Her Thirties Part 93 The Truth About Marilyn's Past
Just before seven that night, when her bedside lamp was on, Marilyn turned to me and said; “I think I should tell you about Catherine now.”
After spending hours talking about her and Joey, it was as if she were sliding another card into a Thirties stereoscope.
“Mother told me all about the family secrets just before she died.”
Up until this point, I was beginning to tire, but now, my ears perked up.
“Are you sure you want to tell me?”
She nodded. “You’ve got a right to know and I have to tell somebody—try to make sense out of what happened.”
“Okay,” I said, pulling my chair up beside her, as if I were Father Confessor.
“I think our family’s troubles all began with my grandfather, Jack. He was always involved in illicit schemes and when he got mixed up in Marilyn’s death, everything went downhill from there.”
“So, if I understand correctly,” I said, “Jack Forrester was a gangster from the UK who tried to muscle into the Palace Pier project back in the Thirties. Somewhere along the line, Marilyn Birnam, who was singing at one of the dancehalls, must have seen something she shouldn’t and was killed for it”
“That’s right. Jack didn’t have anything to do with the murder but knew who committed it and refused to squeal to the cops. He got a share of the loot, but it bothered him—so much so, he finally told my grandmother, Eileen. Her first reaction was to leave him, but he pleaded with her—swore he was through with the mob and wanted to go straight. He actually did, managing to stay out of trouble the rest of his life.”
“So, your grandfather, Jack, died in the mid 90’s?”
“Yes—Eileen, his wife, predeceased him, dying in 1983.”
“So, sometime during the early 90’s Jack wrote a will dividing his property between his two children—Audrey and Charlie. Is that right?”
“Right. Charlie was to inherit the business, and Mother was to receive fifty percent of the shares. But there was one further wrinkle—Jack’s share of the loot—he never touched it and didn’t know what to do with it. He confessed everything to Audrey and Charlie and asked them what to do with the cash—it was about forty thousand dollars.”
I was fascinated. “What did they decide?”
“Mother refused to have anything to do with the money, but Charlie needed to pay off some debts. He thought Mother was being ridiculous seeing as so much time had passed. Anyway he took the money and when Grandfather died, took over the company. Mother left her shares to gather value and they ended up being worth close to half a million.”
I whistled softly. “That’s a lot of money. I can see why was upset.”
Suddenly, it dawned on me—Charlie’s motive for wanting to kill Marilyn.
It wasn’t just because he thought she witnessed the crime—it was also plain and simple greed. With Marilyn dead, all of the shares of the company would revert to him.
Audrey was right about Charlie’s greed—in that respect, he was like his father and the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
But he was also far worse than his father. Jack never murdered anyone. After Marilyn’s death, he quit his life of crime.
Money only seemed to make Charlie worse and drive him to greater crimes.
“When I get out of here,” Marilyn said, “I want to do something to remember my mother. I want to honor her memory, Scott.”
“I’ll help you, Love. But for now, you need to rest and recover. I’ll come back and see you this afternoon.”
“You’re always there for me, Joey—I can always count on you.”
I kissed her gently on the lips—and wanted to go on kissing her. I had to force myself to detach—but she clung to me with the same intensity.
“We’re made for each other,” she smiled.
I wasn’t sure if she meant Joey or me. A pang of jealousy knifed through me, but I held in the pain, even managing an encouraging smile as I left.
Jealous of one's own self. I tell you Scott needs time on the couch. It is time we meet this Charlie:) Nice write, John:)
ha ha, I think the closest I can get to explaining Scott is if someone's image of you is what you hope to be - you know you're not that person, but that's how the other person sees you - you covet that kind of praise but know you don't deserve it
But doesn't he really ... I mean his insecurities aside. He's a bit naive but he is definitely one of the good guys:)
This makes sense, Charlie needs to have Catherine (the new Marilyn) out of the way so that he can have all of Catherine's mothers share of the company. Okay. Have you thought about perhaps the original "Marilyn" isn't dead because her soul isn't settled because she was murdered? Charlie knew the money came from the Marilyn murder right? Interesting!
that makes a lot of sense -Marilyn's soul was not at rest and yes, Charlie knew the money came from the Marilyn murder - Good points
your writing language made me feel like I was reading "a fraction of the whole". Flowy and clever. I do not know if you love the Steve Toltz. If you do not like it, please do not perceive it as rude. I read the Turkish translation of this book :)
I like your writing. congratulations
thank you! I appreciate the compliment :)
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Thanks for the story @johnjgeddes
thanks
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