Quinn and The Quasars: Chapter Two

An Adhara Space Station Serialised Stories
Start from the beginning here: Part One

Indigo, Ran, Kailani and Mr Lee stepped out of the self-drive car in the courtyard of the Pearl Palace, Quinn’s family residence on Adhara. They had avoided taking any of their official vehicles so as not to draw the attention of the masses of fans and press who were still swirling around the Royal Duatian hall waiting to catch a glimpse of them, but that didn’t stop them from being caught on camera entering the gates of the Pearl Palace.

The Quasars and their manager were quickly ushered inside and shown to a room where Quinn’s younger brother Junn was waiting to receive them. He was still wearing his school uniform and had a worried expression on his face as he invited them to sit down.

“Thanks for coming,” he said, smiling at the women who were his sister’s closest friends. “I can’t believe what’s happened.”

“What has happened?” Ran asked, “Aleister Trace just arrested Quinn backstage at our concert but he refused to say what it was all about and all but told us to come here.”

Junn’s worried expression was replaced by surprise, “You don’t know anything?” he asked almost happily, “That’s good perhaps the media doesn’t know the details either yet.”

“We know that she’s been charged with murder,” Mr Lee replied, “The officers told me as much when they came looking for Quinn but they wouldn’t tell me who had been murdered. Who was it?”

Junn sighed, They think that Quinn did it because of where the body was found,” he said, seeming not to have heard Mr Lee’s question.

“Where was the body found?” Indigo asked before Junn had a chance to finish his sentence.

Junn seemed mildly annoyed by the interruption but he ignored his annoyance and replied to the question, “The body was found in Quinn’s bedroom. In her bed.”

“Excuse me? Did you just say that a dead body was found in your sister’s bed?” Kailani asked more loudly than she had meant to. “Sorry,” she apologised bowing slightly. In a lower voice the Liltian repeated her question, “Did you say that a body was found in Quinn’s bed?”

Junn nodded and the embarrassment was clear on his face as he voiced the word “Yes.”

A silence fell over the room as the members of the band looked at each other. They all knew that Quinn was innocent after all not only had they known one another since they were two years old giving each the impression that she knew the others well, but Quinn had been with them almost every second of the last few months. Since returning to Adhara Space Station, none of the band members had taken the time to go home or even to see their families. She couldn’t possibly have killed someone in her bedroom.

“Who was the victim?” the Quasar’s manager asked abruptly, repeating the unanswered question he had posed some time before.

“Well…” Junn said hesitantly, “The security officers wouldn’t tell us that but I overheard them talking. They said that the man’s name was Tigre Stripes. I’ve…”

“Tigre Stripes?!” Indigo exclaimed almost raising from her chair as a collective groan went up from Ran, Kailani and Mr Lee “Are you sure?”

Junn seemed startled by the outburst but he nodded, “Yes, I’m sure. That was definitely what the officers said. I didn’t recognise the name so I looked him up but there was no information about him on Synodos,” the teenager explained. “Why? What’s so startling about him? Other than the fact that he was found dead in my home of course. From the way you reacted it seems as if you know him.”

Indigo turned to her bandmates and manager for help. Earlier she had drunk more than she normally did and now the alcohol was affecting her behaviour. Normally she would have been able to control herself and the little outburst would never had occurred but now she would have to tell Junn what she knew and it didn’t look good for Quinn. When no one seemed willing to help her out Indigo turned back to her friend’s younger brother. “I do know Tigre Stripes.” she said slowly trying to buy time to think of the best way to explain, “we all know him and so does Quinn. He was the former president of our fan club on Cygni.”

“Ok…” Junn replied in a tone that implied he wasn’t quite understanding. “So if he was a fan of your band then my sister would have no reason to kill him. She wouldn’t be able to achieve her dreams if she went around murdering off her fanbase would she?” The teen chuckled slightly at the ridiculousness of the suggestion but when no one else seemed amused he looked at them sharply. “Tell me what’s going on!” he said, traces of anxiety creeping across his face.

Indigo sighed heavily but didn’t speak. Finally Mr Lee said softly, “Well you see, Mr Stripes approached the band at an autograph signing on Cygni whilst the band was on tour there. He was decked out in various pieces of memorabilia and costumes from several music videos. To be honest he looked terrible but Quinn and I should say all of the girls did their best to be civil. When Mr Stripes asked if he could take a photograph with Quinn she obliged but when she got close to him she noticed that the necklace he was wearing looked familiar. It looked just like the Pearls of Mer.”

“The Pearls of Mer?” Junn gasped, “That’s the heirloom necklace that was stolen last year.”

Mr Lee nodded, “That’s right. Stripes tried to say that it was a replica but the more Quinn looked at it the more she was convinced that it was the real thing. She accused Stripes of stealing the necklace…” he paused, unwilling to continue.

“And?” Junn asked, trying to press an answer out of the manager. “What happened? And why haven’t I heard about this?”

“What happened was that the damned stalker came up with the most ridiculous lie ever told in the Alliance.” Indigo replied. “He said that Quinn had given him the necklace because they were in a relationship.”

“Pardon me?” Junn asked, shaking his head in a subconscious attempt to clear his mind. “He said what?”

“He said that he and Quinn were in a relationship and that she gave him the Pearls of Mer as a love token.” Ran explained calmly. Like most Niefleimers it took a lot to faze her.

Junn narrowed his eyes and ground his teeth, “He’s lucky he’s already dead or I would have killed him myself,” the young man said. “How could he lie about my sister like that? First of all she’s betrothed and secondly she would never give an ancient heirloom like that away, let alone to some random nobody on a shithole space station.”

“Calm down,” Kailani tried to comfort looking around at the space above them as she went over to Junn and put her hand on his shoulder. One never knew when Adhara the space station’s AI would be listening and recording. Though she wasn’t supposed to enter the private residences aboard the station she had a habit of doing so anyway whenever something particularly interesting was going on. Kailani wasn’t sure how much Adhara would appreciate her daughter Cygni being referred to as a “shithole”. If she heard she might just choose to reveal Junn’s comments about Tigre Stripes being lucky to be dead to the entire Alliance.

“Look,” Indigo said quickly. “The thing is, it’s no use saying things like that because it will only get Quinn into more trouble. When Tigre Stripes claimed that Quinn had given him the necklace her face took on an expression I’ve never seen before. She looked absolutely terrifying, I only saw it for a split second because the next thing I knew she had struck Stripes in the face so hard that he was knocked down. There was press there and other fans. A lot of people saw it. Luckily and I really have no idea how he was able to do it, but somehow, Mr Lee was able to smooth things over. The next thing we knew the Cygni chapter of our fan club had a new president. We never heard from or saw either Stripes of the Pearls of Mer again. So now that he’s turned up dead in Quinn’s bed no less it looks very suspicious.”

“Not to mention that she threatened to kill him if he didn’t return her property.” Mr Lee said quietly.

“What?!” Indigo and Junn said at the same time as Kailani and Ran looked at the manager with shocked expressions.

The little Tokkian returned their gazes with a fatigued expression on his face. “Whilst everyone was rushing over to see if Stripes was all right, I went over to Quinn with the rest of you. If you remember I reached her first and no sooner had I run up to her than she said, “If that man doesn’t return what’s rightfully mine I’ll kill him and take it.” I couldn’t believe my ears. The hall was full of people and there’s no way of knowing if anyone else heard.”

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