Wednesday, March 17th
Rosary, Stacey Lewis’ villa, 2:00 p.m.
After finishing her lunch, Stacey watched Carmen clear the table and clean up. When she finished, Carmen looked at the old lady and said: “Madam, if you need nothing else, I think I will leave now. My sister is waiting for me, because she has to go to the doctor, and I have promised to babysit her daughter for her.” Carmen had Wednesday afternoon off. She almost invariably spent it with her sister, who lived on the other side of the town.
Stacey answered immediately: “I don’t need anything, thanks, Carmen. Lock the door when you go out, please, and have a good time with your niece.” Carmen smiled and left.
Stacey had been feeling a little better in the last two days. She knew she was alone because Dana had gone back to St. John, and Tony had gone to the mechanic to have the car checked. He had told her he would go directly to the school to pick up Robin.
Stacey stood up from the table, and she went to her bedroom for a short nap. She had always been used to having a nap in the afternoon after lunch. She knew Robin would come to her when he came home from school, and she didn’t want him to find her in bed. He was always sad when he saw his grandmother was not well, when he found her still asleep or too weak to get up.
She slowly climbed the stairs that led to the first-floor landing. Once she was in her bedroom, she drew the curtains and lay down on her bed. She was sure that she would sleep for a short time, because she was feeling more energetic. As she lay awake in bed for a few minutes, her mind wandered to her meeting with Alison. Her husband had asked her to try to contact his daughter, but when he had died, she had felt so lonely without the companion of a lifetime. At first, she had even wondered if it was necessary for her to get in contact with a person she knew nothing about or whether it would be better to leave things as they were. But now she was glad, and she was longing to get to know a person whom she already considered part of her family. She had told her she didn’t want or need her money, but Stacey was thinking of including her in her will, as her husband would have desired. She fell asleep.
Was she dreaming, or she had heard a noise? A crashing noise as if a window had been broken. Stacey tried to shake out of her sleep. She still felt drowsy. How long had she been sleeping? She looked around and listened... No, she couldn’t hear anything unusual, maybe she had been dreaming ... She was falling back to sleep when she saw a shadow approaching her bed with a pillow in one hand. She looked at the menacing face that was looking at her with hate. No, she must be still sleeping! Then the pillow was pressed to her face. She struggled with her hands, and she felt she had got hold of something. But she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t fight anymore... Her last thought was for Robin... God, protect him, please!
***
Rosary, Stacey Lewis’ villa, 2:30 p.m.
She knew she had to act quickly. She would never have another chance like this: the old woman alone in the house. Only seldom Tony was out all afternoon ... She knew that Stacey never turned the alarm on, because she expected Robin to visit her when he came back from school, and he wasn’t able to turn it off.
On the drive, she sat waiting in her car. She saw her draw the curtains in her bedroom. She waited for a few minutes, because she preferred to surprise the old woman in her sleep. Now it was the time. The other way they had thought of to get rid of Stacey was taking too long to work, and the menace was getting too dangerously near.
Wearing gloves, she ran to the back of the large house and broke the kitchen window with a hammer she had found in the shed in the garden. She opened the door, and she ran upstairs. Taking a moment, she listened to check if the lady was still sleeping. No sounds came from the bedroom. In the other bedroom, she grabbed a pillow. Slowly, she opened the door to Stacey’s room. She tiptoed to the bed. The woman seemed asleep, but a moment before she pressed the pillow on her face, she opened her eyes, and she surely recognized her. She saw a terrified look on the lady’s face. It was strange, because it was the first time, in her criminal career, she had had to take action and kill someone, but she couldn’t feel anything, no remorse, no pity, just the urge to eliminate an obstacle to her plans. She felt that the woman had grabbed something in her struggle, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. When she had finished, she checked the old lady’s pulse. She was dead. She opened drawers and overturned them, she unlocked jewelry boxes, she took some jewels from the box and money from the woman’s purse that lay on the chair and threw it on the floor. After going to the other bedrooms and opening drawers and cabinets, she ran downstairs and out of the house as fast as she could. It had been much easier than she had expected.
***
Rosary, Stacey Lewis’ villa, 4:30 p.m.
Robin was looking forward to his mum coming back from St. John. He still hoped she would come back this evening. Tony stopped the car in front of Robin’s grandmother’s home. The boy jumped out and ran to the house, while Tony went to the garage to park the car. Robin opened the door with the key his grandmother had given him, and he entered the large foyer. He went to look in the living room and dining room. He saw his grandmother was not downstairs. Knowing she never went to the kitchen at the back of the house, he didn’t bother to check there. He thought she was evidently still asleep.
He called out: “Grandma! Grandma! I’m home.” His voice resounded in the large house, but he heard no answer. A strange fear seized him, even if he had often found his grandmother asleep when he came home after school. He climbed the stairs and stopped in front of her bedroom. The door was ajar, which was strange, because she always closed it when she went to rest in the afternoon. He opened it completely, and he saw his grandmother lying on the bed. At first, he thought everything was alright, she was sleeping. As he neared the bed, he noticed a pillow on the floor and, beside it ... He instinctively picked up the small shining object from the floor. In a state of disbelief, he stared at it and then placed it in his pocket. With caution, he reached out and touched his grandma’s arm. He gently shook it and said softly: “Grandma, please wake up... Please.” Tears were beginning to roll down his cheeks. He knew his grandmother would not answer any more. He stayed there, he didn’t really know how long, until he heard Tony’s voice calling him from downstairs: “Robin, what’s the matter? Please, answer! I have found the kitchen door broken. Come here immediately, Robin!” He wanted to answer, to shout, to cry for help, but he couldn’t. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out, so he waited until Tony came upstairs. He turned to him and shook his head. He whispered: “Something is wrong, Tony. Grandma doesn’t wake up...”
He sat down on the floor and started to cry. Tony came nearer, thinking at first that the old lady had had a heart attack, but, when he saw the pillow on the floor, he understood. He felt her pulse and went to the telephone extension that was in the bedroom. While he was dialing the phone numbers he knew by heart, he saw the lady’s purse open and the jewelry box on the chest of drawers almost empty, drawers overturned on the floor. He tried to call Nolan and Margaret, but they didn’t answer, so he called the police.
Then he went to Robin and tried to force him out of the room, but the boy said: “I want to stay here with my grandma.” And he refused to move.
***
Rosary police station, 4:50 p.m.
John and Neil were checking some documents in Neil’s office when the phone rang. The receptionist told them that Mrs. Stacey Lewis’s chauffeur had called to say that, when he had brought Robin home from school, he had found a door broken in the old lady’s home and the woman dead on her bed. There was a pillow next to the bed on the floor, and Robin was in a state of shock. John asked Neil: “Shall we go, Neil? Or do you want to send your agents? I think the young boy will need support. He loved his grandmother so much.”
Neil took his jacket and said: “Let’s go, John. I saw Robin last Saturday for the first time, but I had the impression of a lonely sad child …” John thought that Neil really had a gift for perceiving people’s feelings.
***
Rosary, Stacey Lewis’ villa, 5:15 p.m.
Neil let John drive because he wasn’t completely familiar with the roads and streets of the little town.
They arrived after a few minutes in front of the imposing building that was the Lewises’ villa. It stood out, because the surrounding houses, even if they were villas and quite large, were nothing compared to the neoclassical features of the enormous structure. Other police cars and a van followed them and the technicians started to prepare their gear.
Neil and John were welcomed by Tony, who immediately showed them the kitchen door.
“Have you touched anything?” John asked.
“No, I only felt the lady’s pulse, and I think Robin touched her to wake her up. He is still upstairs in her bedroom. He doesn’t want to leave her ...” his voice trailed off because he loved the young boy and the old lady, and he still couldn’t believe what had happened.
In the meantime, Nolan and Margaret Lewis entered.
Nolan said: “What’s the matter, Tony? Why did you call the police? My mother was old and weak.” He stopped when he saw the door. Margaret said: “Oh my God, a thief! We must check mum’s jewels.” Neil and John exchanged a glance, but they didn’t say anything, even if they shared the same uneasiness.
John told Nolan Lewis: “Unfortunately, your son Robin found your mother. He is still beside her bed, and he doesn’t want to move.” If John wanted to see Nolan Lewis go upstairs immediately to comfort his son, he was soon disillusioned, because Nolan seemed busy inspecting the broken door, and he took no heed of Steele’s words.
Neil went upstairs, while John was still talking to Nolan and Margaret and asking them to call the other members of the family and the maid.
Neil entered the bedroom; he saw Mrs. Lewis motionless on the bed. Instinctively, he crossed himself, and he knelt on the floor next to Robin. The little boy buried his head on the shoulder of the policeman and started to sob. Neil let him cry for a few minutes, hoping Nolan Lewis would come to comfort his son, but no one came. He gently raised the boy’s face to look at him and said: “Robin, I know it is hard. I know you loved your grandma so much, but she wouldn’t want you to cry, don’t you think? What would she say if she saw you like this, Robin?”
Robin took a deep breath and answered: “She would tell me not to worry. that she would be fine soon. But now ...” Tears started to run down his cheeks and Neil embraced the little boy and told him: “We will find the person who did this to your granny, don’t worry!” Robin looked at him and shook his head. What he said next startled Neil, because he found it very strange: “No, I don’t care if you find that person. My granny won’t come back to me. She will never come back to me. I am alone now.”
“No, you are not alone, Robin. You have a mum and dad.” Robin shook his head, and Neil tried to say: “You have your friends, Robin. And I am here whenever you need me, ok?” For the first time Robin tried to smile. Neil looked around him and noticed that the room had evidently been searched. Drawers were on the floor; a jewelry box was almost empty.
Neil accompanied Robin downstairs. John had assembled the family members in the living room. Neil ordered the technicians to wait for the arrival of the coroner before inspecting the rooms upstairs. He called David Johnson and asked him to come. Nolan and Margaret were sitting on the sofa, and Tony was sitting on a chair in a corner.
When Neil entered with the little boy, Robin went to sit on an armchair far from his father and aunt. Nolan got up and went to kneel in front of Robin. Neil thought he would finally take care of his son, but he heard him say: “Robin, did you see anyone? Have you seen if they have taken away your granny’s jewels?” John and Neil exchanged a glance and shook their heads. There was something decidedly wrong with the relationship between father and son. Robin shook his head and, at first, he did not answer. Then, as his father was going back to sit on the sofa, he said in an anguished unnatural voice: “Granny is dead! I don’t care about the jewels! My granny is dead!” And he started to sob. Neil and John waited for Robin’s relatives to comfort him, but only Tony went to sit on the arm of the armchair and embraced the poor boy.
At that moment, the doorbell rang, and Tony went to open the front door. Barbara came into the room and ran to Robin immediately. She hugged him saying: “Oh, Robin, I am so sorry. Don’t cry, I am here with you.” Neil and John were relieved because Robin had someone to comfort him, but they noticed Robin tried to free himself from Barbara’s embrace as if he didn’t want to be comforted by her. Neil understood immediately that the woman was not Robin’s mother, and he thought that he certainly needed his mother with him.
After a few minutes, Carmen arrived. She had been evidently crying, she had a handkerchief crumpled in her hand, and she asked: “What happened? I am sorry, but I had to wait for my sister to come back from the doctor. I couldn’t leave my niece alone.”
Neil asked Nolan: “Are you all present in this room now? Is anybody missing? I mean, any members of your family?”
Nolan looked at him, and he said arrogantly: “You have no right to keep us here. I don’t mind if you have been given an award by the Governor. You can’t come here and tell us what to do in our home. You won’t believe we have killed our mother, won’t you? I demand to see my mother and to verify personally if something is missing.”
Neil was absolutely indifferent to the tone of Nolan’s words, and he repeated patiently: “I asked you a question, Mr. Lewis. I don’t know if you have realized a crime has been committed in this house this afternoon. Until the coroner has seen your mother and the technicians have done their job, you won’t be allowed to see Mrs. Lewis. I asked you if there are other members of the family who are not here.”
The firm voice of the inspector seemed to intimidate Nolan a little and, when he answered, he had lost much of his arrogance.
“My ex-wife had to go back to St. John today. She lives in St. John, but she was staying here with my mum this week. She had an appointment with her lawyer or something like that. I have already tried to call her, but she doesn’t answer her mobile phone.”
Neil asked: “Do you have an alarm in this house? Why was it not on?”
Tony answered: “Mrs. Lewis never turned the alarm on during the day, because she knew that Robin often came to visit her, and he didn’t know how to turn it off.”
John asked: “Can you verify if something is missing downstairs, while we are waiting for the coroner?”
Nolan and Margaret got up and went to the dining room. After a few minutes, they came back and looked around at the cabinets in the living room. Margaret said: “Nothing is missing downstairs, as far as we can see.”
Neil and John sat down on the other large sofa and Neil said: “I would like to talk to you one at a time.”
Nolan turned to look at him and he said sharply: “Inspector, I really don’t think we are obliged to talk to you. It is evident that a burglar came into the house. While we were all out, he went upstairs. My mother surprised him, and he took advantage of the fact that she was old and weak ...”
Neil said patiently, as if he were talking to a restless child who refuses to obey: “Mr. Lewis, I have already told you we need your cooperation. We need to know who knew that your mum was alone today, where you were, and if there is someone who could have seen or heard anything. I believe you want to catch the killer, at least to find your mother’s jewels!” In his last words, there was a hint of sarcasm, but Nolan didn’t perceive it, or he pretended not to notice.
At that moment, the doorbell rang again. Tony went to open the door and Robin looked up expectantly, maybe thinking it was his mother. A man in his fifties was ushered in by Tony. John introduced him to Neil: “This is the coroner, Dr. Scott.” The doctor shook hands with Neil, and John led him upstairs. Neil asked Tony: “Is there a room where I can talk privately with each of you?”
Tony led him to a study. It was a room lined with bookcases, with a large desk under the window overlooking the front of the house. Behind the desk, there was a big armchair, and on the other side, two smaller armchairs. Neil closed the door and invited Tony to take a seat. He sat down opposite him.
“Tony,” he asked affably, “how long have you been working for Mrs. Lewis?”
Tony sighed deeply before answering.
“I have been working here for over twenty years.” He looked instinctively towards the closed door and added: “Oh, I am so sorry for that poor boy. I have seen him grow up, and he is so lonely. He was so happy last Saturday after your volleyball training, sir, and Mrs. Lewis was so glad.”
Neil smiled and went on: “Do you usually go out on Wednesday afternoons?”
“No, in the afternoon I normally go to pick up Robin from school, but Mrs. Lewis generally comes with me, when she feels up to it, of course!” He stopped and corrected himself with tears in his eyes: “When she felt like it, I mean. This afternoon, I went to the mechanic to have the car checked, and then I had told the lady that I would go directly to the school to pick up Robin. I didn’t have time to come back home.”
There was a knock on the door of the study, and John came in. Neil smiled and told him: “I hope you don’t mind … I have just started to talk to the chauffeur!”
“Of course not, Neil. Hello, Tony!”
“Hello, Mr. Steele. I was telling the Inspector that I was at the mechanic’s this afternoon.”
Neil asked: “Was it a planned checkup?”
“Yes, I called the mechanic over a month ago. You can control it if you like. I will give you the name of the mechanic.”
“Thanks, Tony. That’s all for now.” Tony stood up and turned. John told him, before he opened the door: “Please, Tony, take care of Robin now...”
“Don’t worry. He is like a son to me.”
John told Neil, when they were alone in the room: “The coroner said that she died presumably two hours, two hours and a half ago, at approximately 2:30 p.m. They are waiting for the ambulance to take her to the morgue. Nolan Lewis has protested because he doesn’t want an autopsy to be performed, but I have already told him it is compulsory, because her mother had a violent death, and we have to establish whether the cause of death was suffocation or maybe a heart attack triggered by the shock. I hope I have convinced him.”
Another knock on the door, and David Johnson came in. Neil welcomed him and said: “David, do you mind taking down the names of the people who can testify to the whereabouts of all the family members and of the chauffeur and the maid, please? We will check the alibis.”
“Of course, Neil. The coroner has left, and the technicians have gone upstairs to dust for fingerprints and take photos. When they have finished, can I allow the family members to go upstairs to see the old lady before they take her to the morgue?”
“Yes, David. And ask Mr. Lewis to check what is missing upstairs, only after the technicians finish, of course.”
David nodded and left.
John said: “Who do we talk to next?”
Neil smiled and replied: “I would like to leave the most nervous one, Mr. Lewis, for last. Let’s talk to the maid. I think her name is Carmen.”
John went to the other room and came back with the maid. She was not crying now, and she looked composed. She sat down on the chair and looked at the Inspector with curiosity.
John talked to her: “Carmen, when did you leave this afternoon?”
The woman didn’t take her eyes off Neil and said: “I have every Wednesday afternoon off. I usually leave after lunch at around 2 o’clock. Today I left a little later, at about 2.15. I was in a hurry because my sister had to go to the doctor’s, and I had to look after my niece.”
Neil asked: “Where does your sister live?”
“She lives on the other side of the town, near the coast... It takes half an hour by car.”
“When you left, did you have the impression that Mrs. Lewis was worried about something? Was she not well, maybe?”
The woman answered: “On the contrary, she told me she was feeling better, and she was relaxed. Maybe it was that meeting she talked about last Saturday...”
John and Neil exchanged a quick glance, and John asked: “What meeting?”
Carmen looked at the two men, maybe afraid of having talked too much, and said: “She didn’t explain. Last Saturday at lunch, she said she would meet a person next Saturday. She sounded excited, but nobody asked her to say anything more.”
“Who was present at lunch?”
“Oh, every Saturday they all have lunch together, Mr. Lewis, Miss Margaret, Robin and Mrs. Lewis, I mean Barbara. But last Saturday Mrs. Dana was here too.”
“How long have you been working for Mrs. Lewis?”
“I have been working here for three years. I started working for the lady shortly after her husband’s death.”
“Where do the other family members live?”
“Oh, they all live in the same building. This central section is Mrs. Lewis’s home. On the left there is Margaret Lewis’s house and on the right Nolan Lewis’s. I go twice a week to their apartments to clean, and I spend the rest of the time here, where I do the cleaning and the cooking.”
“Thanks, Carmen. You can go now.” John said kindly. Carmen got up and left.
John ushered in Barbara. She smiled pleasantly at the Inspector, and she seemed perfectly at ease when she sat down and waited for the questions.
John told Neil: “This is Barbara Davies Lewis, the second wife of Mr. Lewis.”
Neil smiled and asked: “How long have you been married to Mr. Lewis?”
“We will celebrate our first anniversary in a few weeks, Inspector. We had known each other for a few months when we got married.”
“Did you have a good relationship with your mother-in-law?” Neil hastened to add: “I notice you are very caring and affectionate to Robin!”
Neil’s question didn’t seem to annoy Barbara in the least. She answered with a sigh: “Robin misses his mum so much. I am sorry because he hasn’t grown fond of me yet. He is polite and kind to me, but he doesn’t talk to me about school or his friends as he does when he sees his mother. Yes, I had a good relationship with Stacey. She has always been kind to me, and she used to thank me for taking care of Robin.”
“Where were you this afternoon?”
“Since Tony told me he would pick up Robin from school, I went to a friend of mine, Mrs. Craig. We often spend time together because she is a dear friend. She lives in a villa not far from here.”
“Do you usually have lunch with your mother-in-law?”
“No, I normally have lunch in town, and today I had lunch with my friend. My husband is never at home at lunchtime, and we meet here at my mother-in-law’s only on Saturday.”
“When did you last see Mrs. Lewis?”
“Every morning, I come here to see if she needs ...” she stopped, and she corrected herself, “she needed anything. Oh, it will be so difficult for me to get used to this. I will surely miss Stacey.”
“Did you notice anything about her behavior? Was she worried or not well?”
“To tell the truth, she was much better. Last Monday she couldn’t get out of bed. She was so tired, but yesterday and today she was much more energetic.”
“Was she planning to go somewhere or to meet someone?” John asked casually.
“Last Saturday she hinted at the fact that she was going to meet someone next Saturday, but she didn’t explain further. She seemed excited, though, and happy. Maybe she had to meet an old friend of hers. I don’t know.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Lewis!”
The woman left the room, and John asked Neil: “Do you think the planned meeting is important?”
“I don’t know, but we must follow every lead we have. John, if it was just a burglary, they could have stolen jewels, because Mrs. Lewis was asleep. Why kill her?”
“Maybe she woke up. Maybe she started to shout, or she tried to reach her telephone.”
“I don’t know...”
“If nobody in the family knows who she was planning to meet, I know a person Mrs. Lewis confided in.” John said.
“Who?”
“Anna. Mrs. Lewis went very often to talk to Father Luca, and she was a regular customer of the trattoria.”
“Ok, we are going to talk to her, because I have the impression that Mrs. Lewis’s children didn’t care so much about their mother. Maybe I am wrong. I don’t want to be too fast in judging their behavior.”
John said simply: “I don’t know the Lewises very well, but I believe you are not too far from the truth, Neil!”
He opened the door and called Margaret Lewis. She entered the room with a resented look on her face. She didn’t sit down, and she said, looking at Neil with arrogance: “I want to know the reason for all this questioning. We have just lost our mother. We have not been able to see her yet, and you are treating us as criminals. I have already called the family attorney. I hope he will arrive soon.”
John looked at Neil, who had stood up and didn’t seem perturbed by the words of the woman. He said simply: “I have already told you that your mother died a violent death. We must find out where each of you were, if anyone saw or heard anything. We are sorry for your loss and for Robin’s suffering. He is a child, and he found his grandmother dead. We are trying to complete this preliminary investigation as fast as we can, but there is a protocol we have to follow.”
Margaret seemed mollified by the calm tone of the Inspector, and she said: “As far as my brother and I are concerned, we had lunch with Mr. Rossi, one of our clients, the manager of a large firm in St. John. We had lunch at Anna’s Trattoria, on the sea promenade, and then we spent time in our office with Mr. Rossi to talk about some documents.”
“Thanks for this information. You can give the details of your meeting to our officer in the other room. One more thing, Miss Lewis. Do you know anything about a meeting your mother was planning?”
“No, I don’t know... Oh, maybe you are referring to the person she intended to meet next Saturday? She hinted at a meeting last week, but she didn’t say who that person was. I am sorry.”
“Did she often meet friends or acquaintances?”
“No, since my father died three years ago, she stayed at home most of the time. She only spoke to that priest, the one who died in the car crash.”
“Thank you, Miss Lewis. Can you tell your brother we would like to talk to him, please?”
Nolan came into the room immediately. He was visibly nervous, but he was trying hard to control himself. He said, without waiting to be asked, “I think my sister has already told you about our meeting with a customer today. I don’t know what else I can tell you.”
Neil asked: “Do you know anything about a meeting your mother had planned?”
“My mother could meet whoever she wanted. I didn’t control her acquaintances and her friends.” He stopped because he realized he was letting his agitation take hold. He looked around for a minute, and then he resumed: “Last Saturday she seemed excited when she told us she was going to meet a person, and she would be late for lunch, but she didn’t say anything more.”
“Ok, Mr. Lewis, one more thing. Have you been able to contact your ex-wife?”
“No, yesterday she told me she had to go back to St. John for an appointment with her lawyer. She said she would be back tonight or tomorrow morning.”
“Can you try once again to call her, please?”
Nolan took out his mobile phone from his trousers pocket and dialed a number. He put it on speaker, and the two policemen heard the phone ring until the call was disconnected. Neil told Nolan: “Please, give your ex-wife’s number to the agent in the other room and keep trying to contact her. As soon as she arrives in Rosary, put her in touch with us, please.”
“Ok, I will do that.” At that moment, David knocked on the door and came in. He said: “The technicians have finished for now. Mr. Lewis, if you want to see your mother, you can come with me. I will ask you and your sister to check the rooms upstairs and tell us what is missing.”
Nolan followed the agent without a word.
Neil and John went back to the living room, where Robin was sitting alone on the sofa. Tony came in with a glass of milk and some cookies on a plate, and he put them on the coffee table in front of the sofa. “Robin, come on, eat something, please,” he said kindly.
Neil sat down next to the boy and said: “Robin, you must be strong now.” The boy turned slowly and looked at the Inspector’s face as if he wanted to say something. Then he shook his head and remained silent.
Neil asked him: “Do you know anything about a person your granny wanted to meet next Saturday?”
Robin shook his head and said: “She told us she was going to meet a very important person. She said that he or she was important to grandpa! But nobody seemed interested. I thought they knew who that person was because they didn’t ask anything ...” Neil and John exchanged a glance. Certainly Robin had listened to his grandmother more attentively than the rest of the family.
Barbara came into the room, and Neil had the impression that she didn’t like to see Robin talking to them. She told the child: “Let’s go home now. You can take your milk and your cookies if you want.”
The boy looked towards the stairs. John thought he was going to ask to go to his grandmother once again, instead he said: “Thanks, Neil, for comforting me. I hope I will be able to come next Saturday.”
“See you, Robin!” And the boy left with Barbara, who put a protective arm around his shoulders.
The two policemen waited until Nolan came back downstairs, followed by Margaret. Almost immediately, the body of Stacey Lewis was brought downstairs and laid in an ambulance that drove away. Nolan and Margaret watched the casket holding their mother’s body being carried out of the house. No tears, no emotion was visible on their faces, but Neil reflected that every person reacted to grief in a different way.
After the ambulance had left, Nolan Lewis turned to Neil and said: “I must check more thoroughly, but I think that a lot of jewels have been stolen. There were two jewelry boxes in her bedroom: one is nearly empty now and some valuable jewels were taken from the other. The money she had in her purse was taken. Some drawers were opened and overturned in the other bedrooms, but there was nothing valuable there,”
John asked: “Do you have a safe in the house?”
“No, my father preferred to keep money and the most valuable objects in the bank vault.”
“Thanks, Mr. Lewis. We will do our best to discover who has done this to your mother.”
“I would be grateful if you were able to retrace my mother’s jewels and money.” Margaret intervened.
John and Neil saw that Nolan looked at his sister with a reproachful expression. The two policemen shared a feeling of uneasiness in front of these two siblings, who had just lost their mother. They were aware that a nine-year-old boy had found his grandmother dead, and only cared about money and jewels.
ns216.73.216.204da2
and then Add to home screen.