When I'm with you

What next?

"Tell me everything you know about this case," Esther said sternly, sitting down wearily on the sofa in her own office.
Charlotte and Georgie, sitting across from her, looked at each other and studied her.
"We don't know much about it," Georgie admitted, "Hence the trick with Allison... No... don't look at me like that, I had to try. You know, I don't want Sidney to be the killer. He's an asshole, and he pisses me off in places, but I'm not ready to put him in jail."
Charlotte looked at her friend reproachfully. Georgie held that gaze with honor.
"What does Allison say?"  Mrs. Babbington asked.
"Nothing," Georgie said irritably – "so far she's been busy with her personal life, as if there's nothing else to do."
"Hey, cool it, you almost ruined her relationship with Dan " Charlotte interjected, "Have you ever thought about the consequences?"
"Nonsense. They had a fight, then made up. It's such a small thing, " said Miss Lamb.
"You can't be so selfish, Georgiana. The world doesn't revolve around you!"  Charlotte snapped.
"Oh, by the way, i'm taking care of your fiance," Georgie retorted, " even though he's not a poor lamb himself, and neither is Edward. They both had motives, and either of them could have killed the nasty bitch."
Esther turned pale and looked down at her hands.
"Edward Denham?" surprised Charlotte, "Did Mr Denham did not leave immediately after the party? And what was the connection between him and Eliza?"
Georgie thought, that she had clearly said too much and now she would have to explain a lot.
"How long have you known?"  Esther asked, her voice sinking.
"About the same time as you," Georgie said reluctantly.
"How ? No... Don't tell me, did you listen to those messages on the answering machine?", she asked.
Miss lamb nodded in response.
"Does Crowe know, too?" Esther asked again.
"Yes. It was he who persuaded me not to divulge these circumstances" Georgiana said," at least not yet"
"Thank God someone in this situation still has the ability to think clearly," Esther said, rubbing her temples wearily.
"Can someone explain to me what's going on here?"Charlotte asked, "I don't understand anything anymore. What did Edward have to do with it, and what did Georgie and Crowe find out about it?"
Esther sighed heavily and looked at her friend.
"I didn't want to tell you ... not yet...." she replied.
"She found out that the fire that happened in Sanditon five years ago was the work of Edward and Campion," Georgie interrupted impatiently, " and it wasn't just bad wiring, they set the office on fire on purpose …"
Esther sighed heavily, and went on to describe in detail what had happened, her conversation with Edward, and all that had followed.
Charlotte stared at her without saying a word. For a moment she just sat there, looking from Esther to Georgie, trying hard to collect all her thoughts.
"This simply can not be", Charlotte shook her head, "after all, there was an investigation, evidence …"
"Have you forgotten what you can do for money?"  Georgie asked, grinning, "especially if it was a lot of money…" "You think she bribed someone in the fire department?"  Esther asked, as if roused from her own reverie.
"Of course," Georgiana said, " otherwise why is the main report talking about a short circuit and a faulty outlet?"
"When did you study the report?"  Esther asked.
"Crowe has his own connections," Georgie said, not going into details.
"It's only been two days since you nearly killed each other, and now you're not going to be torn apart by a pair of pincers.", Esther said.
"He and I can't stand each other.", Georgie answered "It's all for the sake of the common cause. .."
"Ok ... ", Esther drawled significantly, "I'll pretend that I believed...while...." Charlotte stared at them both with wide eyes. What she had just heard had shocked her as much as Campion's death. She couldn't believe that this woman, who had so coldly destroyed her life and the lives of so many others in Sanditon, had then so coldly offered to help Sidney, lied to Georgie, and made sure the truth never came out. Charlotte felt a suffocating wave of contempt. For the first time, she thought that Eliza really deserved this ending.
"Hey, what if it's really Edward?"Georgie asked, "did you decide to meet her and kill her? Normal version..."
"Rather he himself was much more chance of dying from any "unfortunate" event of a series of "went for a walk and accidentally fell on an axe", I do not think that Eliza was too easy on him"  Esther shook her head, "and then I checked, he moved out from "Crown" somewhere around six in the evening."
"This does not mean that he could not ..." -  Georgie began.
"The car he hired took Edward all the way to London and returned well after midnight," Esther interrupted.
"Then who could it be? What if Sidney?", Georgiana asked
"It wasn't Sidney," Charlotte said at last, "He couldn't get into the cottage. Campion didn't answer him. She may have already been unconscious."
"Is that why he was so angry? Even tried to break down the door! That's where the noise came from!" Georgie exclaimed.
" Yes... Wait! how do you know?"  Charlotte asked.
"I was there. I saw Sidney leave, and I saw you come in. Then I ran away." Miss Lamb said
" Oh, my God!", said Esther, getting up from the couch and slowly wave her arms" Why?... What you wanted to achiev? You wanted to talk to? With whom? With Eliza? And this is after you pulled out her last hair?"
"I had to try," Georgie said – " it hurt to look at those two. That bitch was bothering them."
"My God, it feels like I'm in a branch of a mental hospital," Esther said, " and the longer I go on, the more I look like both of you."
"Welcome", quipped George, "from therapy i can offer playing the piano, according to the "Eliza Graves" this thing perfectly eliminates all diseases.
"Yes, go you", laughed Esther, throwing a small sofa cushion at her friend, "I'll manage somehow."
Georgie's outburst eased the situation a little, but it didn't solve the main problem. They never found out who killed Eliza Campion.
"If it's not Sidney or Edward," Charlotte concluded, " then who is it?  Do the police know anything? by the way, why did our "beloved" Andy come to denham place?"
"That's right, I almost forgot," said Mrs. Babington, " on the night of her death, Eliza met a certain gentleman in the hotel restaurant."
"What gentleman?"  charlotte asked .
"Beecroft," Esther said.
Georgie turned pale and slowly sank down on the sofa. Esther sat down beside her.
"What did they do together?", Charlotte asked.
"I have no idea", Esther mused aloud, " judging by the video, they were talking peacefully. We'll probably never know what they were talking about."
"Is he still at the hotel?", Charlotte asked – " maybe we can meet him?"
"With beecroft? Are you crazy? - Georgie asked," then go straight to the brothel, or give him your kidney, i'm sure he can sell it very profitably."
Charlotte looked at Miss lamb incredulously.
"What?" It's Beecroft! You have you forgotten what he did to me? ", she asked.
"No," said Miss Heywood.
"Then don't even think about going to him," Georgiana said, " he looks like a very nice and good guy, but believe me, he has very long and very dirty hands... no wonder he got along with Campion."
There was a deathly silence in the room. the young women froze for a moment, feverishly considering what to do next.
"There is someone else," Esther finally broke the silence  " and it concerns you, Georgiana."
Georgie frowned and looked at her friend.
"When i was watching that video, i saw another familiar face," Esther said, " he wasn't staying in hotel, but he was in the restaurant at the same time as Beecroft."
"Who's that? Please don't tell me it's Howard," Georgie said, her heart almost bursting out of her chest, "Please, please"
Esther shook her head, knowing that she had startled Miss Lamb.
"No, calm down, it wasn't Howard", she hastened to say, "I saw Otis!"
"What the hell is he doing in Sanditon?", Georgie asked.
Esther in response just shrugged.
"Maybe you should call him and find out," she suggested.
"I don't want to," Georgie said "I'm not sure I'm ready to talk to him..."
"Come on, even Allison agreed to help us", Charlotte intervened, "are you really going to back down? What are you afraid of? You don't have a jealous boyfriend who can cause a world-wide scandal, do you?"
"No, of course not," Georgie hastened to reply, dreading the image of Crowe making sarcastic jokes about her., "I'll think about it..."
The phone rang. Charlotte pulled the phone out of her pocket and looked at the screen.
"It's Sidney " she said, "I completely forgot about the meeting with Stringer. We need to settle the last moments of the assembly."
"Do you want to leave now?", Miss Lamb asked "We haven't decided what to do next."..
"Georgie, stop it," Esther interrupted – " let her go, we still need time to think things through."
Miss Lamb waved an indifferent hand at Charlotte, who smiled and left the office.
Esther turned and looked at Georgiana.
"Now, you're going to tell me what's going on between you and Francis ..." she said in a mysterious voice.…
Georgiana made a grimace of displeasure, trying to avoid a direct answer, but Esther's gaze was unyielding.
Georgie sighed heavily and began to tell the story from the beginning.