The Christmas Fair Killer

by Amy Patricia Meade

‘Of course not,’ she rejected out of hand. ‘I mean, she made me think of my daughter and what she must be like today, but Jenny’s family was friends with Justin’s family or something like that. Anyway, he’d known her since she was a baby growing up in North Carolina and they reconnected at some wedding.’

  ‘It’s true that Justin met Jenny while he was attending a friend’s wedding in Savannah, Georgia, but she wasn’t a family friend. She wasn’t even a wedding guest. Justin saw her busking at Forsyth Square and was so impressed he introduced himself. He then brought her back to Williamsburg.’

  The spoon in Lucinda’s hand dropped into her stew, splashing her kimono with specks of red. ‘Busking? You mean she was a beggar? What about her family?’

  ‘Jenny was a runaway. Living on the streets. Sheriff Reade is still trying to track down her family.’

  ‘You’re working with the sheriff?’

  ‘In a strictly amateur capacity.’ Tish saw no reason to lie.

  The color drained away from Lucinda’s face and she suddenly aged several years. ‘If you’re working with the sheriff, then maybe you know. Was … was Jenny adopted?’

  ‘So you did wonder,’ Tish ventured.

  Lucinda put her food on the table and leaned back in her seat, looking utterly exhausted. ‘I didn’t wonder, but I hoped. Earlier this year, when I heard a twenty-two-year-old actress had auditioned for Rolly and was coming into the fold, I hoped it was her. I hoped – no, I prayed – it was my daughter. It’s silly, I know, giving her up and now wishing to see her again, after all these years. But I did.

  ‘When Jenny appeared, well, she had Rolly’s dark hair, dark eyes, and shrewd mind, and my stubbornness, fair skin, and flair for being a diva. She knew how to work an audience, how to make them laugh and cry. She knew it intuitively, as any child of theater stock would. And yet, given what Justin had told me, I figured it couldn’t have been her. Not to say that she couldn’t have been adopted, but it seemed highly unlikely, so I let it go.

  ‘Nevertheless, every time Jenny and I worked together, I thought of the child I’d given up.’ A single tear trickled down Lucinda’s cheek. ‘I have no regrets, mind you. I would have made a lousy mother. Married to the stage and my career, managing my waistline and wrinkles instead of a household. And I do prefer it that way. I’m happy in my life, but there are moments when I wish it had been different, when I wonder what my life would have been like if I had kept her. I think of the missed snuggles and kisses. The laughs and cries we might have shared.’ Lucinda dabbed at her tears with a napkin and gave a soft laugh. ‘Then I think of the lost sleep and the dark circles under the eyes. Oh, I probably should have waited before applying these false eyelashes.’

  ‘May I help you?’ Tish offered as she stood up to get a glass of water.

  ‘No, believe it or not, you’ve already helped quite a bit. Aside from my aunt and my mother, who died last year, no one else knows about my past. About the baby.’

  ‘You never told Rolly you were pregnant?’

  ‘No.’ Lucinda picked at her salad and stared at the other end of the trailer. ‘I was fearful of how Rolly might react. I’d already cried my eyes out when I got the test results back from the clinic. I didn’t want to be pregnant. I wasn’t ready to be a mother. I didn’t feel ready to be anything. Rolly would have been even less ready. He wasn’t even ready to be a steady boyfriend. He had things to do. Plans. The last thing he needed was a woman and baby clinging to him.’

  ‘So you never named Rolly as the father of your baby,’ Tish asserted, recalling the birth certificate Reade had found.

  ‘No, I couldn’t. I needed his social security number to do that. Rolly and I were intimate enough to have a child together, but we weren’t that intimate.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Lucinda.’

  ‘Don’t be. It was my decision and I stand by it. I just get a little weak from time to time.’

  ‘I don’t think it’s weak to wonder what might have been. You’re only human. Did Jenny ever mention anything to you about her past?’

  Lucinda moved her head from side to side. ‘She was always very guarded. I, however, once made the mistake of telling her that I had a daughter around her age. It was shortly after she’d joined the group. I’d invited her to my trailer for some wine, cheese, and “girl talk” by way of a welcome. I don’t know what came over me. I hadn’t even drunk a full glass of wine, but looking at her, sitting right where you are, my thoughts went to the child I gave up and the words just came tumbling out of my mouth.’

  ‘How did she react?’

  ‘She didn’t. She looked at me and said, “Oh,” and then went on to how she did during the day’s rehearsal. “Oh.” That’s all I got from her. That’s as far as my sharing got me. A disinterested, “Oh.”’ Lucinda broke down into sobs. ‘Sorry,’ she sniffed, regaining her composure. ‘I don’t know why her reaction cut me so deeply, but it did.’

  Tish found a box of tissues in the trailer bathroom and delivered it to the woman on the sofa as she sat beside her. ‘Here.’

  ‘Thank you. Again, I’m sorry for being so emotional.’

  ‘Don’t be. Lucinda, where did you give birth to your daughter?’

  ‘Such a pointed question.’

  ‘You needn’t answer it, if you don’t want to.’

  ‘No, I pride myself on “letting it all hang out,” don’t I? I gave birth in Tallahassee, Florida. I had an aunt living there at the time, now deceased.’

  ‘And your last name?’

  Lucinda became indignant. ‘LeComte, of course.’

  Tish smiled. ‘Your real last name.’

  ‘Oh, cripes. Do we really need to? Oh, all right. Gilcrease. Lucinda Mary Gilcrease. Why?’

  FIFTEEN

  ‘Oh, this looks and smells like a poem!’ Edie Harmes, already dressed in a black velvet Elizabethan gown for her role as Olivia, held the bread bowl filled with vegetable stew to her nose and inhaled.

  Tish, meanwhile, couldn’t help but gawk at the decor of Edie’s circa-1970s’ camper. Filled with neon lights, art deco furniture, plush throw rugs, and a vast collection of movie posters and photos, the space was a mash-up of a Planet Hollywood restaurant and the set of the Olivia Newton-John movie Xanadu. The only difference was that, unlike Planet Hollywood’s pristine memorabilia, Edie’s collection featured certain elements circled in red.

  Edie, eating at the counter of the camper’s kitchenette so as not to wrinkle her gown, followed Tish’s gaze. ‘This camper is more than just living space; it’s a mobile inspiration board. I’m sure it looks strange. Rolly won’t sleep here. He says all the stuff on the walls gives him a headache. That’s why I always stay at his trailer or his apartment when we get together.’

  ‘May I ask what all the red circles are?’ Tish ventured.

  ‘Those denote style elements I’d like to emulate in my future costume designs.’

  ‘Kind of like me bookmarking recipes in cookbooks and magazines.’

  ‘Very much the same, yes.’ She tore off an edge of the bread bowl and dipped it in the stew before consuming it.

  ‘You’re quite dedicated to your craft.’

  ‘Well, the costumes are what got me involved in theater to begin with. I simply love them. As you can see.’ She presented herself with outstretched arms. ‘I don’t have to be dressed for another hour, but I can’t resist putting them on in advance. The feel of the fabric, the way they drape and hang.’

  ‘Was Lucinda’s gown this afternoon your handiwork?’

  ‘Yes. It was difficult to get the right balance of etherealness and frostiness. I’m not sure I pulled it off.’

  ‘Oh, but you did. I half expected her to fly across the stage. The gown and the makeup were both gorgeous. Lucinda told me how much she appreciated the heavy brocade you chose.’

  ‘That’s an important factor in costume design. Especially when you’re designing for actors performing outdoors. Our Southern summers are humid and hot enough as they are, bu
t when you factor in the lights, it’s not uncommon for the temperature on stage to exceed one hundred and ten degrees Fahrenheit. But then you take that same humidity and apply it to the winter. Although forty degrees is mild by northern standards, the dampness really gives the air a bite.’

  ‘Practicality as well as style,’ Tish remarked with admiration.

  ‘I have to be a slave to both. If a cast member comes down with heatstroke or pneumonia, Rolly has to call in an understudy. And he hates calling in understudies.’

  ‘And here he’s had to call in two.’

  ‘Yes, Martina couldn’t be helped, given Jenny’s death—’

  Tish noted that Edie avoided using the word ‘murder.’

  ‘But I was surprised Rolly called in Lawrence. He’s the lead guitarist in a rock band. Not precisely Dickens or Shakespeare material, but he’s doing OK so far. I can’t believe our luck having him here when Bailey was detained.’

  ‘Detained and now fired,’ Tish amended.

  ‘Yes, I have no idea why Rolly fired him. Bailey wasn’t the finest of actors, but he certainly wasn’t the worst I’ve seen either. He tried very hard to please. He was always on time for rehearsal and he was always polite. I feel a bit sorry for him, actually.’

  ‘Did you ask Rolly why he fired Bailey?’

  ‘Yes. Rolly mentioned something about loyalty, but beyond that he wouldn’t say.’

  Tish found it strange that Rolly wouldn’t confide in his paramour, but she refrained from commenting. ‘I’d love to see more of your designs.’

  Edie’s tanned, angular face beamed like that of a mother who’s just been asked to show photos of her children. She set the bread bowl of stew on the counter and moved toward the closed bedroom door, the train of her magnificent gown trailing behind her. Turning the knob, she swung the bedroom door inward and gazed proudly upon her creations. Four dressmaker’s mannequins, wearing costumes from the Regency, Belle Epoque, Victorian, and Jazz Age eras surrounded a built-in full-sized bed.

  ‘These are incredible,’ Tish gushed. ‘But this might be why Rolly is reluctant to sleep here. I have no phobias about people or things lurking under or near my bed but even I’d be a bit freaked out.’

  ‘Yeah, I know. I sometimes get startled when I get up to go to the bathroom. Rolly’s reluctance to stay here, however, goes deeper than a few dressmaker’s dummies.’ Edie’s brown eyes grew misty. ‘He’s never been completely comfortable with the idea of me dedicating my time to costuming. There’s always a gap to be filled within the group. Administrator, lighting, sound, character actor, extra – I’ve done it all. When Jenny came along, we planned for me to take the extra and character actor parts off the table and then, when Jenny learned the ropes, the lighting and sound parts too. But Jenny was too much of the diva. She wasn’t interested in the bit parts or what goes on behind the scenes. She wanted to be a star.’

  ‘At least you were able to spend more time on your designs,’ Tish mentioned.

  ‘Doesn’t do much good when the leading lady doesn’t want to wear them. Jenny wanted to ditch costumes entirely. She said younger audiences wanted to see characters that dressed and spoke like them, so she started assembling her “costumes”’ – Edie drew quotes in the air – ‘from charity and Goodwill shops. It was absolutely absurd. I’m all for some performances being “street,” but even street clothes need to be carefully curated to match the theme of the work and suit the personality of each character in it. Moreover, some works simply don’t translate well to a “street” interpretation. I mean, does anybody really want to see Tiny Tim in a Gap T-shirt?’

  ‘Only if it’s worn with a backwards baseball cap,’ Tish teased.

  ‘Oh, don’t even joke about that! Jenny might have done it, if left unchecked.’

  ‘So, Rolly did try to keep Jenny’s wardrobe in check.’

  ‘He was able to call her off the idea of the group performing only in street clothes, but she still refused to wear anything I made for her. We did Cinderella at some camps over the summer. Jenny bought a used prom gown. The outfit she wore when Viola masquerades as Cesario? Those were leggings from a sporting goods store and a blouse from Victoria’s Secret.’

  ‘I thought it looked out of place, especially when compared with the other costumes.’

  ‘That’s precisely it. Some people automatically assume that because we don’t work out of a permanent theater, we’re second-rate talent giving cheesy community theater performances. That’s why we strive for professionalism in all we do. Upping the ante with costumes and sets removes the prejudices people might have about festival theater being a lesser art form than Broadway theater. But Jenny was undermining all of that. All our years of hard work would have been for naught had she had her way. When I think of it, I just get so angry I—’ She brought her hands to her temples and shut her eyes.

  ‘Well, thank goodness your costumes are both needed and valued once again. Now that Jenny’s gone, you’ll also be spending more time on stage,’ Tish commented after several seconds of observing Edie’s face turn from white to pink to red and then back to white again.

  ‘Yes, I will be on stage more often.’ She sounded less than enthusiastic.

  ‘I thought you were looking forward to playing the lead.’

  ‘Oh, I said that for Rolly’s sake. I don’t have the heart to tell him that it’s all about the costumes. Eva Peron is a fine character, but I’m more excited about designing and then wearing her gowns.’

  ‘I thought Evita was your dream role.’

  ‘No, it’s my dream wardrobe. I take the parts to help out Rolly and the group. I enjoy the camaraderie with the girls and Ted and Justin, and it’s fun to have a laugh after a performance, but truth be told, I’d rather help fit their costumes than be on stage. My mannequins and sewing machine are far more comforting to me than audience applause.’

  ‘Don’t you think you should tell Rolly?’

  ‘Tell him what? That the man who loves the theater above all else is in a relationship with a woman who’d rather be at home stitching fabric than acting?’

  ‘If you try talking to him, maybe—’

  ‘Maybe he’ll give me a boot out the door,’ Edie completed the sentence. ‘You don’t understand, Tish. Jenny was young and beautiful, yes, but Rolly’s preoccupation with Jenny stemmed from her love of the stage. They were both completely obsessed with theater and performing. It was almost as if the same blood ran through their veins. And, oh, how I hated Jenny for it.’

  ‘Beef stew,’ Tish announced as she presented the bread bowl to Rolly, who was nestled into his velour recliner reading Variety. Clad in a pair of heavy sweats, he had already applied his makeup, false mustache, and powdered silver hair color for his role as Malvolio.

  ‘Mmm, looks delicious.’ He closed the magazine and tossed it to the floor.

  ‘Edie loved hers. Although she had the veggie version.’

  ‘To be eaten in her “workshop”?’ he asked before shoving a spoonful of stew into his mouth. ‘Mmm, that is good.’

  ‘Thanks. Yeah, she’s quite dedicated to her art. And also incredibly talented.’ Tish figured if Edie wasn’t ready to speak for herself, she might as well put in a good word.

  ‘That she is. I’m always amazed by her designs. And her sewing skills are off the charts. We could probably wear her costumes for the next twenty years.’

  ‘She might put herself out of a job stitching like that.’

  ‘I guarantee she has absolute job security.’

  ‘She must. Edie told me how Jenny wanted to do away with costumes altogether.’

  ‘Jenny was young and eager to make a big splash. She thought doing away with costumes would make our productions less expensive and more appealing to younger audiences. I disagreed, but I remembered being that idealistic kid who thought I could run a theater group better than anyone, even though I had no experience. So, I retained Edie’s costumes for the group and let Jenny be in charge of her own wardrobe. It i
rritated Edie no end, but it didn’t hurt the group’s bottom line any.’ He slurped back another spoonful of stew. ‘Mmpf. Is there cinnamon in here?’

  ‘Yes, it’s a blend of spices the Elizabethans used in their cooking.’

  ‘Never would’ve thought of using cinnamon in stew. It’s nice, though,’ he praised, still chewing.

  ‘Thanks. You know, I didn’t get to see every second of today’s performances, but I couldn’t help but notice the chemistry between the cast members. Even Lawrence and Martina seem like they’ve been with the group far longer than two days. Which is remarkable on such short notice.’

  ‘Well, they’re remarkable entertainers. That’s why I called them in.’ He sat back in his chair, smugly chewing.

  ‘Yes, about that. I spoke with Lawrence just a little while ago and he was rather baffled as to why you said he could help with lighting and other backstage tasks. He has absolutely no stagehand experience.’

  Rolly placed his spoon back into the bread bowl and glared at Tish. ‘OK, I called him in because I was planning on firing Bailey Cassels. Last week, I attended a holiday party with theater managers and directors from the Maryland, Virginia, and capital area. During that party I learned that Jenny, with Bailey’s help, was auditioning for an ensemble up in Annapolis. If Jenny took the gig, Bailey was going with her.’

  Tish feigned ignorance. ‘And neither of them gave you notice?’

  ‘Neither of them even raised as much as a complaint. Looking back, Jenny was probably disappointed I didn’t make her a partner, but I couldn’t. There was still so much she didn’t know about theater and still so much I didn’t know about her. She’d only been with us eight months and yet she was so intensely disliked by certain members of the group. Surely there must have been some measure of truth behind their feelings. So, I stalled her and said we’d discuss it after she’d been with us for another season.’

  ‘So Jenny asked to be a partner?’

  ‘With a pay increase on top of it. She claimed she’d brought in unprecedented crowds this season and that, at age twenty-two, she could continue to do so for the next two decades. Presumably, while the rest of us rotted away,’ he snickered. ‘Truth is, Jenny had increased ticket sales – not as much as she claimed, but by a reasonable margin.’