Collision

Chapter 16

She looks at me sadly, " I'm sorry Lily. I wanted to tell you, but not until it was done." she tells me. " There's a lot more you should be sorry for than that." I tell her cynically, sitting back down. " Yippee family reunion." I mumble sarcastically. " Wait Grandmother? You're Lily Armstrong?" Bouc asks. " Yup." Lily replied, and the shock on their faces was astounding. " Come on, do I honestly look that different from when I was nine? I thought it was obvious." Lily told them. Poirot continues, " Lily, the second soul. A murder should have one victim. When Ratchett kills Daisy Armstrong, many lives are broken, deformed, ended. They demand justice! Of all these wounded souls, we must finally answer, who among them is a killer? Who takes up the knife? Lily, you were the one who told me the answer to the question. Now tell them." Poirot nudges, and Lily stands up, and goes next to Poirot. " No single one of you could have done it. Nor any pair. It can only have been done by all of you. Together. Each of you had something collectively to gain. Solace. Comfort." Lily says, and looks to Poirot to continue. " Together. Even when the avalanche changes everything as does the detective, and a very inquisitive young girl of whom not everything is as it seems, plans must change. The kimono, the uniform. A remarkable improvisation, the doctor who knows how to wound without killing. Each has their part to play." " Dr. Arbuthnot stabbed Grandma?" Lily asked, and Poirot nodded. I looked at them, both of them, " Damn, that's extreme." I stated bluntly. " It was my plan. I recruited them. I had Hardman track down Cassetti. I sent MacQueen to work for him, and then Masterman. MacQueen could arrange he travel on the day that Michel was on duty." Grandma said. I realized something, " the night he was murdered I heard knocking. That was the signal, wasn't it. That was when you murdered him". Pierre nodded at me, and my eyes widened in shock. Poirot continues, " And so it is done. For the death of the innocent. A life for a life. Revenge". Aunt Helena beckons to me, and I go to her, sitting across her lap, my head on her shoulder. " I didn't stab him, you know. I couldn't" she whispered, and I nod. " I know. I assumed Uncle Rudolph did it for you." I replied. " No one should hang for this but me. It was my plan!" Grandma yelled, and Helena and I looked at her, shock in our eyes. "Tell the police it was me, alone. There's no life left in me anymore. They have a chance now. Helena, Lily, I pray have a chance. They can go live, find some joy...somewhere. Let it end with me. They're not killers. They're good people. They can be good again." Grandma states, and I stand up furious, " You just found me after five years. Now you want to leave? Again? Shame on you." I say venomously. She doesn't look at me. "There was right, there was wrong. Now there is you. I cannot judge this. You must decide. You wish to go free without punishment for your crime then you must only commit one more. I will not stop you." Poirot states, putting down the gun he was holding at them not a few moments before. " You can't let them kill you." Bouc exclaims, but Poirot continues, " You give my body to the lake, and you walk away innocent at the station. You must silence me. Bouc can lie. I cannot". There is silence for a moment as I look at him horrified. " DO IT! ONE OF YOU!" he yells. " Why is everyone here so goddamn suicidal?" I whisper to myself, so softly not even Helena can hear me. Even though I sit right on her lap. " Don't." Helena says, as Grandma picks up the gun, and points it at him. " I already died with Daisy." she says, before putting the gun to her head. " NOOOO!" everyone screams, including me. Helena and I are crying, tears streaming down our faces as I say, " If you do this grandmother, you will die knowing your last surviving granddaughter's unyielding hatred upon you. You just got me back, how dare you try and leave me again?" I tell her. Helena hugs me as Grandma pulls the trigger. Nothing happens. She cries as Uncle Rudolph pulls me and Helena into his shoulders, both of us crying.