"What is it, Alice?" Clara demanded.
"Nothing. I'm just thinking about her." She replied, drinking another small mouthful of beer.
"So...what are we saying? That Cleo was dealing and she tried, unsuccessfully, to fuck over her supplier by getting him or her sent to prison so that she could take over the business? And that somebody working for them overheard her implying she was going to do this and so that's why she was killed? And that this supplier killed her." Said Gemma. "Only we don't have a bloody clue who the supplier is."
"Yes. But it's a start." Said Alice.
"I've heard Luca Stone talking about his supplier." Lilly blurted out. The others' heads whipped round so that they were all staring at her expectantly, as if they were spectators and she were a tennis ball soaring across the court towards Roger Federer.
"Well, did he say who it is?" Said Gemma urgently.
"Wait, when do you talk to Luca Stone?" Said Alice, her head tilted. Lilly blushed.
"As in Cleo's boyfriend, Luca? Yeah, I'd like to know the same thing. When did you talk to him?" Clara said. In her head she was already accusing Lilly of fucking him behind Cleo's back, but she immediately shook the thoughts off, realising how risible they were. Who would go for Lilly when they had Cleo? Cleo exuded confidence. Despite Lilly's appearance and dress sense, her mannerisms indicated that she barely knew what the word meant anymore.
"I don't...much. I just happened to overhear him talking about it. He doesn't know, though. This person never actually shows up, just leaves the drugs in a designated space and asks for an envelope with the cash to be left in its place. Luca never tries anything because he's too scared to. I heard him saying that this one time, Rudy Williams showed up early to collect and saw someone in a Ghostface costume dropping off." Lilly stammered.
"A costume? Oh my God, that's embarrassing. Who do they think they are? Jason Voorhees or something?" Gemma spluttered.
"Yeah. Like, the full Ghostface outfit, the black cloak, the mask...even a hood, you know, like the killer from Scream. They do loads of the masks down at the corner shop this time of year." Lilly said. Gemma laughed again.
"That's bloody hilarious."
"To be fair, it's quite a good idea. Anonymity keeps them safe if they've got a lot to lose. Makes them a lot safer than ever Cleo was. If somebody disliked her enough they could go to the warden and I'm sure they'd get the authorities involved without much hesitation. You know how much Professor Brooks cares about reputation." Alice pointed out.
"Bastard." Added Gemma.
"Right." Muttered Clara, and the two clinked their beers together before taking huge swills out of their cans. "He's probably part of the reason that the initial investigation was so short. Not just for Cleo, but for Mia Jackson and Declan Johnson too. He didn't want to draw negative attention to the uni."
"Well, it didn't work, did it? Cleo's disappearance was still on the news, and Mia and Dec were in the local paper for months. So it came round to bite him in the arse in the end. He allowed lacklustre investigations for the disappearance and deaths of his own students and still got negative press attention." Said Alice.
"And that's what you call Karma." Said Clara, taking a long drink of her Carlsberg.
She bloody loved that word; not for its sound, but for the semantics of it all.
YOU ARE READING
Trust No Bitch: Part 1
Mystery / ThrillerYou think you know the story: 4 women, a dead friend, and an anonymous texter. But think again. It's about to get a whole lot messier, as 4 British university students are about to find out. Full of sex, drugs, and deceit, you've come to the wrong...
