Chapter 42:

While Julia had literally spent her whole day searching the corpse of Mr. Lamoureux and she had also argued with William, she heard someone knock on her door. She washed her hands, left the bathroom, and closed the door behind her. She was drying her hands and arms with a white towel, and she opened the door.

"Magnus!" exclaimed the young woman, completely surprised to see him here. "I thought that…"

Julia did not finish her sentence. She was going to ask him why he was not with William in interrogation, but she furtively thought that it had not yet taken place and that he therefore did not know.

"You thought I would be interviewing by the great William Murdoch? It's already over."

The young doctor raised her eyebrows when she saw Duval's jaw clench.

"Enter, please." she said suddenly as she opened the door wide.

He walked past her and looked at her with a scowling face.

"What's going on?"

"He's accusing me of murder, that's what's going on!" Magnus fumed, throwing up his arms in displeasure. "No, but seriously? Who does he think he is?"

"A detective, Magnus..." Julia replied, not really liking the way he was talking about William.

"He thinks I killed him because I don't have an alibi for the time of the murder. But I was just in my room! How am I going to prove such a thing? Nobody saw me." despaired the man with blond hair and the fancy blue suit.

"It can't be just that...William would never accuse someone of murder because he doesn't have an alibi. In any case, not until he has a good reason to do so. There must be something else!" Julia insisted.

Magnus looked up at her and sighed, giving up.

"He told me that a witness had seen me enter a car that was not mine while the one I was in was the opposite. So, he imagines that I hid something in the car. The murder weapon or something like that…"

Julia looked down and sighed. She then lifted it to Magnus.

"I told him about it." Julia confessed, completely surprised. She had completely forgotten this story.

"But why? I don't understand. Why…" Magnus stammered, looking like he did not know what to say.

"But I told him about it just like that." Julia shrugged, trying to justify this revelation. "He was helping me find my watch and we were looking for people I had met between when I had it and when I noticed it was missing. We looked for you in the car where I had seen you enter but there was Mr. Lagacé inside… He even told us that he did not know who you were!"

"I... I don't know, I don't understand what you're talking about..." Duval stammered again.

"Oh! But stop! If it's nothing serious you need to talk about it! Otherwise, it could really hurt you."

"Good! Alright, alright. Its good!" Magnus panicked.

He sighed, then turned to the still static landscape of Alaska. Snow was falling lightly between the trees in the distance.

"I usually take The Winter Mist. I have always slept in the same compartment, and I have not looked at my boarding ticket. I automatically headed for the one that was mine." Magnus explained with embarrassment. "I opened the door, put my things down and sat down on the couch. I made my little habits then!" he exclaimed before turning to Julia. "Suddenly… The bathroom door opened, and Hiram came out… completely naked. We both scream! It was horrible." he shivered.

Julia looked at Magnus, her face unreadable. In fact, she was stopping herself from laughing. What was so bad if it was just an accident after all?

"We swore never to talk about this to anyone. I looked for my real wagon this time and that's it…" Duval sighed uncomfortably.

"But Magnus... Why don't you tell William about it? Are you ready to be accused of having hidden a murder weapon as long as it is not known that you saw a naked man by accident?"

This time, Julia could not suppress a light laugh.

"But imagine he's talking about it? Imagine people twisting the truth and thinking I'm...gay." he whispered as if there was someone in the room with them.

"Of course, not…William will never talk about it, either. You must tell him. Can Hiram confirm?"

"Yes… If it's about my life and my freedom, he will. He's a good man. Although I like to make fun of his small size." he laughed gently, still embarrassed.

Julia smiled at his last sentence.

"It's settled then." concluded Julia.

"Yes thanks."

There was a slight silence in the room during which Magnus moved closer to Julia. The young woman looked at him with incomprehension.

"Julia…Detective Murdoch told me that…that you were in love with him…" he said in a shy and pained tone. "Is this the truth?"

The young doctor was speechless for a moment. Why had William told Magnus about this?

"Yes… Why did he tell you about this?"

"I provoked him." confessed Mr. Duval, looking down. "And me? You don't feel anything for me?"

Julia said nothing, her face pained. She saw Magnus look up at her with understanding.

"He's lucky...I hope we stay friends. Even if you don't feel the same way I do..."

"Sure…"

Magnus Duval smiled painfully, and she saw his eyes glint slightly. Her heart ached. He was a good man; she was sure of that. She had not wanted to hurt him. He walked over to her and kissed her cheek lightly.

"I'll go back to the detective."

Note: Thanks for reading! Thank you for also for the last review ! I will not make any comments haha :)