by Evelyn Amber
“What was Faith like?” Alice asked. “I’m pulling a blank.”
“She always had a horrible temper, and she was such a busy body,” Minnie said with obvious venom. “She was always fidgety and late for everything. At least, that’s what Trevor told me.”
“I thought Trevor never talked about her?”
“He didn’t,” Minnie said. “Unless I asked.”
“Oh.” Alice paused, unsure of where to take the conversation. “How long do you have to stay here for?”
“They don’t know yet,” Minnie said with a heavy sigh. “But the longer, the better. I can’t face going back to that house yet.”
Alice pulled her into a hug and Minnie sunk into it. Her body shook with silent tears.
“I know it’s horrible right now,” Alice said, as she pushed Minnie’s hair from her face, “but it will get better. I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re going through, but time heals all wounds.”
Alice felt completely hopeless because she knew all she could offer were empty words, but even if it helped her just a little, it was worth it.
“And you know I’ll always be here for you,” Alice assured her. “Day or night. You know that, right?”
Minnie sniffed and sat back up straight. “I know.”
“Will you be okay if I head off?” Alice asked, not wanting to leave her friend, but also not wanting to overstay her welcome. “I’ve left Justin alone with the shop.”
“I understand,” Minnie sniffled. “He’s a good kid.”
“He is,” she smiled. “He’s been asking about you too. He passes on his best. I’ll come back as soon as I have a free minute. I promise.”
“Thanks, Alice,” Minnie said. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’d be just fine,” Alice said as she stood up. “You’re a tough old cookie.”
Alice made her way to the door and looked back at her friend. She knew that if anyone could get through something so terrible, it would be Minnie. Minnie had been her crutch when Gordon had left Alice for someone nearly twenty-years her junior, and she was determined to be there for Minnie now.
“Don’t forget to eat that before it gets too cold,” Alice said, nodding at the bag on the dresser. “It may not be great, but it’s something.”
“I’ll try.”
With that, Alice shut the door and made her way back downstairs. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, the barmaid was still giggling and flirting with the same man, ignoring the line of unimpressed customers waiting to be served.
“Thank the heavens you’re back!” Justin cried as Alice walked through the door. “It’s been nonstop!”
“I can see that,” Alice said as she looked around her full shop.
“It seems the rumour mill has been working overtime,” Justin shouted loudly enough for the whole shop to hear. “They seem to think I have all the answers!”
“It’s just terrible,” said Clementine, a regular customer, who was blocking Alice’s path to the counter. “Even my Mr Tibbles knows something is wrong. He hasn’t eaten a scrap of his cat food, poor thing.”
Alice almost laughed out loud but she held her tongue when she saw the serious look on the cat lover’s face. Clementine was as strange as strange came. Alice normally liked her funny comments and view of the world but today wasn’t one of those days.
Alice manoeuvred around Clementine and rushed to join Justin behind the counter.
“Has anyone actually bought anything?” she asked.
“We’ve had more sales than usual,” Justin said. “But that’s only because I’ve told anyone who isn’t buying to leave. And that still stands!”
People scrambled to grab the closest book in fear of being thrown out, and those that didn’t take a book left, muttering under their breaths to each other.
“You know that isn’t going to help,” Alice scolded. “They’re still customers.”
“If you’d been here all day,” Justin said as he rubbed his temples, “you’d understand. I can feel a headache coming on.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Alice said. “We’re closing soon, anyway.”
“And thank God for that!”
Those that had picked a book lined up at the counter, and every single person had a question about Trevor. After answering the same question several times, Alice was more than thankful when she only had Clementine left to serve.
She gingerly put a knitting book on the counter before rummaging through her tiny purse for the correct change.
“Don’t you already have this book?” Alice asked as she inspected it.
“I seem to have misplaced it,” she said as she stuck her tongue out, digging even deeper in her purse for some coins.
Clementine thanked Alice, took her bag, and shuffled out of the shop, the little bell ringing as she left.
“That bell is going to haunt my dreams,” Justin said. “I’m telling you!”
“You know what small towns are like,” Alice said as she counted the money in the till. “Gossip is a hobby that is installed at birth.”
Justin and Alice closed the shop as quickly as they could, and Justin kissed her cheek goodbye before practically jogging home. As she turned the key to lock the door, a figure appeared from the shadows, and she recognised them instantly thanks to their stark white hair.
Alice felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up on their end as she narrowed her eyes on the women.
“Faith?” Alice asked, squinting at the woman she hadn’t seen for decades. “What are you doing here?”
Faith wore a straw summer hat, which did a good job of hiding her face. She lifted up the brim of the hat to reveal her eyes; they flitted around, avoiding Alice’s gaze.
“Alice, isn’t it?” the woman asked as she picked at her fingernails. “Alice Taylor?”
“Yes?”
“We went to school with each other, didn’t we?”
“We did.”
“You knew Trevor?” she asked, her eyes wide. “Didn’t you?”
“I’m going to call the police,” Alice said as she rummaged in her bag. “You have some nerve showing up here like this.”
Alice pulled out her phone, but the woman clasped a soft hand around her arm.
“Please,” she said, begging with her brown doe eyes. “I just want to talk.”
Alice pondered over whether to give her the time of the day. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t want to know what Faith had to say. Had Minnie’s assumption of guilt been correct?
“Fine,” Alice said, shrugging her arm out of the woman’s grip, “but I’m not doing this for you.”
“Thank you,” Faith said, her shoulders relaxing ever-so-slightly. “Can you meet me at Towngate Café at seven?”
After Alice agreed that she would meet her, Faith disappeared as quickly as she had appeared, leaving Alice to set off home.
5
Alice arrived at Towngate Café just before seven as the sun sent brilliant reds and purples shooting across the sky. She wrapped her cardigan tighter around herself as a chill set in from the absence of the sun.
She cupped her eyes and peered through the windows of the small café to see if Faith had already arrived, but she hadn’t. She checked her watch more than once as the minutes ticked by, and by the time it had reached ten minutes past, she was ready to give up and go home. At that very moment, Faith jumped off a bus on the other side of the road. She hurried across without bothering to look both ways.
“I was worried you’d already left,” Faith said breathlessly, checking a gold pocket watch as she approached Alice. “Sorry I’m late. Punctuality was never my strong point.”
Faith laughed uncomfortably but her face dropped when Alice didn’t join in. They stared at each other for a long time, neither of them seeming to know what to say. From the muted wash of the light coming from the café and the absence of shadows, Alice could really look at Faith, and she had to admit how beautiful she really was.
Her bright white hair flowed effortlessly down her shoulders, framing her petite face, giving her an ethereal look. She wore a figure-hugging black dress that framed her slender yet voluptuous curves with a camel trench coat over top. She looked gracefully casual and she was at least four inches taller than Alice. Alice envied how good time had been to Faith. It was not hard to understand why Trevor had fallen under her spell.
“Let’s get this over with,” Alice said dryly as she held open the café door.
They made their way to a small table in the corner of the café and sat across from each other. Faith shrugged off her jacket as Alice took off her cardigan.
Faith fiddled with her hands on the table, her eyes darting from one thing to another. It was obvious she was uncomfortable.
“This place hasn’t changed one bit,” Faith said, looking around her. “It still smells the same.”
Alice had to agree. She had been born and raised in Ashbrook, and most places seemed untouched by the passing of time. She couldn’t remember if there had been any sort of refurbishment this century. From the outside, the café looked small, but it was deceivingly spacious. The walls were made up of painted wooden slats in a sage green shade, with ancient black and white pictures of the town dotted all around, most of them depicting the clock or the cobbled square. Despite the décor, it was one of the best cafés in town, and the food was always delicious.
“What can I get you two ladies?” asked a short and plump man, who had been working there for as long as Alice could remember.
“A cup of tea, please,” Alice said.
“Two sugars and a little milk?” the man responded, smiling.
“I don’t know how you remember everyone’s orders, Harry.” Alice returned his warm smile.
“Part and parcel of the job.” Harry tapped the side of his balding head. “Every order is stowed away up here.” He squinted at Faith as though he recognised her. “And for you, dear?”
“A cup of tea and a slice of Victoria sponge cake, please.”
Harry scribbled down the order before shuffling back to the counter.
“I guess you’re wondering why I asked to talk to you,” Faith started as she chewed her bottom lip.
“If it’s about Trevor,” Alice replied, “I already know about you two.”
“How?”
“Minnie told me,” Alice said, narrowing her eyes. “She knows. You know who Minnie is? She’s Trevor’s wife.”
“I know who Minnie is,” Faith mumbled as she looked down. “I didn’t mean for things to get so complicated. It just happened.”
“How could you do it?” Alice asked, her voice lowering as she leaned across the table. “He was happily married. Minnie is heartbroken. It’s bad enough to hear your husband is dead but finding out he was having an affair is like twisting the knife.”
“He wasn’t happy!” Faith cried. “If you were that close to them, surely you would have noticed?”
Alice couldn’t remember either of them expressing any troubles in their marriage. From Alice’s view, they had seemed like any other married couple. They had arguments and disagreements, but that was part of marriage. Minnie had never shared any problems about Trevor with her. She would joke about him driving her up the wall, but it had always been in jest. If there had been problems, Alice would have been the first to know.
“They hadn’t been happy for years,” Faith continued. “You need to believe me! That’s why I didn’t understand the letter. How could his mind change so much in the space of two days?”
“Two days?”
“He told me he was going to get us some money two days ago!” Faith looked around before leaning in. “It was to start our new life together.”
“How?”
“Some book. I can’t remember the–”
“Alice in Wonderland?”
“Yes,” Faith said, slightly taken aback. “That was it. How did you know? Did he tell you too?”
Alice was about to answer, but Harry returned with their orders. They gave their thanks and waited until Harry was out of earshot. Alice took a sip of her tea, feeling like she was trapped inside a nightmarish wonderland herself. She didn’t know why, but Faith reminded her tremendously of the white rabbit. Maybe it was the hair, the terrible time-keeping, or the way she fidgeted, but Alice couldn’t help but pull the comparison.
“I sold it to him for next to nothing,” Alice said with a wave of her hand. “What’s so special about that book?”
“It was a really rare copy,” Faith whispered, looking around the café as though they were being listened in on. “Did you bother to look inside the book? It was a first edition copy signed by Lewis Carroll himself! It was worth a fortune! Trevor knew it was worth something the second he found it. He told me he dug it out of some bargain bin.”
“At my bookshop,” Alice butted in.
“He just had a feeling it was rare, but even he didn’t know how rare until he took it home and researched. I didn’t care about the money, but Trevor insisted that it was the final thing he needed to do before he left for good, and now he’s…he’s dead!”
Faith took a bite of the cake and licked the crumbs from her mouth. It looked like she was trying to distract herself to stifle tears that Alice saw forming in the corners of her eyes.
“How much is this book worth?” Alice asked, hoping she didn’t sound too insensitive.
“Thousands,” Faith replied. “At least.”
“Thousands?” Alice repeated, nearly spitting out the tea. “I sold it to him for 50p!”
Alice thought back to Barry, and everything clicked into place. Now she understood why he had been so worked up the night he came to her house. Had Barry murdered Trevor to retrieve the valuable book? Alice shook the unpleasant thought from her mind.
“So, he was going to sell this book?” Alice pushed. “And then you two were going to ride off into the sunset?”
“That was the plan,” Faith replied.
“Who was he planning to sell it to?”
“I don’t know,” Faith said. “He didn’t tell me, and I didn’t ask. Why does it matter?”
“It doesn’t,” Alice lied. “I own a bookshop, so I find this stuff interesting. What happened between you and Trevor?”
“I found a letter.”
“It must be the letter Minnie had,” Alice whispered to herself.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Alice shook her head. “What time did you find it?”
“Mid-morning.”
“So, you found the letter and left?”
“Not exactly,” Faith paused. “It all sounds so seedy.”
“What happened?” Alice asked, stopping her voice from rising.
Alice was growing inpatient, but she didn’t want to scare Faith away.
“I didn’t ask you here to be interrogated,” Faith retorted.
“No,” Alice said, “but a man is dead, Faith. My best-friend’s husband. You could be the key to figuring out what happened, and you were the one who wanted to talk to me. Unless you’d rather talk to the police? I assume they haven’t spoken to you yet.”
Alice knew it was a cheap shot bring up the police. According to the most reliable gossips that had visited the shop, the police had no leads yet, so they’d be more than eager to speak to anyone with any connection, Faith included.
“I just want some answers,” Faith said.
“As do I.”
Faith inhaled deeply as though she was about to reveal her deepest and darkest secrets.
“He told me to meet him at ten at his place. He said he would leave the back door open for me.”
“What about Minnie?”
“He told me she was at work.”
“Why didn’t he meet you somewhere else?” Alice asked.
“I don’t know,” Faith replied.
“Weren’t you worried about getting caught?”
“A part of me was,” Faith admitted. “But we loved each other, and that was more impo
rtant.”
“Then what happened?”
“I was running late,” Faith said. “I got there at half past and I waited in the kitchen, just like he told me to, and that’s when I found the letter.”
Faith paused and started to sob. She let the tears roll down her face, leaving stains of mascara as they went. A few people from the café looked at them. Alice shifted uncomfortably in her seat and riffled through her bag to find a packet of tissues before passing one to Faith. It was less of a kind gesture, and more to stop the people in the café staring and possibly overhearing their conversation. Faith wiped her eyes and blew her nose. When she had regained her composure, the curious townspeople grew tired of staring and turned away.
“It broke my heart when I read the letter,” Faith said, trying to stop the flow of tears. “I was devastated.”
Alice wanted to tell Faith that it must have been worse for Minnie to have read it, but she bit her tongue.
“I don’t understand any of this,” Faith said, shaking her head. “It doesn’t make any sense. I was going to take the letter at first, but I left it. Part of me wanted his wife to find it.”
“So, you left it hoping Minnie would find it?” Alice asked. “Why would you do something so horrible?”
“I’m not proud of it,” Faith said, her tone turning angry. “I was hurt, and people do stupid things when they’re upset.”
Was Faith so upset that she had murdered Trevor? From her own admission, people did stupid things when they’re hurt. Alice was unsure if Faith had it in her to murder anyone, but she knew a woman scorned was a woman not to be crossed.
“What did you do after you read the letter?” Alice probed.
Alice knew deep down that she should leave the questioning to the police, and if she did find out anything worth mentioning, she would go straight to them, but she owed it to Minnie to find out what happened first.
“I tried to call him,” Faith continued as she dabbed at her glistening nose with the tissue, “but every time I did, it went straight to voicemail. I left dozens of messages, but I got nothing back. It killed me to do it, but when I realised he wasn’t coming for me, I left.”
