Epilogue:

Julia held her own in the interview with Newcastle's constabulary. "No, Detective. I merely preserved the remains and secured any evidence with the help of Detective Murdoch. And I have no official conclusions about Mr. Wilmont's death or the body found near the family cemetery. And yes, I was a witness to Mr. Harvey's death, which appeared to me to have been an accident. Mr. Harvey explained he was trying to repair the balustrade, which he fell against when the dog jumped at him. It just gave way."

She explained her statement to William as they packed the last trunk.

"I must say, I'm rather thankful that they found it incredulous that a woman was a coroner and they were not at all interested in my thoughts on the matter," Julia told him as they sat on the bed, chores complete. "For once, I'm quite happy that they're not taking me seriously," Julia shrugged, smiling up at William.

"Don't feel too bad. They did not take me very seriously either.

I'm sorry that I dragged you all the way out here for this, William. I was hoping for some fun and excitement, but nothing of this magnitude," she wryly stated.

"I can't say that I enjoyed myself very much, but I am quite relieved that I was here with you. I shudder to think what may have happened had I not been," William commented. "Not that you're helpless, of course," he quickly added upon seeing her face.

Laughing, Julia shook her head before stealing a quick kiss. "While I'm quite certain that I would have found a way to prevail, I'm thankful that I had you here looking out for me. Well, that, and keeping me entertained at night," she giggled before remembering herself. "Poor Caroline. She finally got the resolution she's been waiting for all these years, but who knows whether or not it will truly set her free. At least she knows he didn't leave her willingly, but I cannot imagine that knowing he was killed by a friend is much of a consolation," she cringed, shaking her head at this last part.

"Julia, I am not sure we can truthfully know who killed Peter Thayer or his manner of death. We only had Donald Harvey's word that Samuel was responsible for the events which led to Mr. Thayer's death, if indeed that is who is buried out there. We also only had Mr. Harvey's word Samuel was distraught enough over the corpse to end his own life rather than deal with the consequences. For good or ill, his statements to us are now hearsay."

"It is enough to begin an investigation…at least for Detective Murdoch, is it not?" Julia knew her husband.

William silently agreed, and shrugged. "Apparently, Peter Thayer has no remaining family. Caroline Balfour, on the other hand may wish to have the record set straight, and I have left our contact information with her should she need anything from either of us. Miss Balfour and the Wilmont sisters have remained civil for far; remarkable, really."

"Do you think so? I like to think is it because we were so close, a bond forged under difficult times, stronger than family. It is hardly Thelma or Daphne's fault and I doubt that Donald Harvey's version of events is truthful—I think we all believe it was a stupid accident which Donald and Samuel covered up—probably for Donald's sake. I assume it also helps that Caroline has Clint Harrington now."

"I fear that Mr. Wilmont's reputation, and that of his family will be destroyed, even if the outcome is inconclusive. I am sorry."

Julia grimaced, shaking her head. "However, the police in smaller locales as this aren't quite as thorough as the Toronto Constabulary. Given the wealth and influence of the Wilmont family, they may be willing to let it go without further comment. I don't know if I have a problem with that, as what good does launching a murder investigation involving two dead suspects accomplish? It seems to me that it would only hurt the surviving family members."

William shrugged. He didn't like it, but he couldn't argue with her statement either. Besides, it's not your murder investigation to lead.

Sensing his unease, she placed her hand upon his thigh and gave it a light squeeze. "Are you as satisfied as I am that Donald's death was an accident?" she wondered.

William hesitated. Was there any proof Dorcas Harvey deliberately aimed that massive dog at her husband as if it was a cannon? "Skidoo knocked over enough people already this weekend, so does that explain it as an accident." ….Or does it lead one to believe that knowledge was deliberately used?" he asked himself. He said only: "I am glad I am not heading up the investigation."

Julia could not agree more. "All of this tragedy… all because of poisonous secrets and the lengths people will go to keep them. I am most relieved that we have no secrets from one another, William. However painful it was when we had to have it out with one another," snuggling into his side.

Wincing inwardly, William thought back again to the time of Julia's first wedding and the dark place he'd inhabited. As loathe as he was to have any secrets from his wife, he failed to see how informing her of such events would be of any benefit to either of them. He'd long ago confessed his sinful deeds to his priest and that would have to suffice.

However, there is one secret that I should share… "So about secrets, Julia. I've been reluctant to tell you, but since we're sharing, I must tell you about your friend Philomena. It seems I may have unwittingly encouraged her… attentions, shall we say," he confessed, scrunching up his face as he did so.

"Oh, isn't it marvelous how devoted she is to Marcus. I hope you haven't done anything to imperil that, William," Julia commented with a perfectly straight face.

"I… uh…" William was flummoxed and unsure of what to say until his wife's laughter broke the tension. "Of course, you were joking," he nervously laughed himself.

"So she made her interest in you known, did she? I'm not at all surprised, and I was expecting it even. I did tell you that while we are friends, we have always been very competitive with one another. Besides, Phil has always enjoyed a fine male physique such as you yourself possess, We used to joke that she set out to devour them as one might with a steak. Like a lioness, she is a man-eater, you might say," she laughed, squeezing his thigh again.

"You knew?" William was shocked.

"I certainly suspected. In truth, I would have been surprised if she hadn't tried anything. I can see where a man, any man, may be afraid to speak up about unwanted sexual advances, especially if the perpetrator is someone like Phil. Who would believe him? It would be humiliating, eh?"

William had not thought about it in just that way until she brought it up. It did not feel good to do so now.

"But I wasn't worried, William. I know you, and even though Donald Harvey sought to undermine me by making me think that you were enjoying a dalliance with her, I knew you would never do such a thing."

"He knew?" William's jaw dropped again.

"Oh William, everyone knew. That's who Phil is, and I doubt she'll ever change. I'm sure there are some who may have thought that you did rendezvous with her, but I don't care what they think, because I know the truth."

William's face flared red. "I should have said something earlier, but I wasn't sure how you'd take it," he admitted.

Nodding her head, she clasped his hand in hers. "That's been something of a theme for this weekend, hasn't it?" she asked.

"Yes, I suppose it has. I'm thankful that it didn't cause any problems between us." He squeezed her hand back.

"I've been thinking about how hard it is to break the silence. Consider Donald Harvey for that matter. I should have been braver and said something about him earlier. If I had, perhaps he would have been banished from the group years ago, and all of this mess may even have been avoided," she posited.

"No Julia. I know you are the psychologist here, but I have listened to your counsel in the past. It is just like the victims of abuse to believe they are at fault. You are not at fault for what transpired here. It wasn't safe for you to come out with that information, and though you'd done nothing wrong, the time was not right for you to come forward. You were silent because you had to be, not through cowardice."

"Perhaps…" she trailed off. "But enough about secrets. That the end of this. Take me home now, please."

Home. Two rooms and a bath in a hotel. He thought about how that all might change if, when, Julia becomes pregnant and presents him with a child. He looked out the window, considering the grand property surrounding them at the moment then let his gaze rest on Julia.

"Yes. The end." He pulled her closely, contentedly enveloping her in an embrace.

Sheis home. "Of course, Mrs. Murdoch."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

…later on the train….

"So, William. I am thinking Montreal."

William had been lulled into a restful state by the movement of the train carriage. He unstuck his eyes. "Humm..?"

"You promised me, we will take a weekend anywhere I like. All of this reunion business has me missing Montreal. I think another train trip is in order…"

William's brain tried to grasp the logical argument against that…the promise was to make up for not going with her to Newcastle. To have more time away from work was going to be impossible. He made his vision sharpen on his wife, her teasing face, his pendant at her throat.

Nothing is impossible.

"Montreal is lovely in Spring…."

-END-

Authors' Note: Thank you "Dutch" for the beta read. Thank you to "Big Red" for helping out with E.

We 'borrowed' our story concept from another genre (in our defense-just like MM does.) We promise to send it, and it's thinly-disguised characters back, now that we are done with it/them. All 'original' characters are fictional and any resemblance to any persons living or dead is pure coincidence and evidence of lack of imagination on our parts. Maureen Jennings and the MM show writers are such good sports for letting us play with their creations (of course their generosity might have something to do with complete ignorance about what we have been up to…shhhh –don't tell!)

Did you guess what 60's animated mystery this fic was an homage to? We hope you enjoyed it!

Some historical factoids (the internet is a wonderful thing!) To wit: Newcastle was indeed the Salmon Capital of Lake Ontario for a hot minute. Wiki saysSamuel Wilmotbecame interested in the salmon as early as 1860 and built a "fish hatchery" at Newcastle - one of the world's first. Wilmot would eventually become head of fisheries for Canada, and in the 1890s he was running a small generating station which supplied Newcastle with its first electrical power - from sunset until about 12:00 midnight. There is a spit of land sandwiched between the Wilmot Creek and Lake Ontario that we chose on which to put our fictional estate.

If anyone out there is willing to be our research buddy (as in when you read this you go: Ooh! Uff! Yikes! Like you are walking barefoot over glass when you see errors) please PM – we are all ears.