Whodunit?
A Brittana Murder mystery. A death shakes the lives of Brittany and Santana. Inspired by Agatha Christie.
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I do not own anything written by Agatha Christie (basic idea comes from Crooked House).
A/n: I honestly don't know how long it has been since I updated last. I've had final papers and exams to worry about, plus my laptop broke for a week and I couldn't write. Also, about Brittany's cat's name. I liked Charity, but that might have been retconned to Lord Tubbington ;( or if you want you can choose to believe that Brittany goes through cats like runners go through shoes and Charity is dead in canon too.
Chapter 10
"Dear Diary,
I don't know why humans choose to personify pages in a book as if it were able to understand the words written inside it. Brittany told me it helps with stress and loneliness. Maybe she's right.
In that case I'll give it a shot. Hello, Diary, my name is Beth Corcoran, and right now, I am trapped. I don't belong here. I am a prisoner. I have to get out.
Let me explain. Two years ago my mother died. She was such a good person. She didn't deserve to get cancer. Such a horrible thing should only happen to bad people; bad people like Aunt Sue. Sue Sylvester doesn't deserve the things life has given her. Now that fate has given ME to her, my life is over.
Aunt Sue is the reason my mother is dead. She paid her loads of money to be the star of the show, but never gave her time off to go to the doctor. She told her to fight through her 'imaginary pain' because doctors were for the weak. How dare she.
I swear that one day I will make her pay, for what she's done."
xxx
"Dear Diary,
I hate everyone in this house. No one understands, not even Brittany. She tries to reach out to me, but she fails. She tells me that she understands! Tells me her sob story about her parents and dead pets, and how she found her precious Santana. You'd think that this Santana was some type of superhero thanks to the amount that Brittany yaps and yaps about her. No one cares!
Everyone else are just drones. Drones serving the queen, Sue Sylvester."
xxx
"Dear Diary,
Sometimes I wish people would just ignore me. That would be a whole lot better than the way they treat me now. They think that just because I am a child that that means I am not capable of abstract thought.
I am young. I am not stupid."
xxx
"Dear Diary,
I want to get out of this house. Let me rephrase that. I NEED to get out of this house. I think I've found the perfect way.
I was on the Internet chatting with some other girls. They were all students at a prestigious boarding school for young girls interested in the Arts. I would like nothing more than to honor my mother's memory by following in her path. I think I would fit in there perfectly.
The only problem is that I am eight years old. I can't make these kinds of decisions for myself. I have to beg Sue. I would rather not do that. If you were more than just ink and paper, I'd ask you to wish me luck…"
xxx
"Dear Diary,
Today, I decided to kill Aunt Sue.
She told me I didn't have the poise or bone structure to enter the performing arts. She refused to let me leave.
With her dead, I'll finally be able to get out. So, I am serious. I will kill her. They really put everything on the Internet nowadays. I found the perfect poison to mix in with Sue's drinks. She'd drink it and never know it was killing her.
With Sue gone, no one will be able to prevent my plans. They'll give custody of me over to the state or maybe even somebody here, it doesn't matter. I'll be the perfect little angel. I'll put in the proper amount of mourning, shed my tears, play the uncertain child, and no one will know. I will be the ultimate manipulator.
Eventually they'll ask me where I'd like to go. I'll bring up my desire to go to the boarding school. They'll all pity the poor little child …"
xxx
"Dear Diary,
It is finished. I have done the crime. She is dead. I am so close to being free.
If any else stands in my way, I will kill them too."
xxx
"Dear Diary,
The famous Santana arrived today. She's asking a lot of questions. But nevertheless, I like Santana. It's a shame she's rather stupid."
xxx
"Dear Diary,
It seems Sue chose to give all her money to precious Brittany. This is an unexpected turn of events. I can still use this to my advantage, but it could take time.
I need to take advantage of the bond Brittany thinks she and I have formed, but she's become to wrapped up in Santana to notice me anymore. It's probably guilt from having been buying her that ring when I was killing Sue.
They need to be separated. Santana will be easy to manipulate. I will send her a note implicating Brittany in the crime. With Santana busy dealing with her anonymous tip. I will work my way back into Brittany's thoughts."
xxx
"Dear Diary,
If my ears are as strong as I think they are, then I believe my plan to separate Brittana has failed. I'm not quite sure of what happened, but they sound like they are really enjoying themselves. Did they forget that other people live in this house?
I need a new plan. If I can't escape with my words, I will escape horizontally. If I can set a trap to make it look like I am a target of the murderer. If I injure myself, there is no way the will make me stay here anymore. I have to work fast, but I need to hide you somewhere, Diary. I can't have them discovering my plans."
xxx
"Dear Diary,
That damn cat! She really made things difficult for me. Not only did my trap spring to early, but now Brittany and Santana are inseparable and engaged!
I need to think things over."
xxx
"Dear Diary,
My trap idea was a good one, but it failed the first time because I was careless and didn't keep a close enough watch. Poison seemed to work for me last time; I don't know why I didn't just try what I already succeeded with.
Second attempt was much more successful. It really is a shame about poor Kurt though."
xxx
That was the final entry in the Diary. Quinn closed the cover on the book and sat in the library in silence. She only wanted to get to know her own daughter better. Reading someone else's diary seemed so juvenile, but temptation got the better of her. Quinn was shaken from her thoughts by Brittany and Santana entering the library. She wasn't paying close enough attention to what they were saying, but then it became obvious Brittany was talking about Beth so that made her want to pay attention.
"About Beth … I've been thinking about what's going to happen to her now that Sue's gone. I know what its like to lose parents, I think that's why Beth and I got along so much. She felt that I could understand her. Not only has Beth lost the only mother she's known, but now she's lost the woman who helped her get through that. So I have decided that, if it really is my decision what happens to her, you should have her. Even if she doesn't know it, you ARE her mother. She's going to need you."
Quinn tried to stay calm. They didn't know. They had no idea what Beth had become. All she wanted to do was tell them, but she could find the right words. She was only able to squeak out, "Brittany, I don't know. It's too late."
"It wasn't a question. She's your daughter. Go be with her."
Quinn stood up from the couch. She knew what she had to do. She needed to hear the truth from her daughter before she could let her be handed over to the police by these two. She turned to Brittany, "I never hated you, you know. I just occasionally got jealous that you her so close to her. I just needed you to know that." She then moved across the room to Santana. She wanted to give Santana some sort of clue to give her closure that she most certainly needed, "I hope you find what you are looking for." She noticed Beth's diary sitting back on the couch and realized that if they read it just as she had, then there would be no need for her to tell them. She figured it was a remnant of her maternal instincts, but she needed to get Beth to be somewhere away from them when they found out.
Brittany called out to her as she was walking away, "Where are you going?"
"I'm taking my daughter for a drive. She could use some ice cream."
…
Quinn sat with her daughter in the moving car trying to think of the right words to say. Without taking her eyes of the road, she spoke out "I know what you did. I know you killed Sue."
Beth's face did not change, did not show any signs of emotion at all, "I'm surprised you of all people figured it out. You didn't strike me as very observant."
"I know more things than you realize, Beth. But what I don't know is how you became this person … how you were able to take someone's life so easily."
"Sue deserved to die. She wouldn't let me leave. She called me fat. She killed my mother."
"I am your mother Beth."
"What?"
"I am your mother. 8 years ago, I didn't want to be a teen mom so I gave you away. I let Shelby make you her daughter. And when I was reading in your diary about all those horrible things you had done, all I could think about was how things could have been different if I hadn't done that."
"So what. You're gonna turn me over to Santana and Brittany? Let them lock me away? I have no regrets… anything to escape that life I was forced to live."
"Beth, I would like nothing more than to take this next exit and drive west. Drive far, far away from here, from our old lives. Find a small town in the middle of the desert, and live as mother and daughter in peace and never look back. I'd watch you grow up, watch you learn all about life, watch you find someone to love you, watch you maybe have a daughter of your own. Then you could sit her down years from now, after I am dead, and you could tell her everything about me and you, and how her life came so close to never happening." Quinn turned and looked her daughter in the eye. "But I am not going to do that." Quinn grabbed the wheel in her hands, and jerking it sideways, she drove the car of the side of the road and let it crash in the river below.
…
Santana and Brittany sat together outside and watched the sun set. Will came up to the pair and said hello. He then began his story, "The police finally found the wreckage of Quinn's car. With the currents being as strong as are, there's no way will be able to search for survivors or remains until they die down, but by then it could end up being dozens of miles."
Santana was the first of the girls to speak up, "I can't believe that this entire time it was her, just a little girl. She is … was eight years old. How did this happen?"
"That's something we may never know."
"Quinn knew." Brittany had spoken up. "I hadn't realized it at the time, but Quinn was reading Beth's diary when the two of us walked into the library. It's probably why …"
"Yeah." Santana concluded after Brittany's words drifted off. "What do you want to do now? You're still in charge of all Sue's fortune you know. We can stay here as long as you want."
"No. We've stayed here long enough. I promised you New York, and I am finally going to fulfill my promise to you. So let's get the hell out of here."
Santana cracked a smile and hugged Brittany as hard as she could. She was happy again.
End of Chapter 10. End of Story.
A/N: So this is the end. Okay, this is AN end, but the end-end. There will be an epilogue to tie up some loose ends. If you have any lingering questions, don't be afraid to ask them, because I'll answer them one way or another when I write that.