The Swan Queen | Sherlock

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

 Swan Lake was returning in less than a week. This was to be our last musical-themed concert. We all started with a group number, then midway through I performed Defying Gravity with a pretty girl called Sophie who played Glinda. That took us to an interval where I found a second threatening note on my mirror.

One swan took a tumble, another was framed.

One was a killer, and one plays the game.

But which one are you, Artemis?

One spiked the drink, another made the switch.

Someone planted evidence, and one is a cold bitch.

Time is running out to save your friend.

If you don't act fast it could be the end.

Embrace the black swan, do something daring.

Or end up like Clara.

Dead and uncaring.

M

I was trembling, my heart racing. I felt fear like I never had before. I read and reread the note several times, deducing as much as possible through my teary eyes. I had to sit down before my knees buckled, my hands shaking as I rested them on the table.

'One swan took a tumble.' That had to be Clara. 'Another was framed.' Me? Or perhaps Amanda. 'One was a killer.' Carrie. 'One plays the game.' Was that me? I shuddered. 'One spiked the drink.' Carrie. It had to be, she had confessed to putting the sleeping pills in the blue-capped water bottle she thought was Amanda's. But 'another made the switch,' that sounds like someone else was responsible for Clara drinking the drug-infused liquid. Had someone seen what Carrie had done, and made the switch? Seizing the opportunity to hurt the lead performer...

'Someone planted evidence.' That had to be me. 'One is a cold bitch,' could refer to anyone of us. My head was pounding. I was terrified.

'Time is running out to save your friend. If you don't act fast it could be the end.' The end of what? Someone's life. Who was my friend? Amanda? Carrie? Had she been wrongly accused? Had she admitted to something out of fear? 'Embrace the black swan, do something daring. Or end up like Clara...'

"Dead and uncaring." A shiver ran down my spine as I said it out loud. My eyes trained on the initial at the end. M. Who was M?

This was a joke, a bad joke. It had to be. Someone was messing with me. I crumpled up the note and tossed it into my bag alongside the other one, before changing into a white gown and touching up my makeup. I had a couple of minutes before it was time for my solo of Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again, from Phantom of the Opera.

I was still shaking as I left my dressing room and headed for the wings. Amanda saw me, flashed me a thumbs up and a grin. I couldn't help but look at her in a different light. What if she was the cold bitch? Or what if she had made the switch after witnessing Carrie spike her bottle? Whoever made the switch was just as cold-hearted as Carrie for doing it. They switched the bottles instead of alerting everyone to the truth. A life could have been saved. Unless they saw the opportunity to take out the competition and blame Carrie for everything.

The theatre erupted with applause as a group performing Master of the House from Les Mis took a bow. I smiled at them as they passed me. Sophie squeezed my shoulder on her way passed. "Good luck," she said.