Aunt Bessie Decides

by Diana Xarissa

  “Anyway, once the paperwork came through, we were on our way,” she continued. “We had been rehearsing Hamlet in all of our spare time, so we decided to start with that. Unfortunately, once we arrived in London, we very quickly discovered that the UK doesn’t have any shortage of talented theatre troupes performing Shakespeare. We did a few shows somewhere up north. I don’t even know where we were, and then we settled into a squalid bed and breakfast in this appalling section of London and tried to figure out what to do next.”

  “All six of you this time?” Rockwell asked.

  “Yeah, all six of us. But only for a few days. Penny was working constantly, trying to get us bookings. That’s when she managed to get us booked for this fortnight over here. Anyway, she found a little theatre in some scary corner in London and got us a single matinee performance there. William found a local amateur theatre group that was willing and able to supply the supporting players for the show. Scott was Horatio to William’s Hamlet, and after the show, some big shot casting director appeared backstage and offered Scott a job on Market Square. Of course he took it and that was that.”

  “I thought he said something about giving William a week’s notice?” Rockwell countered.

  “Yeah, he offered, but William was so angry that the casting guy had picked Scott instead of him that he told Scott to just get out. It didn’t really matter; because we didn’t have any other shows booked anyway. Scott and Candy packed up their things and left that night.”

  “Candy went too?”

  “Oh, yeah, she was the one who arranged for the casting guy to be there, even though William and Adam both keep claiming they had something to do with it.”

  Sienna leaned forward in her chair and lowered her voice. “I think she’d met him during her porn star days, but they didn’t talk about how they knew each other.”

  Sienna sat back. “Anyway, that was about a month ago, and the four of us have been scrambling around London ever since, trying to figure out how to make ends meet. Apparently, we don’t have permission to find other jobs, and we don’t have enough money for plane tickets home, either. We were all hoping that this fortnight over here would earn us enough money to pay for flights back to the US, but with the low numbers at the show today, I’m doubting that it will.”

  “Why did you stop doing Hamlet?” Rockwell asked.

  Sienna rolled her eyes. “After Scott left, everyone started arguing all the time,” she answered. “We couldn’t get Hamlet to work anymore, without Scott to play Horatio. Candy was brilliant as Gertrude, as well. Once they were gone, Hamlet fell apart and no one could agree on a different play, either. Adam has always fancied himself a writer. Somehow he managed to persuade William to let him write a script for the company that would give the four of us big parts and let us fill in the rest of the company with just about anyone. The people out there tonight were from some theatre group here on the island. We rehearsed with them for exactly twenty minutes this afternoon and then we went on.”

  And you could tell, Bessie said silently.

  Rockwell managed not to say it. “You weren’t expecting Mr. Carson to be here tonight, then?”

  “No,” Sienna said. “As far as I know, no one had seen or heard from him since he left. I think, if he’d called and told William he was coming, William would have told us.”

  “So his being here was a surprise. Why did he come?”

  Sienna blinked and then shook her head. “I’ve absolutely no idea,” she said. “Maybe he wanted to gloat over his good fortune.”

  “Was he the sort of person that would do that?”

  Sienna shrugged. “I didn’t think so, but then, I barely knew him. Maybe Candy wanted to gloat over his good fortune. She’s definitely that sort of person.”

  Rockwell nodded. “Tell me about the knife,” he suggested.

  “About two years ago, when we were doing Macbeth, Penny found that knife in a little antique store somewhere in, oh, goodness, I don’t know, Wyoming, maybe? It was cool because it was exactly the same as the prop ‘jewelled dagger’ that we were using in the show, but it was a real knife. She gave it to William for his birthday and he used to carry it around with him all the time.”

  “And he brought it to London with him?” Rockwell asked.

  “No,” Sienna replied. “That’s the weird thing. He lost it about six months ago. We all joked about it, saying he shouldn’t be bringing weapons to a foreign country anyway, but he was really upset. It disappeared from the apartment where we were staying in LA. For a long time he seemed to suspect Adam of taking it, but it never turned up, and I guess he finally decided that one of the other residents in the building must have taken it. It was probably the only thing in our apartment that looked like it had any value if anyone broke in, and the place was always such a mess, we probably wouldn’t have noticed if anyone did.”

  “So as far as you know, no one has seen the knife in six months or so?”

  “Until tonight,” Sienna replied.

  “So who wanted to kill Mr. Carson?”

  Sienna shrugged again. “Probably all of us,” she said flippantly. “We all hated him for getting the big break we’ve all always wanted.”

  “I thought you said you did theatre for the love of the art,” Rockwell reminded her.

  “Well, yeah, but getting a big paycheck would be nice, too,” Sienna laughed. “Actually, doing it for the art is fine for a year or two, but I’m not getting any younger. I need my big break and I need it now. I just hope Candy will keep her promise and help me out. I don’t think Adam’s going to take me back, and besides, going back to a sinking ship doesn’t really appeal.”

  “So you all hated Mr. Carson?”

  “I didn’t really hate him,” Sienna replied. “Anyway, I was hoping he would help me, so I guess you can cross me off the list. William and Adam hated him, though. I’m not so sure how Penny felt about him. She had a bit of a fling with him for a few months, but that was just because she was bored and William was chasing after some redhead. It didn’t mean anything.”

  “When was that?”

  “The fling with Penny? Oh, goodness, maybe a year ago? Maybe even longer than that. It was over before we started talking about going to London.”

  “Did William know about the affair?”

  Sienna shrugged. “He must have. They certainly weren’t discreet.”

  “So who do you think killed Scott?” Rockwell asked abruptly.

  Sienna eyes opened wide. “Wow, I, um, that is, wow.” She took a deep breath. “I guess I’d have to pick William if I had to chose someone. He really hated Scott for leaving and he seemed to blame him for a lot of the problems we were dealing with, even though most of them didn’t have anything to do with Scott.”

  “During the second half of the show, did you see anyone stop to talk to Scott, or did you speak to him?” the inspector asked.

  Sienna shook her head. “I smiled at him once or twice as I walked past,” she replied. “But once it got dark I couldn’t even see where I was going, let alone worry about Scott. Walking off the super brightly lit stage into darkness was almost impossible. If it weren’t for the flashlights I think I might just have wandered off into the sea.”

  Rockwell made another note and then smiled at Sienna. “I think maybe that’s enough for tonight,” he told her. “I didn’t plan on spending this long with you as it is, but you’ve given me a lot of very helpful information. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, I’m sure.” She smiled up at him and then batted her eyelashes. “Are you single?” she purred.

  Rockwell laughed. “No.”

  “What a shame,” Sienna sighed.

  “I’m going to have one of my officers take you back to your hotel now,” the inspector told her.

  “Oh, but what about Adam?” Sienna asked.

  “I still need to talk to him.”

  “He’s furious with me. Can’t you take me into protective custody or something?” Sienna asked.
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br />   “Sorry, but you’re going to have to figure your own way out of this one.”

  Sienna sighed. “Can I keep your big strong policeman with me until Adam gets back and I’ve had time to beg for his forgiveness?”

  “I suppose I can leave an officer with you until Mr. Misnik gets back to the hotel,” Rockwell told her. He stood up, and Constable Wilson rose as well. The two men walked to the door with Sienna.

  “Mr. Wilson, please escort Ms. Madison to Constable Johnson. Ask Johnson to drive Ms. Madison back to her hotel and stay with her until her partner arrives, then bring Mr. Misnik here.”

  “Yes, sir,” Wilson grinned at the inspector. The pair left and Bessie was on her feet as the door shut behind them.

  “That was fascinating,” she told Rockwell. “I’m surprised you agreed to have an officer stay with her, though. She’s trouble, that one.”

  “I’m sure Constable Johnson can handle it,” Rockwell told her. “Jenny’s an excellent officer, with ten solid years of experience.”

  Bessie laughed. “Won’t Ms. Madison be disappointed?” she asked rhetorically. “But what did you think of the lovely Sienna?”

  “I think she’s bright and ambitious and probably only told the truth about half the time.” He shrugged. “Right now I’m just trying to get a good first impression of everyone. I’m not expecting to solve the murder tonight.”

  “But what about….”

  Bessie’s question was interrupted by a knock on the door, and Bessie rushed back to her corner as Wilson walked back in with Adam in tow.

  Rockwell ran through his warnings about recording and note-taking before casually mentioning Bessie’s presence.

  Adam just shrugged. “Whatever,” he said in a bored voice. “I just want this to be quick. I’m tired. Live theatre is exhausting enough, but when you’ve poured your heart and soul into creating something and then you lay it all out on stage for people to watch, well, it’s exhilarating and terrifying and a million other adjectives. I can’t possibly explain it to you, but I’m desperately in need of rest.”

  “I’ll try to keep this short, then,” Rockwell told him. “Can we start with a brief history of Will’s Comedy/Tragedy Players, please?”

  Adam sighed, but he gave the inspector a brief rundown that was almost identical to the one Sienna had given, but with a much more positive slant to it. Rockwell took several notes during the recitation. Adam finished by explaining how the troupe had been forced to struggle on without Scott after he deserted them during their successful London run.

  “Of course, we had to cancel a few shows,” Adam told Rockwell. “We had to totally revamp the production after Scott and Candy took off. Although, I suppose I actually owe Scott a huge debt of gratitude. If he hadn’t left, I might never have found the courage to offer my script to William. I was surprised and obviously delighted when he decided that we should perform it.”

  “But you weren’t exactly thanking Scott tonight when you saw him,” Rockwell pointed out.

  Adam flushed. “Sour grapes,” he said. “I’m not ashamed to admit it. We were all so angry when he got plucked from our midst and turned into a star. We all thought we were more talented than Scott, that’s why he only ever had small parts in our shows, but he was suddenly on television five days a week. It was hard.”

  Rockwell nodded. “When did you find out that Scott was coming to the show tonight?”

  “Oh, but I didn’t know he was here until I saw him,” Adam protested. “I certainly didn’t stay in touch with him after he left.”

  “Did anyone?”

  Adam grinned nastily. “I don’t want to get anyone in trouble,” he said. It was clear to Bessie that that was a lie.

  “But I suspect he kept in touch with both Penny and Sienna.”

  “What makes you think that?” Rockwell asked.

  Adam shrugged. “They both seemed rather too informed as to exactly how things were going for Scott,” he said. “Penny had quite a hot and heavy affair with him before we came to London and I suspect Sienna was seeing him behind my back in the last month or so before we left, after he broke it off with Penny.”

  “Did William know about Scott and Penny?”

  “That’s a great question,” Adam replied. “I wish I knew the answer. They were very discreet. I only found out because Penny told Sienna and she can’t keep a secret, at least not from me.”

  “But you think she had an affair with Scott?”

  “Well, yes, I mean, clearly she kept that a secret, but otherwise she’s hopeless with secrets.”

  Rockwell raised an eyebrow and made a few notes before he continued. “Would Sienna have told William about Penny’s affair with Scott?”

  “Oh, no,” Adam said insistently. “Her first loyalty would have been to Penny. As the two principal actresses in the troupe, they’re very close.”

  “Weren’t you angry when you suspected that Sienna was having an affair with him?”

  Adam shrugged. “Sienna and I have a complicated relationship,” he said. “We care about each other, but every once in a while one of us gets bored and seeks a little diversion elsewhere. It doesn’t mean anything, of course. I would have rather she’d chosen to have her fling with someone outside the troupe, but we travelled so much that I suppose she never met anyone else.”

  “Tell me about the knife. Did you recognise it?”

  “The one sticking out of Scott’s body?” Adam grinned. “It looked like the one that Penny gave William, oh, it must have been a few years ago now. It got lost a while back, though, so maybe it wasn’t the same knife.”

  “It looked pretty distinctive,” Rockwell commented.

  Adam shrugged. “If it is William’s, I’ve no idea how it got here. William accused us all of stealing it, but I always thought it was the apartment manager who took it. He was always wandering through out apartment, helping himself to our food and claiming that he was there to fix the pipes or something.”

  “But, presumably, he’s back in the US?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” Adam shrugged again.

  “So, who do you think killed Scott?” Rockwell asked.

  “Penny would be my first guess,” Adam replied promptly. “She wasn’t happy when their affair ended, and she was really unhappy when Scott got his big break and didn’t take her with him.”

  “Interesting, so you think she killed him just out of sheer anger at his good fortune?”

  “Either that or maybe he promised her something and he didn’t deliver,” Adam shrugged again. “You asked for my opinion and that’s it. It’s just my gut feeling, I guess.”

  “Did you have any interaction with Scott during the second half of the performance?”

  Adam laughed. “I was too worried about falling over or getting lost to spare a single thought for anyone in the audience. Well, aside from hoping that I was giving them my very best performance, of course.”

  “Well, thank you for your time, then,” Rockwell told him. “I’ve sent Sienna back to your hotel. I assume you two are sharing a room. Is that going to be a problem?”

  Adam laughed. “Because she quit the troupe tonight in the most dramatic way possible? No, it won’t be a problem. I know she was just caught up in the excitement of seeing Scott again. I’m sure Candy filled her head with all sorts of nonsense. We’ll be fine. I’ll forgive her and we’ll work it out. We always do.”

  Rockwell nodded. “I’m glad to hear that. You can go. Constable Wilson will escort you out and find someone to give you a ride back to the hotel. I’m sure I’ll need to talk to you again, but that’s all for now.”

  Adam smiled and got to his feet. “I really hope you enjoyed the show,” he said politely. “I put my heart and soul into it, you know.”

  “It was certainly unique,” Rockwell said. “But I’m too tired now to even remember what I saw.”

  “Maybe we can talk about it when I see you again,” Adam said eagerly. “I really want to get as many opinions on it as I can.
I know it probably needs some work and the more feedback I can get, the better.”

  “Yes, well, I’m no drama critic,” Rockwell told him.

  Rockwell stood up and pulled Wilson to one side for a quick conversation, then the constable escorted Adam from the room, while Rockwell sat back in his chair. As the door shut behind the men, Bessie jumped up, feeling far more full of energy than she should have.

  Chapter Five

  “Did you find him more trustworthy than Ms. Madison?” Bessie asked Rockwell, as she sat down in the chair Adam had just vacated.

  Rockwell shook his head. “I don’t trust anyone in this group,” he replied. “They’re all trained actors; the problem is, I don’t know how good or bad any of them are at the craft.”

  Bessie laughed. “After tonight’s show, I’d say they’re all pretty bad.”

  Rockwell grinned. “Yeah, there is that,” he agreed. “For now, I’m just gathering information. You, on the other hand, are supposed to be sleeping.”

  Bessie shook her head. “I’m far too interested in what everyone’s saying to sleep,” she said. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to throw me out if you don’t want me to listen.”

  “As long as you don’t repeat anything you hear, I’ll let you stay,” the inspector told her. “And if anyone asks, you were asleep almost the entire time.”

  “Yes, sir,” Bessie replied smartly.

  A knock on the door stopped Rockwell from replying. Wilson walked back in with a tray of coffee cups.

  “Where did these come from?” Bessie asked, as she eagerly took one.

  “Mr. Costain made them for us in the staff space behind the ticket booth,” the man told her. “There are biscuits, too,” he added, pulling a packet of digestives out of his pocket.

  The trio fell on the hot drinks and biscuits greedily, and within minutes there was nothing left but crumbs.