Chapter 31: Christmas Eve

Now Benoit was intrigued, both his eyebrows now raised as his forehead crinkled.

"The wrong body?" he asked Mr. Bensley.

"Yes. In fact, the body in the casket looks very similar to George Delaware, but it's not even a body at all," Horace explained. "It's a replica."

Now Benoit was very intrigued. "A replica, you say?"

"Yes."

"Hmm," Benoit said. "Would you mind showin' me this replica?"

"Of course," Horace said, directing them to the casket in the showing room.

Once Benoit got to the casket, he cocked his head to the side. "Who figured out it wasn't the real Mr. Delaware?"

"His wife did," Horace said with a frown.

Benoit took note of Horace's facial expression before looking at the body. It sure looked real enough. "I suppose that would make sense, though it looks real enough. Who would go to all this trouble to replace a body with a fake, I wonder?" he asked, looking at the three men.

"Maybe he faked his death?" Officer Lopez observed.

"That would be quite impossible. The body I worked on was definitely Mr. Delaware," Horace said.

"And you know this for sure?" Benoit asked.

"Oh yes. He was well known around these parts."

"How so?"

"Oh, just a local humanitarian. He did a lot of charity work and all that," Horace explained.

"Was he wealthy?"

"Yes."

Benoit scratched his head. "How did the wife know it wasn't him?"

"Apparently he had a scar on his left hand, and this dummy here," Horace pointed to the replica's left hand, "has no scar."

"Hmm," Benoit hummed. "Strange case. Who was here for the viewin'?"

"The wife, Janet, their two children, Logan and Tammy, and some friends of the family," Officer Henson answered. "The viewing was a uh, private event, while the funeral is supposed to be a public one."

"Did you get a statement from all of them?" Benoit inquired.

"Yes. All of them were at their own homes this morning to get ready for the viewing."

"What time did they all arrive?"

"A Mr.," Henson got out his pocketbook, "Mr. Joseph DeCavalcante got here first. He showed up around 10:15. His two sons, Tommy and Jack, showed at 10:20. Casket was placed at 10:25, then five minutes later the wife and kids showed up. Wife took one look at the body and knew it wasn't George."

"Why would friends show up first? That seems a little fishy," Benoit thought.

"Hmm. The people out front, I assume are the relatives and friends?"

"Yes."

"I'd like to question them all, if that would be alright."

Henson nodded. "Sure."

"And Mr. Bensley," Benoit started, taking note of Horace's lanky frame, "do you have an assistant who helps with all the heavy liftin'?"

"Yes. That would be Donald. He had to leave this morning, though. He had a family emergency," Horace explained.

"Well, we should call him in for questionin' as well."

Julia woke up from her nap and looked at the time on her phone. "Good grief, I slept for five hours. I must've really been tired," she thought.

Julia pocketed her phone, got out of bed and grabbed her crutches before hobbling to the door. She opened it and looked out into the hallway. She could hear the tv on in the living room so she managed her way along the hallway and peeked around the corner to see her parents on the black leather couch together in the living room. They were laughing...and cuddling. It brought a smile to her face.

Julia decided not to disrupt the two lovebirds so she hobbled back to the guest room, vouching for working on her book. She grabbed her laptop from her suitcase and put it on the bed, then she got into the bed, turned on her laptop and got to working.

Julia spent a few hours clacking away at her keyboard, getting a couple chapters in and editing any grammar or spelling mistakes before she decided to take a break. It was at that moment when she got a text on her phone. It was from Benoit.

Hello, chickapen. Did you have a nice nap?

She grinned and typed up a response before sending it.

Yes. Working on my book now. How goes the case?

Julia got out of bed and started stretching. Her back popped a few times, as did her neck, when she got another text and looked at it.

The case is ongoing. It is a compelling challenge. It might beat your grandfather's case in difficulty.

Julia giggled and began texting.

Can you give me any specifics? Maybe I can help.

Julia continued her stretching, wincing a little from the pain in her side. She still needed to be careful with her ribs. Her phone dinged and she looked at it.

All I can tell you is that someone switched bodies in a casket at a funeral home, and that the body in the casket was a fake.

Julia wheezed out a laugh from astonishment.

Well, where's the real body?

She sat back down, waiting for a response. When she got one, Julia glanced at her phone.

Current whereabouts are unknown.

Julia tilted her head to the side, thinking for a few moments before sending a response.

That is definitely weird. Who would do such a thing? And why?

Julia set the phone down and grabbed a brush from her suitcase. While she brushed her hair, her phone beeped and she looked at it.

My thoughts exactly.

"Hmm," Julia said, texting Benoit back.

I mean, who would go through the trouble of replacing a body with a replica rather than just leaving the casket empty? If they'd left the casket empty, they still would've gotten away scott free, right?

Julia went back to brushing her hair. She'd just finished when her phone went off again.

Obviously, someone opted for discretion. This was done by a professional.

That made sense to Julia. Unless...

Unless they wanted to make a statement of some kind?

Julia pocketed her phone and grabbed her crutches before leaving the room. As soon as she walked out, she could smell dinner cooking. It was a wonderful smell, too.

"Mom? Are you cooking dinner?" Julia yelled out as she made her way down the hallway.

Her phone buzzed again and she checked it.

Again, this was a job of discretion. No statement would be needed.

Julia rolled her eyes and typed up a counter argument.

Well, you don't know that for sure. Who knows if the body will pop up somewhere.

Julia put the phone back in her pocket and hobbled into the living room where her parents were. They were staring at the tv in shock. She raised a brow and looked at the tv to see a man in a black suit hanging from a telephone pole. With his hands missing. The news anchor was talking about it.

"...local Trenton millionaire George Delaware was shot early Wednesday morning and his funeral was supposed to take place today. Police are currently baffled by this turn of events..."

Julia grabbed her phone and dialed Benoit.

Benoit was outside having a cigar when his phone rang. He looked at it with a smile, seeing Julia's name pop up, and he answered it.

"Hello, chickapen," he said.

"Babe? Your missing body wouldn't happen to be a guy named George Delaware, would it?"

Benoit looked at his phone in confusion. "How did you find that out?"

"Because his body is on the news right now."

His jaw dropped. "You're kiddin' me."

"Nope. I totally called it. Someone wanted to make a statement."

"How so?"

"His hands are missing and he's hanging from a telephone pole."

Benoit scoffed with bewilderment. "Yep, that is a statement, alright."

Officer Henson and Officer Lopez came walking over. "Detective Blanc, we've got reports of Mr. Delaware's body being found."

Benoit nodded. "I gotta go, chickapen. I'll talk to you later," he said.

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you, too." Benoit hung up and looked at the two cops. "Hangin' from a telephone pole with his hands missin'?"

The cops looked at each other in bewilderment before looking at him. "How'd you know?"

"My girlfriend just saw it on the news. Well, shall we go see this body now?"

Julia pocketed her phone and looked at her parents. "That's a horrible thing to do to someone," Linda commented.

"Yeah. What kind of sick freak does that?" Richard asked rhetorically.

"Someone who wanted to make a statement. This is the case Benoit's working on," Julia pointed out.

Both her parents gaped at her. "You're kidding!" they both exclaimed.

"Nope. Guy's body was replaced with a fake at the funeral home."

Both her parents gasped. "What?" Richard said in astonishment.

"Mm hmm!" Julia said with a tight lifting of her head. "Are you guys cooking dinner? I'm starving."

Julia wandered into the kitchen with Linda and Richard strolling in behind her. "What do you mean his body was replaced with a fake?" Richard asked with wide eyes.

Julia lifted the top off a pot and smelled. "Mmm, are we having spaghetti?"

"Julia!"

Julia arched a brow at her father. "What?"

"What do you mean the body was a fake?"

She looked back down at the sauce, taking the wooden spoon and stirring it. "I dunno. That's just what Benoit told me."

Richard scoffed. "Well, that's just...wow."

Julia took a taste of the sauce from the spoon and groaned. "Oh God, this is good."

Linda came over and lightly smacked Julia's hand before taking the spoon. "You just wait, young lady. Dinner should be ready in five minutes."

Julia pouted at her mother, but she waited. Once dinner was ready, Linda served the spaghetti and garlic bread which Julia immediately chowed down on. She was starving and the food was delicious. So much so that she had seconds. And thirds.

"Wow, you must've been hungry, kiddo," Richard said.

"I was," Julia acknowledged.

"Well, I hope you saved room for some cheesecake," Linda pointed out.

The dinner table was cleared and Linda brought out some cheesecake. Julia cut up a slice and ate some before slapping her belly.

"Oh boy, now I'm stuffed!" she exclaimed.

After dessert, the three people went into the living room to watch tv. As they settled in, the tv went back onto the news about George Delaware and Julia saw cops and Benoit on the scene. This made her grin and she pointed.

"There's my man!" she giggled happily.

Both Richard and Linda laughed. "He really is on the case, huh?" Linda asked.

"Uh huh. He's a good detective."

Two days later...

It was Christmas Eve and Julia was all dressed up in her dark green dress, some makeup and a gold necklace and earrings. She couldn't wait until Benoit got there. She missed him very much. Julia exited her room on her crutches and went to meet everyone in the living room. The party was just about in full swing with some twinkling tree lights and some old school Christmas music playing. Only Walt, Donna, Jacob and Benoit were missing. Julia nestled herself onto the couch after grabbing some egg nog and she took a good drink of it.

God, she loved egg nog.

"Julia, are you going to want some pumpkin pie?" Linda asked as she approached her daughter.

"Sure, but I can get it myself," Julia replied.

"No, I can get it for you."

"You sure?" Julia inquired with a quizzical brow.

"Yes."

"Okay."

Linda walked towards the kitchen as Meg came and plopped down next to Julia on the couch.

"So, how are you feeling these days, Julia?" Meg asked her.

Julia made a thoughtful expression and bobbed her head up and down. "I'm doing better. How are you?"

"I'm good. Marta helped me stay in school so I don't have to worry about dropping out."

"That's great! I knew she'd help you out with that."

"Yeah." Meg smiled at Julia as Julia took another drink of eggnog. "Isn't the detective coming?"

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure he got held up by the winter blizzard we got going on," Julia said, sighing a big huff of air. "Or the case he's been working on. Who knows?"

"Well I hope he makes it."

Linda came over with a slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream on it and Julia's eyes lit up. She happily took the plate, thanked her mother and started gobbling up the food. Meg laughed and Julia eyeballed her.

"What?" Julia asked curiously with a mouth full of pie.

"Just the way you eat. I think it's funny," Meg replied.

Julia rolled her eyes with a giggle. "Yeah yeah, laugh it up, college girl." Julia's phone rang. She saw it was Benoit and she answered it, her mouth still containing food. "Hey babe," she mumbled.

Julia heard a chuckle on his end. "You're eating something, aren't you..."

Julia swallowed and licked her lips. "Yes."

Benoit laughed loudly. "What are you eating?"

"Pumpkin pie."

"Oh, I love pumpkin pie."

Julia pouted. "Why aren't you here yet?"

"This damn storm. I should be there soon, though. I hope. I just stopped for some gas."

Julia smiled. "Well don't drive too fast. I don't want you to get into an accident."

"Oh I'll be alright, I promise. I'll see you soon, chickapen. I love you."

"I love you too, donut. See you soon."

The line hung up and Julia set the phone down. An arched brow and a smirk was on Meg's face. "Did you just call him donut?"

A giggle came out of Julia. "Yeah, it's a long story."

"Well tell me."

Julia sighed, taking another bite of pie. "Okay, well, when Marta was driving to the police station with Benoit and I in the car, the day he solved Granddad's case? He was rambling on about how the case was like a donut because of the hole in the middle. A piece was missing, a donut hole. Anyway, fast forward a bit and we were having a conversation and he said I could very well be his donut hole. The thing he's been missing in his life, I think is what he meant. So now I call him my donut."

Meg awed. "That is so sweet."

Julia lifted a shoulder and grinned. "I know."

The doorbell rang and Julia looked over at the door. "I bet that's Walt and them."

Julia watched her father walk to the entry way and she leaned back on the couch, eating some more pie. "So, do you think Mr. Blanc is the one?" Meg asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Julia nudged her playfully. "Shut up."

"I'm being serious," Meg laughed.

"I dunno, maybe," Julia said, shrugging her shoulders. "He's certainly looking more like it than Charles ever did."

Meg scoffed. "Charles was such a prick."

"He's still a prick. You know he showed up at my house last month while Benoit and I were working on Wrex?"

Meg's jaw dropped. "No!"

"Uh huh. With a bouquet of daisies, no less. Tried to get me to go back to him."

"Well, what did you do?"

Julia chuckled. "Benoit kicked his ass out of the garage."

Meg cackled happily. "Well, serves him right!"

Julia chuckled and finished off the rest of her pie just as Donna came over with a martini in hand. "Hello, girls."

"Hi, Donna," both Julia and Meg said.

Donna took a drink of her martini. "You girls having fun?"

"Yeah, I guess," Meg said with a voice full of boredom.

Donna and Meg got to talking while Julia handed her plate to a caterer and she finished off her egg nog. She then got up and grabbed her crutches before walking to the front door and grabbing her jacket. She put it on, along with one shoe, and opened the front door, walking out onto the front step. It was getting dark and the snow was coming down in huge clumps, the wind occasionally picking up. Julia zipped up her black winter coat and shivered a bit.

After about five minutes, Walt came outside to have a cigar. "Hey there," he said with a smile.

"Hi Walt," Julia said, watching her breath exit her mouth. "What's up?"

"Oh, just having a cigar," he replied. "What are you doing out here?"

"Waiting for Benoit. He should be here soon."

"You're gonna get cold," he said, puffing on his cigar.

"I'll be okay. If I get too cold, I'll go back inside."

Walt nodded and smoked his cigar some more. "So, how have you been? Since the accident, I mean."

"I'm a lot better, thank you for asking."

Walt fidgeted a bit. "So you and Benoit, how are things?"

"Good. How are you and Donna?"

"Good."

The two stood in silence for a few minutes before she saw Benoit's car pull up. Julia almost squealed in delight and started hobbling over with her crutches. He got out of the car, the back trunk opening up as he got to her. She almost jumped into his arms, kissing him deeply. Benoit returned it in kind while hooking his arms around her.

"Miss me?" he asked.

"You know I did," she replied with a smile.

Benoit chuckled. "I missed you too."

He planted another kiss on Julia before letting her go. "You got all the presents?" she asked.

"Yep. They are in the trunk."

"Do you need help?"

Benoit shook his head as he grabbed a box full of presents. "No, I got it."

Benoit shut the trunk and locked his car before the couple started walking. "So how did the case go?"

"Fine. As it turns out, Mr. Delaware stole something from the mob, hence why his hands were chopped off."

Julia shuddered. "Ah, the old "steal something, get your hand cut off" thing. Interesting. But what about the fake body?"

"Oh. He was shot by the mob, then they planned to switch the body at the nursing home so they could recover said stolen item, which was sewn into his skin. But it wasn't even there. The mortician found it and kept it for himself."

Julia raised a brow as they reached the house. "That's...wow."

"I know," Benoit said with a chuckle.

"Well what was stolen?" Julia asked as she opened the door.

"A coin with a bank account number lasered into it. Apparently that bank account has millions of dollars in it."

Julia huffed and shook her head. "Well, shit."

Benoit chuckled again as Julia shut the door. "Exactly."

Richard came around from the kitchen and smiled. "Ah, Benoit. You're here, and I see you brought presents."

"I did. They're from Julia and I," Benoit explained.

"Here, let me get that for you," Richard said, grabbing the box.

"Thank you kindly," Benoit said with a smile before taking off his coat and hanging it up.

He helped Julia out of hers as Richard walked to the living room to put the presents under the tree. Linda peeked out from the kitchen and grinned.

"Hello Benoit, good to see you," she said.

"Good to see you too, Linda," Benoit responded as he slipped off his shoes. Julia tried to get her shoe off but almost fell over in the process. "Here, chickapen," Benoit said, kneeling down and helping her out of the shoe.

"Thank you, Benoit," Julia said with an embarassed grin.

"You're welcome," he replied as he stood back up.

Linda smiled brightly at them both. "The way you dote on her is cute," she observed.

"Mooom..." Julia groaned.

"What? It's true."

Julia rolled her eyes and looked at Benoit. "Have you eaten yet? We're gonna have dinner soon."

"I am famished," Benoit replied.

Julia led Benoit into the living room where everyone else had gathered and they both sat on the loveseat together. Everyone started conversing amongst themselves.

Soon dinner was served and everyone went to the large dining room table to sit and eat. There was ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, a green jello mold and a few other things. Julia did her best not to eat like a pig. Benoit would occasionally look at her with a smirk as if he expected her to do so, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing what he thought was an adorable trait.

"So Benoit, how did that case go? Did you solve it?" Richard asked.

"As a matter of fact, I did," Benoit answered.

"Well, what happened?"

Benoit wiped his mouth with a napkin and cleared his throat. "I'm afraid it wouldn't do well as dinner conversation if I spoke about the case, Richard."

"Oh."

"What case?" Joni asked.

"I had to go to New Jersey to investigate the disappearance of a man," Benoit explained.

"I see." After a few moments, Joni spoke up again. "Did the police ever catch the woman that ran you off the road, Julia?" Joni asked.

"No, she's still at large, unfortunately," Julia replied, sighing a deep sigh.

The rest of the dinner went by smoothly and soon everyone was served pumpkin and apple pie. Julia chose pumpkin as it was her favorite. Once everyone had gobbled up their dessert, it was time for opening up presents. It was family tradition for each person to pick out one present to open. When it got to Julia's turn, she opted for a present from her parents.

Julia ripped open the paper to see a box. When she opened it, she gasped. It was a picture frame, and the picture inside was of herself as an 18-year-old with Commander. Immediately, her eyes welled up with tears.

"Oh, you guys," she sniffled. "Thank you."

Suddenly the door bell rang and Richard got up. "Huh, wonder who that could be?" he asked, walking towards the door.

Julia wiped her eyes and chuckled as Benoit rubbed her back. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just a very wonderful gift. I-"

"What in the hell?!" Richard yelled.

Everyone looked in the direction of the front door and a scuffle occurred between Richard and another man. Julia instantly recognized him as Mr. Heller. And there was a red headed woman behind him. It was Emily.

And they both had guns.

Mr. Heller aimed his gun at Richard as people screamed. "Move," he snarled at Julia's dad.

Richard, with his hands up, moved back into the living room. Emily came in with a handgun as well, aiming it around the room. Benoit immediately stood up with a glare on his face.

"What the hell are you doin', Emily?!" he barked.

Emily aimed the gun at Julia. "I'm here to kidnap your girlfriend, of course."