Death at Kimbal

Chapter 3

Effie stood in shock, not wanting to believe the sight that lay before her eyes.  

"What happened?" She asked Luc, wanting an answer, "How?"

"I do not know." He sobbed, "I do not know." 

His hands and chest were soaked in her blood as he clutched her lifeless body to his chest.  Tears were still streaming down his face and splashing onto the floor.  Effie stood staring for ages, trying to take it all in.  As she finally got her consciousness back she ran for the door.

"Help someone help!" Effie screamed down the stairs, "Please help me!"  People burst through the and saw her standing at the top of the stairs, tears streaming down her face, "Please!" Effie shouted again, "Someone help!"  Finally the guests got the message and the whole load of them came jogging up the stairs towards her.  She ran straight to her mother's bedroom, leaving the door right open behind her.  When they reached the door a gasp of surprise rose from the horrified crowd.

"Is she-?" Effie could hear her father asking.

"Dead." She finished his sentence for him and collapsed onto the small chair that someone had been kind enough to put behind her, "She's dead."  Effie's throat seemed to burn up as she sobbed loudly, tears were rolling from my eyes and falling, sparkling, into her shaking hands.  Even saying those two words made it all seem final, she was dead.  Her mother, the only one she would ever have, gone.

"Excuse me," She said standing up, "I need a minute alone with Luc."  The whole hoard of people left quite quickly, but Effie knew they'd be listening at the door.  When she looked round she saw that her Mum's body had been lifted onto her bed, presumably by Luc or some other person.  

"Effie, I am so sorry." Luc began, trying to hug her.

"No," Effie pulled away from him, "You are not sorry.  You do not care."

"Effie?" He looked surprised, but she could still see the hurt in his eyes, "I love your mother, you know that.  There is no way on Earth that I could not care about this." Tears were really falling from his eyes this time and, in a way Effie almost felt sorry for him, "You do not know what I have lost."

"What you have lost!" Effie screamed at him, "She was my mother!  My mother!  Don't you realise that?" 

"I'm sorry." Luc mumbled his apology, "I forgot."

"You forgot!" Effie yelled, landing a heavy punch on his chest before she could stop herself.  Luc stumbled backwards against the wall looking ready to retaliate, however, much to Effie's surprise he just lifted his hands up in defeat.

"I will not hurt you." He said calmly, "I cannot." 

"Fine." Effie grumbled, sitting down once more, "How did she die?"

"Two dagger stabs to the heart." Luc told her, "It would have been over quickly, I promise."  Effie nodded once, understanding what he meant.

"Is the dagger here?" She asked again, not quite sure why she wanted the answer, knowing it would cause her pain.

"Yes." Luc replied sadly, "Here."  Effie stood up and walked over to the now bloodstained bed.  She couldn't bear to look at her mother's face or wounds, so instead just took the small dagger from her hand.  The dagger was a small, ornate thing, only around four inches from the hilt to the tip of the blade.  The blade itself was shaped like a flame, rugged and sharp.  Effie recognised the weapon, Uther had brought it for her when the Civil War broke out.  With a small tissue Effie wiped the blood from the edge and placed it back in her mother's hand.  

"Suicide?" She asked Luc and he nodded grimly.

"We think so.  Look at this." He handed her a piece of paper that he had picked up off the floor.  Effie's heart missed a beat as she read it,

'I cannot continue.'

"What does it mean?" Effie asked Luc, "'I cannot continue.' What does that mean?"

"Effie," Luc said, looking like he'd aged ten years, "You know what it means." Effie burst into tears before she could stop herself.  

"Hey, hey." Luc shushed her, pulling her into a tight hug.

"This isn't real, this can't be real." She sobbed into Luc's shoulder, "I need to wake up.  It's just a dream."

"You're fine," Luc comforted her, stroking her hair soothingly, "I'm here, you're not alone."

"Effie, Lucian?" Ed poked his head round the door and looked confusedly at them, "What's happened?  I had to escort McGeever, the Scottish one, out, he was drunk, very drunk."

"Ed," Effie sighed in relief, leaving Luc and hugging her brother tightly. "Thank goodness you have returned."

"Effie," Ed said quietly, "What's happened?  I return and am shown straight upstairs by a group of weeping servants."

"Mama," Effie said simply and led her brother to the body of their mother lying on the bed.  Ed let out a strangled sob and burst into floods of tears.

"How?" He asked his sister.

"Suicide we think." Luc answered him, saving Effie the pain of having to talk about it, "We do not know for definite though."  The three grievers sat in silence, trying to deal with the pain that had engulfed them.

"Excuse me," A tall, thin man was standing by the door, "My name is Giles Burge, the detective.  I have come to inspect the body."

"Thank you," Luc said, pulling Effie and Ed towards him, "She is there."  Both Effie and Ed were sobbing quietly, watching the detective walk over to the bed.  He examined the body carefully, taking in every detail with his sharp eyes.  Eventually he turned to face them, a grim look on his face.

"Did your mother have any enemies?" He asked Effie seriously.

"Not that I know of." Effie replied, "Besides, we thought it was suicide.  There was this note on her bedside table."

"Why did you not show me this before?" Giles asked seriously, but took the note and examined that carefully as well, "Yes," He said eventually, "I do believe it was suicide.  I'm sorry."

"Thank you." Luc said smiling, "For your time."

"May I keep anything?" Effie asked him, "From her body."  Giles seemed to think over this for a couple of seconds before nodding once.

"What would like?" He asked her.

"Just her old handkerchief, she wanted to give it to me as her wedding gift."  Effie replied.

"Fine." Giles agreed and stood back.  Effie reached into her mother's skirt pocket and tried to find the handkerchief.

"It's not there." She said confused, "It's not in her pocket."

"So?" Ed asked her.

"Oh, it is fine." Effie replied, "I don't mind, I just wanted it."

"Can you leave whilst I search the room once more?" Giles asked Effie, Ed and Luc, "I will allow you back in once I have finished."

"Alright," Effie agreed leaving the room as fast as she could, not wanting to stay in there any longer than she had too.

"Thank you Giles," She heard Luc say.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He replied, "Now please may you leave."

"Effie," She heard her brother say to her, "You look faint, are you alright?"

Effie could only hear his voice faintly and it grew quieter each second.  The last thing she heard as she started to fall sideways was Luc shouting her name.  Effie hit the floor hard and blacked out...