CHAPTER 8:
Julia slowly dried her tears. She had to get up and find an exit. Otherwise, Bertha's death would have been for nothing. All those people, all of her people that she had spent so much of her life with would have died for nothing. She had to get out of this, at least to let the world know what had happened here. These men had to be punished!
She stood up and looked around her again, her eyes still a little blurry from the previous tears that had rolled down her now rosy cheeks.
There was only one door in this room which most likely led to the main hallway. She walked over to it and reached for the handle. She grabbed it and put her ear to the door. She tried to listen and pick up even the smallest suspicious noise, but nothing. She opened the door as gently and silently as possible and peered through the crack. This was indeed the main hallway, just as dark as the rest of the house. She saw a door directly in front of the bedroom and rushed through it. She opened it slowly again and found a bathroom in which there was no other door. She was about to close it to head somewhere else when out of the corner of her eye she saw an open window. She froze. An open window! Output!
The young woman finally walked through the bathroom door and closed it behind her. She almost ran to the half-open window from which the cool night wind was blowing. She opened it wide and closed her eyes as the breeze brushed her face. She took a deep, hopeful breath and looked down. It was extremely high. But it was her only chance to get out of the mansion. Better to break a leg than die here. There was a multitude of bushes under the window. Maybe that would prevent any wound?
Julia stared at the bushes, which moved slightly with the wind blowing through them. She was so close to getting out of it. He just had to jump.
The young woman stepped back and replaced the window exactly the way it was when she saw it. She left it ajar for fear that a system would block it when it was closed manually and turned around. She could not leave William here. She absolutely had to go find him. She would not leave without him. She would never leave without him...
William was still sitting on the ground in front of a completely extinct Alfredo Villari. He was still sitting, too, on the sofa opposite the young man.
"I ran into Doctor Ogden." William suddenly declared in a whisper.
Alfredo looked up at William, surprised.
"I hope she's okay... This little..." Alfredo sniffled wryly. "That little… She's not little anymore… She's been a woman for a while now. But for me, I still see her as when she was little, when she came with her father and her mother to these receptions. They were so proud of her, her parents, you know. She was devastated when they died…"
William lowered his head in turn devastated to know that Julia had lost her parents.
"She is incredible this woman… She must get out of it. Toronto needs her."
The young detective could only nod, completely in agreement. A long silence fell again in the room. Suddenly, a dull noise sounded in the hallway and William and Alfredo jumped violently.
The young man got up in one go and looked around for hiding places. William saw only one possible place to hide and looked at Alfredo who seemed frozen in fear. He tugged on his arms to make him stand up.
"Go on! Stand up! Hurry up. You must hide here." said William frantically, pointing to a fireplace that also sat enthroned in the room. There should logically also be a cavity to hide Alfredo in.
William rushed there, still pulling Villari's arms for him to follow. They both heard another thud in the hallway and footsteps approaching. Detective Murdoch panicked and felt Villari's fear wash over him. He forced him down and pushed him into the fireplace, as he had done earlier with Julia in the library.
"There is a cavity to the right?" William asked urgently.
"Yes..."
"Slip in!"
Alfredo complied and William was satisfied that he could no longer see him.
"Stay here and don't make a sound until I come back for you."
"Where are you going to hide?!" Alfredo panicked, realizing that no other hiding place existed in this room.
"Do not worry." simply concluded William before heading to the Blackjack table, still in the darkness of the room. He had no choice; he was just going to hide behind the table in this small room. And if the man came in and decided to light up, he would be dead, that was certain. He just had to hope.
Note: William is completely in danger… Thanks to those who always read my story!