Private Investigation

Mon Papillion

All it took was one name.
 One stupid name and Sophie's world was falling apart.
 Her legs carried her as quickly as she could from the hallway outside the kitchen. Her feet kept catching on the hem of her dress as she made her way up the staircase but for once her clothes were the last thing she was worrying about.
A voice was echoing in her mind on a loop. I need to speak to Aggie. Aggie will fix this she always does. Aggie is who I need.
However, once outside her sisters room, Sophie found herself frozen. Her fist raised ready to knock, but she couldn't find it in herself to close those final few inches.
"Agatha, we have our lives back in London. None of us belong here." Beatrix's voice could be heard faintly from the other side of the door, but the gale outside made it difficult to make everything out so Sophie pressed her ear against the cold door. "They know you are innocent and before long they will realise Tedros is too."
There was a brief silence before Agatha spoke up "Tedros? You're being abnormally quiet." Sophie could feel her chest tighten as the voice in her mind changed. They weren't going to leave her here were they. Aggie would never do that. 
Would she?
No Aggie promised.  
God, she sounded like a child, Sophie thought to herself but never the less doubt began to eat away at her. Sophie could hear Tedros' voice on the other side of the door. "She does have a point. We have lives back over there and Sophie would never put everything on hold for you."
Behind the door Sophie waited for Agatha to argue her case, to prove them wrong, but it never came. All she heard was a sigh.
Not wanting to hear anymore Sophie pulled herself away from the door and hurried to her room.
Hardly thirty minutes had passed before desperation got the better of Sophie. Going against every instinct in her body, Sophie began to dig through an old leather suitcase, hidden at the back of her wardrobe. Unlike everything else that was brand new and pristine condittion, this case was battered and tatty with frayed edges and faded leather. She pushed past pearls and feathers, sequins and tulle, all reminders of her time as a model, until she found it. A small business card, printed on sapphire blue paper. Sophie continued to fight reason as she sat at her vanity and picked up the phone.
After the third ring a regal voice filled the speaker. "How may I be of service?" Sophie's leg started bouncing up and down. She couldn't speak. This was wrong. She should hang up. "I'm a very busy woman. If you are going to waste my time-"
"Evelyn,"
"Sophie" She could picture the woman now, long gold nails tapping against her desk, her blood red lips twisting into a malevolent smile. She would be leaning back in her red velvet chair, her legs crossed with her high heels peeking out from under her silk powder blue dress. "Mon Papillion, how can I be of service to my favourite girl."
"Evelyn, I'm scared. They know Rafal has a connection to the boys. What if they keep looking? What if they find out the truth?"
"Breathe, Sophie. You are in no danger, I can assure you. As for that sorry excuse of a man, let them look. I need those detectives to find out who killed my boy."
"What happens when they do?"
There was silence. Sophie already knew what would happen. As with all of Evelyn Sader's problems, her Ex-husband would make them disappear. There was absolutely nothing ordinary or mundane about Madame Evelyn Sader and that extended to her relationships. Her former husband worshiped the very ground she stood on, but that didn't stop his eye wondering to others. Others that might fill the void, others that might grant his twisted version of true love, but he always ended up back begging for another chance. As everyone knows the one person in the world that Rafal Mistral would never harm was his beloved ex-wife.
"You know the chances it was Japeth are very high."
"Sophie, Mon papillion, it really has been too long. Next time you are in London you must drop by." Sophie furrowed her perfectly sculpted eye brows at the sudden change, weren't they just discussing her son's murder. But then the woman lowered her voice which made Sophie assume someone had walked past her office. "Japeth was warned."
Sophie had always been perplexed by Evelyn's relationship with her children. They were her pride and joy and anyone that crossed them was assured a very slow and painful death. Sophie had to be very smart when it came to saving Tedros, if only he knew what she did for him. But Evelyn went out of her way to make sure no one knew they were related. For a long time they were merely boys that worked for her, that she kindly took under her wing. Evelyn had been scheming their future before they were born. Sophie got dragged into the mess of a family to pay off her debt to Evelyn after she protected her from Rafal. Despite this Sophie was well aware that Evelyn had been planning the wedding long before she met Rafal, when she was a young desperate model.
"Sophie, I know you don't trust Rafal but trust me, no harm will come to you."

But Evelyn did not control everyone.

She lost control over Japeth a long time ago.