#7 Superstar
'All I'm saying is, it might not be that simple an explanation.'
'And all I'm saying, Boyd, is that it is.'
'Why?'
'Why not? There were no signs of a struggle, and not enough water splashed over the sides for the TV to have fallen further than a few inches. He just did something incredibly stupid, and he paid for it.'
'But that's my problem. He wasn't stupid.'
'He was in a boyband.'
'Could you be stereotyping him anymore, Frankie? Yes he was in a boy band. He also had a first from a highly reputable university'
'In MUSIC; that does not a genius make.'
'Frankie! I never had you pegged as such a snob.'
'I'm not a snob, Boyd, I just think you are crediting him with a lot more intelligence than he deserves. He kept a television on a - frankly unsteady - stool beside his bath. He wasn't Nobel prize winning material.'
'But he would have needed good grades to get on the course in the first place – He must have had at least enough common sense to know not to put the television that close. And you're forgetting that everyone we spoke too: friends, family, colleagues, they all said they couldn't believe he'd do something so…'
'Stupid?'
'Stupid. And he was a political activist as well. He used his status…'
'…As an overpaid, under-talented teen idol?'
'…as a CELEBRITY to draw attention to the suffering of farmers post foot and mouth.'
'He was a poor farmer's son come good. Do the words 'PR stunt' mean anything to you? He could just have easily been a figurehead, puppeted by his dad who had the brains.'
'Yes he could, but surely it's something to consider okay?'
'Not really. So since when did you become such a big fan of boybands anyway?'
'I'm not…Frankie, this isn't about who he was…'
'…I know…'
'It's about what he may have been.'
'And that is…?'
'Murdered.'
'This is like banging my head against a brick wall.'
'Why are you so against the idea of this being murder?'
'Because that's my job: to establish the facts based on the evidence. You're just plucking at straws because…'
'So you think I'm being biased: don't you think you're being more than a little prejudiced yourself?'
'Maybe I am, but with good reason.'
'There's never a good reason for being narrow-minded Frankie.'
'No you're right, I'm sorry.'
'No, you're not.'
'What?'
'You're not sorry!'
'Okay, so I'm not because I think I'm right. But let's just pretend shall we? For the sake of my sanity; I don't think I can handle anymore of this conversation.'
'Frankie, are you undermining me?'
'WHAT?'
'I'm your direct superior and if you're undermining my authority…'
'…undermining your what? God, Boyd!'
'…then that's a problem.'
'Are you calling me unprofessional? Because if you are, then that is a problem'
'Oh…for…God's, we need to sort this out!'
'Sort what out…how?'
'I'm sorry if I've offended you.'
'Excuse me? Have I fallen into some parallel universe where you actually admit when you're wrong?'
'Oh, so funny. Now it's your turn.'
'My turn to what? Apologise for following the evidence, which, incidentally, iswhat I'm paid for?'
'That's not…Frankie that isn't what I was apologising for…'
'Then what…? Oh right.'
'So…?'
'You think I should apologise for that? You kissed me first Boyd, remember?'
'That was a mistake.'
'Understatement.'
'Will you please take this seriously? We can't carry on the way we have been, it's beginning to affect our work!'
'So you want me to make an apology I don't really feel, just so you can move past this? Then fine; I am sorry Boyd for ever even looking at you in…'
'Okay that's enough. Just…let's just get back to this corpse in the bath tub.'
'What we're sorted now?'
'Yes, yes whatever. I think we should just leave it.'
'So we agree this was an accidental death?'
'FRANKIE!'
