Chapter 46:
"And how did it happen?" Julia whispered as she had her head resting on her lover's chest.
"She had tuberculosis... It was difficult... I don't think I could get over it until today..." William confessed with difficulty.
"Till today?" she asked innocently.
"Up to you." he smiled at her as he stroked her hair lovingly.
His lover got up and kissed him with all the love she could give him.
"And you? You haven't told me anything about yourself, Julia..." William asked curiously.
"Well…I worked my whole life to get into the hospital in Toronto. And now that I'm here, I feel more alone than ever… I work all the time. More than the others to prove my worth. And the men, finally the doctors, put a spoke in my wheels. They are vile and cruel to me, unfortunately. There are only two doctors who are nice to me and who believe in me. I'm lucky that one of them is the director…" laughed the young woman falsely. "It's difficult… There is no one waiting for me anywhere. When I go home, I am alone… My superior has forced me to take two weeks of vacation because I work too much. I didn't want to take any at first because I was afraid that people would perceive it as the beginning of weakness."
William said nothing, listening carefully to what Julia was telling him. He was honestly appalled. Appalled by this society and the way she had been treated and he knew full well that she was only telling him one percent of what had happened to her. He kissed her head and said only one little thing:
"You are talented and smart, Julia. You deserve everything…"
The young woman smiled with bright eyes towards her lover.
"Thank you, William…"
She put her head back on his chest and quickly fell asleep, exhausted by the night and the day she had spent autopsying Mr. Lazare Lamoureux.
"So? What do you have to say?"
"That's bullshit! Where do you get that from? It makes no sense!" raged Bastien Novak as he sat on the couch in his compartment alongside his brothers Westley.
"Did you know the victim?" William asked without taking note of the young boy's previous comments.
William got up very early and left Julia, asleep, in his bed. She had been completely exhausted, and he had decided to leave her alone. She would leave when she felt like it. He had left her a note telling her where he was going.
He walked straight to the Novaks' compartment and asked if he could ask them a few questions. They had accepted, having no real choice in the face of a Canadian detective.
He had asked them several questions and had told them his scenario to destabilize them. Nora and her manipulation and he had seen the same look of shock on both brothers' faces. He did not know what that meant and unfortunately, he had no proof of what he was saying at the moment.
"But no! This is our first time on this train." Bastien exclaimed as his brother remained calm and withdrawn.
"Yet you knew Nora Champagne well before making this trip." William replied quietly.
"She is at school with Bastien." Westley said quietly. "Our parents know each other well and… there you go."
"Alright… So, you're saying you were both in your compartment at the time of the murder."
"Yes sir." Westley answered obediently.
William nodded, skeptical.
"I have one last question for you. Why did you fight the other day? Nothing to do with some murder that didn't go as planned?"
Bastien sighed in exasperation and Westley nudged him silently asking him to calm down.
"We…" he looked at his brother Bastien hesitantly. "We are both in love with Nora. And… She… Finally, she chose me."
"Alright I understand." William smiled amusedly.
"Do you find that funny?" Bastien suddenly asked, angrily. "What do you know about all this anyway?"
"Stop Bastien. In addition, Detective Murdoch is very close to Doctor Ogden." Westley smiled kindly.
William looked at him and actually smiled at him when he saw the expression of sincerity on his face. He got up from the chair he had been sitting on for more than thirty minutes.
"I really don't see what she finds in him. She is a real woman." sighed the younger brother.
The detective said nothing again as he imagined seeing the woman, he loved dating his older brother must have been difficult.
"Well, thank you for your time, gentlemen." concluded William.
"We… Are we suspects?" Westley asked shyly as he too got up from the couch, standing a head taller than William.
"I have to be honest with you. Indeed, you are suspects at the moment… You have no real alibi…"
Westley nodded, then valiantly held out a hand to William, which he immediately shook, while Bastien stared at the carpet, annoyed.
Note: Thank you for still reading my story. Do not hesitate to tell me what you think about it.