Figure Skating Mystery Series: 5 Books in 1

by Alina Adams

I never understood what Lucian wanted with Chris Kelly's hand-me-downs. You know how Chris is always saying Lucian was like a father to him? Well, it's pretty gross when you think of them both with Gina.

  FROM: SkatingYoda Posted at 12:11 PM

  That whole Chris/Gina romance was a set-up from the beginning. It was just for publicity during the Olympics. Everyone knows Chris is gay.

  FROM: Admin Posted at 12:13 PM

  WARNING: As per the written rules of the board (click here for refresher if you need it), skater's sexuality is off limits as topic for discussion. Thank you.

  FROM: GoGoGregoryl Posted at 12:14 PM

  A skater's sexuality is their own private business.

  FROM: SuperCooperFan Posted at 12:16 PM

  I don't care if a skater is gay, it doesn't make me like them any less.

  FROM: LuvsLian Posted at 12:17 PM

  It's offensive to speculate. Gay people should be respected as much as anyone else.

  FROM: MaryQuiteContrary Posted at 12:18 PM

  So how come it's offensive to speculate if someone is gay, but not offensive to wonder if they're straight?

  FROM: LuvsLian Posted at 12:19 PM

  «So how come it's offensive to speculate if someone is gay, but not offensive to wonder if they're straight?»

  Nobody does that.

  FROM: MaryQuiteContrary Posted at 12:21 PM

  Oh, yeah? Then how come the Admin didn't come in to chastise us when we were speculating about why Pryce dumped Wright for Quinn or if he was going to upgrade from Gregory to Cassidy, but she jumped right in as soon as Yoda said Kelly was gay, huh? How's that not a double standard? Don't you guys get it? Every time you go on and on about how someone's sexuality is their own business and doesn't affect how you feel about them as a skater, then turn around and have no problem discussing a straight guy's sex life, you're just reinforcing that being gay is different and needs special protection. If you responded as matter of factly to the question of "is so and so gay" as you did to "is so and so straight" that would prove how commendably open-minded you are and how you don't care one way or the other. This way, you're just PC idiots. (I know, I know, Admin, I'll just quietly ban myself.... Consider me a political prisoner.)

  * * *

  Bex asked Sabrina, "So you don't think Gina ever loved your father? Not even when she first married him?"

  "Oh, who knows what goes through the mind of Gina? That whole marriage was so out of the blue. One minute it's Gina and Chris as skating's answer to Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, and the next Gina is Celine Dion married to that ancient guy who discovered her as a kid."

  "Come on, the age difference wasn't that bad."

  "Hello? She's a year older than I am. Talk about ancient enough to be her father. Literally. I got the paperwork to prove it."

  "You're not a fan."

  "And you're really, really good at your job, aren't you?"

  On another occasion, Bex might have even been offended by the swipe. But she had a lot more on her mind these days than a bitter stepdaughter with obvious, unresolved Daddy issues. Unless, of course, it led Bex to... "Do you think Gina killed Lucian?"

  "That's kind of blunt, isn't it?"

  "It's what you wanted to talk to me about."

  "Not necessarily."

  "You have another suspect in mind?"

  "Who says I think my dad was killed?”

  "Then why are we having this conversation?”

  "Jeez!"

  "Sabrina, I have a lot of work to do. Say what you want to say, or let me go."

  "You don't have to be such a bitch about it."

  "Ditto."

  Bex listened to their entire exchange, wondering who the heck this person trading barbs with Sabrina Pryce was. Barbs weren't usually Bex's thing. Saucy wit, delightful self-deprecating asides, clever puns, pungent sarcasm, those were more up her alley. Bex didn't tend to go for the flat-out claws. But then again, maybe her earlier chat with Gina about the merits, or lack thereof, of marrying a widower still obviously in love with his late wife had prematurely aged Bex out of her stunted collegiate phase and into world-weary crone. She certainly felt world-weary at the moment. And it wasn't just the generic exhaustion of the job.

  "Fine," Sabrina said. "It's just that everyone seems to be in such a hurry to call his death a tragic accident, I've got to wonder if maybe something else isn't going on."

  "I'm going to ask again: Do you think Gina killed your father?"

  "I certainly think she's wanted to over the years."

  "Over the years? So why now? Had things between them recently gotten worse?"

  "Felt like it. I mean, I don't see either of them that much. I live in San Francisco, you know. I have my own life, and none of it takes place on the ice. I talk to my father maybe every couple of months on the phone. To Gina, really only when I come out here, which is never more than once a year, more like every two. But this time, something was off. More than usual, I mean. The night before he died, I got the feeling they were... in the middle of something. Like I interrupted this thing and they were pretending nothing was going on, but it — something was still there, underneath. Nobody said anything or did anything, but they were... tight. Does that make any sense?"

  "And then the next morning he was dead?"

  "Yeah. The next morning, he was dead."

  "That's awfully convenient."

  "For somebody," Sabrina agreed.

  That afternoon, the OTC's main rink was bustling with activity as Toni, alongside a hurriedly-drafted-into-assistant-duty Chris, attempted to choreograph an opening number for Lucian's tribute featuring a troupe of his current students that would be somber, respectful, and not deadly dull. Bex noted with amusement that, despite his never having taken a lesson from Lucian in his life, Toni had plopped Jeremy Hunt in the center of the company. Bex couldn't blame her. Jeremy was the most promising student Toni had ever coached and she was determined to get him maximum exposure — even if it meant literally spinning on Lucian's carcass to do it. It was beginning to seem as if the famed coach's death was working out rather well for a whole host of people.

  Unable to help herself, Bex scanned the stands, checking to see if Craig might be in attendance, watching his son practice. She didn't see him in the throng of eager moms with video cameras plastered to their noses. Not that Bex had honestly expected to. Craig made a point of keeping his distance from Jeremy's skating career unless directly invited to intervene. He was awfully good at giving people their space.

  Too good, frankly.

  She would have liked to have him around now to talk to. But it was probably for the best. Talking could only lead to more talking. Which would lead to thinking and then maybe even deciding and committing. Bex never did well with those verbs.

  Instead, she settled for watching the rehearsal, trying to figure out what her next move should be. At center ice, Jeremy was attempting to land a Triple Axel on a fierce downbeat of music. It was a jump he usually mastered, but this time around, he would leap into the air, turn three and a half times, land on one foot, and just when it seemed he had it, his blade would slide out from under him, sending the boy sprawling.

  After he'd failed for a third time, Toni and Chris called Jeremy over to the barrier and signaled for him to lift up his right boot. He did so obediently. First Toni, then Chris ran their fingers along the edge of his blade, conferring briefly among themselves. Then Toni reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked to Bex, from a distance, like a pumice stone. It seemed to be used for the same purpose, as well. Toni took the flat, gray rock and struck it forcefully, but with control, along the bottom of Jeremy's blade. A few more precise swipes and she indicated for him to give it a try now.

  Jeremy gingerly set his foot back down on the ice and moved it cautiously a few times back and forth before taking off at full speed into a dozen backwards crossovers. He leapt into the air and completed three and a half revolutions followed by an imperfect, slanted, though upright lan
ding. Toni and Chris nodded, satisfied, and returned to what they were doing.

  Bex waited until the two coaches called a break to confer among themselves, then promptly pushed her way through the teen throng towards Jeremy. He was sitting on a bench, dutifully wiping up the slush from his blades with a soft cloth so they wouldn't rust.

  "Hey, dude," she offered, simultaneously wondering how much Jeremy knew of what was currently going on between her and his dad.

  "Bex! Hey!" He looked genuinely happy to see her. Which meant he either had an idea of what was going on and was pleased about it, or he had an idea of what was going on and was happy Bex was dragging her feet. Or he had no idea at all. "Dad said you were here working on the tribute. That's awesome."

  "Looks like it's going to be some show."

  "I hope so. Toni gave me a solo. It feels kind of weird, since I never took from him or anything. But she said that he taught her, and she taught me, so it's to symbolize a torch being passed, you know?"

  Bex contemplated what fine wisdom Lucian had passed on to Jeremy's biological parents when he'd been their coach, but decided now was not the time or place to recall that particular era.

  Jeremy, however, had no such qualms. "Dad wasn't thrilled at first about me skating in a tribute to Lucian Pryce. You know, because of the... stuff."

  "I can imagine."

  "Toni talked him into it, though. She said it would be good for me to be on TV, show what I can do, especially if I want to prove that my making the World Team this past year wasn't just some fluke. Toni's real good at talking people into things they don't want to do. By the time she's done, you start thinking it was your idea in the first place."

  Bex asked, "What happened to your skate blade out there?"

  "Oh, that." He lifted his leg by the thigh with both arms to show her. "I think I must have caught a rut or something coming in, because I took a huge chunk right out of the front, see?"

  Bex peered at the blade, noticing that there did seem to be an indentation about an inch or two below the clawed toe pick at the tip. "Looks all smoothed out now, though."

  "Yeah. Good thing Toni had a stone on her."

  "Do all coaches carry one?"

  "Usually. It's just for quick fixes, though. I'm going to need a good sharpening when I get back home. I don't want to do it now, though. Don't want to have to break in freshly sharpened boots before the show."

  "So one little knick can really make that much of a difference?"

  "Oh, yeah, totally. It was throwing me completely off balance on the Axel. I could feel something was wrong, but I wasn't sure what. I thought maybe my legs just felt funny or my sock got bunched up. I was trying to skate it off. Good thing Toni and Chris figured out what was going on. I could have really hurt myself."

  "I'm glad you're okay," Bex told Jeremy sincerely.

  "Thanks. Hey, are Dad and I going to get to see you while we're all here? I know everybody's totally busy, but maybe the three of us could hang out?"

  "I — I don't know, Jer."

  "That would be cool, wouldn't it?"

  Bex agreed. "Yeah. That would be cool. But there's something I need to check out first. You tell your dad I said hi, okay?"

  "Sure, Bex."

  She called the police station but, upon getting the runaround, decided to hail a cab and see for herself. Once there, nobody would just let Bex take a quick look at Lucian's personal effects. The cop on duty insisted that everything, including Lucian's skates, had already been packed up and were waiting to be picked up by Gina. Oddly enough, Mrs. Pryce did not seem to be in much of a hurry.

  Bex thought fast. She told him they (she was deliberately vague on who exactly "they" might be) wanted to borrow the skates to construct a memorial centerpiece. For the tribute. A cornucopia of items to symbolize the stages of Lucian's life as a competitor and a coach. Since the medical examiner had already cleared the items for release, surely there was nothing improper about handing the pair over? The cornucopia was scheduled to be a surprise for Gina and Sabrina, unveiled the night of the show — that's why Bex didn't want to wait and retrieve the skates later from Mrs. Pryce. Surely, the officer could understand that? They were trying to do a good thing, here.

  He looked at Bex funny for a moment.

  But in the end, he did hand over Lucian's skates.

  Clutching the paper bag they'd been packed in, Bex headed back to the arena.

  She managed to catch Toni alone in the coaches' lounge. Making sure that no one was listening in, Bex yanked out the well-worn pair and laid them on the coffee table at Toni's feet.

  "Look!" she announced.

  "Lucian's skates." Toni's voice was devoid of any emotion, even curiosity. She acted as if she were confronted with her ex-partner's last skates every day of the week.

  "What do you see?”

  "Lucian's skates," Toni repeated. "What are you doing with these, honey?”

  "Look at the blades."

  Toni did. "Yes?”

  "Can't you see it? They're both covered in ruts."

  "Skating is a tough sport."

  "Come on, Toni. I saw how you and Chris evened out Jeremy's blades today with that stone thing or whatever it's called. If he was having trouble just trying to manage one rut, how the heck was Lucian expected to stay upright in blades this beat up?”

  "Jeremy was attempting to land a Triple Axel. I assure you, not only had Lucian never mastered one in his prime, but he certainly wouldn't have been trying one now."

  "That's right. Lucian wasn't trying to do anything more challenging this morning than backwards crossovers. That shouldn't have been enough to knock him over. Unless someone tampered with his blades first."

  "And how do you propose 'someone' did that, Bex?"

  "Easy. If a stone can take out a rut, I'm sure it can deliberately put one in."

  "Even if that were the case — "

  "Isn't it?"

  "Well, I suppose so, in theory."

  "So then — "

  "But even if that were the case, Bex, how did this alleged killer of yours obtain access to Lucian's skates?"

  "Easily. Both Gina and Sabrina were at the house with him yesterday. They could have waited for him to leave the room — "

  "Lucian didn't keep his skates at home."

  That took some proverbial wind out of Bex's theory. "He didn't?"

  "No."

  "So where did he keep them, then?”

  "Here. In his office. At the rink."

  "But that's even easier! Anyone could have walked in — "

  "Lucian always kept his office locked. Remember, you tried to open the door this morning to call the police."

  She did remember. "And Lucian was the only one with a key?”

  Toni hesitated. "Actually, I have one as well. I travel here with my own students several times a year. Lucian gave me a key, oh, almost five years ago, I'd say. So I would have a private place to rest when not teaching. None of us are getting any younger, you know, Bex. Lucian thought I might need the break."

  "Oh." Now it was Bex's turn to hesitate.

  "Would you like to lock me up now, or after the tribute show?”

  "Don't be silly. I — "

  "Come now, Bex. You were happy to point the finger at Gina or Sabrina when it suited your purposes. Why not me?”

  The peculiar tone of Toni's voice took Bex by surprise. She couldn't tell if the older woman was being sincere, acting coy, or deliberately baiting Bex.

  "Fine, Toni. I'll play along. Was it you?"

  "Did I kill Lucian?"

  "Sure. You seem to really want me to ask you, so I'm asking: Did you damage Lucian's skates so that he'd fall down and crack his skull? After all, you knew about his previous fractures, you knew he was vulnerable. You have means; I saw the stone. And you just told me you had the opportunity."

  "What about motive? Did I have one of those as well?"

  "Actually," Bex said, "that's the easiest one of all."

  "Is that
a fact?”

  "Yeah. It is."

  "And what might have been my motive to kill my oldest friend in the world?”

  "He dumped you."

  "He did?" For the first time, Bex got the feeling Toni wasn't playing games. She seemed genuinely surprised by Bex's assertion. "When?”

  Again, her response threw Bex off-kilter, leading her to stutter. "Well, a bunch of times. I mean, most recently I guess when he left the Connecticut Training Center to come teach out here and didn't take you with him."

  "I didn't want to go. My life is on the East Coast. My children are there."

  "Shouldn't he have made you director of the Connecticut Center, then? You had the seniority. Instead, Igor Marchenko — "

  "That wasn't Lucian's call to make. That was the board of directors. In fact, the reason Lucian took the job out here was because he was so furious at them for bringing Marchenko in to coach at his facility. Lucian didn't want Igor there, so he resigned and took another position."

  "Okay, fine." Bex hadn't wanted to bring up her final point. It was impolite and hurtful, and she really didn't want to go there. But if Toni insisted on acting like this, she left Bex with no choice. "What about the fact that Lucian dumped you years ago? Right after the Olympics. He dropped you as a partner and... other stuff... so he could have a solo career. And then he married Eleanor, to boot. Lucian treated you like dirt. That sounds like a pretty good motive to me."

  CHAPTER TEN – TONI

  Mr. Sullivan, of Sullivan's Skating Stars, said, "I'm afraid... the problem is... it wouldn't be possible.... I can take one of you. One, not both. I'm sorry. It's one thing, just the skating. People can overlook just the skating. Maybe. But a married couple such as yourselves... We play a lot of small towns, you see."

  They saw.

  Lucian was out of his chair before Mr. Sullivan had finished speaking. The words coming out of his own mouth were ones unlikely to endear Wright and Pryce to small-town audiences — or big-town audiences, for that matter. Toni had to grab him by the arm and pull Lucian back into his seat, shooting him a warning look.