Lament for Amy

The meal arrived and they ate in silence, apart from a few comments about the quality of the food and its presentation.

"Where were we when we were so pleasantly interrupted? Oh, yes – the info on Amanda's death. I have to back up once more. You've read the Amy story – and I'll get to how the manuscript found its way into my hands in a moment."

"Well the Amy story was one-hundred and eighty degrees off in one important regard. It was a fantasy. Amanda's brother did not die rich. He died owing a huge amount of money through his on-line gambling habit. It was not only that. His father had tried to bail him out. He had mortgaged himself up to the yin-yang to keep his son afloat. I knew nothing about this. And if involving the father in his debts was bad enough Thomas had somehow persuaded or tricked Amanda to act as a guarantor for him."

Shelley paused to take some more wine, and order another bottle. Lianne was trying to take in what she had just ben told.

"When Amanda was feeling better she knew she needed a lawyer. That's when she came to me. The Debt Collecting Agency were being absolutely obnoxious and downright threatening to Amanda. The lawyer brought a stop and desist order to court, when their efforts to mediate went nowhere. This is where the police come in: they had so many complaints they were watching these collection goons and there was also something going on with way the on line gambling was conducted that may have been illegal. Amanda's name popped up in one of the Police's computers when she died somewhat suspiciously. Hence an autopsy was required, which, in turn, delayed the funeral."

"Now it turns out that Amanda died of a brain aneurysm. Nothing suspicious there. But the fact Amanda was only wearing a bright blue kimono and there was sexy underwear, along with her outer clothes on the bed in the master bedroom gave good cause for suspicion that something else was going on."

"You can add to that the weird situation of a taxi pulling up with an attractive woman in it, that turned around when all the ambulance commotion was going on. The taxi driver was traced and found to have come and gone back to the station. CTV trace the woman to a city train but she was lost from there."

"The police questioned Kyle as to why he was at that house. He said Miss Smith had invited him over to the house to see their fine art collection. I gather the homeowners really do have a good art collection. Kyle steadfastly stuck to his story in three long interviews. It was plausible, if not the whole story. Amy's last entry suggests the obvious."

"If you want even more color, there were rumors around that Amanda was seen regularly with four young men who match the description of our Four Musketeers. I know once when I visited a car took off from her driveway just before I arrived with four passengers. I did not see their faces. Amanda met me at the door dressed in just a robe with an inane grin on her face and smelling of something that may have been sex."

"Really?"

"Yes. Really. She wouldn't let me in the door."

"So the part of Amy's story at the end may have truth to it? The money bit is horrendous, though. Poor – and I guess that is quite literal – Amanda. The prospect of being reduced to penury in your forties when you have no one else is so horrible. She really did die from the aneurysm?"

"Yes that was how she died. The say it was so massive she must have gone in seconds."

They sat in silence for a full minute. Shelly had tears running down her cheeks, and Lianne's eyes misted over. They were both debating in their own thoughts as to whether Amanda's death was a blessing.

"So how did you get the story?'

"Oh, that. In view of Amanda's death Jim's firm decided not to proceed with the case against the debt collectors and the court proceedings gave the collection agency full leave to send the Bailiff's in to seize and clear out Amanda's house. I had a key and went in the day before they were due to arrive. This was all going at a breakneck speed. I found all sorts of art supplies that I knew the school could use, and an extensive art library."

"I grabbed all that I could carry. Its marginal as to whether I was stealing or not, but could not care less. I brought it home and looked through it. The story was in one of Amanda's sketchbooks along with quite a number of portraits of young men and male life studies, including detailed studies of penises both flaccid and erect."

"The writing was episodic, written in different inks and sometimes pencil, on different pages written over time. There were no dates. I transcribed it all, basically unedited, into one continuous story. That's what I sent to you. I can show you the book sometime."

"If you look at the story carefully you can see, for example, that she does not go into the Trust in much detail, because what did she know about trusts for goodness sakes. Or there was the wooly bit about the tract of land. One could see the fantasy of Art Centre on the land, overseas art expeditions and art purchasing binges in the future horizons of Amanda's mind."

Shelly tears started flowing again. She started some deep sobs and her body wracked with the force of the emotional turmoil.

"She never did recover from the deaths of her brother and father. I hope those four lads are not damaged if they had a relationship with her. Pour souls. Poor Amanda"

The sobbing lasted for a full five minutes. When she settled down again Shelly leant forward and whispered such that Lianne had to lean forward to hear what she said, her voice breaking, "There is one more thing. Mandy was pregnant."