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Chapter Sixteen

𝑯𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 ! 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆. 𝑺𝒐, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓. 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚'𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 :)

Nila wasn't dead but was out cold, knocked unconscious apparently by a large brass candlestick that lay on the carpet next to her. On the back of Nila's head, a gigantic lump had already risen.

Nancy could have kicked herself for taking so long getting up there. Thankfully, Nila hadn't been killed outright.

Nancy was now sure she was right. She had been blind ---- totally blind ---- but now she could see clearly. All the pieces fit neatly together at last.

She looked down the hall to the door of Eleanor's suite. It was, as Nancy had feared, slightly open. Nancy tiptoed down the hall. As she approached the room, she could hear noises inside ---- the sound of furniture being dragged around, drawers being opened and searched in the semidarkness.

Nancy edged her way inside. The sitting room was dark, lit only by moonlight, and by the fire in the room's fireplace, which had died down to embers.

The noise was coming from the darkened bedroom. Nancy went silently to the door and stood there, looking inside. It was dark, but the moonlight cast its shadow on the outline of a woman, rifling the drawers of Eleanor's bureau, pulling them out and feeling behind them.

Nancy reached into her jacket pocket, feeling for something. It was there. She pressed a small button, then reached up and flicked on the wall switch.

The woman whirled around. "You," she cried, her eyes narrowed.

"Yes, it's me," Nancy replied evenly. "I'm afraid the game is over ---- Cecilia."

Cecilia stood by her mother's open dresser drawer. Nancy could see a brown manila envelope in her hand. "Let me guess," Nancy said, guessing toward the envelope. "The copies of your uncle's new will."

Cecilia shook the hair back out of her face and smiled defiantly. "That's right," she said. "Mother was foolish not to let me destroy them right away. She's always so finicky about right and wrong. She's much too good a person, if you ask me."

"Not too good to help you hide the crimes you've committed," Nancy pointed out.

"I won't let her go to jail for me," Cecilia swore, the wild look in her eyes growing even more intense. "But first things first." Before Nancy could stop her, Cecilia tossed the manila envelope into the fireplace. The dying embers flared, and before Nancy could make a move to rescue the copies of Pierce's new will, they had roared into flame.

"There," Cecilia said with satisfaction, crossing her arms in front of her. "That takes care of that. Now Mom will inherit the money she deserves. And that bitch Nila will have to get out of here. I've gotten so tired of living with her, always afraid of what she'll do to us."

"Has she treated you so badly ?" Nancy asked.

Cecilia laughed derisively. "I knew what she was up to. She was just waiting until she married Uncle Charles. Then, it would have been the end for the rest of us."

"So you decided to get rid of her," Nancy said, trying to draw Cecilia out.

"Yes," Cecilia replied, a small smile playing on her lips. "I don't mind telling you now. I'll deny it later, of course, and you'll never be able to prove anything. Mother won't turn me in ---- and she's the only one who knows."