by Agatha Frost
“Do you want me to?” Julia asked as she searched his eyes for the answer. “I can go up to my room, pack my bag, and be home before the sun rises. If that’s what you want, say the word, but you and I both know that your problems aren’t going to go away just because I do.”
Russell went to reply but the curtain opened, and Marvin walked through, headphones over his ears. He jumped off the stage and headed for the door.
“He’s probably going to a club,” Russell explained. “He spends most nights there now. I don’t know what’s happened to him.”
“He’s got a lot on his mind,” Julia said, the words leaving her mouth before she realised she was saying them. “It’s none of my business. None of this is.”
“What’s on his mind?”
“You’ll have to ask him,” Julia said, her eyes darting to the floor. “I can see I’m not getting anywhere here. I’m sorry for sticking my nose in. Some people back home say I can’t help myself, and they’re probably right. This time, I’m stepping away and throwing my hands up in defeat. I haven’t figured it out and no one is about to start telling the truth any time soon. The saw is in there. Do what you want with it.”
“You’re not going to call the police?”
“Not this time,” Julia replied as she patted him on the shoulder. “I really wish it had been an accident.”
Leaving Russell in the shadows, she climbed off the stage and walked over to the table. Jessie and Alfie were both on their phones, but Barker’s eyes were trained on her.
“Well?” he asked. “What happened?”
“She went to the bog,” Jessie cried with a roll of her eyes. “And she was gone for ten minutes. What do you think happened?”
Julia could not help but smile. She looked around the empty and silent bar as the bartenders collected the last of the glasses; she had never felt further from home.
“Should we go home?” Julia asked as she sat back down. “I miss Peridale.”
“Me too,” Jessie said.
“Me three,” Barker replied.
“I’ll drink to that,” Alfie said, lifting his pint before finishing the rest of the lager. “Being here has made me realise where my home really is.”
They left the bar and agreed to pack as quickly as they could. Julia thought she would feel disappointed at not reaching a solid conclusion, but as she sat next to her packed case and stared at the Liza mural, she felt strangely content.
“Sometimes the dice rolls this way,” Barker said as he zipped up his case. “I never solved every case I worked on. You learn to live with it.”
“Simon is alive,” Julia said, standing up and dragging her case off the bed. “That’s the most important thing, I suppose.”
“I’m proud of you.” Barker kissed her and pulled her into a hug. “It’s not easy admitting defeat.”
“We got a nice break out of it.”
“We did,” Barker said as he pulled away. “Although, I’ll be glad not to have Liza Minelli gawking at me every night. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve woken up in the middle of the night and almost had a heart attack.”
They took their bags into the hallway where Jessie and Alfie were already waiting for them. Even though it felt strange to be leaving in the middle of the night, it felt like the right thing to do. As they walked to the lift, Julia and Barker agreed to split the driving between them, despite Jessie’s offer to drive.
“So, who do you think tried to kill Simon?” Jessie asked as the lift made its way down to the ground floor. “You must have a hunch, cake lady.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Julia said, pulling Jessie into her side. “This one isn’t for us, kid.”
“But who do you think did it?” Jessie pouted. “Spill!”
Julia chuckled, but she shook her head. The truth was, she was not sure. Like Arthur had said, drag queens were great actors. She could usually detect when someone was lying, but she had believed all their alibis. If someone confessed one day, it would be nice to hear about it, but she was not going to lose any sleep over the loose ends.
Julia left their room keys on the counter. Even though she could see Russell through a crack in the open drag den door, she decided not to say goodbye; there was nothing left to say. When the front door closed behind them, she felt a slight tinge of sadness that their holiday had been tainted by something out of their control. If they had enjoyed a week of shows like the first night, she might have been leaving Blackpool in higher spirits.
“I’ll be glad to have my own bed again,” Jessie called as they hurried down the dark street in the rain. “And I miss Mowgli scratching me to wake me up.”
“I miss the same about Dot,” Alfie called back. “Although she doesn’t scratch, she just screams up the stairs and hits a pan with a wooden spoon until I get out of bed.”
They made their way around the corner and Julia’s precious car came into view. Peridale was calling, and she was ready to answer. Jessie missed her bed and Alfie missed Dot, but Julia missed her café; she hoped Katie would not mind handing the keys back a day early.
Once they were at the car, Julia dug in her bag for the keys. Her fingers closed around the cold metal. She pulled them out, her notepad coming with them. It landed on the wet road, the rain instantly making the ink bleed. She immediately recognised the alibi notes. As she picked it up, one word caught her attention.
“Cigarettes,” she mumbled to herself. “They were smoking cigarettes.”
“Huh?” Jessie called. “C’mon, cake lady! I’m soaked!”
Julia stuffed the notepad back in her bag and unlocked the boot. Once their cases were inside, Julia unlocked the other doors, but she paused before climbing inside.
“I think I’ve left my phone in the room,” Julia called into the car as the other three were fastening their seatbelts. “Wait here. I’ll be two minutes.”
Julia did not wait for a reply. She set off back towards the B&B, the pieces finally slotting into place.
Julia snuck in behind two guests who smelled like they were returning from a night at the pub. She was glad she had not needed to ring the doorbell. She sidled past the reception, Russell still visible from his drag den. She made her way through the kitchen and tried to open the back door; it was locked. She looked around the kitchen for the key, but it was nowhere in sight. She almost admitted defeat until she remembered something Alfie had shown her.
Julia took the lift up to the first floor. Just like the third floor, there was a fire door at the end of the corridor. She carefully pushed open the door and climbed onto the metal staircase. A purple streak of lightning cracked through the darkness. She gripped tightly to the wet handrail, her knees knocking together. After taking a deep breath, she carefully made her way down to the courtyard.
As she ran to Arthur’s flat, more lightning illuminated her path, not that she needed it; his lights were on. Julia knocked softly on the door, not wanting to cause any alarm.
The door opened a crack and Arthur peered through the chain.
“Can I come in?” Julia called over the rain. “I’m a little wet here.”
Arthur stared at her and frowned. He closed the door, rattled the chain, and let her in.
“I’m a little busy,” Arthur said as he hurried into his sitting room. “What is it, Julia?”
Half of the pictures that had covered the walls on her first visit were now down and in a box. He reached up and grabbed another, his fingers running across the glass as he packed it away.
“Is Honey here?” Julia asked, pushing her damp hair from her eyes. “I wanted to ask him something.”
“He’s gone out with Marvin,” Arthur said as he gathered up more pictures and put them in the box on the coffee table. “Let the kid enjoy his last night with his friend. If that’s all, I really am quite busy. I don’t have much time to get this –”
“You told me you hated smoking,” Julia interrupted, not needing to pull out her notepad to recite the fact. “You said you didn�
�t touch the things.”
“Yes?” Arthur snapped. “That’s true.”
“I don’t disbelieve you.”
“Well, what does that have to do with anything, poppet? I really do need to get on with this.”
“It’s only just clicked,” Julia said. “You lied about your alibi. You told me you were smoking with Honey when the rig fell.”
“Did I?” Arthur replied quickly with a wave of his hand. “I’m sure I said I was with Honey and he was smoking.”
“Your exact words were ‘we were both outside having a cigarette’.” Julia reached into her handbag and pulled out the sodden notepad. “It’s bled, but you can still read it. I wrote it down word for word.”
Arthur glanced at the running ink before returning to his picture gathering.
“I’m an old man, poppet. I can’t remember what I did and didn’t say. We were smoking, he was smoking – what’s the difference? We were together.”
“Because one is a lie,” Julia said softly. “And it means you’re either covering for Honey, or you’re covering for yourself, except Honey was quite surprised when I pulled out that saw.”
Arthur looked over his shoulder at Julia, his hands firmly gripping a photo frame. He looked down at it, a fond smile shaking his lips.
“We were a family,” Arthur said as he showed Julia the photograph. “Dysfunctional, but happy. You’re right. It was me.”
Arthur collapsed into his armchair, the photograph clutched to his chest. He closed his eyes and sighed. The confession seemed to have taken his last ounce of energy.
“I wish I was wrong,” Julia said as she perched on the edge of the couch. “I was about to go home, but my notepad fell out. I should have just left it.”
“Bless you, poppet,” Arthur said, his eyes opening. “No, I must face what I’ve done. It’s not fair on Russell. I suppose I should explain myself, shouldn’t I?”
“I know why you did it,” Julia whispered, reaching out to touch his hand. “I understand.”
Arthur smiled back, heartbreak obvious in every line on his face.
“If I could take it back, I would,” Arthur explained. “I was a silly old man making a stupid mistake. I thought it would fix things, but I did the opposite. We’re broken beyond repair. Before Simon came here, we were worried, but we weren’t defeated. We would have found a way. We always did before. Simon came and ruined us. I shouldn’t have been so short-sighted when thinking about the money, but I’m afraid one does get quite impatient when one gets to my age. Once you’ve seen it all, you think you know it all, but it turns out I still had much to learn. Simon was much worse than I think even you know. I couldn’t believe the things Marvin told me. Do you know how he lost his last job?”
“No.”
“Simon stole thousands from the club and framed Marvin,” Arthur said with a sigh. “Simone Phoenix headlined their burlesque show, but the owners had offered to let Marvin co-headline as Tuna. They weren’t even taking Simone off, they just wanted a new dynamic. Simon couldn’t handle that, so he got rid of Marvin and he got away with it.”
“That’s awful.”
“And it’s only the start, poppet!” Arthur looked down at the picture again. “Poor Honey. Hhe already had it bad, but Simon was making things worse. He was demoralising and belittling the kid every chance he got. It started with the sly comments and names, but it got worse. Honey’s costumes started going missing. It was pure bullying. I tried to have a word with Simon, but he called me a senile old codger! I even told him about Honey’s mother, but he didn’t care. I asked him why he was targeting Honey, and do you know what he said? ‘Because I can’. That tore me up. In all my years, I’ve never known anyone so cruel. And it wasn’t like Russell could do anything. Simon had him over a barrel. He was demanding money and threatening to ruin our reputation if he didn’t get it. He was asking for thousands! And then there’s the live singing. On the morning of that show, we had a drag family breakfast, like we always do. Simon announced that he was going to start singing live. When we were leaving, he looked me in the eye and said ‘I guess we won’t need you anymore’. That tore me up. I’ve given my heart and soul to this club. I’ve put in my years. Who was that man to hurt my family?
“I came back here and put the television on to calm down. There was a story on the local news about a man suing the council because a lamppost fell on him after a car hit it. He walked away with tens of thousands, and he wasn’t even hurt! My mind instantly went to that new stupid rig. You know Simon didn’t let us use it? It was only for his routine. He needed all those flashing lights and lasers to distract people from the fact he just wasn’t very good.
“I didn’t think about it, I just did it. I took one of Honey’s saws from his toolbox and I waited. I almost backed out, but Simon started a row with Honey after he got off stage. I’d had enough. I thought if I injured Simon and we sued the lighting company, it was my way of killing two birds with one stone. I didn’t realise how heavy that thing was. It should have killed him, but I didn’t want it to. It took the whole song to cut through that thing, I almost thought it wasn’t going to happen, and then it just snapped. I was horrified with myself. I ran back here. I didn’t know what to do. I almost handed myself in right away, but I was scared. I got up early the next morning and hid the saw in the fish tank. It was silly, but I wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t want to put it back in Honey’s toolkit in case they connected it back to him. The longer I left it, the more it felt like my plan might work. Even up until tonight I had a glimmer of hope, even with the police sniffing around. I knew they had no real evidence, but when I found out they’d questioned Russell, I knew my time was up.”
Arthur glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece and stood up again.
“Speaking of which, this conversation has been on borrowed time,” Arthur said as he looked around the flat with a downturned smile. “Will you finish packing up my photographs and give them to Honey? I want them to be a reminder to him that he can find family in many places. All I ever wanted to do was set an example for these kids. I regret to say that I’ve failed.”
Arthur grabbed a coat from the hat stand and pulled it on. At that moment, sirens and blue flashing lights filled the courtyard.
“About time,” Arthur announced with a nod. “I called them five minutes before you got here. I suppose this is a fitting end to a theatrical life. Who knows? I might even suit the prison uniform.”
Julia held back tears as Arthur opened the door. Two uniformed officers walked towards him, one of them talking into a radio.
“I’m sorry, Arthur,” Julia said, her tears no longer under control. “I’m so sorry.”
“What for, poppet?” he said with a chuckle as he popped on a cream trilby hat. “I’ve had a fabulous life. This is merely the epilogue. The show must go on! Remember that, Julia.” Arthur paused and tapped his finger on his chin. “You know, you have a likeness of Hedy Lamarr.”
With that, Arthur left the flat and walked towards the officers in the rain. After exchanging a few words, they attached a set of handcuffs and ducked him into the backseat of the police car. She stood in the doorway, tears streaming down her face as she watched them drive away. She stayed there long after the sirens were nothing more than an echo in her ear.
“The show must go on,” she said to herself before turning back to the pictures to finish what Arthur had started.
Chapter Fourteen
Following Arthur’s confession, they decided to stay in Blackpool for the remainder of their trip. Julia spent most of Thursday with Russell. She helped him with his tasks and provided a shoulder to cry on when he needed one. When Julia woke on Friday morning, she was less willing to say goodbye to Blackpool.
“Where’s Jessie?” Julia asked Alfie when he emerged from his room alone. “Don’t tell me she’s still asleep.”
“She wasn’t there when I woke up,” Alfie said, pulling out his phone. “She sent me this text ten minutes ago telling
us to meet her at the top of the tower in an hour.”
“What is that girl up to?” Barker muttered as he dragged their cases from their room. “It’s her birthday!”
They made their way down to the diner with their cases and had breakfast for the final time.
“What will happen to Arthur?” Alfie asked when he pushed his plate away. “It would be a shame if he spent the rest of his life behind bars.”
“Depends if they go for grievous bodily harm or attempted murder,” Barker said after sucking the air through his teeth. “It’s hard to say, in this case. Even though Arthur didn’t intend to kill Simon, it doesn’t mean a court of law will believe him. It will all come down to witnesses and what Simon has to say. He could be the difference between life in prison and a couple of years.”
“Let’s hope he has a last-minute change of heart,” Julia said after finishing her tea. “Stranger things have happened.”
When Russell came over to take their plates away, he smiled at Julia, his eyes filled with sadness. The potential buyers for the B&B had put in an offer, which was currently sitting on his dressing table in the drag den. Julia had suggested he not rush into anything, but Russell insisted he had nothing left to give Sparkles by the Sea.
When it came time to check out, Julia was sad to leave Russell. Even though she had a conclusion to the mystery, she knew it had ripped Russell’s life and soul apart.
“I’m sorry for everything,” Julia said as she handed back the keys. “I wish I could have done more to help.”
“You’ve done more than enough.” Russell pulled her into a hug. “Don’t feel sad, my Hedy Lamarr beauty queen. I’ll find my way somehow. I always do.”
As Julia pulled away from the hug, she hoped he would, even though she suspected he would never find happiness like he had known at Sparkles.
“If you’re ever in the Cotswolds, I live in a beautiful village called Peridale,” Julia said. “We even have a little B&B. It’s not run by a drag queen, I’m afraid, but Evelyn is lovely.”
