“I must interject here Steve,” said the head officer, “Mrs. Allard did not drown, she died from being hit on the head with a blunt instrument, the table leg that you found in the basement. There was only a tiny bit of water in her lungs so we were able to determine it did come from that pond. Thomas said he realized that Mrs. Allard was dead already, so he tried to pour water into her lungs to make it look like she drowned, but he was unsuccessful in his attempts, so he and his friends dumped the body into the pond and hoped that she would never be found.

Fortunately Mack was there and pulled her out or we might never have found her body. We also found 2 more bodies in that pond that had disappeared over the last 2 years, which Thomas and his friends confessed to killing in a drug deal gone bad. So, they will be in prison for a long time.” Poor Sofie, her mouth was open so wide now and her eyes were so big, she tried to mutter some words, but nothing really came out.

Rock then brought in the box that was supposed to have contained Ben’s ashes, and the jewels. “What are you doing with my husband’s ashes!” she screamed. “You know that there are no ashes in here,” I said, “only some jewels that you thought were the real ones, but you never thought to look and make sure.” I then opened the box to show Sofie.

“Those are not the real jewels!” she yelled, “what did you do with my jewels? They are mine, only mine! I thought of the idea, I planned it all, those jewels have gone past the time, they belong to me now. Give them back to me!” “I am sorry Sofie,” I said, “but we did not find the jewels, they are long gone now. Ben was afraid to keep them around in case the police decided to come and check on him, so he sold them not very long after you gave them to him.

Not only that, but he sold them for just 25% of their value, but he was very happy with that amount. And being an intelligent investor, he invested all that money, except for a little here and there, like buying this chateau for 1 million euros, and some very expensive vacations that he and Denise enjoyed together.” Poor Sofie, her mouth was wide open again and she just sat there staring at me like she could not believe what she heard.

After all this time of waiting, she was not able to enjoy even one dollar of that money. “We also have proof that it was you who shot and killed the guard that night, since Mack did not even have a gun,” I said, “he admitted that he has never shot a gun in his life. But, you are excellent with a handgun, and have even won competitions. You did all that while you and your husband lived in London for the 5 years you were married, then you decided to come back here to live.

Mack truly loved you and was willing to confess to killing that guard so you would not have to spend time in prison.” “That is a lie!” she screamed, “it was Mack who shot the guard!” “Well, we found your gun in the safe,” I said, “and it will not be hard to prove that is the gun that shot the guard. But, we have even better proof.” I put something on the table. “What is that thing?” she barked. “That is the video from the surveillance camera that Mack stole and gave to you.

He told you to get rid of it and you gave it to Ben, telling him to get rid of it. But, he kept it, just in case the police came around asking questions. This shows you perfectly as you shot that guard, just one shot, through the heart. It is all recorded for everyone to see at your trial.” “What happened to Ben Allard’s ashes?” asked the police officer. “There never was any ashes,” I said, “he was not cremated.” “He was so!” yelled Sofie, “I was there, so I know!”

“No Sofie,” I said, “there was a funeral service for Ben, and an urn that was supposed to have his ashes in it. Denise did that deliberately because she did not trust you. But after that service Denise excused herself, do you remember that?” “Yes, she wanted to be alone!” screamed Sofie. “Yes, in a sense she did,” I said, “she then went to the cemetery that is located about 50km from here. That is where she had Ben buried. She did not want you to know. She had it all written down in her will.”

The police officer then told her she was under arrest and she got up slowly. The police took Sofie away, but she screamed the whole time. Sofie ended up with a long prison term, sentenced to 30 years, though she might get out in 25 years for good behavior, if she is still alive. She is 71 now. Her son and his friends were also convicted of the murder of the other two people found in that pond, plus numerous other offences.

They will be in prison for a long time as well. But Mack will be getting out of prison right away and he plans on moving as far away from here as he can. Our case is finished, with none of our team killed, a nice way to end another year of investigations. But it has been our toughest year yet. Hopefully next year will be better.

The End. We will be back tomorrow with a bit more news and our Christmas team schedule.

©2022 Steve McLeod.