Chapter Eleven – Jordan's Paintings
For quite a long while, nobody spoke.
Jordan stood frozen to the spot, her face a mask that displayed no emotion. After what seemed to be an eternity, she drew a breath and said, "I call it Relief. The second picture, I mean."
"I see," said Lilly. "Natalya's death really was a relief for you, wasn't it? She was the only thing that stood between you and Gabriel."
"Everyone knew I was mad about him." Jordan looked at the pictures. "She knew it, too, and still she let this happen. I'm not naïve; I know that Gabe was probably the one who started it. Natalya would've been way too shy. I can't even hate her for that. But it all came down to her or Gabe, and I couldn't very well kill the man I loved so deeply now, couldn't I?"
"No, you couldn't," Lilly said. "You preferred to kill Natalya."
"I had no other choice." Jordan's voice was calm. "Gabe was in a serious conflict. He's not a bad guy, Detective. He only wanted to have some fun, but then she got pregnant, and Gabe thought now everything was over. He would have to marry her – for the sake of a child he never wanted. She couldn't have kept it secret for much longer. Jamie had covered for him up to then – I suppose you know that he made everyone believe that it was him, not Gabe, who had the affair with Natalya. But Jamie wouldn't have married her. So I had to do something. I couldn't let Gabriel get into this. He loved me, not Natalya. And once she was dead, Gabriel could return to me."
"He wanted to return to you, anyway." Lilly looked at Jordan. "He had asked Jamie to take Natalya away that night. Jamie waited for hours, but Natalya never turned up, so he thought Gabriel had killed her. That's why he left, Jordan. That's why he could no longer stand to see his little brother, whom he thought to be a killer."
Jordan looked at Lilly for a long time. Different emotions were flickering through her eyes, but when she spoke, her voice still sounded even. "Well, that changes a lot," she said simply.
Lilly nodded. "It does," she agreed. "You committed the crime for nothing, Jordan. If only you had waited one more day, then you would've learned the truth. Jamie had found a solution for the whole problem, but you spoiled his plans."
"Nothing comes from violence, and nothing ever could," Jordan quoted silently. "I was young, Detective. I was young and frustrated and angry, and I was literally madly in love. I didn't see another way out of this dilemma. Not back then."
"But didn't Gabriel tell you about what he ad Jamie had planned?" Lilly asked.
"I refused to talk about Natalya," Jordan replied. "Whenever Gabriel mentioned her name, I'd stop listening. Maybe he tried to tell me…"
"You should've listened better, Jordan," Lilly said sadly.
"She never suspected a thing," Jordan said. "I was always nice to her. She was so harmless… Back then, I tried to hate her, and I couldn't. But I didn't feel any sympathy for her, either."
"You used one of the pictures, didn't you?" said Lilly. "When you saw her, you asked her to come in, and while you told her that you knew about her and Gabriel, you took the picture that was already framed and hit her over the head with it. We found out that the skull was indented at the left temple. She must have died instantly."
"I couldn't believe how easy that was." Jordan's gaze lingered on The Tempest-Tossed. "One moment she was alive, and in the next moment, she lay on the ground with that funny little wound in her head. I hid her behind my painting tools, and when everyone was asleep, I buried her. Then I put my bike in the trunk of the Jarvis's car and drove a few miles into the forest. There I hid the car, took my bike to get back home, and a few days later I took the car to Philly, just like you said."
"And the money?"
"I didn't take any money." Jordan looked at Lilly. "Believe me, I didn't take the money. I didn't even think of money. I just wanted to cause the impression that Natalya had run off with the car. I didn't even know where Diane kept the money; I only learned a few days later, when Diane discovered that the money in question was gone."
Lilly looked at Jordan a moment longer, but she saw no lie in the woman's eyes. Jordan was telling the truth. But who took the money? Lilly wondered. She had always assumed that the killer had taken the money as well, but Jordan denied it. And why would she lie about the money? It did not change anything to the facts. It would certainly have no effect on the sentence.
Lilly decided to deal with the problem later.
"Why did you manipulate our brakes?" she asked.
Jordan sighed. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I was out of my mind. You see, you had just arrested my husband, and I was the only one who knew for sure that he was innocent, but I couldn't tell you the truth. I just felt like I had to do something. Anything. Manipulating your brakes was a childish idea. I guess I just wanted to draw attention to the fact that Gabriel couldn't have done it, because he was already in custody…" Jordan shook her head. "I don't know, Detective Rush. But I'm glad that nothing happened to you. Really. I never wanted you or your partner to get hurt."
Lilly suppressed a sarcastic answer, because she felt that Jordan was telling the truth. Instead, she sighed.
"You know what happens next, do you?" she said.
"I do," said Jordan, "and I'm ready."
Lilly swallowed. This was going to be very hard for her. "Jordan Jarvis," she said, "you are arrested on the charge of murder. You have the right to remain silent…"
XXX
"Unbelievable," said Chris. "Lil, you're a genius."
"I'm not," Lilly objected. "I just…"
"You suspected Jordan because of a painting," Chris pointed out. "I'd never have thought of that."
"Well," Lilly murmured, "it wasn't so hard, after all."
Chris looked at her. "Lilly, what's wrong?" he asked. "You look so gloomy."
"I'm sad," Lilly admitted. "I had started to like them. Jordan Jarvis is an impressive woman."
"She's got character," Chris agreed. "She knows what she did, and she's ready to suffer the consequences."
"Poor Alex," said Lilly. "First his father is arrested, then he's released, and next thing you know his mother's put in jail. I don't wanna be in his place."
"Neither do I."
"Do you think the lab's gonna find traces of blood on the picture?" Lilly asked.
Chris shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "It would be useful for the trial. I mean, it's very rare that we can actually provide some physical evidence."
"Jordan won't revoke her confession," Lilly said. "I'm positive about that."
"Me, too." Chris fell silent.
They looked down the street without saying a word.
After a while, Gabriel Jarvis emerged from his house, spotted the detectives, and came towards them.
"Detectives?"
Lilly turned around. She half expected Gabriel to scream and shout, or to tell her to go to hell, but the writer smiled. Sadly, though, but he smiled, and there was no reproach in his glance.
"I just…" he said, trailed off, cleared his throat, and spoke again. "I just wanted to tell you that… that I'm not angry with you." He blushed. "You arrested my wife, and perhaps you think that I'm mad at you. But I'm not. And I don't think that Jordan is."
Lilly did not speak.
"She may even be relieved," Gabriel continued. "She carried this secret around for more than thirty years. Yes, maybe she feels relieved." He paused and shook his head. "Jordan," he murmured. "And I thought all the time that Jamie had taken her away."
"Really, Gabriel?" Lilly asked.
Gabriel stared at her. "What do you mean?"
"Did you really believe that Jamie took her away?" Lilly asked. "I mean, were you absolutely convinced?"
Gabriel did not reply.
"I'm not saying that you knew what Jordan had done," Lilly continued, "but I believe that you knew deep inside that something had gone wrong. You never talked to Jamie about your plan, and how good it worked."
"Jamie didn't," Gabriel corrected. "Whenever I wanted to ask him about that night, he'd just look at me in this odd way and say, 'It's over, Gabe. Don't waste any time thinking about it.' And so I stopped asking."
"You know why."
"He thought I did it," Gabriel said silently.
"Why did you take the money?" Lilly asked casually.
"Because…" Gabriel trailed of and looked at Lilly, alerted, but she just calmly met his gaze.
"Jordan said she didn't take the money, and Jamie wasn't there." Lilly kept looking at Gabriel. "You took the money, didn't you? Why?"
Gabriel sighed. "I don't know," he admitted. "I guess I just wanted to support the theory that Natalya had run off. If she took the car, she could've taken the money as well."
"Yeah, but why? Everyone believed this theory even before your mother discovered the money was gone."
"I don't know!" Gabriel shouted. "Okay? I just thought it was a good idea."
"Uh-huh." Lilly did not ask any further questions, and Gabriel calmed down again.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to shout. It's just… my nerves, you know…"
"It's alright," said Chris. "Your wife's just been arrested; you have every right to be unnerved."
"A propos of Jordan," Gabe said to Lilly, "I've got something for you."
"What?" Lilly stared at him. "For me?"
Gabriel nodded. "Would you care to come over for a sec? It won't take long."
After casting Chris a questioning glance, Lilly followed Gabriel to the Jarvis house. Gabriel opened the door, stepped aside to let her pass, and followed her to the living room.
As soon as Lilly had entered the room, she noticed a change: The two painting had been taken off the wall. A pang of regret shot through her body. The wall looked so pale and empty without the pictures…
"Why did you take them off?" she asked Gabriel.
He smiled faintly. "They only remind me of her," he said. "They remind me of the whole story, and of what she did. I used to love them, but now I can't stand them."
"What are you going to do with them?" Lilly hardly dared to ask the question.
"That's why you're here," said Gabriel. "I think Jordan would like you to have them."
Lilly stared at Gabriel and then at the empty spots on the wall. "Me? But why?"
"Jordan is a real artist," Gabriel said. "I think she would like you to have them because you were the first person ever who really understood what the pictures were about. You understood her art. She respects that."
"I sent her to prison!"
"That doesn't matter," said Gabriel. "Jordan told me, before she was arrested, that she's glad to have met you. And in a way, she's also glad to no longer bear this secret. Never before could she talk about these two pictures the way she wanted to, because she always had to make sure not to give herself away. Now she can. And that's why I'm giving the pictures to you."
"I don't know what to say," said Lilly.
Gabriel smirked. "Well, 'thank you' would be a good choice," he suggested.