by Alina Adams
It wasn't that Toni and Lucian objected to touring Europe. But they'd had their hearts set on America, as well. Finally, they turned to a smaller outfit, Sullivan's Skating Stars, a company not known for its headliners. Sullivan's tended to play smaller arenas and decamped in towns the big tours never bothered visiting. But they'd expressed some initial interest.
Negotiations got as far as the contract stage where, as part of outlining exactly what accommodations they'd be needing while on tour, Toni casually mentioned that she and Lucian planned on getting married prior to departing.
That brought Mr. Sullivan himself up short.
"Hmm," he said.
Toni and Lucian exchanged looks. Both realized that Mr. Sullivan's "hmm" was the equivalent of Lucian's "This is a problem."
"What, exactly, is the problem?” Toni asked, sparing him the trouble of actually introducing the topic.
"Hmm," Mr. Sullivan said again. "I'm afraid... the problem is... it wouldn't be possible… I can take one of you," he said. "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. They said they would think about it. They both did.
The next morning, Lucian called Mr. Sullivan to tell him his circumstances had changed. It seemed that he would be available to take the offered headlining spot on his own. Miss Wright would be pursuing opportunities elsewhere.
A few months later, the New York Times, in its regular "Weddings" section, carried an item announcing that Lucian Pryce, former U.S. Pairs champion with Antonia Wright, while on a hiatus from his role as principle headliner for Sullivan's Skating Stars, had wed a young woman he had also recently started coaching in Ladies' Singles, by the name of Eleanor Quinn.
Toni Wright didn't attend the wedding.
CHAPTER THREE
SKATINGANDSTUFF.COM MESSAGE BOARD
FROM: SkateGrS Posted at 9:44 AM
Anyone know if Antonia Wright is going to be at the Pryce tribute?
FROM: IcelsNice Posted at 9:57 AM
I would totally not blame her if she didn't show. Everybody knows Pryce completely dumped her for Eleanor Quinn because Miss Wright wasn't the right enough shade for Pryce's country-club set. What a jerk! He doesn't deserve a tribute, IMHO.
FROM: LuvsLian Posted at 10:11 AM
I heard it wasn't because Toni was black, but because she couldn't do anything more for Lucian's career that he dumped her. They'd already been US Champions, this was before there was a Pro circuit for them to compete on. So Toni was out and Eleanor in. She could bring Lucian Gold.
FROM: SkatingFreak Posted at 10:33 AM
So you're saying Pryce wasn't a racist, just a dirty old man. Great defense. Sure makes me love him now!
FROM: LuvsLian Posted at 10:47 AM
I didn't say he was a dirty old man.
FROM: SkatingFreak Posted at 10:52 AM
What do you call a guy who dumps his partner, who is practically — well for Lucian anyway — his own age, and takes up with a teenager? Then, soon as she gets too old for him, Lucian starts macking on Gina Gregory, who is younger even than his daughter.
* * *
Toni was on her knees, on the ice, next to Lucian. She'd yanked off her gloves and tossed them over her shoulder, desperately digging into his neck for a pulse with her bare fingers. Bex felt like she should be doing something but, from the look on Toni's face, didn't think there was much to be done. Instead, she went outside to look for the ambulance, flagging them down as they rounded the comer and leading them towards the ice surface. She needn't have bothered. They were clearly old pros at this.
Toni stepped aside when the experts swept in, but didn't leave the ice. She merely stood by the barrier, watching, oblivious to anyone else's presence, even Bex's, when Bex helplessly handed Toni her cast-aside gloves. Toni took them without so much as a thank-you. When Toni Wright forgot her manners, Bex knew the situation was dire.
The paramedics didn't look back at either of them. But neither did they attempt CPR. When they loaded Lucian onto the stretcher, there was no neck brace. He was obviously dead weight.
Finally, one of the medics slowly turned around and asked the assembled, "Who's in charge here?"
"He was," Toni said, without a trace of irony. Without a trace of anything, really.
Her use of the past tense clued the guy in that there was no need to make the final pronouncement. So instead, he merely said, "Police are on their way. They'll have to file a report, paperwork, that sort of thing."
"Of course."
"They'll need to ask some questions."
"We'll be here to answer them," Toni reassured. "I feel certain no one is planning to flee the jurisdiction in the next few minutes."
It was apparently exactly what the paramedic needed to hear, because he smiled gratefully and took off, with only a final, "Yeah, you know, sorry about your loss, folks," to freeze and crack under the chilly air in his wake.
Toni watched him go. They all did. The four of them stood staring at the rink door as it clanked shut, no one budging an inch or making a sound until Toni, realizing it was up to her, softly told the camera crew, "You might as well get your equipment off the ice, gentlemen. I don't believe you'll be needing it anymore today."
They humbly did as bidden, whispering to Bex they'd be out in the parking lot packing up the truck, and to holler if she needed anything.
Bex said that she would, but her focus was on Toni. The older woman eased her way off the ice, moving as gracefully across the surface in shoes as she did atop skates on those occasions when she still slipped them on to teach a lesson. The moment her feet hit the carpeting, though, Toni seemed to lose all energy, practically collapsing on the nearest bench and holding on to the back of it as if lacking the strength to so much as remain upright. Bex hurried over, terrified that Toni might be having stroke of some kind.
"I'm all right," Toni assured, waving away Bex's concern even as she struggled to take a full breath. "I'm all right. Just... stunned. Yes, stunned, that's the correct word."
"I don't know what happened," Bex stammered. "He was fine. I mean, he looked fine. He was just skating around...."
"He fell."
"Well, yes, but... skaters, don't they fall, like, a million times a day?"
"The body bounces back a lot easier at fifteen then at sixty-five, my dear."
"Still..."
"I'm sure the coroner will figure it out. Not that it matters, does it? What does it matter how he died? Lucian is dead. That's what matters."
"What about the tribute?" Bex said the most inappropriate thing possible under the circumstances. She was like that. Or, more to the point, Gil Cahill had helped to make her like that. She would have to call Gil and tell him his women-ratings-driving-prime-time TV special had just hit a little... snag.
Toni took no offense. She simply repeated, "The tribute..."
"Excuse me." A policeman's voice echoed inside the cavernous rink. "I'm here to talk about Lucian Pryce's death."
"Of course." Toni rose and regally went to greet him, all her frailty of a moment earlier magically gone in the service of politeness. "How may we help you?"
Bex tagged along like a well-trained puppy. She did her best to answer the cop's questions about who she was, why they were there at such an ungodly hour, and what, to the best of her knowledge, had just happened. Toni backed up Bex's story, explaining that she'd only been there for a minute, but as far as she could tell, Lucian had slipped and hit his head and.…
"Did he have a history of head injuries?" the policeman asked.
"Of course," Toni answered.
The certainty of her confirmation took both the policeman and Bex by surprise.
Toni explained, "Hairline fractures, concussions are second nature to a skater. And it's even worse in Pairs. I've lost track of how many times I must have hit Lucian on the side of the head with my skate.
He was only hospitalized twice. With most injuries, unless there's heavy bleeding or bones protruding, we didn't even bother seeing a doctor. When I had my first son thirty years ago, they asked me at the doctor's office, 'Did you know you had three hairline fractures on your pelvis and one on your tailbone that never healed right?' I had no idea. We just skated through the pain. What else could you do?”
"But isn't there a danger of reinjuring —"
"Skating is a dangerous sport," Toni said firmly, indicating that she would be accepting no judgments from a civilian on the matter.
"The paramedics told me it looked like the skull cracked on impact with the ice. Probably sent bone fractions into his brain like a couple dozen toothpicks."
Bex winced at the description, but Toni only nodded sagely, as if she'd been expecting something like that.
"A dangerous sport," she reminded.
"Now, we'll need to notify the next of kin...."
"Gina," Toni said. "Gina Gregory, that's his wife. And Sabrina Pryce, she's his daughter. Sabrina was supposed to be in town for this. I wonder if she's — "
"She's here," Bex interrupted. "I saw her at the house this morning."
"Gina and Sabrina, then. They're the next of kin."
"If you give us the address, we can send a squad car — "
"No!" Toni piped up. Then, getting control of herself, softly repeated, "No. Can I — would you mind if I did it? I've known them both for a very long time and — "
"That will be fine, ma'am. We'll let you both know if we need anything further."
Toni nodded, realizing the interview was over, and stood up when the policeman did. As he headed towards the door, she headed towards the coaches' lounge, not looking over her should to even check whether he was out of the building.
Bex's head swiveled from one to the other, not sure which to follow. She finally decided to go with the policeman, waiting until they were both in the parking lot and out of Toni's hearing range before asking, "When do you think the coroner's report will be ready?"
"What now?" He hadn't realized he was being tailed and appeared a bit startled to find her on his heels. "Oh, that. A few days, I suppose."
"So you'll interview Gina and Sabrina, then?”
"Gina and Sabrina?”
"The wife and the daughter," Bex reminded.
"The wife and... I thought Miss Wright there said she would take care of — "
"Well, yes, but your detectives will want to get their statements."
"About what?”
Bex felt like they were speaking two different languages. "The murder, of course."
"Murder, ma'am?”
"You'll need motive, means, opportunity. As I mentioned, I'm from the 24/7 network and I would really appreciate being kept in the loop."
"What murder?”
Definitely two different languages. "Lucian's!"
"Lucian Pryce's death was an accident, ma'am."
"Of course, it wasn't!" That fact was blatantly obvious to Bex. She wondered why an officer of the law was having trouble... Oh, of course! "Right. You want to keep this quiet for now. I understand. With a murder in such a public place, the last thing you want is curiosity seekers coming by and tainting your chain of evidence. Believe me, I can be very discreet. Especially if you promise to let me know as soon as you're ready to make a statement about the investigation. I'd like to be first to report it. Maybe we can make a trade. Our exclusive footage of the death in exchange for, say, a six-hour news window for 24/7 to run with the story?"
"Miss Levy?”
"Yes?”
"What are you talking about? There was no murder here. Lucian Pryce died in an accident. There's your exclusive. Take all the time with it you need."
"Can you believe it?" Bex ranted to Toni, catching the older woman as she was exiting the rink just after the black and white police car pulled out of the parking lot. Bex's 24/7 crew had left as well. "These hick cops actually think Lucian's death was an accident!"
Toni paused at the door of her car, key halfway in the lock to ask, "And what do you think it was, Bex?"
"Why, murder, of course. Isn't it obvious?"
"Murder..."
"You don't think it's terribly convenient that Lucian should turn up dead on the eve of a tribute to him? Doing something he's done how many millions of times in his life?"
"Convenient? No, Bex, I wouldn't say it was exactly convenient."
"I didn't mean it like that."
"I'm afraid I'm not sure what exactly you meant then."
"Do you remember at Worlds? Not this Worlds, the one before it. When that judge, Silvana Potenza, died."
"Of course."
"Well, everyone was saying that was an accident too. But I wanted to know, what would a judge at a World Championship be doing in a dark, dirty room, standing in a puddle of water and getting electrocuted? Especially when it was her vote that gave Gold to a Russian girl half the arena thought should have come in second. I kept digging and digging and digging, and sure enough, it was murder."
"I hardly think this is the same kind of thing."
"Igor Marchenko, six months ago at that Pro-Am in Russian. It looked like a heart attack. Turned out to be poison."
"Again, Bex..."
"How do we know Lucian wasn't poisoned? I mean, what made him fall like that? It's not like he was trying some fancy trick. He was skating backwards. How hard can that be?"
"It's actually rather difficult."
"For someone who'd been doing it for over sixty years?"
"Bex, I'm afraid... I think... Maybe you should consider the possibility that some of the things you've been through over the past year or two may possibly have colored your judgment when it comes to — "
"Don't you want to know who did this to him, Toni?"
"Frankly, dear, I can't imagine anyone who'd want to."
"He must have had enemies. Everybody does, especially someone as successful as Lucian. There have to be people who wanted to do him harm."
"Like whom, for instance?"
"Other coaches, former students, you..."
That last part slipped out. As so many things Bex said were wont to do. Though, if she were truly honest with herself, Bex would have to admit that a part of her was dying to check out Toni's reaction to the pseudo-accusation.
"Me," Toni repeated.
"Um, yes."
"I poisoned Lucian to make him fall?"
"Well, I'm not certain about the poison angle. That's up to the coroner. I just mentioned that Igor Marchenko — "
"And why did I do this, exactly? We'll get to the how, when, and where later."
"Well, I — there's your past…"
"I killed him because we were National Pairs champions?"
"I meant your more personal past."
Toni bristled. "You don't know what you're talking about, Bex."
"I do. I mean, everybody does. It's hardly a secret that you two were engaged, and then he dumped you so he could skate in an ice show and marry Eleanor Quinn. It's practically a matter of public record."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Toni repeated, this time much more firmly, and slid into the front seat of her car.
Bex would have left it at that. Except that, with Lucian dead, Bex also had no way of leaving the rink. She had to ask Toni for a ride back to her hotel.
It was rather humiliating.
They were in the process of driving, in frosty silence, towards the direction Bex had requested, when she suddenly piped up, "Oh, wait a minute. Toni, I'm so sorry. I just remembered I forgot some things back at Lucian's house. Since you're going there anyway, do you think I could tag along?"
Toni surveyed Bex out of the comer of her eye. She said coolly, "How about this, Bex? You try not to insult my intelligence, and I'll let you come along when I tell Gina and Sabrina about Lucian. How about that?"
Bex didn't stand that many inches over five feet as it was. Courtesy of Toni's tongue lashing, she now f
elt exactly one centimeter tall. Bex wondered if it was actually possible to shrivel up and die on the spot from embarrassment, or whether she would simply spontaneously combust from the heat inflaming her cheeks, instead.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"It's all right. I could use the moral support." Toni pulled into the Pryce driveway. "This isn't going to be easy."
Especially since, when Bex and Toni got to the house, Gina and Sabrina weren't alone. In the few hours Bex and Lucian had been gone, both women had gotten dressed, Sabrina in a pair of tailored gray slacks and a pink cashmere sweater, her hair swept back with a plastic headband, and Gina into tight-fitting blue jeans with a purple T-shirt that showed off her unnaturally toned midriff. She may have tried to do something with her hair, but it appeared to Bex as unruly as ever.
Still apparently tripping on the excess coffee of the morning, Gina swept Bex and Toni into the house with a frenetic beckon of the hand and a shrieked, "What a terrific surprise! Toni, how nice to see you! Look who's here!"
The frenetic hand shifted from beckoning to pointing as Gina giddily indicated a couple sitting on the couch.
Bex recognized Christian Kelly right away. The thirty-eight-year-old Englishman was Lucian Pryce's most decorated skater, a multi-time British, European, and World, but, most importantly, two-time Olympic Men's champion. He was almost six feet tall standing up, slender and long limbed, with dark brown hair and green eyes, dressed as nattily as if for a pre-competition banquet in neatly pressed khaki pants, a white shirt with no tie and the top button undone, and a sports jacket. It was a look, Bex noted, very similar to the one Lucian himself employed twenty years earlier, when Chris was under his tutelage.
Bex introduced herself to the champion, shaking his hand, then waited for him to identify the woman sitting beside him. She had the typical former skater look, small and slight, with shoulder-length blonde hair pulled back into a French braid. She appeared about a decade younger than Chris, somewhere between Bex's age and Gina/Sabrina's.
