CHAPTER NINE

Searching for a Killer

When I arrived at my father's house it was early in the morning. Quietly I told the servants not to wake my family, because they needed to rest. I went to the library and looked at the painting of my dear mother on the wall. A painting of William was next to it. I held my sweet brother's picture to my heart and began to cry. At that moment, my brother Ernest ran into the library. We threw our arms around each other and began to cry.

After a little while, I asked how Elizabeth and my father were feeling. I asked how my father and Elizabeth were bearing up.

"Father is hiding his sadness and anger from us. But Elizabeth has been miserable. She had blamed herself for William's death, but now we have found the real killer!" Before I had time to think, I cried out, "You have found the killer! That is impossible! I saw him last night on the mountain, and he was still free!"

Luckily for me, my brother only said, "I don't know what you mean, Victor. We have found the killer, and it has only made us unhappier. It was our servant girl, Justine, who killed William." "Justine?" I gasped. "But ... "

"I know what you are thinking. We didn't believe it, at first. Elizabeth still doesn't believe Justine is the killer. And truthfully, the facts are very strange. Another servant found Elizabeth's necklace in Justine's pocket. The servant did not talk to us first, but went to the police immediately. Then the police came and arrested Justine. Her trial is tomorrow." "Ernest, I know she's innocent!" I cried. "I promise you, I know who the real killer is!"

Ernest could not ask me any more questions because at that moment, my father and Elizabeth came into the room. My father told me the rest of the story. "We don't want to believe that Justine is the killer, because she has worked for our family for many years. She loved your mother and William. I hope that this terrible thing is not true. But we can do nothing. We must wait and see what the judges say." Elizabeth waited until my father had finished speaking, and then she said to me, "Darling, you must find a way to prove that Justine is not the killer! Justine could never kill anyone. And she has cared for William since he was a baby!"

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