Chapter 11: Won't Get Fooled Again

Frustrated by her failure to get Bess to admit the truth, Elizabeth decides to blow off steam by visiting the Grind, a local dance club.

After having a drink at the bar, Elizabeth heads for the door. Still brooding about Bess, she walks into a dancing patron.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there...Margaret, is that you?"

Margaret Radcliffe grins toothily. "'Lizabeth! I didn't know you liked to party."

"I enjoy a drink every now and then."

Margaret giggles. "'Lizabeth, you're sooooo square."

"And you're drunk."

"I'm celebrating."

"Celebrating the fact that you have a functional liver?"

Margaret giggles again, swaying tipsily on her stilettos. "You're funny."

Elizabeth folds her arms. "Nobody said squares couldn't have a sense of humor. What are you celebrating?"

"My promotion!"

"Oh, at the science center? Congratulations! How are the carnivorous plants?"

"Not that job," Margaret says with a conspiratorial smile. "My real job."

Elizabeth stares. "Real job? What do you mean?"

Margaret smiles again. "Working at the science center is a cover," she says. Seeing the shock on Elizabeth's face, she giggles yet again. "You didn't actually think I was smart enough to work at the science center, did you?"

Elizabeth shifts uncomfortably. "Well, now that you mention it, it did seem like a rather odd career choice for you. I mean, I remember you fainting when we had to dissect the frogs in freshman biology."

"I know! I can't believe people actually believed that I work there!" Margaret exclaims. "Well, actually I'm not surprised. The people here are idiots. That's the best part of my promotion. I get to move! I'm finally getting out of this dump."

"But I thought you wanted to move to Sunset Valley. Bess said you suggested this as a place to move."

Margaret laughs derisively, wobbling dangerously. Leaning forward to shake Elizabeth by the shoulders, she slips.

"What is so funny?" Elizabeth asks, helping her to her feet.

"Bess is soooo gullible," Margaret says. "Me, want to live here? Please."

"So why did you move here?"

"Orders. Somebody had to keep an eye on her."

"On who?"

"Bess. She knows too much. Somebody had to make sure she didn't spill secrets. I was the lowly schmuck who got picked to babysit. Well, not anymore!"

Elizabeth stares at her quizzically. "Are you telling me you work for John Hardwick?" she asks.

Margaret nods. "Yes. It's a great gig. I started with him right out of high school. He gave me a job as soon as I finished my internship with him!"

"Were you supposed to keep an eye on me, too?"

"Nope. We didn't know you would be here. Lucky surprise, eh?"

"Real lucky." Elizabeth discreetly activates the sound recording app on her cell phone. "So, did you pass information about me to your boss?"

Margaret stares at the ground. "Well, maybe a little bit..."

"What did you tell him?" Elizabeth asks in a low voice.

"I told him you were working as a journalist and that Robert wrote really crappy books. I told him you had four children and that you seemed friendly with Bess."

"I see. Anything else?"

"I told him something about nuts..." Margaret chews her lip. "Something about Edward and nuts..."

"You told John Hardwick about my brother's allergy to peanuts?" Elizabeth asks angrily. "You're the reason my brother is dead?"

"I didn't kill him," Margaret says defensively. "I just mentioned his allergy. I didn't know Hardwick would use it to eliminate him."

"You're just as guilty! If you hadn't told Hardwick, he never would have known and my brother would be alive! What other purpose could it have possibly served to tell him?"

"I don't know! He was going on and on after the failed merger meeting about how he wish he knew a weakness about Edward and I said the only weakness I knew about was he had a peanut allergy. That information made him really happy."

"You WORK for that bastard! You know what a terrible person he is! How did you possibly think that he wouldn't use that information to hurt Edward?"

"Look, you," Margaret snarls. "You're brother knew what he was getting into when he took over. He was playing with the big boys. He knew the risks."

"He was a TEENAGER!" Elizabeth yells. "You helped murder a TEENAGER! How can you sleep at night? He just left high school! You foul, lying, evil bi-"

"Business isn't for frail, weaklings like him. He was always a weakling and he was always going to be a weakling! You're company should thank us for getting him out of the way."

"Who put you and John Hardwick in charge of chlorinating the gene pool?"

Margaret pauses. "That's actually a job?"

Elizabeth stares. How was she fooled by this airhead? "How did you ever get hired?" She shakes her head. "Never mind, I've heard enough. I'm turning you in. You're an accomplice to murder."

"You aren't taking me anywhere," Margaret growls. "I know people, missy, who can take you out and make it look like an accident. You're a nobody now, and nobody will miss you. Ever. But everybody will remember my name..." She leans forward to grab Elizabeth's shoulders, but slips, falls, and hits her head on the floor.

One of the bartenders walks over and sees Margaret sprawled on the floor. "Is she all right?"

Elizabeth checks. "Well, I think her ankle might be broken and she may have a concussion, but she's still alive. Hey, can you call the cops? She just confessed to being an accomplice in a murder."

The bartender raises his eyebrow. "You do realize people make things up to impress other people when they're drunk, right?"

"If that's the case, I've never been less impressed," Elizabeth says grimly. "You call the cops, I'll call the ambulance."

"...I turned her in, and gave the cops my phone with the recording of her confession. I don't know if it's enough to bring down Hardwick, but at least it's a step in the right direction."

"So it was Margaret?" Robert says thoughtfully. "Who'd of thought that airhead would have been clever enough to pull this off?"

"That's the sad thing, Robert. She wasn't clever. If she had been, she wouldn't have gotten herself drunk and put herself in a compromised state. We were duped by an airhead who can't hold her liquor."

"Will you testify against her?"

"Absolutely," Elizabeth says firmly. "I owe it to Edward."

"Aren't you afraid of putting yourself in danger? Will Hardwick target you for this?"

Elizabeth shakes her head. "No. Despite what he'd like you to think, Hardwick isn't the head of some mob organization. This is his first murder. Since it's been botched, nobody is going to risk anything for him. Besides, what would it do? Her confession is on tape."

Robert pulls his wife into a hug. "Well, keep your guard up, all right? Especially if you go back. Walsingham has every bug on Hardwick known to the Sims, but don't do anything rash."

"I won't, dear." She smiles at him. "I'll be careful."

"Good." Robert returns the smile. "Well darling, what are you going to do now?"

Elizabeth heads towards the children's room. "Well, I think I'll start by talking to Catherine. It seems I owe her an apology."
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THE CLIMAX IS HERE!!!!!!  It only took forever, sheesh! It's a little short, sorry about that. The next chapter will be a bit longer.

So, yeah, Margaret is our villain. Nasty piece of work. Anyway, the conclusion of our murder mystery feels a bit like a Scooby Doo ending, but that's okay in the Sim Universe. Initially I had thought that Bess would be the villain, but I changed my mind about halfway though the plot. Margaret looks more evil, anyway. I'll post a few funny photos I have of her during the screaming match in the outtakes. She just looks evil in some of them.

I'm glad that the drama is essentially over for this generation...I don't know how everybody else can come up with these great, dramatic storylines generation after generation. It wears me out! That's probably why I don't write fiction very well.

The title (as I'm sure most of you are aware) is taken from a song by The Who. The song was used as the theme for the show CSI: Miami. I'm not fond of any of the CSI shows (nothing beats the original Law & Order and NCIS in my book) but I do enjoy the music.

Next chapter will be a birthday bonanza! Philippa, James and Jane will all be aging up. Birthday horns will be blown and much cake will be consumed. In other words, the Tudors will be on an epic sugar high.