4
I sat there on the ground feeling so helpless. Edward was alive to me, as alive as I was, but it wasn't going to last. I needed more information and spending time doing silly stuff like blowing bubbles was a waste. I picked up my phone and called Emmett. I knew he was going to be angry, but I wasn't going to be fazed by it.
"Emmett, this is Bella Swan, call me when you can," I said, then gathered my things and headed to my car. I looked back at the big house and remembered Laurent talking about the window in the attic. I walked around the lawn and found only a small air vent with wooden shutters. He couldn't see Edward playing, he had lied to me.
I ran back to my car and sped down the street to where he was working. I lay on the horn at the gate instead of ringing the bell. It only took a couple of minutes for him to come running. I jumped from the car and rushed up to where he stood on the other side of the railing. "There isn't a window in the attic. Why did you say you could see him through the window?"
His face grew angry and he spit as he yelled back at me. "I was in Paris when they died; I had nothing to do with it."
"Then why did you lie," I yelled louder.
"I knew he was up there every day, it doesn't matter how I knew," he screamed over me.
"It matters to me," I screamed back. "I want to know everything about Edward Masen, and you lied to me. Tell me how you knew he was up there."
"Because I was his cover," he finally yelled. I had no idea what he was saying and I grabbed onto the iron since I couldn't grab onto him. Laurent looked flustered and ran his hand over his face. He finally stepped closer and spoke quietly. "He never helped me in the yard. I said he did so they wouldn't look for him in the attic. It was his time and Victoria made sure he got it."
"Victoria, the housekeeper?"
"Yes, James and Aro kept a very short leash on the boy. We decided he needed some time to be a kid. Victoria let him into the attic and if anyone asked where he was she told them he was helping me outside for exercise."
"So his parents didn't know he went there, but you and Victoria did?" I asked.
He nodded and then added, "I wouldn't know how to get there from inside the house, but Victoria would."
"Do you know where I can find her?" I begged.
He nodded and began patting his pockets for a pen. I got one from my car and handed him my notebook. He wrote an address and when I took it back he walked quickly away. I drove to the other side of the city and found a small well-kept house. I knocked on the door and a teenage girl answered.
"Hi, I'm looking for Victoria," I said, and tried not to appear so anxious.
The girl looked me up and down and then turned her head and yelled, "Dad."
A handsome man came to the door and smiled at me. "Hi," I said, "I'm Bella Swan with the City Journal. I want to talk to Victoria."
He stood back and let me through the door. I followed him to a small living room and sat in the chair he offered. "I assume this is about the Masen family?" I was a bit stunned and nodded without commenting. He then said something to really shock me. "I'm James White, I was Edward's tutor."
"Oh uh….I thought Laurent gave me Victoria's address," I stammered.
"He did. We're married."
It took me a moment to recover. I assumed Victoria was an older woman; this man must have been in his early twenties when he taught Edward. I tried to come up with questions for him and finally asked, "Why were you so hard on Edward?"
"It was my job," he said with authority. "I had to make sure he was educated when everyone else only cared about his music."
"He was a child," I pointed out.
"He was my pupil. I was paid to educate him."
I don't know why I bothered arguing with him. He taught Edward twenty years ago and the past was over and done with. I tried to calm down and asked, "Did you and Victoria differ in your treatment of Edward?"
"We had different responsibilities," he reiterated.
I groaned and looked at him with exasperation. "Did you know she helped him hide from you?"
Before he could answer a tall woman with long red hair entered the room. She looked at me with hesitation and said, "What's going on?"
James stood and kissed her cheek before saying, "It's been twenty years so all the crazies are coming out of the woodwork to solve the Masen murders."
He was technically correct because it was exactly why Alice and her friends got involved in the case. Not to mention I was apparently speaking to the dead boy through a mirror, but my pride made me speak out in my defense. "I was assigned this topic by my editor. I'm not some crazy person trying to solve the case."
Victoria sat on the edge of her husband's chair and said, "I wish it could be solved, it's been so long."
For some reason the hair on my arms stood on end. I looked down at my skin and then back at Victoria. She looked innocent, actually she looked quite concerned and empathetic, but my gut was telling me something was wrong.
"Did you know the family well?" I asked her as I tried to keep my voice steady.
"I loved Elizabeth. She was so kind and I was just a confused kid myself. She used to talk to me for hours about trying to better myself." Her eyes filled with tears but I still felt it was all an act.
"That was presumptuous of her, wasn't it?" I pressed, trying to find a hint of aggression in Victoria's expression.
"No, not at all," she insisted. "Elizabeth was a wonderful woman, very supportive."
"But very tough on her son," I pointed out.
She shook her head and smiled softly at me. "No, Edward was very hard on himself. It took everything I had to make him relax and be a kid."
"The attic?"
Her eyes widened and she looked a little caught off guard before gathering herself together again. "The room was magical. It was large and secluded, just the place for a young boy's imagination. I encouraged him to go there daily."
I nodded and stood before asking one last question, "How do you feel about Laurent and Aro?"
Both Victoria and James laughed out loud and looked at each other before looking back at me. "Laurent was a simple man, he couldn't plan a murder because it would entail overtime," James teased, and Victoria laughed louder. "But Aro, that son-of-a-bitch had ax murderer written all over him."
I pretended to be amused and walked to the door. Victoria reached out and touched my shoulder causing me to react without thinking. I pulled out of her reach and held my backpack in front to shield me from her. Her brow furrowed and she looked hurt. "I'm sorry; I just wanted to tell you to feel free to come back anytime."
"Thank you," I replied, and then hurried out the door.
I was trying to put everything together and make sense of all the information I was getting. I arrived home and ate some soup before collapsing onto my bed. My phone rang and I answered with my eyes closed. It was Emmett so I quickly began apologizing. "I know you're upset with me but I'm working on a story about Edward's talent, not the murders, so I don't need your permission to interview people."
"You are forgetting I live with a psychic. You're trying to solve the murder and you know it," he pushed back.
"If I happen to get some information about who did it fine, but it isn't my focus," I lied again.
"So did you?" he asked.
"Laurent lied to me about something weird. He told me he could see Edward playing in the attic every day, but there isn't a window. Why would he lie about something like that?"
"The guy was out of the country, and it cost him a job, remember?"
"I know, it is just a weird thing to lie about. I also get a freaky feeling from Victoria. I can't explain it but my gut tells me to be wary of her."
"Look, the main suspect was Elizabeth's sister, Esme. She inherited everything and only the wedding ring was taken. There was a lot to take in the house but Elizabeth's ring was it."
"Why would she kill her sister?" I asked.
"The only motive they could find was something about Esme dating Edward senior years before he married Elizabeth. It wasn't solid and they never found any exchange of money as if she hired someone to do the deed."
"Jesus," I muttered, feeling awful for a sister being accused just because she dated a certain man years ago. The whole scenario sounded preposterous to me. I felt Victoria was somehow attached to what happened but I didn't have anything solid to make me think that.
"What if Aro didn't show up the next morning, what if he was there the night before?" I asked, hoping Emmett would continue giving me information.
"Why would he kill his meal ticket?" Emmett asked. "Unless," he said suddenly, "What if Edward wanted to quit?"
"No, he was going to Berlin at the end of the month. He wasn't planning on quitting."
"How do you know that?"
"Oh, um…James told me," I covered.
"You know, Bella; this very well could have been some random act from a psychotic killer. We'll never know," he said sadly.
Every cell of my body was screaming he was wrong. This was personal, and I had to find out who and why to save a boy who had so much to give to the world. I hung up and drank a glass of wine to make my mind relax. I fell asleep and my first thought when I awoke was Edward now had only six days.
I went to the office and looked up the Cullens. I wanted to see what Elizabeth's sister had to say. I showed up at their penthouse condo unannounced and told security I was there for a story in the socialite section of the paper. I was allowed upstairs and when I knocked a Hispanic woman answered the door. "I'm here to see Mrs. Cullen," I said as if I was expected.
She let me inside and left me alone in a sitting room. In only moments Esme walked into the room. She looked just like Elizabeth, tall, graceful, and elegant. I stood and extended my hand. She shook it and asked me to sit before sitting on a settee across from me.
"I understand you own, I mean, you inherited…um…the house in Oak Park," I said awkwardly.
"My sister's home, yes," she said without hesitation.
"Did you know Edward well?"
She smiled fully and said, "He was my only nephew, of course I knew him well."
"Do you know if he had any plans to stop performing?"
She thought for a second and then said, "I'm sure the time would have come eventually when he would tire of it. Perhaps he would develop other interests, but at the time of his death he was still devoted to his music."
"Who do you think did it?" I asked bluntly.
Her eyes watered and she held her hand over her mouth as she shook her head. "Who could be such a monster to kill people as they slept….and a child, who could look into his angelic face and swing an ax at him?"
"What was Elizabeth's ring like?" I asked to get her thoughts off of Edward.
"It was an antique heirloom. The diamonds were small, but flawless. She loved her ring so much."
"So taking it would be a swipe at Elizabeth and Edward senior?"
She nodded and then wiped the tears from her face. Dr. Cullen came into the room and I saw Esme's eyes light up with joy. She stood and wrapped her arms around his waist as he pulled her closer and looked at me. He was very handsome and they looked like a couple of models. I introduced myself and pretended to be interested in the house.
"I guess I should have it demolished, but it doesn't feel like the right time," Carlisle said.
"Would you consider renting it?" I asked out of the blue.
"It has a….history," he said sheepishly.
"She knows, dear," Esme said.
"I'll tell you what, try the house for a week and then let me know if you are still interested," he said.
I left there with a key to the house and access to everything I needed. I had no intention of actually sleeping there, but I knew I could get a better sense of Edward by learning every inch of the house.
