Shared Guilt- A Knives Out Story

Chapter 5

Benoit Blanc wasn't content with the way this investigation was progressing. Especially not after the morgue went up in flames last week and he had his serious doubts about that being a normal cable fire.Something about Harlan Thrombey's death was crooked but he couldn't figure out what. And the pressure was increasing by the minute. Lieutenant Eliott wanted to close the case, with the result being a suicide. But Blanc's experienced detective instincts were rarely wrong and he knew that there was someone else involved. Or Mr. Thrombey had completely lost his marbles and ended his life on his own terms.

If you eliminate the impossible what remains has to be the truth. And because of that Blanc knew, there had indeed been foul play of some kind and he had his mind set on the last person to see him alive.Marta Cabrera.

He had gathered all facts available about her: Oldest daughter of an Immigrant single mother, Marta was in high student debt from nursing school and was now peculiarly the sole inheritor of the Thrombey fortune. She was Harlan's nurse and closest confidante, if anyone had the opportunity and motive to manipulate his death it was her.In his experience money was the main murder-motive and he would be a fool to eliminate it in this particular case when there was so much of it involved.

It would have been easy for Marta to give Harlan a wrong dosage of medication on purpose and then charm Harlan into killing himself in order to protect her.The old man had a good heart and from how his family saw it had taken great liking in Marta as a friend and confidante.

Linda Drysdale had even gone as far as to claim Harlan loved Marta more than he did his own grandkids.

But he had no proof and as far as his experience in murder cases went, anything is possible in families, so anyone could have done it.Besides, he couldn't prove that anything had been done to influence Harlan's suicide to begin with.

And there was also the question remaining, who hired him to investigate in the first place.
That's why he could convince Eliott to call the entire Thrombey family along with Marta and Fran to a meeting in the Thrombey mansion under the pretense to inform them that the investigation was finished.

Everyone, short of Ransom, gathered more or less voluntarily in the library. Linda wanted to go up the stairs to, in her words "save the family heirlooms from this bloodsucker", meaning she wanted to take the jewelry. Blanc and Wagner held her back though, reminding her that this was no longer her house since Marta claimed the inheritance in the presence of a lawyer in the time being and was now officially the sole owner of the estate.

"What's this even about? We have other things to do,to get this bitch out of our house."Linda exclaimed.

"I know that something about Harlan's death is crooked and I know that someone from this family hired me to investigate.Now the police might close this case and believe that the morgue of Norfolk just naturally went up in flames last week, but I will not stop investigating this." Blanc declared and Marta felt her stomach roar in fear. It felt like her intestines were trying to get her to either run or confess. Where the hell was Ransom? She just didn't understand why he wouldn't be here now.

I will question everyone alone again just to clarify some minor... kinks in the story. I'll be waiting on the patio." Blanc retreated along with Eliott, leaving Marta to the wrath of Linda.

"You... little bitch you took advantage of my fathers good heart and used him while playing the part of the innocent girl." Linda had her index finger raised at Marta."I wouldn't be surprised if you slit his throat yourself."

"I don't know why Harlan gave me his money, ok? And I didn't play with him , I was just being a friend."

"Oh and what a good friend you were, you wrapped him around your little finger" She spat out. "And other parts of your body as well."