say as this is an active investigation.” He looked around his desk and covered up some paperwork that looked like a witness statement. “Why are you working for Arenke? What does he want you to do?”
“He says he didn’t do it but is being made to look guilty. He wants to know who is behind this… Who do you think is responsible?”
“We don’t know. There’s nothing concrete. But I reckon it’s Arenke. He has the motive and the resources for this sort of thing. Maybe he hired you as a red herring. Oh look, everybody, I’m hiring a P.I. to prove my innocence.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“He’s done it before; did you know that? There was an employee of his that was going to help with a tax evasion case a few years back, but he was killed in a car crash. Mysterious circumstances. Arenke was always the prime suspect but he won’t get away with this one too… Sorry, Smotes, there’s nothing for you here. I can’t help you.”
----- X -----
Geoffrey Palmer sat at his desk and sighed. Watson came over. “Who was that?” he asked. “A friend of yours?”
“Not anymore. She used to work here. She was a detective.” He pulled at his collar. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“Why doesn’t she work here anymore?”
“I made her realise she preferred working alone,” Palmer murmured sullenly.
“How?”
Palmer looked up at him wearily. “I took credit for one of her cases,” he said. “She did the work and I got the praise. She was really good at her job but I was better at having a career… I took a promotion right out from under her. She should have been promoted but I was the better politician.”
“Which case?”
“The Stubbs case… There was this young girl, Daisy. Fifteen years old, found strangled and I instantly suspected her father. He had a history of wife beating and domestic abuse, a real nasty piece of work when he was drunk and he was drunk every day. We arrested him on the past history and he protested his innocence but there was a lot to suggest it was him and him alone. Harriet disagreed. She wouldn't accept the easy answer and kept investigating. She found that Daisy had been at the hospital because she was pregnant and she discovered the father of the child was one of her schoolteachers… She was vulnerable, in a violent household, she fell in love with the guy.” Palmer rubbed his eyes. “She hadn't wanted to abort the pregnancy, and the teacher feared that if discovered he would be convicted of sex with a minor. He knew he would lose everything. So... he killed her. He knew the family history, he knew everybody would blame the father; but Harriet figured it out and came to me with the evidence.”
“Then what?” Watson asked.
“I made the arrest and took all the credit. Superiors were so impressed they gave me a promotion and Harriet got nothing.”
“You got promoted for her work?” Watson asked. “I hope you’re not going to steal my work, too.”
Palmer shook his head. “I was young and had more ambition than integrity. I’m telling you so that you don’t do the same thing.”
“But you did get the promotion,” Watson said.
Palmer grimaced. “Yeah, but I paid for it with my soul.”
----- X -----
The car headlights cut through the woodland as the cabin came into view. It was nestled beneath the forest canopy like a gem. The lodge was made of glass walls and polished oak that gave spectacular views of the lake. There were plenty of autumn leaves on the roof and pathway.
“Almost there,” Edward reached across and patted Maeve’s leg. She didn’t respond and Edward pulled back his hand with a sigh. “A few days here to clear the mind and refresh. Yes?” Maeve didn’t respond again. “Yes? Maeve?”
“Yes. Okay! Yes,” she said, irritably.
Maeve had been ecstatic when she found the place and had picked out all the furniture herself. She had come nearly every day to oversee the renovation work and Edward had been surprised by how wholeheartedly she had thrown herself into the project.
He got the bags from the car while Maeve walked up the steps and unlocked the door. He followed her inside. “I’ll light the fire.” Maeve said pushing past him to the fireplace. “It’s freezing in here.” Edward leaned down to help grab some wood but she grabbed it from under him.
“I’ll open the curtains then.” Edward headed to the large French windows and pulled the curtains aside expecting to see a view of the lake.
He saw a man.
There was a man outside the French door.
BOOM!
A gunshot splintered the glass and hit Edward in the stomach. He fell back clutching the wound. “Maeve!” he yelled. “Run!”
BOOM! BOOM!
Maeve saw the blood and her husband lying prone. Through the splintered glass was the silhouette of a man with a handgun. The man stepped forward breaking the glass further to step inside the cabin. She screamed and ran upstairs as the gunman stepped over Edward’s body and began firing again. Three more shots.
Maeve sprinted upstairs and slammed the door behind her. She threw herself at the wardrobe and pushed it hard, screaming, “Come on!” as her weight toppled the furniture to block the doorway.
She grabbed her phone and called the police.
“Hello, what is your emergency?”
She whispered. “There is a man with a gun in the house… He’s just shot my husband.” She was sobbing now. “I’m so scared, please help me. I’m hiding in the bedroom... but I think he’s coming… Oh, God. Please help me.”