Part 10 (1/2)
”Yes. Not all of him has disappeared that's the whole problem.”
”What do you mean?” This is sounding really crazy. ”Sophie told me that he had gone to Rio - that he'd been spotted there.”
”That's what she still believes. I told her that a friend of mine had seen him there. This friend doesn't exist, of course. My father's dead, Pearl.”
”Did you kill him?”
He says nothing for a beat and then answers in a cold voice. ”No. My mother did. No, let me be completely honest here. She didn't just kill him, she murdered him.”
I try to sound unemotional. I don't want to spook him away. ”Was Laura witness to the murder, then?”
”No. It happened when I was only nine.”
”Well what does Laura have to do with it? Even if you told her, she has no proof!”
”Oh, but she does. She's got proof that he's dead. And he has never been declared dead. No death certificate, nothing. Officially, he's still alive. And there are some people still wondering where he is. His brother, my uncle, for one.”
”I don't understand how does Laura know he's dead?”
”He was lying peacefully in his bath. Ironic that. Some of the only times when he was being truly peaceful was when he was wallowing about in warm water. My mother had bought him his favorite Scotch. She was plying him with it so he was completely relaxed. She'd had enough, and knew that the only way to be free of him, once and for all, was to kill him. He'd threatened her that if she ever left him he'd hunt her down and kill her then search for us, too.” He looks at me and hesitates.
I absorb all that Alexandre has said. It sounds crazy but you read about these people and see them on the news often...the nutters that shoot their families down, killing each and every member, or ma.s.sacring them in a stabbing frenzy before doing themselves in, too. I squeeze Alexandre's hand. ”I empathize, Alexandre. I really do. Please go on.”
He stares into s.p.a.ce as he reels off the story in a monotone, hardly stopping for breath. ”She had the electric heater plugged into the wall with the extension cord. She'd planned everything. When he was lying back with his eyes closed she came into the bathroom with the pretense to top up his drink and threw the heater into the water to electrocute him. She was even wearing rubber shoes and gloves just to take extra precaution.”
I gasp. What a scene that must have been. ”Did he die instantly?”
”I don't know. My mother had a.s.sumed she could pretend it was an accident but there were huge burn welts where the water level was. It was obvious it was cold-blooded murder. She had to think on her feet. Had to get rid of the evidence there was no way she could pa.s.s it off as an accident.”
”So then what happened?”
”Luckily, she had some French doors in her apartment that led onto a balcony. She unplugged the electricity, drained the bath, hauled him out, little by little, and rolled him into bed sheets, wrapping him like a mummy. Then she pushed him off the balcony in the dead of night. Once she was sure n.o.body had woken from the thud of the body landing on the ground she was two flights up she dragged him to the car. Amazingly, n.o.body saw her, or if they did, they never said a word. The neighbors hated him anyway even if they'd seen something they would have probably been relieved. She managed to haul him into the trunk of her car.”
”That must have been hard. Was he tall and strong like you?”
”No, my height comes from my mother's side of the family. But still, it was no mean feat. She drove to the countryside. When she found an isolated place, miles from anywhere, she made a bonfire and set him alight.”
”Oh my G.o.d. n.o.body saw? No farmer or anyone?”
”She doused him with gasoline he went up fast.”
”I still don't understand what Laura has to do with all this.”
”Not everything burns, does it?”
”There were remnants?”
”My mother waited for the fire to burn all the way down but there were two things left over his teeth and bits of his hip replacement, both identifiable through medical records. There was the t.i.tanium part of the fake hip and a ceramic ball bit that didn't burn either. They have identification numbers, not on the parts themselves, but from the factory where they make the prosthesis. These are kept by the hospital on a register with the name of the patient and the date of operation, in case of problems like breaking or premature loosening. They can be traced back to their source. It's the same with teeth and dentist's records - a common way of identifying corpses.”
”How the h.e.l.l did Laura get her hands on those?”
”Years ago, I found them in my mother's house in a drawer when I was looking for something I put two and two together; that's how I knew he was dead. I'd always suspected, anyway, because I knew if he'd been alive he would have hunted her down. Anyway, I had a long talk with my mom and she told me the whole story. I've kept it a secret all these years; I never even told Sophie.”
My nose is p.r.i.c.kling with tears as Alexandre's voice sounds as if it's about to break at any moment.
”But what on earth was your mother doing with all that evidence? Why didn't she chuck it all in a river or take it out to sea?”
”That's the multi-million dollar question, but she had a reason, crazy as it was. Having the remnants, she said, reminded her that he was truly dead that he could never harm her again.
Anyway, I took away the bits of evidence and took them to Provence with me I didn't want my mother having them in her house, in case her husband found them. But at the same time, I didn't throw them away because I didn't feel it was my right to if they were so important to her. I was an idiot. A fool. I should have taken it into my own hands. Instead, I hid the teeth in a multi-volume Encyclopedia. Call me a heathen but I'd cut out the centre of one of them and placed the evidence inside. n.o.body looks at Encyclopedias anymore with the internet and Wikipedia I thought they'd be safe there. And the t.i.tanium bit of hip was wedged behind the book. Laura knew exactly what it was because she, too, had a hip replacement a couple of years after her accident. And I'd mentioned to her once, years ago, about my father having had one tried to a.s.sure her that they worked.”
”She discovered them?”
Alexandre looks down at the floor ashamedly.
”But even if I found that stuff, I wouldn't know that they were body parts of a dead man. How did she know?”
”When I started dating you, Laura became obsessed. I didn't realize this, of course, until just a few weeks ago. I thought we were friends, I had no clue that she wanted me back, that she was still in love with me. Although, when love' is that warped it's hardly a word I'd use to describe her feelings for me. Basically, she became obsessed, possessed - and will stop at nothing to get me back.”
”I still don't understand. How did she know for sure that those things were parts of your father?”
”You've been her victim, as I have. She had my cell phone hacked, too. Really dumb of me to not have caught onto that, especially in my line of business. A joke, really. I think she must have been in on a text message or conversation or even an email to my mother we've never mentioned the murder in a call or message but Laura's not dumb. Who knows? She's a smart woman she put two and two together. I've never admitted a thing but she has all the evidence in her possession. With forensic labs the way they are these days medical records; all it takes is one call from her.”
”When did she get her hands on all this?”
”When she and James were there last summer.”
”You didn't notice it missing?”
”No. I wouldn't have thought to look. I'd pretty much forgotten all about it, actually.”
”If she's had everything since the summer why has she waited until now to tell you?”
”Good question. She must have thought things with you and me would die down - fizzle out. It didn't, she tried that stunt pretending Sophie was responsible for her accident, which nearly did the trick to split us up, but when she saw that you and I were back together, she pulled out all the stops.”
”What does she want, exactly?”
”She wants you out of the picture and for me to marry her.”
”But that's insane, especially as you don't even love her.”
Alexandre closes his lids as if locked into a deep thought and continues in a grave tone, ”The truth is, after her fall she was never the same person. I did understand why, though, at the time. s.h.i.+t, your whole life changes after an accident like that. They said her head wasn't damaged in the fall, but when I think of it now, I think they were wrong. I'm convinced something changed in her brain. She was so sweet before, so loving and fun. After the accident...well, I didn't spend much time with her afterwards, we didn't see each other for a couple of years, anyway, so it was hard to gauge-”
”But I thought you two were bosom buddies.”
”She left me immediately for James. Said I couldn't look after her properly, that I was too young and she needed stability. What she really wanted - even I wasn't stupid was someone who was rich enough to take care of her. That's why I worked my a.s.s off determined that HookedUp would be a financial success. I became driven with the idea of proving that I, too, could look after her, could be wealthy enough to take care of her. Not just her but any future relations.h.i.+p any future girlfriend or wife. I felt very proud I still do. I'm old-fas.h.i.+oned in that respect. I'm the type of man who wants to be able to support my partner financially.”
”Well, why didn't you both get back together as soon as you'd made all that money?”