CHAPTER 206: Murder Most Foul

 

"Hey, how's it hanging?  Marina, congratulations on the promotion" said Action as he sauntered into the 13th Precinct squad room.

"Thank you for noticing the new stripes on my tunic but where the heck have you been?  The shift started 30 minutes ago" she replied.

"Wrapping up some loose ends, you know how it is"

"Yeah, and what was the name of this 'loose end'?"

"Action don't kiss and tell.  Anyways, I'm here now and ready to handle whatever you have got for me." he said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together in anticipation.

"Those old case files" she said, nodding to a big cardboard box filled with folders.

"Ah..." he said, his face changing from enthusiastic to that of a man who's been pointed in the direction of a mountain of potatoes and told to peel the lot.

He sat down at his desk and started to fill in the arrest forms from the previous week.  At around 10:30am Sergeant Kitchen approached him.

"Sarge, you'll be pleased to know I've sorted out a pickpocketing, two stolen vehicles and a flasher..."

"Can it, Action.  We've got a bigger situation to deal with:  A homicide down in Oasis Springs.  Can you handle it?  You're the senior detective here."

"Give me what details you have and I'll be there" said Action, wasting no time in getting up and checking that his .38 service revolver was ready to go.

"Here are the details..." said Kitchen, handing Action a case file.  "Officer Gunn is there and securing the crime scene.  You and forensics are to head out now."

Action quickly headed towards the parking lot to get his car but at the front desk he spied a familiar but not welcome face:  Daphne Blake.  "Oh no, she's probably got one of her cockamamie ideas about some spooky goings on which is probably just a cat stuck up a tree" he said to himself.

"...and then it turned out it wasn't a ghost, just someone dressed as one and when we pulled off the mask we discovered it was old Mr Wickles, the county museum curator!" she was saying to the confused looking officer at the desk.

Geez, I could have told you that!  Hello, he's the only person you had contact with down at the museum...it was obviously him! Action thought as he headed to his car.

Heading out of Willow Creek he drove south, over the bridge that divided the lush bayou area from the more parched and scrubland of Oasis Springs.  Locals often commented that in Summer the heat from the Springs hit you in the face as you crossed the river and already Action had his car air conditioning turned up as he drove along.

The crime scene was in a suburb known as Parched Prospect.  It was the kind of place people lived in when they were on the rise and they had money to spend on these new mod styled houses that came with every modern labour saving device yet developed.  The actual house where the body was found was shared by 4 young professionals who had pooled their resources together to buy and live in a house that would have been beyond their pay packets had they'd purchased it individually.  The main name on the deeds was a Mr Jameson Huntingdon III; a name that Action knew...he was a young socialite and member of the Kitten Club who he'd spied at their meetings, using his charm to get his way with the ladies.  Mention of the Kitten Club invariably meant Alan Cuffe being involved as well and Cuffe was already a "person of interest" to Action.  Could this homicide be linked to Cuffe or the trouble he had been in?

Action parked his car right outside the front, showed his badge to the officer on duty and crossed the hazard line that had been erected around the property to keep bystanders out.  Inside the coroner's team had just finished their cursory examination of the victim and were taking photos.  Action spoke to the other officers present and got a better picture of who this guy was and what had happened here.

Name: Unknown.  No ID on the victim.  Age, approximately 35-40 years of age.  Sex: Male.  Race: Caucasian.  Pale blue eyes, a round, pale face and close cropped fair hair; probably a military style crew cut.  Height:  5'8".  Victim was wearing a red and yellow Hawaiian shirt, tan slacks and brown leather shoes.  No hat.  No obvious marks or wounds on his body, no traces of poison but that could only be ruled out once they had got him to the morgue.  

"So we have no idea who this guy is...and we don't know what his connection to this place is.  He's not listed as one of the residents" Action said, reading the duty officer's notebook.  Once the outline of the body had been taped onto the floor and it had been transferred to the coroner's wagon he took some crime scene photos himself.

There were a couple of witnesses, none of them residents of this house but there were present when the man had died.  After he had finished taking the photos he looked across the living room and recognised one of them:  Tasha Michel.  She was a model, one of the most well known in Sim City and also Miss Ginger, one of the Lothario Kittens of the Month.  Now she was sitting at a dining table looking frightened.  Her sad expression changed to surprise mixed with relief when she saw Action.

"Action!  Thank goodness you're here!  Listen, I didn't have anything to do with this guy!  I don't even know who he is!  He just stumbled in..." her words came out as a torrent awash with panic.

"Cool it, Tash...how about we slow down and let me take a statement, OK?" said Action, raising his hands in a calming manner.  She nodded and he sat down, taking out his notebook and pen to get her statement.

"OK, so let's back this up a little.  Where's Jameson?" asked Action.

"He...left.  Ran out.  He got spooked by this guy showing up here and dropping dead and all that" she replied.

"And that's what happened is it?  This guy dropped dead right inside J's house?"

"Pretty much.  Well it was like this; J, Don and myself were all hanging out here and there's the doorbell rings.  Don offered to answer it to see who it was and it was that guy...he staggered in here, trying to say something but couldn't get the words out.  Then he collapses right there.  J's panicking and Don goes over to check on the guy and says he's dead.  I then call 9/11 and that's when J says he can't be seen here with a dead body in his house and with the cops on the scene so he high tails it out of here."

"And you said you don't know who this guy is?" 

"No.  Never seen him before."

"Are you sure?  Maybe he's a client at the Kitten Club or attended one of Cuffe's parties?"

"Well...maybe.  I don't recall meeting him though."

Action scribbled down all this information and was thinking that Tasha was telling the truth about not knowing who this guy was but Huntingdon's behaviour was highly suspicious.  Maybe he knew who this guy was?  Action thanked Tasha for her information and he turned to the other witness who was present:  The man Tasha referred to as 'Don'.

"OK, and what's your full name?" asked Action.

"Don Lothario"

"You're kidding me..."

"No, it really is that.  Here's my driver's licence.  See?  Donald Lothario of Sultry Springside, Skyward Palms, Oasis Springs."

"OK, I believe you" said Action, waving him away.  "So you tell me what happened here"

"I was visiting J and Tasha was with us and, you know, we're just hanging out and having a little fun..."

"What do you mean by having a little fun?" asked Action.

"Does that have anything to do with the stiff?" said Don, defensively.

"Well, maybe this guy wanted in on the fun?  Maybe he was here to stop it?" 

"Well...it's like this...we were...uhm...goofing around" said Don, awkwardly.

"Action...we found this in the living room" said one of the other policemen.  He was holding two tabs that were half the size of a postage stamp but twice as thick.  Action took one look at them and knew what they were.

"Acid...I'm guessing there was a third of these but J took it" said Action, giving Don a hard stare.

"OK, so we were taking some LSD and you're right, J took one before we did and just freaked out when that guy crashed into the house." 

"Action...we're not...well, regular users." said Tasha, apologetically.

"I'm more interested in this 'stiff' as you call him.  Now both of you are certain you've never seen this guy before?"

"Positive"

"Never"

"OK, Tony...take down the rest of their statements and let's finish up with forensics before heading home" said Action, closing his notebook.

The rest of the shift was taken up with getting the forensic evidence down to the lab, filling in some forms and trying to find out who this guy was.  The coroner hadn't worked that one out so it was a lot of ground pounding by detectives and uniform to I.D. him.  By the end of Action's shift, no one was the wiser.

He went home but wasn't feeling hungry at all.  He found a message on his answerphone from Suzy Humphries saying that she wanted to see him soon as she'd had an idea about an old case of his.  Returning her call he found that she wasn't at home that evening, but had gone down to the Movers and Shakers gym.

He made his way down there and saw what he thought might be her, running on a treadmill but that she looked very different to normal as she wasn't wearing make up and had her hair tied back. 

"Suzy?" he asked as he approached her.  "You look very different from how I usually see you" he said, impressed by her rhinestone studded pink exercise outfit.  "That's a very Las Vegas look you've got going there."

"A leftover from my failed attempt at becoming a ballerina...I take it you got my message then?"

 "I did...so have you got time to talk?"

"Yes." she said and she pushed a button on the treadmill to get it to stop.  She grabbed a small hand towel and patted her face gently with it before stepping off the machine.

"I've found some things out and I have a bit of an idea I want to run past you" she said.  Action was intrigued.

"I'm always one for a good idea" he replied.

"I'll let you be the judge of how good it is" 

"OK, I'll head on next door to the Blue Velvet and you can tell me more there" said Action.

"Give me 5 minutes to get changed and I'll be over" replied Suzy.

The 45 minutes that elapsed between that conversation and Suzy's eventual arrival wasn't a waste for Action as he caught up with friends, colleagues and bar regulars.  When she arrived Action noticed how well poised she always was; not a hair out of place, make up immaculate and she had a swagger that turned men's heads when she walked in the room.  She didn't just walk, she glided.

He had claimed a small table over by the fireplace for their conversation and, after getting the drinks in, they settled to have their conversation.

"You look serious, Action"

"It's a serious business I'm in" he said.  "I'm currently working on a homicide case.  John Doe just shows up on the doorstep of some swanky pad in Oasis Springs and just dies and no one knows who he is or why he was there.  BUT, and there's always a but, the house is owned by one of Cuffe's Kitten Club members and he had one of the Lothario Kittens in the pad so there might be a connection.  Trouble is, the house owner's gone on a drug fuelled run somewhere.  On top of that, Leanne McGregor's shown up again..."

"Oh her?  Are you any closer to catching her?"

"Nope.  And get this...she's changed her appearance.  I mean, like radically.  Apparently she's knocked 10 years off her age, lost 6 inches in height and is now some perky waif like redhead.  Or maybe it's just someone in the same line of work with the same name and working towards the same ends.  Some days this job throws up more questions than it ever answers."

"If it's any help I've found some things out about the Landgraabs; mostly background detail so far but their wealth was obtained through highly dubious means...always was, for nearly 200 years.  It's Nancy who's the real boss, Geoffrey's a figurehead."

"None of that is surprising" said Action, flatly.  "I've long since suspected that but do you have proof?  With proof I can move against them."

"Well, not quite yet but I've got plenty of leads..." said Suzy, wishing she could give Action that little extra so he could make an arrest or two.

"Have a look into Malcolm a little more..." she continued.  "I think he's the one who tried to shoot Madelyn Buchanan.  The two of them used to peddle drugs but their working relationship went south and he was left in the lurch.  Malcolm's a nasty, vengeful character so my idea is that he wanted to get back at her.  Lily Feng was never the target."

Action nodded.  It mostly made sense except that he knew the weapon used against Madelyn was some kind of laser.  Where would Malcolm get hold of one of those?

Their chat was interrupted by friend and neighbour Travis Scott.  He was dancing away and spotted his friends having a conversation so he waved and danced his way over to them.

"Action, Suzy...two people I haven't seen for a while!" said Travis, cheerily.

"Travis, nice to see you; how's the wedding planning going?" asked Suzy.

"Sheesh, is that all you chicks can talk about?  Yeah, it's going OK.  Summer's organising most of it, I've just been measured for a suit.  I think Sum's got some things to ask you about the whole deal so just warning you before she calls."

"I look forward to it.  Tell her she can call on my anytime to talk about it." Suzy replied, the excitement of wedding planning broke her train of thought about the Landgraab investigation.

All Action wanted to know at this point was when was the date for the wedding and was he invited?  He pondered for one brief moment whether he would one day get married but almost instantly brushed that idea out of his mind.

"Suzy...I'll look into that matter with Malcolm and let you know how it's getting on.  In the meantime, can I ask you a favour?  Look into the dealings of a Mr J. Huntington III.  He's a socialite and from old money so he'll have cropped up in your style magazines I'll bet.  I know he's a member of the Kitten Club and hangs with Cuffe but see if there's any connection between him and the Landgraabs."

"OK...J. Huntington III.  We'll trade information again, soon" she replied.

CHAPTER 205: Put It Together

"You've got that look on your face"

"What look?"

"That look you get when you've come up with some plan"

"Is it that obvious?"

Neil nodded.

"Well, as a matter of fact I do have a plan", said Suzy, putting her bowl of cornflakes down on a nearby table.

"OK, let's hear it" said Neil.

"I'm going to check in on Jeremy and see if he's found anything useful in the Landgraab archives."

"Shouldn't you wait for him to contact you first?"

"Well, either way I want to make some progress" Suzy said with a shrug.  "I'm also revising my notes on the Malcolm Landgraab expose:  A bit of background information on the history of the family is what's needed."

"You know, once that expose gets printed they'll come after you...and hard" said Neil with a note of caution in his voice.

"Risk is part of my business..." Suzy said, nonchalantly as she stood up.  "And I know that turns you on..." she added with a sly wink.

"Hey!" Neil said, in a half hearted attempt at a protest.

Suzy headed to the study and sat down at her desk to start the next chapter of "Malcolm Landgraab: The Truth".  She consulted her notes and referred to the latest newspaper and magazine clippings that mentioned his name in the society pages.  Who he's dating, who he dated in the past, his apparent "heirship" to the Landgraab fortune, his business associates...that last one revealed an interesting little titbit; something she hadn't noticed before.

It was a story in the gossip column from about 4 months ago.  An argument in a nightclub between Malcolm and Madelyn Buchanan, Alan Cuffe's personal assistant.  Suzy had evidence that they were one time partners in selling drugs to the young and trendy in the city but when Cuffe had discovered his assistant was involved in the trade he put a stop to it.  

"Hmm, there has to be some fallout from that..." mused Suzy to herself, as she tapped a pencil on her hand, pondering that point.  "Maybe...just maybe..." and then a thought occurred to her, a bit of a wild and radical one that departed from the narrative she had been working with recently, but if she could find some more evidence it would clear up some mysteries about this case.

She put the pencil back down on the desk, got up and grabbed her shoulder bag before heading to the front door.

"Hey, what's the matter?  You seem in a hurry" said Neil as she sped past him.

"I am!  Got an idea...want to check on a few details.  See you later..." she said as she left.

"But....hey!" said a baffled Neil.

She headed over to Foundry Cove to visit one of her confederates in the ongoing investigation:  Jeremy Saint.  As she walked up to his house her mind was still brimming with the ideas and suspicions she was gestating back at her desk only a few moments ago.

She was greeted by Barbara, Jeremy's girlfriend.  Although Suzy and her were friends there had been rising tension and frostiness recently between the two of them.  Barbara was increasingly worried that all this poking around in the Landgraab's business will eventually hurt Jeremy because they had tried to hurt him before...Suzy, on the other hand, seemed more and more determined to uncover the whole truth which was leading her to becoming hardened and monomaniacal in her pursuit.

"Barbara, I hope I haven't come at an inconvenient time?" asked Suzy.

"No...I take it you want to see Jeremy?" came the reply.

"Well, partly.  I like catching up with the both of you, though."

"Well, we're just finishing our dinner.  You're welcome to have dessert with us."

"I'd like that" replied Suzy and although the exchange was pleasant enough and the offer from Barbara genuine the look in the latter's eyes betrayed more of a weary resignation look than an overjoyed one.

Jeremy's greeting was more enthusiastic.  He was hoping to catch up with Suzy as he had found out things about Affluista Mansion, the home of the Landgraab family, and was keen to share them with her.

"Suzy!  Lovely to see you...I'm glad you dropped by, I've got so much to tell you!" he said, effusively.  Barbara said nothing but instead offered Suzy a seat at the table and placed a bowl of fruit sorbet and a spoon in front of her.

"Same here...although what I've got is an idea, but one I think is borne out by what we know" Suzy replied.  "Hmm, this is delicious, Barbara" she added after taking a taste of the sorbet.

There was some small talk about life in general before Suzy and Jeremy adjourned to the living room couch to share their findings in more detail.

"So I did what you asked and looked into the land records for Affluista Mansions" Jeremy began.  Barbara, out of their line of sight, mouthed silently "I did what you asked".

"What did you find?" enquired Suzy.

"There's definitely something there.  Shortly after Gregory Landgraab went for his hike up Acquisition Butte he returned and filed a claim with the land office, saying he had found rare minerals up there.  That aroused considerable interest and he was able to sell them on the market and then buy the entire Butte for himself.  That's when he became a millionaire overnight."

"What were those minerals?" Suzy asked.

"That I couldn't discover...the records don't say.  They just say 'rare minerals'."

"That would imply there's a mine on the site...wait a minute!  There is a tunnel that runs right under Affluista Mansion!  That must be it!" exclaimed Suzy.

"I checked on that and you're correct.  However, the mine hasn't been in use since 1925.  Land records show it was never that big; certainly smaller than the various houses that have been built on the site since Gregory purchased the land."

"They built homes over the mine?  Hmmm, that's unusual." Suzy pondered.

"Second helpings, anyone?" interjected Barbara.

"Sounds good to me!" said Jeremy, springing up from the sofa and heading to the table.  Suzy also joined in as that sorbet was delicious and, not too naughty for the waistline.

The conversation had shifted, mainly due to an intervention from Barbara, to what was going on in their lives in general.  She mentioned the new shop assistant and excellent sales this last month; in part due to a couple of celebrities shopping at Pack's Clothing such as Jean Shrimpton and Davy Jones, and Jeremy mentioned moving house, which piqued Suzy's interest.

"Moving up in the world?" said Suzy.

"Well, it was a bit of a hard sell to me at first..." said Jeremy, looking at Barbara in a loving way and gently reaching out to touch her hand "...as I'm quite one for the familiar but it's true that this house is getting a bit small for us and with business doing well for both of us it makes sense to go for something bigger with...well...maybe..."

"Room for one more" interjected Barbara.

"Oh...I see..." said Suzy, wide eyed with amazement.  Knowing Jeremy as she did she knew he wouldn't agree to start a family without getting married first so this was all big news from the two of them.

"Well, eventually..." Barbara added.

"Yes...lots to sort out in the meantime.  Anyway, what's your big news you had to share?  Are you and Neil expecting?"  asked Jeremy.

"Oh gosh, no.  There's no time for that right now!  I have made a breakthrough on this case...well, not so much a breakthrough, more like a theory but one that kind of makes sense." said Suzy, excitedly.

"What is it?" asked Jeremy.

"So, cast your mind back to when either Lily Feng or Madelyn Buchanan...Alan Cuffe's assistant...was shot at down in San Myshuno." said Suzy.

"I'd forgotten about that story...do you know who did it?" asked Jeremy.

"I have an idea.  Ever since that incident came to light we'd all been thinking that it was that Leanne McGregor, the mysterious assassin, who was responsible.  But what if there was someone else, a disgruntled business colleague who wanted to get revenge on a deal gone wrong?  Someone who is often rage filled, vindictive and amoral who wanted to rub out a rival?"

"OK...that sounds plausible" said Jeremy.

"A rival to Lily Feng?  Well, rumour has it she's a pretty ruthless businesswoman" said Barbara.

"Not Lily...Madelyn.  Someone who wanted to kill Madelyn."

"Who would want to do that?" asked Jeremy.

"MALCOLM LANDGRAAB!"

CHAPTER 204: R.I.P.

 

"It was a beautiful service, Francesca" said Julia, trying to find the right thing to say to her best friend.

"Hmm?  Oh yes.  Everything's been....well....as good as it could have been.  Thank you for staying after the wake and helping Stefanie and me home."

"It's no trouble at all...I'm here to help in whatever way I can.  Did your parents catch their flight home OK?"

Francesca sighed.  "Yes...got them to the airport in good time.  It was good of them to fly out here; Mom's health is really declining.  I told them not to make the trip if it would put her back in hospital but...well...you know how parents are."

"I certainly do" said Julia with a wry smile.  If Central Casting had to choose people to play an archetypal, middle aged Jewish couple who doted on their daughter they could do no better than to hire Julia's parents.

Francesca was trying her best not to burst into tears but Rodney's death now left a bigger gap in her life than she had expected.  They'd been high school sweethearts, married at 20 and she had never looked at another man in a desirous manner ever since.  She also recoiled in horror at the image of him being caught in the fire in the kitchen...

The investigators said it was an electrical fault in the stove that caused it.  Due to the cramped design of the kitchen the fire had quickly spread and soon Rod's escape route was blocked.

Francesca whisked Stefanie out of the house and then ran back inside to phone the fire department, hoping they would arrive in time to save Rod but they got held up and arrived too late.  He had passed out from smoke inhalation before the flames engulfed him.

"Can I get you anything, Francesca?" asked Julia, wanting to give practical help.

"Oh what?  No, no thank you...I'm taking up way too much of your time, Julia. If you need to go..."

"You're not.  I'm here to help you and Stefanie...and, well, the dog as well..."  she said, noticing that little Boris the bulldog was sitting right next to her and watching her intensely.  

"I really appreciate it but you don't have to..."

"Your parents live far away and your mother's health isn't great and you don't have any other family in Sim City:  But I like to think I'm a close friend..."

"You're more than that, Julia.  Your my best friend...after...Rod...." and at that moment the tears began to stream again.  Francesca got up to her feet and went to Julia for a hug.  Even though Julia was awkward with physical shows of affection she overcame her resistance this time.  Francesca cried and smiled at the same time.

"I miss him so much already!" she gasped.

"I know..." said Julia, in consolation.  Once they had stopped hugging they went to sit down on the couch and continued their discussion.

"How's Stefanie doing?" asked Julia.

Francesca drew a deep breath "She's struggling...understandably...but there's a lot of anger there, Jules.  Every so often she just blows her top"

"Does she know who's she's angry at?" asked Julia.

Francesca shook her head.  "The Fire Department...God...me...she's not like that all the time but every so often she just flares up."

Julia thought hard about this; she had come to think of the little girl almost as a relative and was very fond of her.  "Do you think it might help if I spent some time with her?  Just talking, helping her process her grief?" she said.

"I'm sometimes at my wits end so, yes, please do...she likes you very much and I'm sure she'll listen to what you have to say"

"I'M SICK OF PEOPLE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN!" Screamed the little girl at Julia.

"Well...it might help if you did..." 

"HOW?  HOW IS IT GOING TO HELP?  DAD'S DEAD!  The stupid Fire Department killed him!"

"That's not true, Stefanie.  They tried..."

"NO THEY DID NOT!  They didn't come!  Not until...." and she clenched her fists tightly until they turned white.

Julia knew Stefanie didn't need to complete that sentence.  By the time the firemen had arrived Rod was already dead.  Julia processed what she was seeing and hearing from Stefanie and had a thought:  There's no point right now in trying to get her to calm down and act the part of the sweet, dutiful little girl when there was real anger there.  Although Julia had only done one small course in child psychology she had always had a knack for understanding children that went beyond her training.  

"Do you know something, Stefanie?  You're right.  They didn't do their job properly that day and it cost you and your mother dearly.  You shouldn't just 'calm down'; you should let it out." Julia said.

"Really?"

"Yes.  Tell me what you're really thinking right now..."

Stefanie paused before she suddenly started stamping her feet and shouting again "That's it's NOT FAIR!  Why MY daddy?"

"Of course it's not fair.  I'll tell you a true story...last week we had a little girl, similar age to you, in the hospital and she was really sad and angry as well.  Her dad was a pilot and he was killed on a mission in Vietnam so she's really frightened, angry and missing him so much as well.  You're not alone, even if you sometimes think you are."

Stefanie looked up at Julia and said "How is she now, this little girl?"

"Well, she's joined a group of families who have lost a mother or father recently and who need support.  Now this girl realised that there's one other person who is grieving and very sad and who needs her help as much as she does."

"Who is that?"

"Her own mom and I think your mom needs a lot of help as well.  I can give a little but you can give a lot.  You must help each other...."

Stefanie went quiet and gave Julia a questioning look.

"Think about your mom for a moment...right now she has to organise everything, look after you and your dog and on top of that she's going to have to go back to work soon.  She would really welcome your help...that doesn't mean you can't be sad or angry and it might mean your mom will get really sad and angry some days but you have each other; you need to give each other support."

"And if you want to let it all out and just scream....give me a call" Julia added.

The little girl was moved by Julia's compassion and understanding.  There was a boy whose dad was in Vietnam and he worried about whether he was going to make it home so Julia's words struck a chord.

Stefanie went back to the lounge and saw her mother standing there, ostensibly filling Boris' food bowl up but she could see sadness on her face.  "Hi, Mom...you OK?" she said.

Francesca turned to look at her daughter and said "I heard you shouting, earlier.  Are you being nice to Julia?"

"Yes Mommy...I just lost my temper a little"

"A little?"

"OK, maybe more than just a little..."

Francesca's scowl turned to a smile as she beheld the sweet honesty of her daughter.  "Come here, poppet" she said as she crouched down to give the little girl a hug.  "We'll get through this together...the two of us"

Boris let out a little yelp.

"The three of us, Mom?" said Stefanie.

Julia watched mother and daughter hugging one another and said, softly.  "I'll leave you two to it.  If you need to call me, just do so anytime."

"Thanks, Julia" said Francesca with a kindly wink.

Julia grabbed her shoulder bag and left the house to make her way back to Willow Creek.  There was some hope there; on the day of Rod's death she seriously worried about Francesca's state of mind, as if she was capable of self-harm, but now the grieving process had begun she knew that Fran would focus her attention on helping Stefanie.  However, Julia felt completely drained and needed some company.

She headed down to the Blue Velvet.  She wasn't expected to perform today but she just wanted to go there and see if there were any of her friends present.  

Down over at the bar was one of them:  Jeremy.  She walked over to him and saw he was struggling to place a drinks order as it was getting very crowded there.  He noticed her approaching and waved.

"Hi Julia...it's really crowded in here tonight.  Say, you look all smart..." 

"I've just come from a funeral" she replied, sombrely.

"Oh...I'm sorry, I forgot that was today.  How did it go?"

Julia breathed in before answering.  "Well, better than I expected.  Francesca's bearing up although there were times when I could detect she was on the edge of breaking down but she's tough:  We've seen death before at work..."

"I tell you what...I'm buying this round so let me include you.  What are you having?"

"A large glass of red wine, please."

"OK..." he said and, again, he waved his $10 bill towards the barman to attract their attention.  In the meantime Suzy had spotted Julia and came over to where she and Jeremy were standing.

Suzy didn't say much, she leant in and gave Julia a hug and whispered "How's your friend?"

"It's so difficult for her and her daughter but I think she'll come through" replied Julia.

Suzy nodded and said "good, good...well, why don't you hang out with us and unwind for a bit?"

Julia gladly agreed to stay on and switch off from the tragedy for just a brief moment, even playing a song on the piano not for her own personal gain but to celebrate Rod's life.  The patrons even dug deep into their pockets to donate to his widow and child.

The sun was setting late, around 10pm when Julia got home, tired but hopeful for her friend.  Her feet were aching in the smart shoes she wasn't used to wearing as well.

She was just about to kick off her shoes, take off her dress and hang it up to take to the dry cleaners when there was a knock at the door.  

"Who's this at this hour?" she sighed to herself, before going to the door.  To her surprise it was Francesca, who had changed out of her mourning dress and into something more casual.

"Fran...what's the matter?  Are you OK?  Is Stefanie alright?"

"Yes, she's fine...we're all doing OK given the circumstances.  Some neighbours who have a child the same age are looking after her.  I really wanted to swing by and say thank you for all your support."

"You didn't have to come all the way down here to tell me that."

"I know, I know...but some things are best said face to face....I hope I'm not keeping you awake; it's been a long day for all of us."

"I was going to go to get changed and soak in the bath before bedtime but I don't mind you visiting at all.  Anytime, Francesca, I mean that."

"Thanks, Jules.  Sometimes it just hits me...Rod isn't here anymore!  I'm 28 years old, years ahead of me, Stef's got at least another 10 years of education to get through and I'm going to have to look after her...and me...and keep my mid-level paying job, and fulfil the role of two parents and...and...the thing is, Jules, Rod and me were intertwined:  We'd known each other since we were teenagers.  We could finish each other's sentences, I've never loved another man in my life and that love has gone!  It's like a part of me has gone!"

Julia didn't respond immediately and she didn't know where to begin...certainly not with a facile piece of encouragement.  "Come inside, talk to me about it some more..." she said, gently touching Francesca on the arm and guiding her inside.