SSMM Ch36

The women gathered in the room are quiet, but the storm is not. Lightning crashes and everyone jumps.

Ingrid walks to the window and faces the group. “The killer dosed Kia and most likely Aubrey as well with MDMA. She could not guarantee that they would meet tonight, but this was her attempt to make it more likely. She wanted Vivien to be alone in bed. This was, perhaps, naïve.”

Jane rubs her chin. “Maybe she thought she could make that happen too. I mean, I can think of ways. Tonight just got out of control. No one could have predicted that we would do the stuff we did.” She looks to Ava for confirmation.

Ava nods. “Way out of hand.”

Ingrid clasps her hands and goes on. “The killer used the **** and perhaps planted seeds. She entered through the window. She hoped to find Vivien in bed and to inject her with what I am confident will be a powerful opiate. Perhaps it is even real poison. I don’t know.”

“But how does she end up killing Aubrey in here?” Kia asks tearfully.

“The most likely scenario to me is that the killer was startled. Aubrey meant to meet you. Maybe she wanted to get ready. Or maybe she was going to the bathroom.” Ingrid points at the door. “The killer enters a dark bathroom, and Aubrey enters and turns on the light. That is one way that it could have happened.”

Belinda makes a sound of disdain. “One way? Come on, Blondie. Do better.”

Ingrid ignores that. “The killing could have been an accident. Perhaps Aubrey wished to use the restroom in the dark. Confusion. A struggle. An accidental fall. That seems most likely from the position of the head wound. There is no evidence of the killer using a bludgeoning weapon. What would be the point of the needle? They fought, and Aubrey hit her head. Perhaps this blow was fatal. Perhaps the killer, covering her tracks with creating the scene of the slip in the bath, simply drowned her when she was **** or stunned by the blow. I don’t know. But we know that the killer was in a hurry and not calm because she left the needle behind. Dropped in the struggle, I am sure.”

Annette pulls off her glasses and rubs her face. “Jesus.”

“The killer created the scene of the bath and left the way that she came in. Her goal was to kill Vivien in her sleep.” Ingrid hesitates, turning to Ava and Jane. “It might have happened if Vivien had not been occupied elsewhere.”

Ava swallows.

“Most of the people in this room have motive. Some stronger than others.” Ingrid turns to the window. “The killer would need to shower or explain being wet because she was outside. That narrows the field.” She turns to where Belinda, Karina, Ebba, Cristy, and Annette are still where she directed them to be. “This is the second floor. She must be an athlete who is able to overpower Aubrey. I don’t see Annette or Ebba climbing the outside of this house.”

“You gotta be fucking kidding me,” Belinda fumes. “If I wanted to take out Viv, I’d just kick her ass.”

“I know,” Ingrid replies, turning to Cristy. “Is there anything you want to tell us?”

Cristy hesitates. She swallows.

“Fuck off,” she says finally.

Ingrid nods with a sigh. “Of course. I don’t blame you. Cristy cannot account for Karina with certainty during the time of the ****.”

“I was with her,” Cristy says.

“That isn’t exactly what you said earlier,” Jane says.

“I’ve been drinking. Believe it or not, I don’t sleep with people that I’m coaching on a regular basis. It’s a big enough fucking deal that I wouldn’t have it wrong,” Cristy snaps. “I was with Karina.”

“What the fuck is happening?” Hailey asks.

“Cristy’s covering for Karina,” Annette replies. She stares at Karina in disbelief.

“She is,” Ingrid confirms.

Karina stands there with her hands clenched at her sides. She is silent.

Cristy puts her arm around her. “Judge all you want. Viv’s not the only one who can sleep with younger women. I was with Karina all night. So what if my story changed? We aren’t under oath.”

The other women edge away from the two of them.

Ebba says something in Swedish. Ingrid replies, her eyes locked on Karina.

Cristy points a finger at Ingrid. “This is all circumstantial bullshit. You aren’t a cop. You have no proof.”

“But we will,” Ava pipes up nervously. “Aubrey’s head was hurt. That shit bleeds. Somewhere, there’s some clothes with blood on them. There’s no way anybody had time to like burn them or something. And nobody’s going to take their eyes off you two now. We’ll find those clothes. And they belong to you.”

“That would put you in the room. But wait, which one killed her?” Hailey asks.

“Karina,” everyone tells her.

“Oh. We’ll find that shit,” Hailey says. “You fucking psycho,” she adds.

“We’re the same size,” Cristy says. “How would you know whose clothes they were?”

Karina’s face has been stony. Now something twitches, and she pushes Cristy away.

“Enough,” she says, shooting a look at her coach. “Just stop.”

Viv stares across the room at Karina. Her face is white. She looks devastated and lost.

Karina stares right back.

Chitose says something in Japanese, and Belinda replies to her.

“We have to watch her,” Ingrid says.

“Cristy, too.” Jane’s biting her nails. “If she’s trying to cover for her, she might go find those clothes and get rid of them.”

Ava’s not listening to the others. They’re trying to figure out what to do: watching Karina and Cristy, looking for the clothes, and keeping Vivien safe. They’re wondering when the road will be clear so that the police can get here.

Karina hasn’t said a word except to make it clear that she doesn’t want Cristy trying to take the fall for this. All she does is look at Vivien Corbin. It’s the scariest thing that Ava has seen in her life.

SSMM

It’s morning. The sun is out, and cops are all over the house.

Ava waits in the back of Annette’s car. She scrolls idly without seeing or retaining anything from Tiktok.

Annette finally arrives, and leather squeaks as she slides in beside Ava.

“Give us a minute,” she says to the driver, who gets out. The door shuts, and it’s just Annette, Ava, and the AC.

“What’s going on?”

Annette’s hands shake as she fumbles with her nicotine gum. “They arrested her.”

“Did they find the clothes?”

Annette shakes her head, chewing. “I mean, I don’t know. They aren’t saying. But they arrested her. With all of our statements, they have enough to charge.”

“That’s good, right?”

Annette bites her lip. “She hasn’t said a word. I don’t think her prints are on the needle. I’m not a cop or anything, but I think this would be tough to convict. Especially with Cristy going to bat for her. And I didn’t hear anyone else give their statements, obviously, but…”

“But what?”

“I saw Belinda. And I don’t know. I don’t know if they’ll even tell the truth. They hate Viv. Way more than I do.”

“You think Karina’s gonna walk?”

“I don’t know. But you and me? We’re good to go. And we need to get out of here. This place is not healthy. It’s just sad.”

Ava can’t argue with that.

A few moments pass. Annette chews her gum while Ava fidgets with her phone.

“I guess all the business stuff will have to wait,” Ava says finally.

“I could lean on Viv to make good on it.”

“But you aren’t a monster.”

“At least not that kind. Did you get her number at least?”

“Whose?”

“You know whose.”

Ava taps her phone case with a fingernail. “Yeah. What’s the correct amount of time to wait after something like this before I ask to see her?”

“Don’t wait. God.” Annette crumples up the gum package and throws it at the back of the seat. “You don’t know what’ll happen. Maybe you get killed tomorrow because your wife did some bad shit a few years ago. Fuck. Just ask her out. Live your life, Ava.”

“This is not your fault, Annette.”

“I set this whole weekend up.”

“She would’ve been coming no matter what. Sooner or later.”

Annette shakes her head. “And she still will be. I mean, if they don’t convict her.”

Ava shudders at the thought.

[ The End! Until the epilogue. Also, there is a postgame page if you want to look at it. ]