Running a Tab

Previously: The team starts to get some answers from Tally Briggs.

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5:21 PM - Monday, November 10, 2014

Holy Heart School, Flood Mansion, Pacific Heights, San Francisco

Jeannie’s remark suspended over the table like an aroma. Tally’s face contorted into an ugly smirk, her eyes beginning to well. Her head bounced side to side as though to shake off what she’d heard.

“Charlie was dating that girl?” Mrs. Briggs’ surprise made Tally shake even more.

“They weren’t dating, they were just fucking.” Tally spat out angrily.

“How do you know that?” Jeannie countered steadily. Tally shook her head again, a small tear finally spilling over. “Actually, you don’t need to answer that Tally, we know that you spied on Charlie —” Tally stared into the mid-distance saying nothing.

“You spied on him —?” Mrs. Briggs glared at her daughter in disbelief.

“When Officer Mayfield and I visited you in your room the other day, I noticed the steep angle of your telescope.” Jeannie tapped on her iPad to reveal the photo she’d taken in Tally’s room. “I originally took this photo in order to verify the dress you wore on Halloween, but lucky for us, it caught the way the telescope was positioned.” She flipped the screen to show Tally and her mother, but Tally didn’t even glance at it. “If you remember, I asked if I could take a look and you told me I could “do whatever I want” — do you remember that?” Tally glanced up at her with wet eyes. “When I asked if you were into astronomy you said you used the telescope to “spy on the neighbors like every normal person.” I didn’t need to ask you who you were spying on, Tally, because when I looked through the telescope I could see it was pointed right at Charlie Dagonet’s bedroom windows.” Linda Briggs looked at her daughter, mouth agape.

Paco noticed how Tally’s otherwise perfect cheek was now blotchy with shades of pink. The wet track of a sticky tear had left an iridescent stripe.

“When we visited Charlie on Thursday he admitted that he rarely closes his blinds, pretty much only at night. He also admitted that he and Alexa would meet there after school most days and frequently had sex.”

“Like I said…they were fucking.” Tally growled.

“It was more than that, Tally.” Jeannie leveled the girl a long look. “Charlie invited Alexa to join his family ski trip in the alps in December.” Tally’s eyes went from suspicious to wounded with a fresh well of tears. “Charlie told us that he was in love with her.” Now her eyes went flat.

“We heard from a few people that you’ve had a crush on Charlie for quite a long time. Is that true?” Tally gulped but said nothing. “I think it is true. Actually, let me tell you what I think: I think you’ve not only had a crush on Charlie, but maybe some kind of expectation about him, given that he’s due to be your Cotillion escort. You maybe built that up a bit in your mind? And maybe it would be inconvenient if your escort had a serious girlfriend?” Jeannie paused to let that settle in. “It is a romantic idea, isn’t it? And that’s fine, we all have our romantic ideals and crushes on people. I had a crush on my fiancé for years before he ever noticed me, so I know how it feels.”

“You think you’re anything like me?” Tally rasped out.

“No, not at all. I wouldn’t presume that. But I do know how consuming crushes can be, and that they make us emotional and maybe even a little crazy. So, here’s what I think. Last summer you hear that Charlie Dagonet is coming back to San Francisco to finish out his senior year and you get excited. Maybe it was a little touch-and-go about him being your escort when he was still at Aiglon, but now he’ll be here and he won’t be able to get out of it. Right? You loved that he had the…shall we say panache, of a Swiss boarding school. He may have gone away a drunk, but he came back clean, sober, more talented, better looking…” Jeannie tilted her head at Tally with a small smile. “You make sure that he’s invited to Tripp’s July 4^th party at Tahoe, but Charlie gravitates to Carolina that weekend, not you. Carolina, who he’d dated before, which is why you and Carolina aren’t as close as you used to be when you were younger. Yes, we heard about that too.” Tally’s chin shifted slightly at this. “But you keep it cool because you have a lot to do that weekend. You and Tripp had cooked up a set-up to resolve the “virgin bet” between Seb and Dash over Alexa. Interesting, since you were hooking up with Dash,” Tally glanced at her mother slightly before glaring at Jeannie. “My question about that is, did you hook up with Dash before or after he’d been a part of the threesome with Jen and Seb?” Tally went bright red at this.

“Talbot — I — wh-what is she talking about?” Mrs. Briggs whispered, turning toward her daughter.

“You don’t have to answer that Tally,” Jeannie continued, “we know it isn’t really the main motive here. But, after July 4^th, you don’t really connect with Charlie. He goes off to school with Carolina and Alexa, and works hard at maintaining his sobriety.” Jeannie paused, staring at Tally’s flushed face. “You knew he was sober. I’m guessing you also knew he was on Antabuse to help maintain his sobriety, correct?” Tally stared at Jeannie, cheeks twitching. “Tally? Did you know that Charlie took Antabuse?” Silence. “Okay, well, it took me a minute, but I’m pretty sure you did know Charlie was on Antabuse because it’s the only way it makes sense.”

“What?” Tally croaked softly.

“The Diet Coke you poured for Charlie when he came back to Tripp’s house on Friday night. You spiked it with vodka — something that would be disguised by the flavor of the Coke. You knew it would make him sick and pretty quickly because that’s what Antabuse does. You knew he’d get sick — if you wanted to hook up with him, you would have waited around, but you didn’t. You left Tripp’s house and left Charlie to fend for himself.”

“Why would I do that to him?”

“Because, like Paco said, you wanted him out of the way.” Jeannie licked her lips slightly. “Let’s back up a second and I’ll explain.” Jeannie paused again to consider what to say. “You buy your drugs from Tripp Hartman, correct? Or, shall we say you’re running a tab? We’ve heard you owe him quite a bit of money, is that true?”

Tally swallowed before running her tongue over her teeth.

“Talbot — is that true?” Her mother commanded.

“Yes.”

“How much money?”

“I don’t know, about $5000.” Tally whispered.

“Tally—” Mrs. Briggs whispered.

“For which drugs?”

“Cocaine and Adderall.”

“When’s the last time you gave Tripp any money?”

“I don’t know, maybe summer.”

“That’s quite a long time. Why does he keep supplying you?”

“He knows I’ll pay him eventually.” Tally glanced at her mother, whose head was bowed.

“That, or he knows you’ll do favors for him when he asks?” This came from Paco. Tally stared at him, her chin wobbling. “What kind of favors have you done for Tripp lately?”

“Why don’t I give you some hints?” Jeannie began again. “You knew Tripp was out to get Alexa because of what happened in Tahoe; she had looked into filing an honor code violation against him, Dash, and Seb, and Tripp knew she was dangerous. Maybe that was reason enough for Tripp to enlist you in pranking her on Halloween, but I think you had your own reasons.” Tally rolled her eyes again, dabbing her few tears with her wrist. Her mother sighed heavily and dug into her LV tote to produce a small packet of tissue, dropping it on the table in front of Tally.

Jeannie watched this little play-acting, trying to suppress her mouth from twitching up. Glancing at Paco, she saw him raise his eyebrows in response, prompting her onward.

“Tripp wanted to teach Alexa a lesson, and you hated Alexa because of her involvement with Charlie. From what you could see through Charlie’s window, you probably thought it was just sex, right? He’d have his fun and then he’d realize you were the girl of his dreams?” Tally licked her lips and closed her eyes for a second. “It made you jealous, but you didn’t think it was serious, obviously. But then you saw the ring.” Tally’s eyes snapped to Jeannie.

“What ring?” Linda Briggs asked.

“Charlie’s signet ring. He’d given it to Alexa just last week. You saw it, you recognized it, you knew it was more than just sex. I’m guessing you saw it when Alexa was helping you turn your bracelet into a headband for your costume, correct?”

Tally looked at Jeannie suspiciously. “Yes. But that doesn’t mean —”

“So, you were jealous before, but now you knew Charlie was serious about Alexa, which made you angry. So both you and Tripp had reasons to prank Alexa, and that was before Halloween. Tripp told you about the wolf mask idea, and you thought you’d order your own to blend in — make yourself less conspicuous in the pranking. You borrowed Carolina’s trench coat and figured out the round-about way to get to the Redwood Grove. You also enlisted Jen Tyson with more of Tripp’s drugs to help lure Alexa. You saw Charlie’s ring on Alexa’s hand, which added your own fuel to Tripp’s fire. Then, on Halloween night, Tripp had another reason for you two to go after her. She had a photo of Jim Hartman threatening Ryan Dominguez, and Tripp knew this would be trouble for both him and his father.” Jeannie paused again. “Did Tripp mention that to you on Halloween?”

“Yes.” Tally whispered.

“And you assured him that you’d handle Alexa somehow, correct?”

“Sort of.”

“No, you did, because he gave you a fresh bag of cocaine to sweeten the deal.” Tally blinked and pursed her lips.

“And that’s why you wanted Charlie out of the way.” Paco added. “You didn’t want Alexa to have any friends around when you did your wolf routine. You made sure Charlie got sick, you knew Carolina would get drunk, you knew Jen would give some of the dosed Tito’s to Seb, so Alexa was effectively alone when Jen led her away on that dark trail.”

“You can’t prove that.” Tally sassed him.

“Well, back to our theory: we found strands of the beads and sequins from your dress both on the Cherry Street stairs, at the base of the stairs, and on the connector trail. That’s the three black dots here.” Paco revealed a new map. “You gave us the bag of spare beads, and they’re an exact match.” Paco let this land with Tally. “I think you watch a freaked out Alexa take off running. I think you pursued her and saw her hit the fence post and stagger away. And then, I think you went up the hill and as a final act, picked up Seb’s jacket that Alexa had lost in the dirt somewhere along the way, and dropped it into the garbage can. Then, you went back to Inspiration Point, found Carolina, and made sure to take a selfie.”

Another large tear rolled silently down Tally’s cheek.