SSMM Ch35

Ava Googles Belinda.

There is a lot of Belinda online. Wrestling, modeling, social media beefs… lots of beefs. Lots of risque modeling as well; it looks to Ava like Belinda’s been hustling for a while. Modeling got her into wrestling, where it appeared that she appealed to a ‘fit girl’ niche that she cashed in on. More modeling, more wrestling. Some influencing.

Somewhere in here, Japan most likely, she must have encountered Viv. That was when she was with the biggest wrestling federation in Japan, performing at big venues. It’s easy to imagine Viv attending such a thing while there to film a movie or something. That’s probably where she met Belinda and seduced her. It’s easy enough to picture her making all sorts of promises and then finishing the movie and disappearing.

And… Ava can see from social media that Belinda does not let things go lightly. She’s abrasive and not afraid to go to war. Maybe that’s part of her act; even though she’s getting a little older and moving into a more coaching/producing role these days, she still presents herself as a wrestler.

Ava does learn that Belinda has tried and failed repeatedly to get more glam women’s wrestling going in the west. In one interview, she discusses the volume of rejections she’s gotten and the toll it has taken on her mental health.

Ava looks up from her phone to see Belinda looking rough right now.

“Belinda. Angry. Rejected again and again,” Ingrid says. “How much of that should one person have to take?”

“I just landed a deal,” Belinda protests, but Ingrid is already turning to someone else.

“Karina. Grieving.” Ingrid looks serious. “It must be frustrating. For someone to have to pay such a high price for something that Vivien likely does not even remember.”

Karina’s eye twitches. She says nothing.

“Hailey,” Ingrid goes on. “Vivien is worth forty million American dollars. Her businesses are worth more.”

Hailey snorts derisively. “Yeah, yeah. Off with her head.”

“Ebba.”

Ingrid’s literary agency returns her stare icily. “Vivien owns a large amount of Amazon stock. Many investments in AI. Do you think she reads many books?”

Ebba says something in Swedish, but Ingrid appears to ignore it, turning to Annette.

“Vivien is not well-liked. How many years have you put up with her?”

“Too many,” Annette says sourly.

Each reply from one of the assembled seems to make Viv shrink further into herself as she stares down at the covered body.

“Chitose,” Ingrid says, looking at her thoughtfully. “I understand your family has some debt.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Belinda demands.

“Chitose has also had trouble with the law in Japan. When she was younger. Perhaps she saw an opportunity in Vivien, and it did not go the way that she wanted.”

“Absurd,” Belinda says firmly.

“Cristy. Is it a coincidence that your professional career ended when your affair with Vivien did?” Ingrid asks.

Cristy isn’t being loud or throwing punches, but her fury is evident.

“Fucking say whatever you’re going to say,” she says tightly.

Ingrid just turns to Kia. “She was not going to leave Vivien, was she?”

Kia looks none too focused and shies away from Ingrid’s gaze.

“I don’t know,” she mumbles.

Ava can tell just by looking that Ingrid has it.

But… having it only goes so far. They aren’t cops, and they certainly don’t have anything like proof or something that would hold up in court. Knowing who killed Aubrey will be helpful for having closure, but that’s all.

Still… even without proof, there’s one thing that can turn a situation like this around: a confession. If the killer feels like she has nowhere to turn, then they have her. Ava has seen some detective shows, and a common tactic is for the detective to convince the killer that there is some piece of evidence that they’ve missed. Then the killer either folds or goes to dispose of the nonexistent evidence, and they’re cooked. A last-minute, Hail Mary bluff could make a big difference right here and now. Ingrid doesn’t care about this; she only cares about making sure that no one else gets hurt tonight.

But Ava cares, at least for Viv’s sake. It sure looks like Viv’s wife died because of Viv in some way, and Viv will have to live with that. If the killer walks away—to potentially try again someday—that would just… really suck.

What evidence could there possibly be? There has to be some, but Ava’s no detective.

Look… Aubrey had a wound on her head. Either she slipped, or someone hit her, or in a struggle, she hit her head on the way down. Ava doesn’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to get that. Wounds mean blood. Blood can get on clothes. It’s possible that somewhere, the killer owns something with blood on it.

But… there’s also that syringe. Whatever happened in this bathroom… there’s a definite vibe that it didn’t go the way that the killer wanted it to. Ava can’t know for sure, but that’s her hunch. If that’s the case, maybe this wasn’t as meticulously planned. The Molly, whatever is in the syringe—maybe these are things that someone brought for recreational use. Which means that maybe someone has more **** in their things.

Finding some bloody clothes or some **** that match up with what they’ve seen so far would be enough of a smoking gun to put a bow on this.

Ava sees nothing to lose by attempting this bluff. Ingrid is about to point out the killer.

Should Ava gamble on the killer’s ****? Or bloody clothes?