Promise Me Eternity

by Ian Fox

  She pressed her lips together in anger.

  He threw a thin folder on the table. “A Dr. Patterson is supposed to have murdered his wife. Somebody paid bail for him. Go and see him and find out what actually happened.”

  Only half listening, Sandra was thinking about the evidence she had found against Carlo Vucci. Even if I have to do overtime, I’ll get that crook, whatever the cost. I know he’s guilty.

  Chapter 54

  _______________________

  Simon came home in an extremely agitated state of mind. He had hoped that he and Christine would find a solution.

  In the kitchen, he brewed some coffee and thought about that evening when the murderer was with Helen. With horror he thought that Helen was perhaps still alive when he had heard the noises. Maybe she was fighting for her life while I was down here. That was the punishment for having been unfaithful to her. If I had been at home ….

  He tortured himself with such thoughts until he answered a knock on the front door.

  A man and a woman in civilian clothes showed their badges, from which Dr. Patterson saw that they were special agents.

  “Good evening,” the woman said. “If you don’t mind, we’d like to ask you a few questions about your wife’s murder.”

  He gave a desperate sigh. “I said everything there is to say at the police station.”

  “That was the local police. May we come in?”

  He hesitated, wanting to be alone. With helplessness in his eyes, he looked from one to the other. “OK, come in.”

  The agents followed him down the corridor and into the kitchen.

  “My name is Sandra Grant and this is my colleague Steven West,” Sandra said. “We’d like you to tell us exactly what happened when your wife was murdered. Where were you at the time?”

  Simon went to the table, where he had only moments earlier been drinking his coffee. He pulled some chairs away from the table for them.

  Sitting opposite them, he said, “That night I came straight to the kitchen. I was thirsty, so I poured myself a glass of water.” He opened his eyes wide, staring ahead. “I heard a noise upstairs and thought Helen must have woken up.” He covered his eyes with his hand to hide the tears.

  Both agents wondered if he was telling the truth; it could be a well-rehearsed act.

  Sandra said, “Go on, Dr. Patterson.”

  Then he told them how he took some chocolate candy to Helen. He described to them in a trembling voice how he lay next to her, thinking she was asleep when, in fact, she was dying. “The worst moment was when I turned on the light. I’ll never forget what I saw. Her eyes were staring at the ceiling and there was blood all around her. It was awful. I can’t even begin to describe it ….”

  “Can we have a look at the bedroom?” Steven asked.

  “Yes, of course.”

  He led them upstairs and stopped at the bedroom doorway. The door was open, and a strong odor of dried blood hung in the air, bearing witness to the crime.

  Dr. Patterson went pale. “I haven’t had a chance to clean it up. I simply can’t go in there.”

  “On which side of the bed did you sleep?” Sandra asked.

  Simon pointed to the right side with a shaking finger.

  Sandra continued the questioning. “After you realized that someone had cut your wife’s throat, did you touch her?”

  “Of course I did, I’m a doctor. I tried to help her. I tried to stop the bleeding.”

  “So that’s why you had blood on you. That’s what it said in the report.”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you move anything?”

  “Of course, I told you I was trying to help her. I can’t remember everything clearly.”

  “I know that you don’t like thinking about it and that you’re upset. But for us, all these details are very important. Try to understand. Can you remember what exactly you moved. The bedcover? Did you pick up anything from the bedside cabinet?”

  “I must have moved the cover.” His jaw felt so stiff he was barely able to speak. “I don’t know if you can imagine what I was going through. I found my wife dying, lying in a pool of blood. Her throat. … It was … it was ….”

  Sandra waited for him to calm down. “I do understand, Dr. Patterson. But you must understand our point of view, too. As far as I’m concerned, it could have been someone else who murdered her, or you. I’m not sure of anything yet. I’m merely collecting evidence. But if you can give me some information that can help eliminate you as a possible suspect, it’s to your benefit. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  He nodded, looking remorseful.

  “Well, then.”

  They asked him a few more questions and then returned to the kitchen.

  “Did you and your wife get along well?” Sandra asked.

  Simon didn’t know what to say. If he said they didn’t get along, that could mean he had a motive. “Like most married couples. We had a few fights.”

  “Let me phrase the question differently. Do you think your wife had a lover?”

  Simon shook his head in horror. “Helen wasn’t that sort of a woman. Never.”

  “Is there anyone you think might have killed your wife?”

  “No, nobody. That’s the thing. Helen had no enemies. I can’t believe anyone would want to kill her.” He covered his eyes with his hand.

  Sandra looked at Steven, who shrugged and said, “That’ll be all for today, Dr. Patterson. We’ll come and see you again.”

  Simon shook their hands. “OK, good-bye.”

  “Bye,” they said and left.

  On the way to their car Sandra asked, “What do you think, Steven? Is he lying?”

  Steven thought for a moment and said, “I think he killed her. There was something in his eyes. I don’t know ….”

  Sandra put her hand to her chin. “I believe him. Something tells me it wasn’t him.”

  Chapter 55

  _______________________

  Maria Melton was staring out the window. In front of the house next door, a police car was parked.

  “Poor Simon, they keep bothering him.”

  John was having lunch. Her comment made him choke.

  “You’re crazy,” he said. “Of course they’re bothering him, he killed Helen.”

  “Then why isn’t he in jail?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m wondering. Why did they let him out?”

  Maria smiled and kept staring out. “Because it wasn’t him.” She closed the curtain and faced her husband. “Listen, John, what if we went over? You shouldn’t leave a friend all alone.”

  John only just managed to swallow the piece of meat in his mouth. “Now you really are crazy. I don’t believe it. You want your throat cut too?”

  She hesitated a moment. “Some people say he did kill her, others that he didn’t. I don’t think Simon is capable of anything so terrible.”

  “How come you know Simon so well? What if he’s mentally unbalanced? Didn’t you see how he and Helen kept having arguments? Sometimes even in front of us.”

  She waved her hand dismissively. “Come on, we all do that. We argue now and again, but that’s not a sufficient reason for murder.”

  “So, who do you think did it?”

  She sat next to him confidently. “People gossip, you know how it is.”

  He looked at her strangely.

  “Some people say Helen had a lover. They say it was probably him who killed her,” she said.

  “What? I can’t believe that. The things people come up with. Helen never had a lover. Not her.”

  She gave him a challenging look. “And how can you be so sure?”

  “Because I knew her. She wasn’t that sort of woman.”

  A spark of worry appeared in Maria’s eyes. “What do you mean you knew her?”

  “Oh, stop it, Maria. We weren’t sleeping together. I meant to say that she wasn’t the sort.”

  She was angry because he was always so sure of himself. “I think she was,” Mar
ia repeated. “I think she was killed by her lover.”

  “You know, I’ve noticed something. The older you get the more stubborn and empty-headed you become.”

  She shook her head rapidly. “You know what I’ve noticed? That everything I say turns out to be right. You’re nearly always wrong. And because you’re stupid you never learn from past experience. You’re always sure you’re right and because I don’t agree, you start insulting me. Have you noticed that?”

  He said nothing. He lifted a piece of meat to his mouth on the fork, glumly staring ahead. Maria went to the window again. She was sorry she couldn’t visit Simon.

  Chapter 56

  _______________________

  The next morning, Simon was gardening when his cell phone rang. He was surprised because he hadn’t heard it ring since the day before. Not one friend had called.

  “Hi, its Christine.”

  “Oh, Christine. It’s good to hear from you. How are you?”

  “I’m OK, thanks. Listen, I’m in a hurry. Could we meet in three hours? Do you have time?”

  “Of course.”

  “OK, I’ll see you at the usual place.”

  Even though he hated that hotel, he agreed. “I’ll be there.”

  Exactly at the appointed time, Christine walked into the hotel room where Simon was waiting impatiently.

  “Hi, I’m so happy to see you,” she said as she approached and embraced him.

  “I’m glad to see you too.”

  They sat on the bed. Simon looked at her and said nothing.

  She said, “I don’t know if you remember that when we met two days ago I said that there was a solution.”

  With his eyes wide open, he waited for what she had to say. “Yes, I remember. But how is Carlo? You had to leave because of him, didn’t you?”

  She waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, it was nothing. I think he had just eaten too much and passed out. As soon as he sees food he eats like a pig. Only a few hours after I got to the hospital, they sent him home.”

  “I see. So, this idea, what is it?”

  “I don’t really know how to start. It’s not that simple.”

  He reached for her hands and held them. “Please, Christine, tell me. Whatever it is, I can take. I have no ideas of my own.”

  “Yes, but this is different. My solution demands a sacrifice. It’s not that simple.”

  “A sacrifice? I don’t understand. Come out with it, whatever it is.”

  “My husband is very dangerous. If he found out that we were together—”

  “I know, he’d kill us. I realize that.”

  She looked at him seriously. “I don’t know if you do. You think I’m just saying it, but I know my husband really does kill people. I heard him on the phone.” Her eyes filled with tears.

  Simon was astonished. He put his hands on her shoulders. “What? This is terrible! Tell me, Christine, tell me everything.”

  She told him about the people Carlo had spoken about over the telephone who were later found murdered. “Some were shot, some were drowned, two were stabbed. The police never identified the murderers.” Between bouts of crying, she described in detail the individual murders. She talked for about half an hour.

  Simon was staring at her with fear in his eyes. “And the police have never been to your house?”

  “Oh, yes, they came, but only three or four times. After that, they stopped.”

  “Are you sure that it wasn’t just a coincidence?”

  “I thought so too at first. But then it kept happening. Please, Simon, don’t tell me it was a coincidence, I know he killed them.”

  He embraced her. “I believe you.” He felt an icy fist grip his stomach. “I got a bad feeling about him the first time I saw him. There was something in his eyes.”

  She told Simon some other things that proved how dangerous her husband was, again crying as she talked.

  “You should run away,” he said to her, with a lump in his throat.

  “I’d like to, but he’d find me anywhere. There’s no point. You can do anything if you’ve got money. Don’t think I haven’t thought of that.”

  He didn’t know what else to say.

  “With time, I got used to the idea that my husband was a murderer. It may sound heartless, but I don’t care.” She wiped her nose on the pillow. “It was the only way to survive.”

  “I understand.” The growing fear was suffocating him.

  “The last time he tried to scare me, he spoke about a guy who owed him money. I said I wasn’t interested and he stopped.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “I’m almost certain he killed him. And I didn’t really care. I didn’t.” Her voice was rising to a hysterical pitch.

  “Calm down, Christine, it’ll be alright.”

  She was shaking so much that he got scared something would happen to her.

  “It won’t be alright, I know that much. But as I’ve said, you can get used to anything. It’s the only way to survive.”

  “But you can’t go on like that. You’ll have to do something. Have you thought of reporting him to the police?”

  She put down the soggy pillow. “Of course I have. And what do you think the police would do? They’d start asking around. They can’t do anything without evidence. Before they got him, I’d be long dead.”

  He stroked her cheek. “But there has to be a way.”

  She sniveled a few times, trying to calm down. “There is a way, but ….”

  “Please, go on.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know, it seems so—”

  “Oh, say it.”

  Her eyes became glassy. “Someone has to kill my husband.”

  “What? How? What do you mean, someone has to kill him?”

  Through clenched teeth, she said, “Someone has to kill him, or he will sooner or later kill me.”

  “Maybe, but who’d dare kill him?”

  She lowered her eyes.

  After a long pause, she finally looked up again. “You, Simon.”

  “What! How can you even think something like that?”

  She stood up. “Even though it seems almost impossible to you, it’s in fact very simple. If you did it, you’d save me and yourself. I’d then be able to say that I was with you on the night your wife was murdered. Do you follow?”

  He stood up too, and took two steps toward the window. “Of course I do. Are you completely crazy? Christine, I’m not a murderer. I could never do something like that. It’s out of the question. Just get it out of your head.”

  “Please, don’t shout at me. I can’t stand it.” She started crying again.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to shout, but your suggestion. I can’t believe it.”

  “I know, I know. You don’t care if Carlo kills me one day.”

  He raised his arms. “Of course I care, but that’s not a sufficient reason to go to your house and kill your husband. If it’s that simple, why don’t you get someone else to do it?”

  “Can I tell you everything?”

  He shrugged.

  “My husband is a diabetic. He has to watch his food and without insulin he would have been dead long ago.”

  This got his attention.

  “He can’t be killed by just anybody. It’s too dangerous. But you can do it. If you did it, nobody would suspect.”

  What she was saying was complete madness. Nonetheless, he asked her, “And how would I do it?”

  She sniffed noisily. “Carlo comes home at exactly the same time on particular days. On Fridays, for example, at seven sharp. It makes things much simpler.”

  Simon raised his eyes heavenward and laughed. Let her talk, he thought.

  “You’d have to wait for him by the road. You’d have to pretend that you were lost or that your car had broken down, anything.” She waited for Simon to turn back to her. “Since he knows you, he’s sure to stop. You know he has a special regard for you.”

  “And?” he said irritably.
>
  “It would be simple then. You’d inject him with a large dose of insulin so that he fell into a coma. It would look like an accident.”

  She had his attention again. “I thought that you were joking, but now I see you’re serious.”

  “Of course I’m serious, it’s my life that’s at stake.” Then she corrected herself: “And yours.”

  He stood there, numb with shock. “But—”

  “It’s best if you think about it all. I know it seems crazy at the moment.”

  “That’s putting it mildly. What you’re saying seems outrageous, not just crazy. And I can tell you right now that I’m not a murderer and won’t do it. Ever!”

  “I understand, Simon. I’d probably be thinking the same if I were you. You’re not a murderer. I’m sorry I even mentioned it to you.” She took her purse. “I have to go, otherwise Carlo will get suspicious.”

  Looking at her as she was leaving, Simon said, “Wait. You’ve asked me if I’d kill your husband and now you’re going home.”

  “I must. I’d stay if I could. Sorry for upsetting you. Let’s leave things as they are. I’ll keep living with Carlo until he kills me one day. And you’ll go to jail. Sorry, but I won’t be able to say I was with you that evening.” She pushed down on the door handle.

  “Hang on. What jail? I’m not going to jail. I didn’t kill Helen!”

  “Sorry,” she said, and ran down the stairs.

  Chapter 57

  _______________________

  “Hello, Carlo Vucci speaking.”

  “Hi, it’s Bandito. I already have some information about your wife.”

  Carlo was in a regular weekly meeting with the directors of his companies. He raised an arm, which meant a short break. Everyone got up and left the room.

  “Tell me!” he said, forcing his voice to remain calm.

  “Your wife entered Eden Park Hotel an hour ago.”

  Carlo’s right hand started shaking. “What was she doing there?”