Chapter 5 The church of hypocrites
No matter how much Francis tried to get Arthur to tell him his two theories Arthur refused to indulge him. Francis would have dropped it and continued his life, but Arthur spent the whole of the rest of the day and night smoking opium, drinking and playing his violin. Naturally this was disturbing Francis's beauty sleep and he marched straight into Arthur's dark smoky study.
The curtains where drawn , smoke hung in the air and Arthur stood next to the fireplace with his violin playing a beautiful melody with his eyes closed and listening to the music. Francis waded through the room trying his best not to knock over a pile of books and to follow a pathway through the room that the clutter had been cleared from. Once he made it in front of Arthur he cleared his throat.
Arthur opened his eyes with a start "My god, I now know why they call it beauty sleep. You look like death warmed up froggy!"
Indeed Francis did look terrible. His usual long silky wavy hair hung limply by his waxy pale looking face. His blue eyes where framed by threatening dark sleep deprived circles. He was not in the mood for his flatmates banter and frowned.
"Azzur, if you do not stop playing that violin I will place et somewhere that will cause your eyes to water." Threatened a very grouchy Francis
Arthur didn't look a tiny bit upset by Francis's threat. Instead he threw everything off of two arm chairs and indicated that Francis should sit. Francis wondered why he obeyed as he wordlessly sat in the chair across from Arthur. Once he had, he was surprised to notice that Arthur too had giant dark circles around his eyes, and that most of the items he took off of his own seat where plates full of food.
"Azzur, 'ave you been eating?" Francis asked with slight concern
"No there hasn't been any time. All I can think about is how could these victims be connected? They come from such different social statuses. What could they have in common? Once I figure that out, then I will find our culprit." Arthur said glancing at the wall behind Francis
Francis turned and felt his jaw drop. Pictures of all the victims, including the past chief inspector, where smiling down on them. There were quite a lot, all men, all of varying ages. A few pieces of red yawn connect some of them to others, but not all. It looked like a giant spider web with the mens pictures caught in it. Arthur sighed and closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind of the troublesome wall mural.
"What did you need mon cher? Whatever it is you must make it quick az I 'ave church tomorrow." Francis asked calmly
"Yes that is what I wanted to talk to you about. I think I'll join you." Arthur replied
Francis was taken back. Arthur was not a church goer. Once a year he might go to the Presbyterian with Iain, or the church of England for Christmas, but he usually stayed away from the churches. As well as having his doubts about religion, he also couldn't stand the people in the churches. They were always filled with hypocrites, ones who berated others for not following the bible publically, but behind closed doors frequently sinned against it. Francis couldn't argue with his logic because he was always sinning himself.
"And what do I owe zis chage of 'eart ?" Francis asked curiously
"The bible at that crime scene was open to some interesting pages to do with gods rules or sins or whatever. The best place to look for religious answers would be a church." Mused Arthur
"Oui, et iz. Now I am going to bed. Bonne nuit." Yawned Francis
Francis rose out of his seat but before he could walk out of the room Arthur stood up. Francis paused to see what Arthur could possibly want now.
" I think I'll join you and go to bed as well." Arthur stated walking off in the direction of their bedrooms
" You'll join moi?" Francis gasped
"Hmm? In action, not physically. My, my you did get excited there didn't you?" Teased Arthur looking back through the door
" Careful what you wish for mon ami." Francis replied with a yawn
The next day found two sleepy looking blondes sitting in a pew of a large sand stone church with a tall spire with the classical weather vane on top of it. Both stared almost blankly at the vicar. Now and then Arthur would see something out of the corner of his eye and twitch. Francis leant in towards Arthur. Not because he was worried, but because he thought he could be more entertaining than the Vicar who was lecturing them on how god wanted them to behave.
"What iz et mon cher Arthur?" Asked Francis quietly
"That woman over there is cheating on her husband, that man has a drinking problem and beats his wife, that woman steals out of habit, and I think those two men are lovers. Really Francis, this whole congregation are terrible sinners and hypocrites. You go to a church of hypocrites." Arthur sighed
" 'ow can you tell? By your methods of deduction I presume?" Francis whispered
" You presume correctly." Was the reply
"Hmm, then et iz just as well that you are in the company of the worst sinner in this church non? Who better to guide you in this church of hypocrites?" Francis said flirtingly
Arthur looked at Francis sadly. This made Francis's smile slide from his features and him to glance down at his well polished Italian shoes.
" I would react differently to that comment you just said if it had been a joke, but sadly you actually believe that don't you? You believe you truly are a terrible person." Arthur whispered sadly
" I've killed men, I gamble and drink all ze time and I 'ave slept with men as well as women." Francis admitted in shame
"Shh Bonnefoy, I believe that you had good reasons for all of those things. You have killed men because you where in the army and it was kill or be killed, you drink to dull the pain, to have fun, to live out your culture. You gamble to help pay the rent and to enjoy yourself. As for sleeping with men I-" Arthur tried to comfort Francis but broke off in mid though and grabbed a bible infront of him
He flicked the pages as the vicar finished up the service. Francis watched him and peered over his shoulder to see what was so important. There he had flipped the bible to Leviticus 18 and read down until he got to Leviticus 18:22. Francis blushed and fidgeted but as the rest of the congregation got up Arthur managed to gain his attention again.
"Francis, how well did you know the past inspector? Did you know anything about his love life perhaps?" Arthur asked innocently
"Oui, ee 'ad flirted with me before, but I turned 'im down. Ee gave up, I azumed he fell for anuzzer." Franceis replied with a shrug
Arthur looked thoughtful. He had assumed, no deducted, that the motive for killing these men was because they were gay. But he still couldn't prove it. So one man was gay and possibly the other, and a bible was left open on Leviticus, big deal. It wasn't concrete and there still wasn't anything to connect the men.
"Tcht look at them, a couple of fairies if I ever saw 'em" sneered a man to his wife as he walked past Francis and Arthur
Francis and Arthur jumped. Neither had realized they had been sitting so close to each other. Both of their heads where almost touching, and if they were sitting any closer one of them would have been on the others lap. Francis looked horrified. He looked at the man as if to interrupt him, as Arthur looked thoughtful and muttered fairies to himself.
"Mr Hardwall, do not call Dr Bonnefoy that! He is a good respectable doctor thank you very much, and he saved my little daughter from pneumonia last winter. Plus didn't I see him and your sister dancing last season at Mr Abbydales party? " Defended a short salt and pepper haired lady with her hair in an elegant knot and a nice navy blue dress.
"Ah indeed you are correct Mrs Cooper, my apologies." Mr Hardwall said and walked off quickly
"Honestly! That man, he never thinks before he speaks! I hope he didn't offend you or your friend doctor?" asked the concerned Mrs Cooper
She glanced at both Francis and Arthur. Francis smiled and shook his head, but Arthur's eyes had grown wide as the realization had hit him. He stood up rather abruptly making Mrs Cooper and Francis jump.
"Fairies! That is why he has staged Fairy tales! My dear Francis, we know what he is trying to do now!" Arthur grinned like a maniac
" Oh my, is your friend alright?" Mrs Cooper wondered
"Oui, desole ee iz a little strange sometimes. Ee is a good person though, 'is name iz Arthur Kirkland. I must admit, I wish ee 'ad got offended because that would mean ee was gay, and that would signal that ee does 'ave an 'eart, even if et where sick. " Francis attempted to tease Arthur, but Arthur was flicking through the bible again.
"I heard that frog!" Arthur hissed
Arthur pretended that he was ignoring Francis, however in all truth he was looking at him out the corner of his eye. He was slightly impressed at how well Francis was hiding the fact that he was bisexual by insulting himself through Arthur. There were signs that he was lying, but since only Arthur had the skills of deduction inside the church nobody else could possibly tell.
Arthur was about to turn back to rereading the bible when he noticed a young chestnut haired woman watching him and Francis. She was extremely pretty and looked amazing in that red dress that contrasted with her blush and pale skin perfectly. She seemed to notice him looking at her an arched an eyebrow. Arthur looked at her slightly taken back. With everybody else there where tell tale signs of their personality, but with her nothing. If it wasn't her beauty what got him, it was his curiosity about how she hid herself so well. He rose from his seat slowly placing the bible back as he did so and walked towards her his eyes upon her only.
Francis looked at his companion. He watched as he walked towards the woman with his lips set in a grim line. Why was it that Arthur was attracted to the most dangerous things? The woman he was approaching was probably the most dangerous woman on this side of the Thames, not to mention that the way he was looking at her was almost like... Francis turned back to Mrs Cooper and smiled. Still he couldn't help but feel slightly worried and maybe a little jealous.
Arthurs notes
Sorry last weekend I was volunteering again. Plus I took it off from writing anything.