Tuesday, September 23rd
Jason Grant’s home, 7:30 am
As soon as Jason woke up the following morning after a few hours of sleep, his first thought was for that poor woman who had been attacked in her home with a wrench. It was obvious she didn’t intend to go anywhere, and she didn’t expect anyone because she was wearing her nightgown. When he arrived at her home, she had been taken to the hospital unconscious and they said she had suffered a severe concussion but she was still breathing, even if she had lost a lot of blood. Luckily, Gisela, her neighbour, had noticed her door ajar when she was coming home and she had immediately alerted the police.
When he had looked around her little house, he had seen chairs overturned and drawers opened and emptied, a lot of their contents scattered on the floor, but he was not convinced it was a burglary. Alison’s handbag was still on her bed in her bedroom, the money had not been touched, and in one of the drawers, there was a little box containing a few jewels, but it had not been opened.
On the table in the kitchen, he had seen the mail she had opened that evening. He had noticed a bill coming from a nursing home. He had instinctively taken the bill and now he called the nursing home number.
The person who answered said that Alison Lewis’s mother had been there for almost a year after a stroke that had left her paralyzed. The next payment was due in a few days.
Jason knew how hard it was for a person who had to take care of a sick relative because the expenses were huge. He called the hospital where Alison had been taken the day before and they told him that she was still unconscious. She had undergone an operation to reduce the hematoma and now she was stable, but they couldn’t say yet if she would survive or not.
Jason took the bill, and, before going to the police station, he went to the bank to pay. If that poor lady didn’t recover, her mum would be provided for at least a few months, if she recovered she would pay him back. Jason never thought about these things, it just came naturally to him to help a person if he could. He had lost his parents so soon, but at least he had not seen them suffer, he had not been obliged to assist them in their old age or a disease.
Knowing that Alison Lewis lived alone in the town and did not have any relatives, Jason next called Father Mark and asked him if he could go to the hospital to visit her so that she could have someone near. Father Mark agreed immediately, even if he had rarely seen her in church. The priest asked him what he thought about the aggression. Jason said it was too early to say. Then, without thinking, Jason asked, “Have you seen Miriam today? I heard from her yesterday to inform her about the Coopers, but she seemed to have a problem with a relative in Italy.” He didn’t say he had actually gone to her home. “Unfortunately, we were interrupted because I received the call about the aggression…” his voice trailed off because he realized he had already spoken too much. Had he shown more interest in the Italian teacher than he wanted to?
Father Mark didn’t seem to notice and just said, “As I have already told you, Jason, Miriam has had her share of suffering. You know I don’t like to talk about the personal situation of a person. If she feels like it, she will talk about it herself. I can only tell you that she is very lonely and she has not left a loving and affectionate family in Italy.”
“I am sorry. Yesterday she was really sad! Anyway, I will get in touch with you when I learn something new, Mark! Have a nice day and thanks for your help!”
When Father Mark ended the call, he couldn’t help but smile. Was Jason finally coming to terms with his tragedy and his isolation? Was God in His infinite mercy guiding him to serenity after so many years of remorse?
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Trinity police station, 8:45
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At the police station, Jason was told that Bill Carlton had been brought in once again for questioning. Agent Hogan informed Jason that the gangster had been shadowed continually since the detective had ordered them to do it and that, the previous night, they were absolutely certain he had not left his home. He was in the interrogation room but this time he was visibly nervous.
“Hi, Carlton !” Jason said
“Listen, Grant, I am getting tired of being brought here for no reason at all! I refuse to talk to you!”
Jason sat down opposite him and looked at him intently. He knew for certain that he was not responsible for the aggression last night, but he could have easily sent someone else to do the dirty job while he was fooling the police. No, there was something else connected to this story and the two attacks, something that was worth killing, something, Jason was sure, connected to money.
“YOU listen, Carlton . I know you have some connection with the Kilton Motor Dealer Company, I don’t know yet with whom and what sort of connection you have, but I will soon find out. In your place, I would try to be a little more cooperative because, in that case, we could turn a blind eye to some of your so-called dealings. Think about it, Carlton.” Jason leaned closer to Carlton ’s face and repeated, “Think about it!”
“I don’t know anything about the Kilton company. I only knew Brown, as I have already said.” But the more he declared this, the less Detective Grant believed it. Now he knew that this man had something to hide.
He opened a door and called Hogan, “Please, David, go with Carlton back to his garage and take all the documents you find there: all the account books, all the invoices, all the records you find, all the names of his customers, the phone books, all the contacts, everything!” He deliberately sounded authoritarian but not for Hogan’s benefit, just to show Carlton that he would go to the bottom of it all!
Carlton got up, looked at Grant defiantly and left with Hogan, without saying another word. Jason wanted to go to the Kilton company, but before he left, a young agent knocked on his office door.
He said, “Come in!”
The young agent looked at him reverently and said, “Excuse me, sir, but we have finally been able to reach one of the contacts on that prepaid phone you gave us yesterday!” Jason stopped what he was doing, immediately interested in what the young policeman was saying.
“A woman answered, her name is Jill Bennet, she became very nervous when she heard it was the police, but when we talked about Brown, she started to cry. She said she had never shown up because she didn’t want to be involved, she lives in Oshawa and she works there. She said she can come to talk to us tomorrow if it is necessary.”
“Oshawa, isn’t it the town where Kilton attended the convention of car dealers the night of Brown’s murder?” Grant looked at some papers on his desk. “Yes, it’s the same place! OK, call her back and tell her to give you her address. I will talk to her tomorrow because I want to go to Oshawa anyway. Let me know what she tells you.”
Jason waited while the agent made the phone call. He soon came back to tell him that she had given him her address and said she would be at home during lunch break because she worked in a hairdresser salon near her home.
“OK,” Jason said, “tell her I will be there at about twelve-thirty p.m. Thanks!”
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Trinity, Don Bosco High School, 10:10 am
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Father Mark met Miriam in the corridor, and he immediately saw that her drawn face betrayed her concern for something. She tried to just say ‘hello’ to him, but he stopped her and said, “Miriam,” he didn’t want to relate what Jason had told him, “I see that you look tired and sad today. You know you can always talk to me whenever you have something on your mind, don’t you?”
Miriam realized at that moment how lonely she was feeling, how desperately she missed her dad and how much the lack of real family bonds weighed on her. She would have liked to be able to reassure Father Mark that there was nothing wrong but her eyes filled with tears and she was only able to say,
“If you have a minute for me, Mark, I would be grateful.”
Father Mark, without another word, led her to his study and closed the door behind her. He invited her to sit down in the same armchair where she had sat a few days before with Jason.
“What’s the matter, Miriam? Father Lucio told me something about your dad and about the fact that you just recently learned that you were adopted at birth. Has this sadness something to do with it?”
Miriam gave a deep sigh! She needed so much to talk to someone. She instinctively clutched her dad’s wedding ring hanging on a chain around her neck.
“I am so sorry, Mark. You have so many things to do and to think about, but after my father’s death, I was so busy getting ready to come here and so excited about my new experience that I only seldom stopped to think about my loneliness. In reality, the only family I have ever had was my dad, he was the only one who cared for me, and when my mother died, we were so close, we talked about everything in harmony, and we shared so many happy moments. My stepmother and my stepsister never accepted me. Just yesterday my stepsister, Raffaella, sent me an email saying that she is looking for a gold pen my dad had and she can’t find it. It’s a stupid thing, but oh, Mark, if you read that email, the nasty words she uses saying that I have certainly taken it! I have kept nothing of my dad except his wedding ring.” She showed the gold chain to Father Mark. “He gave me his wedding ring a few days before he died but I never took that pen! Yesterday I wrote an email to Father Lucio, as I do every week, and I told him what had happened. This morning I read his reply. My dad gave his gold pen to Father Lucio a few weeks before he died because he wanted his dear friend to have something of his. Lucio told me that he is going to speak to Raffaella and he recommended not to answer that email and not to give my phone number here. I don’t expect Raffaella to apologize to me but … Why does she always use that scornful tone with me? Why never, never a kind word of, I don’t say affection, but at least respect?” She realized that her voice was becoming anguished and that tears were rolling down her cheeks.
Father Mark had listened silently to her outburst. Now he came near her, he sat down in the other armchair and he took her hand.
“Miriam, you are not alone now. You have your colleagues, your students who adore you and me, of course.” He wanted to say that Jason was worried too but he preferred not to mention him.
Miriam made a small smile and tried to sound a little more serene when she answered, “I know, Mark, I am happy here, and I think I am doing a good job. But I can’t avoid feeling a great void behind me, a wickedness I don’t think I have deserved. After all, I have taken care of my dad to the end, while my sister only seldom visited him. I don’t want to be thanked but at least to be respected. I know, Mark, we must never ask for gratitude. I am happy to have stayed near my dad even when he was ill and weak, but…” her voice trailed off.
“Gratitude, Miriam, can be expressed in many ways. Your dad expressed his gratitude by making you feel loved. It is not necessary to say ‘Thanks’, but a smile and a kind word can say much more, and you are right, you would have deserved at least a gentle word. But I think that, in the end, a person who writes a nasty email for a pen must be really unhappy and unfulfilled. I believe that, in the end, the lonely person is your stepsister, not you!”
Miriam felt really comforted by Mark’s words. “Thank you, Mark!” she said sincerely. “But… Do you know anything about that woman who was attacked last night? Jason had come to me to talk about Andy Cooper’s situation and they called him!” Father Mark instinctively smiled, ‘Jason,’ he thought, ‘so you were at Miriam’s yesterday, a loner like you who never visits anyone? Well, well, this is a step forward.’ He didn’t show any surprise to Miriam, though, and he said, “Jason called me this morning to tell me that she is alive and stable but she is alone here in town so I am going to visit her later today! Have you talked to Louise Kilton, by the way?”
“No, Mark, yesterday she was not in class. I hope to see her tomorrow!”
Father Mark was worried for Louise too, because he knew that she had a family that was not affectionate and supportive. He just said he hoped Miriam could understand what troubled Louise so much. He said some more words of encouragement to Miriam, and she left, feeling much more comforted and less lonely than before.
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Kilton Motor Company, 10:15 am
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When Jason arrived at the Kilton company, he went immediately to the first floor and knocked on Kilton’s office door. Kilton opened the door personally and he couldn’t avoid a surprised reaction at the sight of the detective.
“Oh, hi, Detective, I don’t think you have called to announce your visit!” he said, not trying to conceal his annoyance. He was nervous, but - Jason thought - this was understandable as one employee was dead, one employee was in prison and his personal secretary had been attacked.
“No, actually I didn’t call. But I won’t keep you, just a few questions and I will be on my way!” Jason tried to sound pleasant but Kilton’s attitude irritated him, even though he didn’t know exactly why.
“OK, I have just a few minutes!” was the curt answer and Kilton moved to the armchair behind his desk without inviting the detective to sit down. Jason sat in the armchair opposite Kilton and went directly to the point.
“Do you know anything about the possible reason for your secretary’s attack last night?”
“I don’t know anything about the life of my employees or what they do when they are at home. I don’t even know where they live. This is my policy, Detective, I am just a manager and I am not their friend or their confidant.” ‘The tone is really as cold and detached as his policy,’ Jason thought.
“But she worked for you and with you, Mr Kilton. Did she look nervous yesterday? Did she say anything that could hint at a problem or a concern she had?”
Was Jason mistaken, or Kilton hesitated before answering? But it was only a matter of a few seconds, then he said in his scornful and self-confident tone, “No, I didn’t notice anything in particular… Miss Lewis was often nervous, but I think it was part of her personality, so I didn’t bother!”
Jason noticed that Kilton had not asked how Miss Lewis was and when he had talked to the hospital nurse, she had said that nobody had called to ask about her.
Now he said, just to see his reaction, “I really hope that Miss Lewis will recover. At the hospital, they told me that her condition is improving.”
Kilton’s reaction was upsetting: “Really? I thought she had very little hope of surviving!” Either Kilton was really insensitive or… Jason started to look at this cold, detached man in a different way.
He quickly took leave, went down the stairs and towards the exit of the car showroom that was on the ground floor.
At the reception, the girl he had talked to the day after Brown’s murder, was waiting for him. She stopped him and he read her name on the tag, Carol Stevenson.
“Excuse me, Detective, can I talk to you for a minute?” she was agitated and she kept looking towards the staircase, maybe afraid to see Kilton coming down.
“Yes, of course,” Jason said kindly. She led him to the small office behind the reception and carefully closed the door.
“I have only a few minutes because I cannot leave the reception unattended,” she said, “But Alison was such a sweet woman and that man,” she pointed to the first floor, “always scolded her and treated her as if she were stupid. I don’t know why she didn’t look for a better job. Yesterday she told me that today during lunch break she intended to come to the police to talk about something she had seen or heard, I don’t know, she did not explain further, but I think it had taken her some time to make up her mind and she seemed relieved! She added that she owed this to Andy who was always kind to her!”
“Thanks, Miss Stevenson. Do you know if she had talked about this with Mr Kilton?”
“She didn’t mention it, I am sorry!”
Jason went away perplexed by what he had heard and he made up his mind about what to do next.
The Kiltons' villa, 8 pm
Louise was deeply saddened when she heard about the attack on her dad’s secretary, but, at the same time, she thought that now Meg’s father would certainly be released because he could not be considered responsible for this crime since he was in prison. Maybe, after all, she wouldn’t need to tell what she had seen that night and she wouldn’t have to talk to her dad about the mobile phone she had hidden in a drawer in her bedroom. Maybe her dad would allow her to go back to school. He had been so angry with her in the past few days.
For the first time since last Thursday, she picked up her phone to call her friend, Meg, “Hi, Meg, how are you?”
“Hi, Louise, it’s good to hear from you. Yes, I am fine but I am so worried about my dad. He is still in prison.”
“But Meg, now that another person has been attacked, maybe they will reconsider the case and they will find the person who is responsible for both crimes!”
“I don’t know, Louise. I don’t think my dad’s situation will change so much because the evidence against him in connection to Brown’s murder is still strong. He was found there when the police arrived and they found money in his office drawer. Oh, Louise, your dad has been so kind to send him a lawyer, and certainly, the attorney means well but he is trying to convince him to declare himself guilty.”
“No!” Louise interrupted her friend with an anguished voice. “He shouldn’t do that!”
“But what can he do, Louise? If only someone had seen something that night.”
Louise felt tears rolling down her cheeks. “Don’t worry, Meg. Your dad is certainly innocent and the police will find the truth!”
“Thanks, Louise, tomorrow I will be at school, I hope to see you! I need your support so much now!”
“Certainly, Meg, I will be there! Have a good night!”
Louise ended the call before Meg could realize she was as frightened as her friend. Still upset, she turned her head and… at her bedroom door, her dad was standing with an angry scowl. He had listened to the conversation, and he was looking at his daughter with a disapproving and even menacing expression on his face. Louise was really frightened now, she had never seen her dad look at her like this. She prayed he would not look for that mobile phone in her bedroom!
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