Chapter 11. Finale
Marianna was sitting on her ottoman and crying. She was more frightened than she had ever been in her entire life. She didn't believe anybody of the people surrounding her. Louis was too small to understand anything (lucky child!), and Father Brown was always busy, busy solving the case with Detective Plann.
Even Ferdi, Ida and Jane were like aliens to Marianna now. She suspected everybody of them. She had never had a strong character, and the latest events seemed to shatter her soul into pieces.
The girl closed her eyes and tried to relax…
Suddenly, Dr. Kennell entered the room. He had a surgical knife in one hand and a bottle labeled "chloroform" in another.
"She's asleep," he muttered to himself. "Good. No fuss, all quiet and efficient…"
"I'm not asleep!" Marianna wanted to shout, but all she could do was wheeze and croak.
Dr. Kennell seemed startled a little, but then he regained self-control:
"Oh, fine. Then I'll tell you everything. You know how it goes: the deadlier your secret is, the more you want to confess it to someone.
"I've loved Sophia and never, never hurt her. She killed herself because she had a frightening hallucination after taking an overdose of a certain drug which is useful when it's taken in little portions. Never mind. So Sophia gave birth to Louis and then accidentally killed herself. But you are the one who doesn't deserve to live – your father was a mentally unstable fool, you'd be a bad heiress to the Royal Rubies… Louis, my son, will get everything. Why did I kill your governess? Because I got mad at her. Why did I kill Illerm? Because he suspected me… I urged Pete Bente to take poison. Now I'll kill you, Ferdi, Father Brown, and Jane, and Ida, and…"
"Nooo!" Marianna screamed. The doctor dropped his knife, startled again, and…
And Marianna woke up, shuddering. A knock on the door took her away from her horrible nightmare.
"Yes?" the duchess asked weakly. Her maid Julia entered the room:
"Miss, sorry to bother you. First, there's a message left from Father Brown. The true criminal was Archibald Illerm. He's already arrested. Father will tell you the whole story very soon. And second, Mr. Lorizi wishes to see you."
"Thank God!" Marianna breathed. She had never felt such great relief before. It was doubled by the feeling that the criminal was a near-stranger, so she didn't feel much hurt after the discovery. Only hatred for the man who killed her mother, her governess and some poor innocent servant – and again relief, relief, relief. No more nightmares! No more suspicions! Marianna wanted to dance around the room and cheer.
She heard quick footsteps on the stairway, and in five seconds Ferdi was standing in front of her.
"Marianna, the beauty queen!" he grinned. "Heard the news, didn't you?"
"Oh yes! Such a relief…"
"I understand, sweetheart," Ferdi nodded. "Now that you don't give me that scary suspicious look of yours anymore, I'll repeat a question I've already asked you once. Marianna Almidia, will you marry me after the mourning time for Sophia and Solange ends?"
"Ferdi, I've answered you," Marianna replied. "And I haven't changed my mind. You're a dear, dear friend – one of my dearest ones – but not the man I wish to wed."
"I know that!" the young man exclaimed. "But still… Just listen to me, darling. Julia told me how stressed, weakened and unnerved you were during this case. Are you sure you can live on your own, with no one to protect you? Dr. Kennell is a strong-minded and sensible man, but he's growing old and so he's going to pass away relatively soon! Louis is a baby, you are supposed to protect him, not vice versa. I can't imagine what can happen to your soul and mind if you become alone one day.
"I'm not asking for love. I'm not actually even asking for loyalty. I just want to be your constant guard, so that no reincarnation of Illerm may haunt you. Please, if you don't love me, think about yourself!"
Marianna thought for a while and decided to tell him the whole truth. She outstretched her left hand and pointed at the ruby ring:
"Ferdi, I'm very honored by your proposal. Thank you for caring for me so much. But I'm engaged. You see? To the man I've told you about. He is strong and clever, and, which is more important, kind and sweet, and, which is yet more important, I love him. He'll be perfectly able to protect me. Oh, I'm sorry for you, honestly. I didn't mean to hurt you so much…"
She stopped. Ferdi's playful expression faded, replaced with pure fury.
"Oh well, I wonder if my lucky rival can protect you now…" he said slowly.
Marianna froze:
"Wh-what in the world do you mean?"
"That I'm going to get the Royal Rubies the hard way," Ferdi explained coldly, taking a surgical knife out of his pocket.
"Are you?.. But Father Brown left a note that Illerm…" Marianna felt panic fill her soul and unbearable ache clutch her heart.
"He didn't. I told Julia that I received such a note. Which never existed. Also I sent Julia to do some shopping, so she'll be away for another two hours. Kennell is walking with the baby in the park. The rest of the servants are safely drugged. So don't worry."
Marianna fell onto the ottoman:
"It was you the whole time…" she groaned.
"Yes," Ferdi said proudly. "I've been waiting to get the Royal Rubies for fifteen years."
"Fifteen? How old are you? Aren't you twenty-five?"
"That's of no concern for you. You'll be more interested in the story of these murders, I suppose. Well, then, fine! I have some spare time. Let's start with the first one. Your father. I killed him before introducing myself to your family. It was stupidly easy! I just sneaked into your garden and dropped an overdose of sedative into old duke's cup. He died in three hours. His wife, unfortunately, was much more careful. This proud pompous dog! I killed her right after she gave premature birth to the little useless brat. Then there was the brainless round-eyed sheep – Solange. I couldn't stand her! Now, at last, you, you weak gullible chicken. I was going to marry you and give you a sedative overdose in a year or two. But you chose to die earlier…"
As Marianna listened to her former best friend cursing and insulting her loved ones and herself, she felt something heavy replacing her heart. She wanted to close her eyes and just faint, so she was barely conscious of the knife being raised and scratching her left arm.
"You will not die instantly," he promised brutally and made a cut on her right arm. Marianna prayed for the torture to end as soon as possible.
But after Ferdi wiped the knife with his raincoat and looked for the place to make the next cut, two things happened out of the blue at the same moment.
An enormous fist hit him straight in the face. Lorizi flew to the opposite end of the room. Marianna heard bones cracking. Meanwhile, another hand grasped her and lifted her up. Before the girl could figure out what was going on, she found herself looking into the familiar malachite green eyes.
"Hello, Marianna," smiled Flambeau and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, then turned his attention to Lorizi.
"Didn't I promise to wring your neck if you ever cross my path again?" he hissed.
"Try it! I have a pistol!" Lorizi squeaked.
"No, you don't," Flambeau showed him his free hand, which was holding a small handgun. "I am the best pickpocket in the world, in case you forgot it. Also, as I now represent the justice of the UK, I'll leave you at its mercy and let it wring your neck."
As he said it, six policemen rushed inside the room, and Flambeau carried Marianna away to the hall. He softly put her on the sofa and asked:
"Where does Dr. Kennell keep hydrogen peroxide and bandages?"
"I don't know, but I have a First Aid box in the second drawer of the wardrobe in my room."
"Wonderful. Then could you wait for a moment?"
He rushed to her room and returned with a white box in five seconds.
"Can I help you with it?" Flambeau looked a bit embarrassed. "You're not able to move your hands."
"Oh, of course!" Marianna smiled. He gently rolled her blood-soaked sleeves up and treated her wounds, murmuring something unintelligible in French.
"What did you say?" the girl asked.
"It's not for a lovely girl's ear," Flambeau explained. "It's about Rippit. The man you knew as Ferdinand Lorizi."
"Oh," Marianna shivered, her face twisting at the thought of Lorizi. "Who's he really?"
"Antoine Rippit, a famous bloodthirsty murderer," Flambeau said with disdain. "He had lived in La Rochelle for several years. That's where I met him. He called me milksop, because I've never killed anyone. We had a big fight… He got away by telling me a very strained apology, but I promised to wring his neck the next time. Well, this time came…" Flambeau blushed and finished. "Rippit wanted to kill the girl I love."
Marianna blinked.
"Marianna, ma chère, I've fallen in love with you the first time I saw you in the forest. Honestly. You're my first love, and you're my second and last love. Will you marry me?"
"Yes, yes, of course!" Marianna exclaimed but then stopped. "Only… why did you say 'my first and second love'?"
"Oh, well," shrugged Flambeau. "There was one thing after our adventure in the forest. Not a love, not even an affair, just – an admiration, you know. I felt it for my neighbor, Pauline Stacy. She was beautiful in her own way and quite smart, she had a character, but… She wasn't you. And after all, I've not even thought of marrying that poor woman."
"Poor?"
"She was killed. Father Brown solved the case, of course. I'll tell you about it later. As you see, you don't need to be jealous, sweetheart. So, will you marry me? You may think I'm after these seven blasted Rubies as well, but still – will you?.."
Marianna laughed:
"If I have seven thousand of the Royal Rubies, I would have given all them to you."
Flambeau laughed too, sat next to Marianna, threw his arms around her, and pulled her into a kiss. It seemed to be never going to end, but two polite coughs in unison were soon heard at the front door. Flambeau and Marianna raised their heads to see Father Brown and Dr. Kennel, who was holding Louis.
"Well," said Father Brown after an awkward pause. "I assume there will be a wedding in about a year in some Catholic church."
"It will be St. Dominic's church no doubt!" exclaimed Flambeau.
"Of course!" Marianna agreed. "Father Brown, you baptized Louis, the burial services for Mom and Solange were held in St. Dominic's…"
"And you saved my soul," Flambeau added. Father Brown smiled:
"Well, I don't know whether I should be thanked for helping you saving your soul, Flambeau, but I'm sure I will help you and Marianna with the wedding ceremony."
"You have my permission," Dr. Kennell added.
Louis didn't understand why everyone around was happy and laughing, but he guessed something good had happened and laughed with everybody else.
The next chapter will be the real finale, with the explanation of the case.