Fiction Friday

Chapter X

Vivian’s head snapped up “What do you mean 'that’s not what happened'; are you implying that I’m lying about my sister’s death?” she asked, her eyes wide.

Jackie looked at Vivian, measuring her, “Isn’t it true that you, not your sister, were supposed to work tonight?”

Vivian’s eyes widened but she said nothing.

Susan, set her tea down for a second and looked at Jackie, then at Vivian, then back to Jackie.

Jackie pressed on. “You were supposed to work tonight but you asked McKenzie to work for you. You said you were sick, or tired or…what? Whatever you said, she was willing to work a double, wearing your uniform so you wouldn’t get in trouble, wasn’t she?”

Vivian looked horrified. “I…I, I didn’t know she would be killed, you have to believe me!” Vivian was leaning forward now, her palms pressed flat to the table, fingers stretched tensely out on the distressed wood.

Jackie opened her mouth and then closed it again, pressing her lips together; her eyebrows were furrowed as if trying to figure something out. She considered Vivian for a moment and then said, “Vivian, why were you in Wayne’s room?”

Vivian closed her mouth tightly, sitting back in her chair.

“Are you in a relationship with Wayne?” Jackie pressed.

Vivian deflated with a laugh, “No, oh no, not at all,” she shook her head as if this was a ridiculous notion.

“Then what were you doing in his room?”

“He wasn’t in there,” Vivian assured her.

Jackie raised her eyebrows as if asking the same question again.

Vivian’s eyes shot back and forth as if looking for the answer in one of her cupboards. “We’re neighbors,” she smiled simply, “I had borrowed his iron and was just returning it. We’ve been friends for nearly a decade, you know. Wayne’s been working up here since he was a kid too.”

“Yeah,” Jackie said, slightly deflated, “yeah, he mentioned that.”

There was silence as each of them sipped their tea, tensely.

“Well,” Susan broke the silence, “we still don’t have any theories about who killed the mai—your sister,” Susan corrected. Then Susan snorted. It’s kind of like Clue isn’t it?” Jackie and Vivian looked at Susan in silence. “You know, the game from when we were kids? ‘I think it was the wine sommelier with the rope, in the dining room…’” Susan said in a mock tone of seriousness, chuckling into her mug.

“Susan,” Jackie raised her eyebrows at her in disbelief, “could you be more insensitive?” She muttered through closed teeth.

Vivian got up. “I’m going to change out of these wet clothes. Would you guys like something to change into?”

“That would be great,” they both nodded.

Vivian stepped into a bedroom and swung the door shut.

Susan leaned forward quickly whispering towards Jackie, “She doesn’t seem too broken up about her sis, does she?”

“What?” Jackie mouthed.

Susan made a dramatic gesture towards the bedroom with her thumb, “she’s not as upset as she should be—someone just killed her sister thinking it was her and she’s getting a change of clothes?—there’s no panic. What’s wrong with this picture?” Susan finished her whispered and signed soliloquy with wide eyes.

Jackie sat for a moment in silence realizing that Susan was right. Something wasn’t adding up.
Jackie got to her feet and circled to the other side of the table so that her back wasn’t to the bedroom door. She suddenly felt an unsettling nervousness. She heard a rustling in the bedroom. Suddenly, something on the counter caught her eye. Jackie moved an old newspaper to reveal a half-written letter on the edge of the counter.

Just then, the bedroom door swung open and out stepped Vivian wearing jeans and a long sleeve tee-shirt. In her arms she held an assortment of clothing. She looked around at their faces and realized something wasn’t right, “what is it?” she asked.

“You aren’t telling us everything,” Jackie stated with more conviction than she felt.
Vivian just stared, stone-faced.

“Why didn’t you tell us that Mrs. Carson was having an affair too?” Jackie pushed.

Vivian opened and closed her mouth a few times, “I didn’t know, I…”

Jackie lifted the letter in the air, “You knew about both of their affairs. You were blackmailing them.”

***