“I’m sure there will be a few people who will turn up out of curiosity, if nothing else,” James said.
Fenella wasn’t sure if it was simply curiosity or something else, but while they waited, three other cars parked in the lot. She and James watched the people who exited them.
“Any idea who that is?” Fenella asked as an elderly man walked toward the community center
“None at all.”
“What about those two?” The women who were talking together as they walked both appeared to be around Stephanie’s age. They were both wearing black, but seemed to be chatting happily as they walked.
When the door to the third car opened, Fenella smiled. “I didn’t recognize Shelly’s car,” she said as she opened her door.
“I didn’t know you were coming,” she said to Shelly as she gave her a hug.
“I thought about telling you, but I decided to just wait and see you here. I know you’ve been busy with James,” the other woman replied.
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see you,” Fenella said.
“I didn’t know how his recovery was coming, but if he’s up to visitors, I’ll start annoying you both immediately.”
“We won’t be annoyed,” Fenella assured her, “or at least, I won’t. And James will probably be moving back to the house soon, anyway.”
Another car pulled into the parking lot and slid to a stop next to the women. Mark Hammersmith climbed out and nodded at them.
“Good afternoon.”
“Good afternoon,” Fenella replied.
As she spoke, James pulled open the passenger door on Fenella’s car. “Now that the police are here, I feel safe,” he said brightly.
Mark just gave him a blank look and then turned and walked toward the community center. James rushed to keep up with him, leaving Fenella and Shelly to follow.
“Are you okay?” Shelly whispered as they went.
“I’m fine, but I’ve had quite enough of James,” she replied.
“I kept thinking about asking you to go down to the pub with me, but I knew James couldn’t come and I didn’t want to upset him.”
“Let’s go tonight,” Fenella suggested. “I have a feeling I’m going to need a drink after this is over.”
They all stopped right inside the door. The community center was basically just one large room with a few kitchen appliances along one wall. The basketball hoops at each end felt incredibly out of place for a memorial service. A number of folding chairs had been set up in rows, facing a small platform. Fenella could see plates of cookies on a long table against the back wall.
Stephanie’s three friends were standing together, talking to the older man that Fenella had spotted in the parking lot. The other two women were standing together, looking around nervously. Annie suddenly seemed to notice the new arrivals.
“Ah, James and Fenella, you’re here,” she said loudly. She crossed the room toward them, leaving the others behind.
“How are you?” she asked James, staring at the still noticeable bruise on his forehead.
“I’m fine, mostly,” he replied. “Just devastated to have lost Stephanie.”
“We’re all devastated,” Courtney said as she and Maureen joined them. “It seems particularly cruel as we’d only just reconnected that night.”
“Yes, the timing was particularly sad,” James agreed.
“But you must meet Wilbur Rush,” Courtney said. “He’s Stephanie’s third cousin on her father’s side.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Fenella said to the older man as Courtney performed the necessary introductions.
“Likewise. I didn’t really know Stephanie, but I’m the last one left on the island, so I thought I owed it to her to come. Everyone else either died or moved away, same as she did, really. I’m here now until the end, I suppose. It’s not been a bad place to be, though.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Fenella said.
The man shrugged. “As I said, I didn’t know her. If I’m honest, I don’t even remember ever meeting her. Her father didn’t get along with the rest of the family. We rarely saw any of them.”
The other two women, who’d been standing on their own, walked over and gave everyone tentative smiles.
“You’re Annie Lawrence, aren’t you?” one of them said.
“Yes, I am,” Annie agreed. “You both look really familiar, but I couldn’t say why.”
“I’m Susan Sinclair and this is Hannah Christian. We all went to school together, back in the day,” the woman replied.
“Of course, now I remember you,” Annie said. “You must remember Maureen Rhodes and Courtney Bridges, as well.”
Susan looked at her friend and then nodded. “Yes, of course we do.”
“I’m Courtney Fleming now. It was nice of you both to come to Stephanie’s service,” Courtney said.
“We both felt as if it was the right thing to do. We both remember her from school. She was in most of our classes, and I worked with her for a little while before her parents died and she left the island. She used to come over to my house on weekends to do homework sometimes.”
“I didn’t realize you two were such good friends,” Annie said coolly.
Susan flushed. “We weren’t great friends, but it was helpful to have someone to do homework with, that’s all.”
The tension that was building was broken when the door behind Fenella opened and an older woman walked in, leaning heavily on the arm of her companion. He looked to be about twenty-five.
“Mrs. Harrison?” Annie gasped. “Is that you?”
The woman frowned and then narrowed her eyes. “Annie Lawrence? Can that really be you? You’ve grown old since the last time I saw you.”
“You haven’t seen me since primary school,” Annie shot back. “That was over thirty years ago.”
“Was it really? Where has the time gone?” the woman sighed.
“Mrs. Harrison? It’s so good to see you again,” Susan said. She stepped forward and held out a hand. “I’m Susan Sinclair. I went to school with Annie and Stephanie.”
The woman stared at her for a minute and then shrugged. “I don’t really remember you. You must have been well behaved and quiet.”
“I suppose I was both of those things,” Susan agreed.
“I only remember the troublemakers,” the woman said. “I remember Stephanie very well indeed.”
Annie and her friends laughed. “I’m surprised you don’t remember Maureen or Courtney, then,” Annie said.
“I didn’t move to the island until after primary school,” Courtney reminded Annie.
“And I was well behaved in school,” Maureen added.
Mrs. Harrison shook her head. “I do remember you, Maureen Rhodes, don’t think that I don’t. You weren’t as naughty as Annie or Stephanie, but that doesn’t mean I don’t remember you. You were in trouble in my class fairly regularly.”
Maureen laughed. “I’m glad I’m too old to get into trouble with you anymore.”
“You’re never too old, young lady,” the woman snapped.
Maureen’s smile faded and she looked around at her friends.
“Maybe we should get started,” she muttered.
“I was hoping that we’d have a few more people than this,” Courtney said, “but it’s ten past two. We should get started. If everyone could take a seat, we’ll begin.”
Fenella looked at James, and he shrugged. No one seemed to know where to sit, so for a minute no one moved. Finally Mark crossed over to the rows of chairs and took a seat in the very back row. Mrs. Harrison’s companion walked her over to the chairs and helped her settle into a seat in the next row forward. Shelly sat in the same row, with a few seats between herself and Mrs. Harrison.
“James, sit in the front,” Annie suggested as Susan and Hannah slid into seats in front of Shelly.
“I don’t think so. You three should get the front seats,” he replied.
“There’s plenty of room
for you and your sister and us,” Maureen said, “and you were her, well, her boyfriend, after all.”
“Yes, but you were her family,” he argued. “I’ll sit in the second row.”
Wilbur Rush had taken the seat next to Shelly, and Fenella could see them talking quietly as she and James took seats in the second row. The three remaining CAMS took seats at the front and then whispered amongst themselves for a minute.
“Thank you all for coming,” Courtney said from the small platform a minute later. “We’re grateful that you were willing to take time out of your busy day to help honor the memory of our dear friend, Stephanie.”
James glanced at Fenella, and she suddenly began to worry that he intended to start shouting out questions about Arthur Beck during the service. She shook her head at him and he winked, which didn’t reassure her in the slightest.
“I moved to the island when I was fourteen. My parents were in the middle of an ugly divorce and the Isle of Man was the last place I wanted to be. I’ll be forever grateful to Stephanie for befriending me and making me feel as if I belonged here. When I first arrived, I swore I’d leave as soon as I turned eighteen. Now I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I’m sorry that I lost touch with Stephanie over the years, and I’m grateful to have had a chance to spend at least a little bit of time with her before her unfortunate accident.”
Fenella shot James a warning glance as he opened his mouth. He sighed and settled back in his seat.
“I met Stephanie at school, when I was all of five,” Maureen said. “She was smart and funny and clever and I could never quite believe that she was willing to be friends with me. I missed her every day when she was away, and I was so happy when she came back. I’ll miss her every day from now on for the rest of my life.” She wiped away a few tears and then sat back down.
“Yeah, Stephanie was the closest thing I ever had to a sister. She lived next door to me from the time I was three until her parents died, and we were pretty much inseparable when we were younger. I was really happy when she came back to the island, but now I wish she’d never come back. At least when she was away, she was alive and well. I know I’ll never get over losing her,” Annie told them all before dissolving into tears. Maureen stood back up and pulled her back into her chair.
“We’d like to invite anyone else who’d like to say a few words to do so,” Courtney said over Annie’s sobs.
Susan stood up. “We all knew Stephanie as part of the CAMS. You four were always together, always having more fun than anyone else. All of the guys wanted to be with you. All of the girls wanted to join your gang, Annie’s gang. But once in a while, when Stephanie was on her own, she’d take the time to talk to other people. I was one of those other people, and I liked Stephanie very much. I was sorry when she left the island and I’m desperately sorry that she’s gone.”
She sat down, and everyone looked around the room. James cleared his throat and stood up. Mark sat up straighter in his seat and stared hard at James as James gave everyone a nervous smile.
“I’m not a public speaker. I’m a writer. I should probably have written something to say today and then just read it out. Stephanie and I weren’t together for long, but we were really happy together. She was an inspiration to me and I truly believe that we would have done something incredible together if we’d been able to write that book we had planned. I’m going to miss a million little things about her, from her smile to her laugh to the way she’d argue with me about anything and everything.”
Everyone in the room chuckled. “She could argue with anyone,” Annie said.
“Yeah, and she could talk like no one else I knew,” James replied. “I was used to living alone, and there were days when she’d just start talking at breakfast time and not stop until past time for bed. When we first met, I used to listen to every word, but I soon learned to tune her out, at least some of the time. I would have been driven crazy otherwise.”
Another general chuckle went around the room.
“She loved to tell me stories about her life on the island,” James continued, “and from what she told me, a lot of very interesting things happened to her here.”
Fenella saw Mark getting to his feet. “I think that’s probably enough,” he said in a low voice.
“I’m only just getting started,” James retorted. “I thought Stephanie’s friends might like to hear a few of the stories she shared with me.”
“I don’t think this is the time or the place,” Mark said.
“It’s the perfect time and place,” James argued. “She told me that she and her friends once broke into their high school and got drunk in the gym.”
Annie laughed. “That was a wild night. We had a really good time until the police came. Then we had to sneak out and we only just managed to get away.”
“She also told me a story about the four of you breaking into Peel Castle one night,” James continued. “She said Annie tried to climb up the tower and that you all got spooked by the ghost dog.”
Annie nodded. “The Moddey Dhoo was there, barking at us. It was terrifying.”
James grinned. “I thought maybe she made that story up.”
“Oh, no, it really happened,” Maureen said. “We were very young and very stupid in those days.”
“I’ll assume you were also young and stupid that time you stole a car and accidently ran over Arthur Beck, then,” James said in a conversational tone.
All three of Stephanie’s friends turned pale, and Mark put his hand on James’s arm.
“I told you that was not open to discussion today,” he said firmly.
“I don’t know what Stephanie told you,” Courtney said, “but clearly that story was a fantasy.”
“Was it?” James shot back. “Because you’ve all just confirmed her other stories were real.”
“We did a little bit of breaking and entering,” Courtney admitted, “but that’s very different to stealing a car.”
“I wasn’t all that bothered about the stolen car,” James said. “It was the man you killed that upset me about the story.”
Annie had tears streaming down her face as she stood up. “It wasn’t true. It wasn’t like that. Not at all.”
“Perhaps you’d like to tell me how it was, then,” James suggested. “Because the way that Stephanie told it, you four murdered the man.”
“It was an accident,” Annie sobbed, “and Stephanie knew that.”
“Annie, that’s quite enough,” Courtney said firmly. “None of us know anything about this story you’re telling,” she told James. “Clearly Stephanie told you all sorts of fanciful things. It certainly isn’t our fault if you chose to believe her.”
“You know what’s really interesting?” James replied. “I didn’t believe her, not until right now.”
“I need to speak to each of you,” Mark said, “and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk amongst yourselves for the moment.”
“We’ve no need to talk to one another,” Courtney said. “Maureen and Annie know that the whole story is a complete fabrication. We’ve never even heard of Arthur Beck, or whatever his name was.”
“You have the name right, which is pretty impressive since you only heard it once,” Mark said.
Courtney flushed. “I was paying attention,” she snapped. “It isn’t every day that I get accused of murder, after all.”
“We didn’t kill him,” Annie said. “It was an accident.”
“Annie, stop,” Courtney snarled. “We didn’t know the man. He was a figment of Stephanie’s imagination.”
“Except his wife filed a missing person report on him,” James said. “And his son, his baby son, never knew what happened to his father.”
“He didn’t really have a baby son,” Annie said. “That was just a story he told us so that we’d let him go.”
“He did have a son,” James replied. “His name was Andrew, and Stephanie left everything she had to him.”
Annie gasped and looked at the
other two women. “He wasn’t lying,” she whispered softly.
“I don’t believe this,” Courtney said loudly. “Stephanie made up some crazy story and now even you are starting to believe it.”
Annie shook her head. “I’ve been lying for too many years,” she said, “but it wasn’t even lying, was it? No one ever asked. No one ever came looking for the man. We all thought we were safe.”
“We were safe,” Maureen said, “until Stephanie came home.”
“She wasn’t really going to go to the police,” Annie said. “She was just talking.”
“If she told James, maybe she was going to go to the police,” Maureen said. “She wasn’t meant to tell anyone. We made a pact. We all promised.”
“Has it escaped your notice that the man standing there is a police inspector?” Courtney said through gritted teeth. “I suggest you two get your story straight.”
“No more stories,” Annie said. “It’s time to tell the truth. Maybe Stephanie was right. Maybe we’ll all feel better if we tell the police what happened.”
“No, we won’t,” Courtney said. “None of this is official. Keep your mouth’s shut from now on and my advocate will be able to fix this. Just shut up now.”
“What did Stephanie tell you?” Maureen asked James.
James took a deep breath. “She told me that you four were drunk and stole a car. While you were driving around the island, you ran over a man called Arthur Beck, but he wasn’t killed outright. You took him to a house somewhere and looked after him for a while until he died.”
“That’s right,” Courtney said quickly. “We didn’t realize that he had a heart condition. He was recovering just fine from his minor injuries, and then one day when we went to check on him, he was dead. We can’t possibly be blamed for that.”
“I think we’ll have to let the courts decide about that,” Mark said. “Let’s move this conversation down to the station. You’ll be able to ring for advocates there if you want them.”
“How did you know he had a heart condition?” James asked.
Courtney blinked a few times. “He must have. He was fine one day and dead the next.”
“How long did you keep him as a prisoner?” James wanted to know.
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