A Good Time Had By None

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Chapter 22

In the darkness of her room, Amanda felt the presence of someone in her room.

"Leeeee!" Amanda screamed out as she realized the shadow was holding a taser that was headed straight towards her.

So Amanda instinctively threw the bedcovers over the assailant. The blue light of the taser could be seen through the sheets as a surprised female scream could be heard.

Then out of nowhere Lee came crashing through her bedroom door and tackled the dark figure, knocking over whoever it was to the floor, bedsheets and all. Because of the darkness, Amanda could not make head nor tails of either struggling shadow.

Wanting to help, however, she grabbed her book off the nightstand and brought it crashing down on the fighting bodies.

"Ow!" Lee yelled out in the darkness.

"Oh gosh, sorry!" Amanda apologized.

She scrambled around the combative bodies and flipped the switch on. Light flooded the room too quickly and Lee had to squint a bit until his eyes adjusted. Straddling the struggling form, he quickly threw the covers off the person and Amanda gasped.

The assailant was Liz!

And then everything happened so quickly.

Bzzzzzzzz!

"Yeow!" Lee yelled out as she tasered him on his right side. He tumbled backward off of her, his body twitching on the ground. Liz aggressively straightened up to her knees, with the taser's menacing blue vibrating light headed towards an already pained Lee again.

But Amanda was ready and surprised Liz by kicking the taser from her hand. It crashed hard on the floor and the delicate light was broken. Liz was like a madwoman as she screamed and came after Amanda.

Amanda wisely stepped aside, causing Liz to fall as she grabbed empty air. Then Amanda purposely jumped on Liz's back. But Liz's adrenaline and anger was too much as she threw Amanda off, causing her to tumble right onto Lee.

"Ooomf! A-man-da!" he yelled in frustration as she toppled over and landed on him.

"Sorry again, Lee!" Amanda yelled out, trying to roll off of him quickly, as his twitching stopped.

But instead of resting from the tiring ordeal, he used sheer willpower to go after Liz. He threw her back on the floor, but she would not give up. She began kicking and hitting and biting him.

"I've had enough of this!" Lee at last yelled out.

His hand formed into a fist and POW! He decked Liz across the jaw, knocking her unconscious. Amanda was stunned. She had never seen Lee hit a woman before, but she was glad for it.

Lee drew out a tired breath as he tiredly sat down on the floor.

By now, the commotion had awakened everyone on the second floor and Deidre and Daniel came running, with Olivia trailing behind them. They stopped at the doorway, staring at the sight of a disheveled Lee, a rumbled Amanda, and an unconscious Liz.

"My God! What happened?" Deidre asked.

"Call 911!" Lee shouted out, "and the police as well!"

Matriarch Olivia looked upset, "Is it really necessary we contact the authorities, Lee? Perhaps we could handle it ourselves, for it would surely cause a scandal to the fami-"

"-Stop that! It's necessary we call them!" interrupted Amanda, as she turned towards Deidre, "Go! And hurry!"

Deidre quickly turned and raced down the hallway.

"Well! I never!" stated an offended Olivia.

But Amanda didn't notice as she was busily helping get Lee up to a standing position.

"Ow!" Lee winced as he held onto the side that had been tasered.

"Oops, sorry again for the third time," she apologized.

"Amanda," Lee groaned, "the next time you want to help me...force yourself not to."

She smiled and tried to make light of his pain.

"Don't be such a baby, Lee! You were tasered for no more than a couple of seconds," she teased, "although I think I've actually seen a fish flopping out of water less than you just did!"

He looked at her sideways, "Ha ha. You've ever been tasered, Amanda? It's like getting a jackhammer rammed into your nervous system!"

"I would think someone like you would be used to pain," Amanda pointed out, not wanting to baby him.

"I am, but my body's not!" he claimed.

She looked at him with grateful eyes, "Thank you, Lee, for being my hero."

And although he grimaced, he was touched, "Yeah, sure. And I didn't even have my cape on this time!"

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Luckily they didn't have to wait long for help to arrive since Scarsdale had its own police and ambulance services. Already, they could hear the sirens in the distance.

Meanwhile, a frantic Daniel had bent down to examine his unconscious wife.

"Don't touch her!" Lee warned him.

Daniel looked disgustedly at Lee, "What did you do to her?"

"What did I do to her?" Lee asked, as pain shot through his arm, "Your wife attacked Amanda with a taser! And then she did the same to me!"

"No! Liz wouldn't do that!" Daniel argued.

"So NOW you think she's all sweet and wonderful?" Lee asked, "because killers usually aren't!"

Daniel narrowed his eyes, "Are you implying that Liz killed Eunice?"

"It's pretty obvious, isn't it?" Lee asked, pointing downward at the fallen taser near Liz's body.

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Soon the ambulance and police arrived at the Estate. The entire family went outside while Olivia used all her influence to make sure the police kept reporters and nosy neighbors away.

Lee's wound was superficial, so the EMT people merely cleaned up the puncture wound, applied a cooling pad to it, and then gave him some aspirin.

As Liz was loaded onto the gurney, she slowly roused awake. When she did, she looked over and realized she had been handcuffed to the gurney

"Daniel!" she yelled out, "Daniel!

He was already by her side, "I'm here, Liz."

She grasped him by her free hand, "Daniel, help me get me out of here!" she told him, "I didn't do anything!"

"It's okay, Liz," he soothingly stated, "we're going to let the authorities handle this and then we'll get the best attorneys for you as well."

She no longer looked scared but angry, "Damn the authorities and lawyers!" she yelled out, yanking hard on the handcuffs, "I want out of this NOW!"

"Liz, calm down! Don't make a spectacle of yourself! I'll talk with Mother and everything will be okay!"

His reassurance didn't soothe Liz, "Easy for you to say! You're not handcuffed to a contraption, ready to be taken away! You need to do something NOW! Step up like a man, instead of relying on your family's help! As usual, you are useless to me!"

He released himself from her grip and coolly stated, "Then useless I shall continue to be, my dear. You are on your own, Liz."

Liz's eyes widened in surprise, "What? What nonsense are you spewing? I'm your wife, Daniel! Despite all our problems, you love me!"

Daniel gave her a pitiful look, "I do love you in my own way, Liz, but Mother was right. You were never good enough to be a Wellington. Goodbye."

He nodded to the EMT's to wheel her into the ambulance van.

"NO! Daniel, wait!" she yelled out with a bit of regret in her tone, "It's not what you think! I didn't-"

But her ranting was cut short when they shut the back doors of the vehicle.

The rest of the early morning seemed like a blur. The officers who were not busy controlling the media and crowd, took pictures, bagged evidence, and interviewed Lee and Amanda separately. At last, they were finished and the police and ambulance drove away.

When Lee and Amanda were walking back to the house, Amanda wondered out loud "One thing I don't get, Lee."

"What's that?" he asked.

"Did Liz really want to kill me just because I was going to expose that she had lied about losing an engagement ring so she could replace it with a bigger ring? That seemed like such a small reason to kill."

"People have killed for less, Amanda."

"But it doesn't make sense," Amanda stated, "and if it doesn't make sense, I don't think it could happen that way."

"Maybe you're just overthinking everything," Lee suggested, "let the authorities figure it all out. For us, the case is closed. Give your mind some rest, Amanda."

She shrugged, "I suppose."

Isabella the maid had opened the door to allow Lee and Amanda in.

"Would you two like something to drink? To eat?" Isabella asked as they walked in, "I could fix something for you."

"No, thank you, Isabella," Amanda tiredly responded back, "we just want to go upstairs and pack."

"So Missus Amanda, Mister Lee, you two are leaving now?"

"As fast as we can," Lee stated, as he headed up the stairs.

Amanda was following him, when she suddenly stopped and whirled around.

OhMyGoshOhMyGoshOhMyGosh!

She rushed downstairs to face Isabella again.

"Isabella! What did you just call me?"

Isabella looked taken aback by that question. She then frighteningly leaned over and said in a quiet voice, "I call you 'Missus Amanda', ma'am. Did I say wrong?"

"No, no, not at all!" Amanda excitedly stated as her mind was going a mile a minute, "Lee!"

Lee turned back around, "What? What is it?"

"I know the real reason why Liz killed Eunice the maid, and it wasn't over a lie about a lost ring!"

He quickly descended the stairs to join Amanda and the maid.

"You figured it out just now?"

"Yes, and it's thanks to Isabella."

"Me?" Isabella questioned. She looked slightly uncertain, "I hope it is a good thing I do, yes?"

"Yes, it is," Amanda nodded and then explained, "You see, Isabella, you had called me "Missus Amanda" and I remembered that you had previously called Liz, "Missus Lizbeth", and that got me thinking that 'Lizbeth' is short for 'Elizabeth'! Now, Lee, remember the stack of horse-racing receipts we found in Eunice's steel box?"

Lee snapped his fingers, "Of course! I get it!" he exclaimed, as his eyes brighten with excitement, "The post-it sticker on top stated that they were "E's receipts". We just assumed they belong to Eunice, but it could have just as well belonged to 'Elizabeth'! It was Liz who had the gambling problem, not Eunice the maid!"

He seemed pleased that he figured it out.

"Yes, and a gambling addiction is definitely something that could destroy a marriage," Amanda continued on, "so when I announced that I was going to reveal everyone's secret to the authorities, Liz probably panicked about Daniel and everyone else finding about her gambling debts, and that's why she came after me!"

"Oh, Missus Amanda! That's horrible of Missus Lizbeth!" a wide-eyed Isabella exclaimed.

Amanda nodded, "Yes, it is, but it's done and over with."

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Upstairs, Amanda was packing her things in the suitcase. It had been quite an adventure, one she never envisioned. She wondered if her relationship with Lee would change once they got back to Washington DC.

KNOCK!KNOCK!

"Amanda! Are you in there?" the voice of Olivia could be heard through the door.

Amanda sighed. The last person she wanted to see was Olivia. But she was never one to be rude.

"Come on in, Olivia," Amanda stated, as she folded and packed away one of her cardigans.

Olivia entered.

"Leaving so soon, Dear?" she asked, as she carefully eyed Amanda, making her feel nervous.

"Oh, welllll…. there's no need to stay longer, is there?" Amanda casually responded back, "although, I do want to thank you for your warm hospitality."

Amanda couldn't believe she said 'warm hospitality' with a straight face.

"You need to stay a bit longer."

Olivia stated it like a command.

But that was the very last thing Amanda wanted to do.

"That is very kind of you, Olivia, but-"

"-kindness has nothing to do with it, my dear. I need to have a word with you. A private chat, so to speak. Alone."

Amanda paused with her packing to look over at Olivia.

"Olivia, I know we didn't get to talk much this weekend due to family...problems... " Amanda diplomatically stated, "but I think I've already worn out my welcome. Besides, I'm anxious to get back to my own family. In addition to that, Lee is probably waiting downstairs so that we can drive back together and-"

"-No, he's not," Olivia confidently stated.

Amanda tilted her head, "He's not downstairs? Why's that?"

"The Police Captain had just called him to come down to headquarters to sign a formal statement. I told Lee I will let you know that he will be back in less than an hour, so that should give us enough time for our little chat."

Amanda tried to appear accommodating, "Oh I see...so, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Olivia proudly lifted her head, "It's about my son, Dean."

Amanda couldn't hide her surprise, "Dean? You do know it's over between us, right?"

"Yes, yes, Dean made it quite clear," Olivia snapped back, "however, there is something else you should know about him."

Amanda knew she didn't want to know, "I'm sorry and I don't want appear rude, Olivia. But what Dean does from now until forever has nothing to do with me!"

"Not true, Amanda, dear. There is something you don't know about him. And you'll want to hear this, because this involve you," Olivia opaquely stated, "In fact, this knowledge will change your life!"

Amanda momentarily shut her eyes in preparation to whatever this new information might be and then opened her eyes again.

"Alright. What is it?"

"Oh, not here, dear," Olivia mysteriously stated, "It's quite a complicated and personal matter, you see. I was thinking perhaps we could meet in the backyard Gazebo in about 10 minutes. I'll have tea and finger sandwiches set up out there for us. Will that suit you?"

"I don't know-"

"Of course you will be there, dear," Olivia insisted, "and I won't take 'no' for an answer!"

It was obvious that Olivia was used to getting her way. And despite Amanda wanting to get away as quickly as possible, she had no way of leaving the estate on her own. Besides, her curiosity got the better of her.

"I suppose that will be fine, Olivia, however... I won't be staying very long!"

Olivia had a self-satisfied smile, "Oh, this won't take long at all, dear. And it will be worth your while. So in ten minutes then. And be prompt. I don't like to be kept waiting!"

And with everything set to her satisfaction, Olivia briskly turned and walked away.

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