CHAPTER 21

Alas, one the fifth day, Alice got a call from Alfred.

There was another murder.

It was a woman who had just come back from her business trip in Greece. Her innards were scattered everywhere in her office, with the letter 'V' painted on her head with her own blood. Her name was Vanessa Lorelei. She was a prominent CEO of an automobile manufacturing company and a mother of three. She had no connection to the Fox and Goblin, but she had green eyes and greying blonde hair.

Alice didn't want to think about it, but she couldn't help it.

All the victims had had green eyes and blonde hair. Were all these killings a way to contact her? By the same person who had killed Johnny and given her those letters, presumably. Alice felt the chilling river of fear flow through her.

Would she be next?

Alice and Francis were on their way to see the family, since Alfred had gotten friends and business partners.

Honestly, Alice would've traded nearly anything to be in Alfred's position instead. She hated going to the families. The trip was always full of crying and wailing, and there was nothing she could say to help console them. It reminded her too much of when her father had died. He had died from old age, living to a ripe age of eighty-two. They'd known for a while that he was going to die, but it didn't help matters once he'd left.

The little blue cottage sat in a small yard, surrounded by flowers. It looked so small and happy, even though it was surrounded in nasty, smog filled London. It looked as though it had been pulled out of a story book.

Vanessa's mother's house. Vanessa wasn't married, so her children stayed with their grandmother while she was away in Greece.

Alice took a deep breath, glancing at Francis. "You don't have to come in if you don't want to. I understand."

"Non," Francis sighed, looking at the house. "I'll help you."

She was too grateful to argue. Alice knocked on the cottage door, trying to ignore the knot that was curling in her chest. An old woman answered. She looked frail, tiny even, in her big flower-patterned gown. "Chelsea Lorelei?" Alice asked.

"Yes? How can I help you?" She responded, glancing between Alice and Francis.

"I'm Detective Kirkland, and this is my partner, Francis Bonnefoy. May we come in? We'd like to talk to you about your daughter, Vanessa Lorelei."

Even the inside of the cottage was small and filled with adorable trinkets. The gold and copper gears in the clock creaked and groaned heavily. A fat, dark brown cat sat in the corner, eyeing the two with yellow eyes. Alice didn't notice the metal legs on Chelsea until she started walking.

She felt her mood dampen even more than you thought it could. Her family couldn't afford legs for Dylan, otherwise he might still have been working. Family… Alice tried to call home a few times every day for the past four days, but still nothing.

She assumed that they just ignoring her, or too busy celebrating their newfound freedom by drinking their liver away in some godforsaken pub with cheap alcohol.

Had Alice really been that much of a burden? Ever since she came back from her travels in Europe, she's tried to do the best she could for them. Alice worked long hours to pay for the food, the bills and Patrick's blacksmith lessons… But she was never there.

She shook her head. She was on a job; she couldn't let personal things get in her way.

Chelsea took Francis and Alice to the kitchen. "Would you like some tea?" She asked. Alice felt like something pierced her stomach. Guilt. Chelsea looked like your typical, cheerful grandmother that would spoil you and stuff you with apple pies. But she was a mother, too.

Alice never had a mother, or even something close to a mother-figure in her life.

But she'd met mothers on her job. Some were terrible, some were horrifying, others were kind and cared for their child more than anything. But deep down, no matter how they may have felt about their child, they all understood that they were a part of them, of their soul.

Alice didn't want to be that person.

She didn't want to be the one to tell a mother that her child was dead.

"No, thank you, ma'am." Alice managed. She tried to keep her face as void of emotion as possible. "Ma'am, I… I think you should have a seat."

Chelsea saw Alice's face and didn't argue. "If this is about some copyright claim, again, I'll have you know that my Vanessa is-"

"It's not about your daughter's business, ma'am." Alice said softly. "Ma'am, are you aware that your daughter came back from Greece last night?"

Chelsea nodded, her sea blue eyes filled with confusion. "Yes, she called me yesterday afternoon. Said she would just stay at the office that night so she could surprise her boys."

Alice sucked in a large breath through her teeth. Her nose prickled slightly. "Ma'am, are the boys in the house?"

"No," Chelsea shook her head. "They're at school right now, will be for another hour or so."

"...There's no easy way to put this…" Alice started, glancing at Francis. She really wasn't that great with the consoling thing, she needed a fellow parents input. He just nodded at her, his face filled with wariness. "This morning… This morning your daughter was found in her office. She was murdered."

Silence… "What?" Chelsea asked, not even noticing the tears leaking down her wrinkled face. "What do you mean? No, no, not my Vanessa." She gave a nervous laugh as the tears continued to rain down from her eyes. She took another look at Alice's face.

A choked wail filled the small, cute, little innocent house in the middle of London.