It would have been interesting to see the faces of that group in the living room that morning. “Well, mom,” said Thomas, “we got rid of aunt Denise for you, now we want to see some money.” “I have to wait until those people find the jewels,” she said, “you know that.” “Well, you did get money selling this chateau,” he reminded her. “Yes, and Mack took that from me,” she said, “so I have nothing. Besides, you did not get rid of her body like I told you.”

“Yes we did,” said Thomas, “we put her in that pond about 30km from here, and we tied weights to her feet so she would sink. No one will find her.” “You idiot, her body was found by these people in a trunk in the basement,” she said. The men looked at each other. “That is impossible mom,” he said, “I tied the weights on her feet myself. And we stayed until she sunk just to make sure.” “I tell you they found her body in the basement,” she said quite irritated now, “and the police are involved now.

They said it looks like she drowned and that something was tied to her feet alright and they can’t figure that out since she was in that trunk in the basement.” “Maybe someone watched us,” said Bernard, “and fished her body out and brought her back here.” “That would be stupid,” said Sofie, “too easy to get caught doing that. And you knew about that secret door to the basement Thomas.”

“So did that boyfriend of yours,” he retorted, “maybe he brought the body back.” “He was not even here at the time,” she reminded him, “now things are more complicated.” “How could you sell the chateau when you do not own it?” asked Pierre. Everyone looked at each other. “Well, I am her closest relative, and she is dead, so it would naturally go to me,” said Sofie. “But is there a will?” he asked again, “if not it would take a while to settle the estate. Until then you cannot legally sell it.”

“But I did already,” she said, “so what can anyone do?” “They might ask questions, like, how did you know Denise was dead already,” he answered, “that would be hard to explain.” “Well, we will not worry about that right now,” she said snorting, “the important thing now is Denise’s body, how do we explain that one?” “That is your problem mother, “said Thomas. “No, it is our problem,” she reminded him, “if the police start giving me a hard time, you will come into this as well, I will see to that.”

“Do not press your luck mother,” he said, “or you might find yourself taking a bath too.” Then the men got up and left. Sofie was red with anger when she got back into the kitchen. “That nephew of mine,” she said, “he gets me so angry sometimes. It is not my fault his mother was found dead in here!” “Well, do not let him bother you,” said Galyna, “just relax and have some coffee until the police get here.” “The police!” she gasped, “what are they coming here for?”

“Since it was your sister, they need to ask some questions,” answered Galyna, “like who her friends might have been, any boyfriends, any problems she had, or debts, that sort of thing.” “Oh, yes, I guess they would want to know those things to find out who killed her,” she admitted, “but I really do not know much about her personal life really.” “Any little bit might be of help,” she said, “and mention her son for sure, there may have been problems between the two of them.”

“Hmm, that is possible,” said Sofie. But she is thinking about how careful she needs to be when talking with the police. Any little slip about Denise or her son, she has to remember that she is supposed to be Denise and the dead woman is her. Oh my, she thought, one slip and the police would be arresting her for killing Denise, but really it was her son that did it. And she will tell the police that too! And she will be sure to say it was all his idea and he forced her to go along with it or he would kill her too.

After all, he even said today that he would kill her. That would be a great way to get rid of him for good, then she could enjoy the wealth from all those jewels all by herself. This might be better than she thought going into this deal with Mack. She did not care about Mack anyway, he came to her about finding those jewels, something she knew nothing about until then.

But one thing bothered her, how did her sisters body get back into the basement? Someone else is in on this too, but who? She was scared now, but she did not dare show that to anyone. “If you would like Denise,” said Galyna, “I could stay with you while the police interview you, to help you remember details, and just be some support for you.” “Oh, that would be so nice,” said Sofie, “thank you so much.”

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.