Well, you know what! :insane: It was Mr. Black in the Ballroom with the wrench!
So what do ya got to say for yourself, Mr. Black?
Mr. Black: About time! :roll: Now read my lengthy confession, beyotches!
By all appearances I have good life. A good job. Good employer. Good friends. And it’s true. My past few years at Arlington Grange have been some of my happiest. But my life hasn’t always been so good.
Yeah, I knew Jimmy Fullerton. Jimmy Fullerton was a rotten, underhanded, lying, manipulative cheat. I told the others that before coming to Arlington I had lived in Oregon. But the truth of the matter is that before I came out here I was Jimmy’s driver out in LA. He wasn’t such a bad boss, but he lived a fast life. And he expected everyone around him to do the same. I… made some bad choices, which inevitably led to a drug problem. A drug problem fueled by that man! And in the end he fired me, when it was him who got me started and him who kept me supplied with drugs!
“Shoulda known that a good thing never lasts, kid.” He said that to me, right before he let me go. I lost my job, my apartment, my girlfriend. All of it. I had nothing. But despite having nothing, I managed to pull myself together and get myself clean. After that I wanted to get as far from LA as I could.
Somehow, I found my way to Arlington. Much more than that though, I found the chance to start again. Far as I was concerned, my old life was dead and buried. Then one day here comes Jimmy with a shovel.
It started the week before, driving Mrs. Peacock out of town. She was excited. She said no one knew yet, but that a very important man named James Fullerton was coming to the grange. My heart instantly started going a mile a minute. Could it be him? Could it be the same person? I was afraid it was. And a part of me didn’t
want to know. So the day before he was supposed to show up, I asked if I could have the day off. Mrs. Peacock agreed, but only after taking her on a quick errand into the village.
I turned up late at the manor, hoping to miss him. But he was still there, and sure enough Mrs. White cemented my worst fears. It was Jimmy. When they all came out of the Lounge I was sure I was done. Jimmy pretended not to know me, though. Not too sure why, but he always liked to play games with people. At first I hoped he hadn’t recognized me, but then he called me Blackie. That’s what he always called me.
I like working for Mrs. Peacock. She’s treated me better than most people I’ve known. I’m very loyal to her. And the second I saw Jimmy I knew trouble was coming her way. Jimmy musta done it hundreds of times. He promised people the moon. Lured them and their money in with talk of big budget movies and big Hollywood stars. But in the end he always delivered poor scripts, small budgets and a washed up scream queen straight from the 80s. Oh he was a legitimate producer, all right. He just produced piles crap. And those who invested with him lost their shirts, while he walked away having made a tidy sum.
Crazy thing is it’s legal. And the things that weren’t he was a master at covering up.
I couldn’t let him do that to Mrs. Peacock. I had to get him alone and try to convince him to lay off. But how? It didn’t start coming together until Mrs. White asked me to put the rat poison over by the sink. Miss Scarlett’s purse lay there, open. I saw the phone inside and grabbed it, on impulse, while Mrs. White’s back was turned. I didn’t know it was Colonel Mustard’s and it wasn’t my intention to get him or Miss Scarlett in trouble. But like said, it was on impulse and I had to work fast.
Earlier in the hall I saw that Jimmy still had the same phone from when I worked for him. And I guessed that he still had the same number too. Outside I called Jimmy and told ‘im to meet me in the ballroom. I chose the ballroom cause it’s at the back of the manor and wasn’t being used at the time. I told him where to go and to not mention he was meeting me. Moving around the side of the house I heard a crash and saw Mrs. White coming out of the tool shed. Looking inside, the wrench was on the floor. So I picked it up and shoved it in my back pocket. All I wanted to do was talk to Jimmy, I swear, but he wasn’t a guy who was easily bargained with. … So I guess you could say I needed a bargaining tool.
Jimmy let me in through the French doors. He greeted me like I was an old friend, if you can believe it. I asked him to please pack up his things and to leave Arlington. To leave Mrs. Peacock alone and to not look back. “Not in a million years.” He said. I threatened to expose him for the phony he was, but he said if I did he’d tell everyone about my past. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let Mrs. Peacock and everyone know that I had lied. But what could I do? Jimmy had me. He just smiled that sickening smile of his and said, “Shoulda known that a good thing never lasts, kid.”
“No it doesn’t.” I replied, just before removing the wrench from my back pocket.
It’s funny. I did everything to keep Jimmy from ruining my new life. But when it’s all said and done, he ended up doing it anyway.
