Friends and Enemies (Gwen Farris Book 5)

by P. S. Power

  "Yes. She's a sweet woman. Have you met?" It seemed unlikely, but she didn't know the rules and ways of the rest of the world there. Maybe they had homemaking conventions, or perhaps Agatha Longbranch went on tours. If she did, it was clear that she'd find a fan base waiting for her.

  The tan woman shook her head, then grinned again.

  "Only from her program. Do you really know her? That would be fun, wouldn't it?" There was no sense of importance to the words. No doubt either. Gwen had a feeling it was the drugs talking. Now that she considered the idea, there were a lot of little signs that said the woman was wasted.

  Her pupils were huge in her brown eyes, and she jittered constantly. So it was some kind of upper. Other than that Gwen had no clue what the drug itself would be, and nodded about it to herself. She didn't really need to know, did she?

  "I actually do know her. Beth here does, too. She's a friend of my... Mother. I've been on her show, twice now. Just as a caller."

  The woman seemed happy to hear that and clapped.

  "Yes? What did you ask? About how to set a correct table? I always love that one. The fine people put so many different forks and spoons on. I can only just work out that I should use the one delivered with the meal." She grinned, but it was good natured, and not all that self-depreciating. Gwen wouldn't judge her on it anyway, having to use the trick of watching what everyone else did first still, herself.

  "Nope. I just asked her to a party once. Well, actually Ethyl, my mother, did that part. I told her about what was planned. About a month ago now. I should ask about everything else, if I can get her pinned down. Really, what I should do is beg her to help with my wedding. I have no clue what to do there. Things have gotten busy, and I've been putting the planning off for that. I keep expecting it all to fall through, you know?" She spoke to Beth, but loud enough for Maria to hear. It would be rude otherwise.

  The woman might not be the most brilliant glow lamp on the wall, but she was smart enough to follow the clues when given that obviously. Rather than gush at them though, she called her brother, using one of the six or so Telestators in the room. The place had that many in case of emergencies, so that several ships could be reached at one time. It could happen, if a storm was coming in, she'd heard. The big ships had to avoid that, whenever possible.

  It took a bit for the line to be put through. The counter girl had waited, since as she told them, Julio would have been having his afternoon nap, and didn't like to be interrupted. He also didn't have a telestator in his home, so his sister called a neighbor, who sent her daughter off to pass the message that he was needed.

  When he got there, he really did sound sleepy.

  "Hello? This is Julio Mendez."

  "Julio? Do you want to make a few decs? There are two women here that want to go into town. If you bring the donkey cart, for their bags, and take them to a good hotel, they might pay you. Come anyway. One of them is Gwen Farris! I should get her to sign something for me, don't you know?"

  There was a laugh from the device, which sounded relaxed, and not too annoyed.

  "I'll come, you don't have to tell me that someone famous is there, sister. The donkey needs to be exercised anyway. Half an hour? I need to get him hooked up to the cart."

  Rather than debate who she was, Maria snorted, but hid a smile behind her hand.

  "Fine, but wear a clean shirt, or you'll be embarrassed."

  "Clean underpants, too?" Julio laughed, as his sister positively cackled.

  "Oh, you are so going to regret saying that. I would though. Otherwise you're just a nasty crumb, aren't you?"

  They ended with a pleasant sounding laugh, and Maria turned the Telesar back up, Agatha speaking about how to best polish silver.

  "Small circles, using a light base polish. Remember, vinegar is an acid, and best for things like glass and glazed ceramics. Never underestimate the power of a bit of the elbow though!" She sounded chipper and happy, in a polite and proper fashion.

  It was funny, but she took a call next, which was rare. Most people didn't have telestators after all. Collections of people tended to share them. It cut down on the daily chatting requirements of cell phones.

  Not that Gwen knew that one first hand. She'd never even bothered to own one, since no one called her. They hadn't anyway.

  This time, the voice was a bit snooty, and older, sounding. It was Brenda Holmes, who was a person that she'd actually met before, at one of Ethyl's parties. She was famous for them, and it seemed in the moment that was the topic of the moment.

  "Agatha dear! So lovely to speak with you this fine afternoon. I seem to have a bit of an issue. I just received an invitation to a... I don't know if party is the correct term, given those involved. An event? The issue is that I simply can't see it as a proper thing at all. Ethyl Vernor and her husband, Robert, are at it again. How should I address this in a way that will show my proper disdain for them? I mean, truly! After what they allowed their slut and tribad of a daughter to do to poor Gwen Farris, they should hang their heads, not try to act as if they have a right to polite company." The older woman sounded pissed enough that it carried to Maria, who looked baffled.

  It just wasn't that kind of a show, normally.

  Agatha spoke pleasantly enough, but it was clearly strained.

  "There's never a place for being impolite, Brenda. If you don't wish to go, you should send a note, and give an excuse. At the very worst, you could simply ignore her invitation. Doing that however could mean not receiving one next time, which might end up being a social mistake. After all, if Gwen Farris isn't going to hold a grudge, should the rest of us?"

  There was a bit of dead air, and an intake of breath, as Brenda Holmes spoke, sounding like she was not amused. Like a person trying to do a bad impression of Queen Victoria.

  "That poor woman has had her life stripped away from her. I don't care how convoluted the tale is in the end, their daughter, Katherine, committed high crimes, and has gone unpunished for them. The failures of the child are, in the end, the responsibility of the parent! We, you and I, wrong Miss Farris each day by not insisting that those that have wronged her are brought to justice, Agatha. I for one won't have it. We should force the issue. It isn't enough to simply snub the Vernors. They should be arrested, and sent to the darkest prison for what they have done to Gwen Farris!"

  "Dear, I don't think that-" Agatha tried to interject, but was far too polite to do it right, and shut up as Brenda finished.

  "None of us have been thinking. That's the problem, isn't it? No, this goes beyond parties. We need to see that these people are ruined for what they've done! Allowing them to run free, making merry and light, after all of this..."

  There was a pop then, which was Gwen knew, what happened when someone slapped the Central sphere of a telestator. It was like hanging up in anger, so of course Adam Westmorland had done it to her. Twice.

  Agatha changed the subject then, as Beth looked away, not speaking herself.

  Gwen shook her head, and sighed.

  "I should be there. This kind of thing can get out of hand, fast."

  There was a small nod from her friend, and then she reached over and took her hand, squeezing it once.

  "We have work to do here, first. Then we'll see about that, all right?"

  Gwen got it, even if it wasn't being said. She was being managed.

  What she didn't really understand yet, was why.

  Chapter ten

  "As murders go, this one is pretty darned straight forward." Gwen could see why she was supposed to have a problem figuring it all out, given that the body had already been buried. There was no real evidence to go on, and no trace of magic.

  Then again, the Detective showing them around was baffled to no end about why the fuck they were even there. Though he was very polite about the whole thing. He wasn't wondering what was really going on, and after about three hours, having looked at everything, including the nice villa that the dead man had lived in, and the locked room h
e was found inside, she summed it up.

  "This man's butler did it. As cliché as that one probably sounds. That will be the story, anyway." No one smiled at her words, Ruez, the dark haired Constabulary rep just agreeing, instantly. He was a good looking man really. Trim enough, but with a slightly dark cast to his skin. It was a good look, Gwen decided. Manly, really.

  "We found that ourselves, inside a day. He confessed, so it wasn't hard to work out."

  Beth seemed annoyed, even though that had been a known thing. The picture on the wall of the man that had died showed a nice looking fellow, who seemed friendly, and had enough years to be slightly wrinkled. It was kind of close, in description, but he wasn't Baron Mathews, or even that man's brother.

  It was instead, his nephew, which was surprising to Gwen, when she thought about it. Honestly that was a lot more of a connection than she would have guessed at there being. He wasn't the new Baron though, and this definitely wasn't inside the family's barony, which turned out to be up north, near Aubrey, along the East coast. As far as she could tell it was basically part of Vermont, or would have been, in her world.

  Looking around the study, which was nicely appointed in wood, rough stone and soft green fabric, she went over what had happened.

  "The death was done with a blade. To the throat? How many times was he stabbed? A lot? More than ten times?"

  Ruez looked at her, his face bland.

  "That's right. You read the report?"

  "Nope. I haven't seen it yet. Lucky guess. Angry people tend to go in for overkill that way. Hitting him in the throat, that probably has to do with the man saying something. Was his face hit too? Around the mouth?"

  That was the case, too, and Beth gave her a funny look.

  "Which means he was trying to silence what the man might say?"

  "Most likely what he'd already said. Um, the butler, he's married, and the wife works in the house? The head maid?" That was just the case, and a thing she'd been told flat out already, so she went on. "Kensing here was widowed? Some goodly time back?"

  With a single nod, Ruez indicated she should go on. Seeing where she was headed, no doubt. The man seemed to be pretty bright.

  "So, he was having an affair with the maid, the butler found out, and confronted the man. Then he attacked him. The locked room portion was just a matter of the door being found locked, and there not being a window in the room? Let me see here..."

  Playing with the lock she worked out how to rig it simply enough. There was a scrap of thick paper stuck in the mechanism, having been torn out earlier, when it was used to hold the door in an unlocked state, until it was tugged out of place. That let the mechanism close all the way, after locking it from inside.

  She demonstrated, and then walked away, pissed that someone had wasted so much of her time.

  Gwen tired not to let that show as she huffed off, stopping at the front door.

  "Solved. So, what's next?"

  It was pretty clear that Beth was at a loss, Ruez shaking his head.

  "That would finish it, I think. Like I said, the man confessed, but he wouldn't explain that part of it. Not why he did it either. It's strange that he went to the trouble. We got here the same day, and he came to us almost instantly. We hadn't even asked questions at the time."

  Shrugging, which got the man to tilt his head questioningly, she explained that part, too. It was obvious to her, if not anyone else. The wife was having an affair with the master of the house. Not the husband. The wounds told the story, pretty clearly.

  "This is a guess, but it's probably that the maid actually killed the home owner, not the butler. The guy turned her down, or suggested they break up, and she freaked, then killed him, trying to keep the words inside of him, to stop them from coming out. Then she set up the plan, which wasn't all that brilliant, since this world has loads of telepaths. To stop her going to prison or the gallows, the hubby stepped forward, and fell on his sword to protect her. It's kind of noble, after a fashion, though she probably isn't worth it. Not if she was cheating on him like that, with a person that it could only end poorly with, for both her and her husband."

  Everyone looked at her then, as if she were being strange, but Beth looked around, and nodded at her.

  "That does fit the situation. Well, that isn't our job, is it? I guess we should..."

  It was so clear that Beth had nothing then that it was funny. It was tempting to be snarky and suggest they teletransport back home instantly. Being a good girl she didn't do that, just looking around instead.

  "I guess we should scout the area, and see if there's any sort of business that can be set up? There's no reason not to, since we're here. Take in a sex show or something." She was joking, but Ruez grinned then, and spread his hands warmly.

  "You'll want to go to the red district tonight then. Go to the far end, and take in the show at the last door. You're at the Homestead? That's only about ten blocks away from there. There are some other good ones, but I must warn you, don't take too much lucre with you when you go, and you might want to get a chaperone, if you aren't looking to participate? I think the Open Whole has something like that going on most nights. If not they might be willing to make an exception. The one I suggest is rather tamer, however. Fun." He seemed to think nothing of it in particular, and Beth smothered a smile with a hand.

  "I think my companion was joking, Detective Ruez. We don't have such things up North, is it common here?'

  "Oh, not uncommon. It could be worth taking in however, if you're curious?"

  Gwen didn't say anything, just accepting the ride that was set up for them to get back to the hotel, not speaking until they were underway, the man heading off on a horse, of all things. People had them there, but this was the first time she'd seen anyone riding like that.

  "It doesn't go with his shiny suit, does it? His hat is wrong too, for a cowboy."

  Beth smiled at her, as they both looked out the window.

  "A gaucho? I think they call them that down here. Many ride horses however, in most places. I can show you, if you really want to learn?"

  She nodded.

  "Yeah. That, how to drive a lorrie, and how to swim. Ride a bicycle, too. You have those right?" She was certain she recalled having seen some pictures of some in a magazine or newspaper. Where that was she didn't know, but the image was clear in her head.

  Beth nodded.

  "Also a good thing to look into. You know, if we don't have another assignment immediately, we should think about going to Central and seeing to some of those. They have a good setup for training, as far as vehicles go. Even if you don't do it properly, it would be easier."

  She had to wonder what kind of climate she'd meet there, if she went. It wouldn't be a cage, she didn't think.

  "I really don't need to be tortured for any of that. As it stands I think that my training that way is about done now. I'll have to do the rest of it the old fashioned way. The pain devices... They trigger both my precognition, and make me want to run away. I doubt that I can make myself stand still for it again." That, plus the fear she felt all the time, and buried as well as she could, of the universe splitting open behind her were enough to make dying seem like a good idea, actually.

  "Oh? Well, no one will push that for some time, especially if you master things in other ways. I can see your point however. How things lined up to make it impossible to train you using standard techniques like that. Most that learn that way aren't allowed to flee from conditioning first. You never had that program of learning, which... Yes. There are reasons for that, aren't there?"

  Being an alien heiress and all that.

  "Yep. It's a bit of a cluster. Anyway, I don't actually know what to do now. What are your orders again? To keep me busy, and to keep Katherine distracted from the fact that you're all on to her?" The words sounded a lot like her, but Gwen realized that her mouth wasn't in control of them.

  Kat had taken over, to add the idea to the conversation.

  Fudge.


  Beth didn't seem to notice the changeup, but shook her head.

  "Oh, nothing like that. Adam and Mona just wanted to make certain you got a real break for a while. Plus, it's so rare that I get to travel for fun like this. Sex show, you say? That sounds naughty. Perhaps a bit much so. I wouldn't want you to pass out from the blood rushing to your face." She smiled cutely, and then winked.

  Katherine struggled a bit to fake her voice, getting the accent a little bit off. It might not be enough to signal her pal however, since Gwen had worked on trying to sound more normal for this world in the past. That she might be adapting a little now wasn't impossible.

  She tried to reach up, and touch her left temple, but there was no movement at all.

  Instead she kept speaking.

  "It does sound a bit naughty, doesn't it? We should do it! If only to say that we did, later. When we're both old and gray, no one will care what we did, and at least we'll have the story to tell. I'm going to be married soon, and don't have the tiniest clue what to do in the bedroom. Poor Christophe will be lying there wondering what he's doing wrong the whole time. I can't let the fact that I'm a dreadful prude influence things, over much, can I?"

  Gwen tried to roll her eyes, but that was locked out too. There was no direct communication, just a sense of smug coming from the other girl.

  Then there was a laugh, from her own mouth.

  "All right then Gwen, I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. Bethany, I took over the mouth for a moment. I shouldn't do that, it's very rude of me, but I got bored."

  Beth went wide eyed, and gap mouthed as control came back to Gwen.

  "WTF, Katherine? You locked me out totally! I know you can do it, but you said you wouldn't." Really, she'd kind of talked around that one, but it was close enough for her to be a bit scared and pissed. She hated not being able to move on her own. It left her feeling trapped and vulnerable.

  Like being tied down to a sacrificial alter.

  Across from her Bethany straightened, and nodded firmly.

  "Indeed! I have to insist you not abuse the situation like that again. What if I'd taken Gwen to a sex show on your say so? That would be a huge social error."