “But Hugh would never consider murdering a family member for money like in the play.”

  Lydia stood there, supportively, and held her tongue. Was it possible that the character was based on Hugh, and Stephen had noticed something sinister in his brother’s character? Did he notice that Hugh had a personality capable of murder?

  14

  Suspicions and Stir Fry

  Lydia sniffed the food on her fork before she took a bite. She knew that she wasn’t on the list of people involved with the show in the program, but she didn’t want to take any chances. One of the killer’s attempts was with poison, and she wasn’t planning on ingesting any.

  “Is everything all right?” Trina asked.

  She was sitting across the table from Lydia in her kitchen. Sunny was staring intently at the two of them, hoping for a bite of the delicious chicken stir fry in front of her.

  “It’s fine,” Lydia assured her. “I already sniffed your food.”

  Trina pushed her plate away and stared at her friend. “I obviously missed a lot today.”

  Sunny ran closer to see if the movement of the plate meant that Trina was done and that she might share with the pup.

  “A lot did happen,” Lydia said, after taking a bite of the food she deemed to be safe. “Too much.”

  “There have been all sorts of rumors at the hair salon today, but why don’t you tell me what’s really going on?” Trina suggested. “And if it’s terrifying and we need another sleepover – so be it. Honestly, if you weren’t planning on moving out soon, I might move into your guest room.”

  Sunny let out a little bark either because she liked the idea or she wanted to remind them that she still had not been given any chicken.

  “Well, there’s a lot to recap, but I guess it goes like this: the playwright Stephen Mills was killed last night. There was a threatening note that asked who’s next?”

  “Right. That’s the part that gave me nightmares last time,” said Trina.

  “Today, I found out the answer to that question. The killer was going down the list in the program of who was involved with the show. He started by strangling the playwright. Then, he went after the director, the stage manager, and then moved on to the actors. I know he went after Cosmo and Brooke.”

  “Oh, my goodness!” Trina cried. “All these people are dead.”

  “No,” Lydia said quickly. “Only the playwright was killed. The others just had attempts made on their lives. The director’s brakes were cut, the stage manager’s front steps were sabotaged, one actor had his back door rigged so a large pot would fall on his head, and an actress was sent poisoned candy.”

  “This killer is sure keeping busy,” said Trina. “I’m glad he wasn’t successful at all these attempts.”

  “Me too,” Lydia said. “And I feel better knowing that Kelsey is safe now. Leo brought her home, and there’s a police officer stationed outside her house. There are also officers with some of the other actors. And he only gave me a ten-minute speech about the meaning of not getting involved with an investigation.”

  “Well, it’s not like you meant to get involved. You had to do something when Kelsey and Jeff and their friends were being threatened.”

  “Thank you,” Lydia said. “I thought that Leo beginning to date Suzanne might mellow him out, but he’s still uptight about my ideas for a case.”

  Trina flicked a piece of chicken and a carrot toward a grateful Sunny. Then she asked, “Do you have any idea who might have done this?”

  “Too many ideas and doubts to be helpful,” Lydia answered. “There’s just so much going on with this case. Maybe an actor faked an attempt on their life. Maybe it’s someone not even involved in the theater.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing that the killer isn’t very good at what he does.”

  “What was that?” Lydia asked. Something about what Trina had just said was sparking an idea in her head.

  “I said it’s a good thing that the killer wasn’t good at what he did. He went after – what? Six people. And he only killed one of them.”

  “You’re right,” Lydia said. “You’re absolutely right.”

  “I know. But why do you look so excited?” asked Trina. “I’m just glad more people aren’t dead. Isn’t that the reaction everyone should have?”

  “I’ve been running around so much today trying to keep ahead of the killer, trying to avoid Leo, and trying to protect my employees that I never really stopped to think about it until you pointed it out. It’s odd that only one person was killed.”

  “I was saying lucky. Not odd.”

  “But it is odd,” said Lydia. “The killer made sure that Stephen Mills was dead. This was a hands-on crime where the killer strangled the man. He needed to know that the playwright was dead, and he set the scene to look like the phantom had been there. However, all the other murder attempts weren’t so calculated. They were done at a distance. Brakes were cut, traps were set, and candy was placed by someone’s door. None of these means of murder guaranteed a kill. In fact, they all failed. And there was also a chance that someone other than the theater person could have been killed. Cosmo might not have been the first person out his door, and Brooke could have shared her candy. The killer didn’t care.”

  “What does all that mean?”

  “The first thing that it means is that the killer only needed Stephen Mills dead,” Lydia said. “The other crimes were to continue the myth of the phantom being involved.”

  “So, the killer wants this mystical figure to be blamed?” asked Trina.

  Lydia tapped her fork against her plate as she thought. “I guess so, but it seems like an awful lot of work just to cover up your involvement in one crime. The killer could have tried to frame someone from the theater or made certain they had a seemingly perfect alibi. Why perpetuate this phantom story?”

  “I guess there does need to be another reason,” Trina said. “Otherwise, why go out of your way to half-heartedly hurt five other people. So, what did he want to happen? He wanted the phantom to get attention?”

  “Maybe. It’s possible that someone is writing a book about the phantom and wanted publicity. Or this could somehow help tourism for someone here.”

  “It seems to have the reverse effect with the show,” said Trina. “No one at the salon is daring to see the play with everything that is going on.”

  “That’s it,” Lydia said. “That’s exactly it. The killer didn’t just need the playwright dead. He needed the play dead. He didn’t want anyone to see it. He’s been trying to scare the cast and crew so they won’t want to continue with the show.”

  “Unfortunately, this killer didn’t know how stubborn Kelsey would be or how everyone in the show would want to honor the playwright.”

  Lydia nodded. “But that’s why he continued going down the cast list. He hoped to find the weak link to quit so the show would have to be canceled or to actually kill someone so the play couldn’t go on.”

  “But why?” asked Trina.

  “That’s the part I don’t know yet,” Lydia admitted. “I think we need to read the play!”

  15

  The Play’s the Thing

  A little while late, Sunny barked to announce the arrival of a guest a moment before the knock at the door came. Lydia hurried over to it and seeing Sunny’s tiny wagging tail she opened it right away.

  “Hi, Jeff. Thanks for hurrying over. It’s really important,” she began. However, then she immediately saw that it was not Jeff at the door, but was Daniel. “I’m sorry. I was expecting someone else.”

  “I was in the area, and I hoped I could talk to you,” he said. “It’s also important.”

  “Sure,” Lydia said.

  She gestured that he should come inside. She was feeling a mixture of emotions. She did enjoy seeing Daniel, but it was strange when she was expecting someone else who might have the answers to the case. She was also very nervous about what it was that
Daniel wanted to talk about.

  “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” he asked. “You were waiting for Jeff so late?”

  Lydia crossed her arms. “You’re here very late.”

  “That’s true. I’m sorry.” He looked as if he might walk out the door, but Sunny had plopped herself down in front of him.

  “It’s all right,” Lydia said. “If you think there’s something romantic between Jeff and me, you’re wrong. Besides the facts that I’m at least ten years older than him and I’m his boss. I’m also interested in someone else.”

  “You are?”

  “Yes. And it’s you,” Lydia said. “What’s going on?”

  “I was afraid that I scared you off by our talk on the double date,” Daniel admitted. “I don’t normally talk that much about my past. And I didn’t mean to scare you with my thoughts on children. The truth is, I haven’t thought about it at all recently. But there are a lot of things I hadn’t been considering until now. And I didn’t think that you made up a phone call to get out of the date, but I felt like you’ve been ignoring me lately.”

  “I haven’t been ignoring you,” Lydia protested. “I’ve just thought that there’s a serial killer posing as a phantom in town.”

  Daniel smiled at the absurdity at what she just said. “I suppose that would keep you very busy.”

  “Next time I’ll keep you in the loop,” Lydia promised. “I don’t want you to feel abandoned.”

  They looked at each other affectionately. Lydia was starting to work up her nerve to go in for their first kiss, but then Trina walked into the entryway carrying a glob of candy.

  “Liddy, I agree that pulling taffy is a good way of letting out stress, but I don’t want to do it all by myself.” She paused. “Hi, Daniel. You’re not Jeff. Do you have the script we need?”

  “I’m not really sure what that means,” Daniel said. “So, I don’t think I do.”

  Sunny barked again, and they all turned to see Jeff walking up the steps of the porch.

  “It looks like a party,” he commented.

  “Well, there will soon be candy,” said Trina.

  “And I might feel like partying if the answer to who the killer is is hiding inside this script,” said Lydia. “Come on in.”

  He handed the script to Lydia and petted Sunny as he walked inside. They all headed to the kitchen where they decided to take turns, making the taffy, and reading the pages.

  “I hope this helps,” Jeff said. “I really hope it helps before the phantom gets to my name. But I don’t really see how it will. I’ve been in rehearsals for the show. I don’t see how any of it relates to the murder.”

  “The killer wanted to stop this play from being performed so there must be something,” Lydia said, starting to skim through the pages.

  “It’s about a family?” Daniel asked, looking at the title.

  “It is,” Jeff agreed. “It’s a drama about how they don’t get along. People are looking for ways out of it, but no one wants to lose out on an inheritance.”

  “They don’t sound like nice people,” Trina said. “They sound rather greedy.”

  “They are, but I play a nice character in it. I’m just a nice old man who supports my granddaughter. It was written as a grandmother, but they changed the part to a grandfather so I could play it when they got desperate. The character used to be Edwina, but now it’s Edwin.”

  “Is this based on the playwright’s life?” asked Daniel.

  “Not according to the family,” Lydia said. “But that is strange because Stephen had been given the advice to write about his own experiences. He’d tried to write before, and it hadn’t worked out.”

  “Maybe he took a writing class,” Trina suggested. “Or he heard a piece of a story, and that propelled him forward. I hear so many strange things at the hair salon that a play could be based on.”

  “And I’ve started to hear so many variations of this phantom story,” Jeff said. “And they are all awful.”

  “I’ll take a turn at pulling the taffy,” Lydia said.

  She washed her hands and gave Trina a break from the work. The gears in her mind were working as she worked the taffy. She thought she was finally starting to make sense of all the different pieces of this strange puzzle.

  “Did you solve it?” Trina asked.

  “I think I might have,” Lydia said. “Well, I realized that the scene set around Stephen’s death was based on his version of the phantom tale. The killer used his version.”

  “Was that to be cruel?” asked Daniel.

  “Or it might have been the version that the killer knew,” Lydia said. “And I’ve been thinking about motive. I might be on to something. But I’m not sure. I don’t think there is any evidence that would stand up in court to prove it.”

  “So, what does that mean?” asked Trina.

  “I think it means we have to start telling people that the show will take place at the theater tomorrow.”

  The others looked at one another confused, as Lydia continued to pull the taffy.

  16

  The Final Act

  Lydia’s knees were starting to get sore. Her hiding place in the Ocean Point Theater was getting uncomfortable. It would have been much nicer if she could have sat in one of the audience chairs instead of crouching on the floor in between the rows. However, then it wouldn’t have been an effective hiding place.

  She tried to adjust her position and stretch for a few moments. However, then she began to notice something to add to her discomfort, but which showed her plan was accurate. She hadn’t been hiding there for an hour for no reason. The floor was starting to feel wet. The killer was up to something.

  Lydia took her muted cell phone out of her pocket to send a text. She wanted to update Daniel and Trina that something was happening.

  However, as she began typing, she heard footsteps in the water. Then, she heard a man’s voice say, “Surprise.”

  She groaned. It seemed that she had been found and that killers sometimes did announce their presence in that way.

  “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that it’s rude to text in a darkened theater?” Eddie asked.

  “Didn’t anyone else tell you it’s rude to murder people?” Lydia retorted.

  She started to stand up, but Stephen’s former best friend had other plans. He knocked the phone out of her hand and kicked her before she was able to get to her feet.

  “I should have been more cautious of you,” he said. “You never believed in the phantom at all, did you?”

  Lydia exhaled. The kick had hurt, but she didn’t want him to know that. She wasn’t sure whether her text message had gone through or not. She just prayed that it did.

  “It was because of the phantom that I knew you had to be the killer,” Lydia said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “There were dozens of versions of the myth,” said Lydia. “But this killer stuck exclusively to the story that Stephen used to tell. I figured it had to be someone that only knew the story through Stephen and wasn’t related to the theater.”

  “But what about all those other attacks? Surely that was the work of the phantom.”

  “It was sloppy work, but you had to work fast in between doing errands for the grieving family. I wonder how they will feel when they find out that their loved one’s best friend was the person who killed him.”

  “Stephen wasn’t such a good friend it turned out,” Eddie said.

  “He was going to tell all your family secrets on the stage. Wasn’t he?” Lydia asked, trying to back away from him. “He wanted to write a play so badly that he based it on your family drama. And I’m guessing you had to stop it from being seen because you really did poison your grandfather for his money. That’s why you had no problem with all your murder traps. You’d killed before.”

  “I told Stephen that in confidence one night after I’d been drinking,” Eddie said. “He was supposed to keep quiet about it, and I would have given him enough money
to start his own theater. I thought he was my friend. But then he went and did this to me just so he could have something on stage. And he was such an idiot. He claimed that no one would know it was based on my life.”

  “You didn’t believe him?”

  “He didn’t even have the decency to change the names well. I’m named after my grandfather. And he chose the name Edwin as the character representative of Edgar.”