Page 35 of The Situation Ship
“I’m glad your grandma found comfort in them. I loved the music, the costumes, and the glamour when I was young. Acting was the only thing my aunt truly loved, and I admired her passion. Is your grandmother still with us?” Poppy asked delicately.
“No, she passed away a couple of years ago.” He hadn’t thought about her in quite a while.
“I’m sorry,” Poppy said softly, removing her hands from the lamp.
“Don’t be. She lived a great life and wanted to be with my grandfather. He’d passed a decade earlier, and she wasn’t the same without him. They were like two jigsaw pieces – neither complete without the other,” Isaiah said, pushing down the grief he hadn’t felt in years. He couldn’t believe how easy it was for him to open up to Poppy. “You’d be excellent in an interrogation room.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You can redirect a conversation to avoid talking about yourself with such ease.”
“It’s not one of my natural talents –it’s years of PR training. I envy the love your grandparents had. My parents had something similar before they passed. I wish for that,” Poppy said, her eyes lost in deep thought. Isaiah wanted to say something to comfort her, but she quickly straightened her back and snapped back to her charming self. “Want to know a Hollywood secret?”
“Do tell.” Isaiah couldn’t help but be intrigued by her stories.
“Did you seeThe Silent Dancer? It was my aunt’s first film.”
“The one about the red dress?” he asked, recalling it faintly. “I didn’t realise it was her first. Impressive to be the lead in such a classic.”
“So naive for a detective!” Poppy smirked. “My aunt poisoned the lead. Martha was meant to play the best friend, Betsy, but then the lead actress, May Darling, started missing shootsbecause she kept getting sick. My aunt was first in and last out of the studio. Always around to offer a helping hand when May was too ill to remember her lines or turn up on time. Impatient, and impressed with my aunt’s dedication, the director gave her the leading role. It was Martha Roe’s breakout.”
“How’d Martha poison her?” Isaiah asked. “How did she not get caught?”
“Who would suspect a sixteen-year-old girl of poisoning a leading lady? May didn’t die, but she did suffer with terrible stomach ulcers for years after.”
“What did your aunt use?” Isaiah asked.
“She never told me, just made sure I understood the lesson.” Poppy examined her bold red nails, flexing her fingers in delight.
“In what?”
“I told you. Never accept second place.”
The way Poppy said it made his blood run cold. The light left her eyes for a split second.
“You’re all done here!” The manicurist cut the tension, coming back to turn off the lamp.
Isaiah rubbed moisturiser into his hands while Poppy thanked the woman. He wondered how much of her aunt’s lessons had rubbed off on her. Growing up in such a cold and calculating home was sure to have contorted her ideas on wrong and right, certainly regarding personal gain, but he had seen how Poppy treated the people around her. It took a strong heart to have been taught such lessons and walk a different path.
“What happened with the Academy Award?” he asked, suddenly remembering the odd turn in the earlier conversation. “Calliope looked like she swallowed a bee when you mentioned the nomination.”
“Just me being petty. Martha had two awards for lead actress, defeating Calliope whenever they were nominated in the same category. Calliope had won two for supporting actress, butshe didn’t care about those. Calliope was always in my aunt’s shadow–awards, movies, marriages, scandals – but her latest nomination was Calliope’s chance to take her place as leading lady. Martha didn’t even get a nomination; she was sick with jealousy.”
“Did Calliope win?”
“No, my aunt blackmailed the selection committee. You would be amazed at how many secrets she collected over the years. If only she had used her powers for good,” Poppy said sadly.
“Your aunt had a lot of enemies.”Maybe it wasn’t so odd for so many murders to have taken place around them, given Martha’s reputation.
“Your point?” Poppy said.
“Are you sure her death was an accident?”
He was only half-joking, but a look of uncertainty flashed in Poppy’s eyes. She laughed, but this time it wasn’t genuine.
“Trust me, none of her enemies would have had the balls to kill her. Karma just caught up with her. Don’t feel too bad for Calliope, though.”
“Why?”
