Status of Individuals #2
Well, she can have all the top brands for this baby and give her old things back to the community exchange.
10:51 a.m. Kevin wrote:
Ok, ok. Not my place to suggest. Hope no one congratulates the vicar’s wife and then tells her how they know.
10:52 a.m. Sarah-Jane wrote:
Kevin, concentrate on the play. We can discuss everything that needs to be discussed afterward.
Page from a decorative journal belonging to Isabel Beck:
TODAY JUNE 5, 2025, 5:45 P.M.
I’ve put the date on this page because I might need to know in the future when exactly this all happened.
I’ve got so close to Nicky-Rose these last few months.
We have lots in common and she’s like the sister I never had.
But she wants me to do something and I wonder if it’s entirely legal.
That’s why I’m sitting in the toilets at Squires, with the envelope she wants me to give Trina in exchange for a bag.
If there’s something dull in here, I’m going to seal it up again, but if it’s something strange then I’ll play it by ear, as my nan used to say. Here goes.
Things I’m grateful for:
My nan always making me so early for any appointment, I have time to open this envelope, read what’s in it, and seal it up again before Trina arrives.
Squires, for not minding that I’m still in the toilet after ten minutes.
Nicky-Rose having a house to sell so Trina could clear their company debts.
My training as a nurse, which taught me enough about drugs to know these sheets of paper covered in daisies are illegal, and need to go straight back in the envelope.
How I feel right now:
Sweaty
Shaky
Like I’m about to step onstage, but worse
Terrified
Now I have to go out and wait for Trina.
She’ll buy a coffee, then give me a bag.
I’ll give her this envelope and once we’ve finished our drinks, we can go.
I’m to take the bag with me to Fairways and give it to Nicky-Rose.
If Trina wants to know where Nicky-Rose is, I’m to say “out of town for a few days.”
Does that make Nicky-Rose and me partners in crime? Literally.
* * *
Trina looked old and tired compared to the picture Nicky-Rose showed me.
She didn’t buy a coffee, just sat down opposite and asked my name and did I have what she came for.
I asked where in America she was from and after a pause she said “Toronto.” I pushed the envelope across the table.
She clicked open her little bag and showed me what was inside.
I asked if it was real money. She said yes, Barbadian dollars.
As soon as I got hold of the handle, I stood up and left. Even though my iced macchiato with caramel syrup, almond milk, and an extra shot of espresso was only half finished. Sweat was pouring down my neck. I stumbled out and got to the hall in a daze.
Nicky-Rose was waiting outside the church hall, looking so calm, like she was waiting for a bus.
She took the bag and put it in her car. I noticed she was wearing the friendship bracelet I made her.
It’s funny, but for all these months my heart leapt when I saw her, and now it was like I could see she was really only my friend for this reason.
Because if she asked me for help, I’d say yes.
I sat in the green room to calm down. Then, just before Kevin did his speech to the cast, I took my friendship bracelet off.
Message exchange between Lucas Stibson and Georgia Taccuso on June 5, 2025:
6:01 p.m. Lucas wrote:
Did you tear a dose off a daisy blotter?
6:03 p.m. Georgia wrote:
Yeah because I fancy tripping at six months pregnant.
6:04 p.m. Lucas wrote:
Don’t be a shit. Did you?
6:04 p.m. Georgia wrote:
NO!
Message exchange between Lucas and Amelia Stibson on June 5, 2025:
6:05 p.m. Lucas wrote:
Did you tear a dose off a daisy blotter?
6:06 p.m. Amelia wrote:
Only for emergencies. Thought it would help with the pain if things got too much. I can take it backstage or even onstage if I have to.
6:07 p.m. Lucas wrote:
It’s not a painkiller! Even if it was, it’s mixed with fuck knows what IT’S A SHIT BATCH.
6:07 p.m. Lucas wrote:
Tell me you haven’t taken it.
6:08 p.m. Amelia wrote:
No, but it’s in my bag just in case.
6:08 p.m. Lucas wrote:
BIN IT.
6:09 p.m. Amelia wrote:
Why’ve you even got it if it’s shit?
6:10 p.m. Lucas wrote:
Would’ve stashed it already but someone wanted to buy some and didn’t care what it was. The rest is going on ice for a bit.
6:10 p.m. Amelia wrote:
In Fran’s freezer? Are you fucking delulu?
6:11 p.m. Lucas wrote:
In Digworth’s freezer. Perfect place. Mark’s gonna stash it for a cut later. He’s a diamond.
6:12 p.m. Amelia wrote:
FFS can’t do this anymore.
6:13 p.m. Lucas wrote:
I’ll bring you some oxy for the pain. DON’T TAKE THE DAISY. Promise.
6:13 p.m. Amelia wrote:
Bring some oxy FFS.
Recording made by Inspector David Lascelles of Bridgetown Police at 6:25 p.m. on June 5, 2025:
Insp. Lascelles: Fancy meeting you here, Trina? A fellow Bridgetonian!
Ms. Neale: Coincidence.
Insp. Lascelles: Squires coffee must be tip-top.
Ms. Neale: It must.
Insp. Lascelles: Look, I didn’t see anything from my seat over there. Didn’t see you hand a bag to a woman, who gave you an envelope. There’s been intel about a deal happening here today. I don’t care about that.
Ms. Neale: You should consider a change of career.
Insp. Lascelles: It’s Tiffany Ramirez I’m here about. [Silence] She left the Voyager Eclipse on June 4 last year, with Ricardo Sealy, a.k.a. Rooster, to meet you and Ms. Dearing, and was never seen again. You know we’ve got him.
Ms. Neale: Uh-huh.
Insp. Lascelles: Better hope he doesn’t accept a plea bargain, eh?
Ms. Neale: I don’t know what you’re talking about. You need to ask Nicky-Rose Dearing. She…
Insp. Lascelles: She what?
Ms. Neale: I heard… she planted Tiffany’s passport back in her room. I don’t know what happened, how or why she did it, but she was suffering with mental health issues and maybe not thinking straight. It’s her you need to speak to.
Insp. Lascelles: I intend to. In fact, I have a ticket for the play she’s involved with tonight. But while I’m here… what’s in that envelope?
Ms. Neale: I don’t know. The woman who just went out, she left it on the table. It’s hers.
Insp. Lascelles: So you won’t mind if I look inside? [Long period of silence] Sorry, what was that?
Ms. Neale: Go ahead. It’s not mine, so…
Insp. Lascelles: You look nervous, Trina. [Rustling, silence] Daisies, huh? Four sheets of what looks like LSD and a bunch of pages from a playscript. The Hollow.
[Inaudible voice]
Ms. Neale: Sorry, what? LSD? No!
Sgt. Crowe: You’re under arrest for possession of class A drugs. You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say may be taken down and used in evidence.
Ms. Neale: But who are you?
Sgt. Crowe: Lockwood Police. Inspector Lascelles may not care about the drugs, but we do.