The Perfect Crime

Chapter 25: FREEDOM

The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.
★

Yasmine was in the kitchen whisking egg whites when the doorbell rang. She froze instantly, letting the whisk clutter noisily to the counter top. Had the police returned?

Wiping her hands on her purple apron, she contemplated her options. She could let whoever was at the door keep ringing the bell until they tired themselves out and left. But then Nicky would hear and he would create a scene like he did earlier that morning with the police. Yasmine sighed and went to open the door; there was no other option.

Yasmine saw Nicky standing at the top of the stairs. He was clutching Special Agent Paddington tightly against his chest. Their eyes met. She could not only see but also feel the raw hope in his eyes as he thought that the police were back. She had managed to chase the police away the first time. Would she manage to do it a second time?

She yanked the door open with more force than necessary and stared at the man standing at her door. He was a gigantic man with curly shoulder length hair and smoldering green eyes that looked better than emeralds. He pulled his charcoal grey coat closed and smiled.

"Yes?" Yasmine hoped that her voice didn't quiver as she spoke.

The man stuffed his hands into his pants. "I am Benjamin Moore."

Yasmine was annoyed. Call her primitive and old fashioned, but she hated it when people pocketed infront of her. It was a sure sign of contempt. She tried for civility. "And what is Benjamin Moore doing at my house?"

"I'm a house inspector. The realtor that sold you this house hired our company for routine house inspections."

"Can I see some ID?" Yasmine leaned against the door, folding her arms over her generous chest. She hoped the posture made her look as intimidating as she imagined.

"Oh it's right here." Benjamin gave her his ID.

Yasmine skimmed through the ID. It seemed genuine enough. Not that she would know how a genuine house inspector's ID looked like; she wasn't even well educated. She opened the door wider, moving out of the way and let Benjamin in.

"How long is this going to take?" Yasmine fiddled with the straps of her apron, afraid to look him in the eye.

"Well if I don't find any problems, I will be gone within the hour."

Yasmine suddenly remembered the woman in the basement. If the house inspector found the door to the basement, what then? How would she explain away such a  thing? She saw Nicky starting to descend the stairs and shouted. "Nicky, go up to your room! Let the nice inspector finish his work."

Nicky hesitated then ran up the stairs to his room, leaving Yasmine alone with the house inspector who was carefully examining every nook and cranny of the living room. She could tell him everything. About the woman in the basement, about her mother and, most especially, about her husband. But there was the tiny issue of the cameras. They were everywhere besides the bedrooms.  Yasmine would tell him everything when he got to inspecting the bedrooms.

The inspector abruptly turned making Yasmine jump. Had he found something? "Where is the bathroom?"

Yasmine waited for her heart rate to slow down before she answered. "Up the stairs. The first door on the left."