Mystery: Quest for Justice: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) (15 page)

"So," my father said, trying to converse with Alan, "where are you actually from?"

"Well, we're living in North Dakota now, but we're not originally from there," said Alan. "We used to live in San Francisco – both of us."

"Ah," said my father, as if he were a detective.

A couple more guests arrived, but then the atmosphere changed when the Wilsons arrived. Before they arrived, there were laughs and jokes, and it was overall a relaxed, friendly atmosphere, but when the Wilsons entered the room, hardly one word was spoken. The Sandersons and Brendan and Stephanie looked at Veronica, as did Chloe. Somehow, Veronica reminded me of one of the murder victims in a previous case of mine – she was arrogant, and bitchy. She had many enemies. Nobody in the building liked her. She liked to show off. She was mean. I had not even spoken to her, but I knew exactly what she was. I was beginning to feel sorry for Christopher, and I was beginning to think that he had a justifiable reason for cheating on his wife.

Veronica approached Chloe.

"What the Hell is this?" she said, her fingers grasping the glass.

"This is called ‘Death in the Afternoon’," said Chloe.

"Well, I've never tried this one before," said Veronica, taking the glass and sipping it. She put it back on the tray and said, "I don't like it. I want another cocktail."

Chloe turned round to her female servant.

"Allez à la cuisine et donnez lui du vin pas cher."

I tried to translate that in my head: go to the kitchen and give them some wine. Or it was something like that. I recognized some of the words because Chloe had said them before when we first entered the hotel.

The female servant reappeared with some new wine.

"What on Earth is this?" said Veronica.

"It's something you'd like," said Chloe, trying not to be too smug.

"This is probably the cheapest wine on the market!" she yelled.

"Well, ‘Death in the Afternoon’ is one of the most expensive cocktails on the market, so I thought you'd like the opposite."

Even though she was vile, I still would not treat Veronica like that if she were my guest. Veronica just turned around and walked over to the piano, muttering, "when I get home, I'm going on TripAdvisor to write a bad review of this place!"

Then something startled even me. Christopher sat down at the grand piano, with Veronica standing next to him. He pressed a few keys, and Veronica started to sing.

"You're the top, you're the coliseum.

You're the top, you're the Louvre Museum.

You're the melody from a symphony by Strauss.

You're a Vendel bonnet, a Shakespeare sonnet, you're Mickey Mouse!

You're the Nile, you're the Tower of Pisa,

You're the smile on the Mona Lisa.

I'm a worthless cheque, a total wreck, a flop.

But if babe I'm the bottom, you're the top!"

This woman was clearly the biggest show-off I had ever seen. She had attracted the attention of everyone in the room, and worst of all, she could not sing. I wondered if she was drunk, but then again, I did not think she was. She then thought up her own lyrics for the song:

"You're the top of the Eiffel Tower.

You're the top, you're the finest hour!
      

You're the boat I like on the lovely River Seine.

If you were Champs Élysées, I'd like to say I'd come again!

You're the top, you're the Pont Alexandre,

You're the wine, with a snail-filled dinner.

I'm the frog without a leg on which to hop.

But if babe I'm the bottom, you're the top!"

Veronica then stopped singing, and bowed down. Many of the other guests who were there clapped, not including those who knew who she was. The members of staff clapped, not including Chloe. Veronica loved the attention, which proved my deduction of her earlier on.

Chloe then approached me and said, "if you want a fantastic view of the countryside, go outside in the back, where the swimming pool is. You can see for miles around!"

It was not completely dark yet, although the sun had set. I decided to catch a quick view of the countryside – I wasn't one for socializing anyway.

I went outside, and Chloe was right – the view was absolutely stunning. It was breath-taking. So this was what it was like to see the world, and tomorrow, I would see the whole of Paris. I was very excited about it.

Suddenly, although he did not notice me, I spied Christopher Dewell sneaking off. He went behind the back of the building, literally tiptoeing so he did not make any noise. Quietly, I followed him, to see what he was up to.

"I've waited so long to see you," said a woman's voice.

"Did the others see us?" he said.

"No. I made sure of it."

I then heard kissing sounds, and they were beginning to get more and more passionate. I then joked to myself:
it was Paris, after all.
But then I thought,
who is this mystery woman?
I knew it was too much of a risk to peek my head round the corner. Could it be Shona, or Stephanie, or even Chloe? I thought it might be Chloe.

Anyway, I decided to sneak back into the hotel before they caught me eavesdropping. It was ironic because they were the ones who were supposed to be secretly doing something, but I did not want to get involved. I went back inside and acted as though nothing happened. After all, I did not feel sorry for Veronica one bit.

It had been a long day, so we all decided it was time to go to bed, for tomorrow was going to be a big day.

That night, in my room, it was fairly hot, so I opened the window. I heard arguing in the room next to me, which I heard Alan and Shona Sanderson going into before.

"Why did you have to get involved with him again?" Alan said, extremely angry.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Alan? I did not get involved with him!"

"Then where did you go when he went outside for a cigarette?"

"I told you. I went outside to look at the view!"

"You're lying!"

"Prove it!"

"Alright, I will," said Alan. "I'll go and ask that Tammy tomorrow, shall I? She was outside when you were, so let's see what she has to say!"

My fears had come true – I did not want to get involved in it, but if Shona was having an affair, then perhaps Alan should know the truth. However, I just thought about the ten years of marriage, and that marriage was now in my hands.

Throughout the night, I lie awake, thinking about the next day. Ever since I was a small girl, I wanted to go to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, and today was going to be the day. I had never had time to go on holidays, nor did my parents – we were too busy taking care of other things over the years.

The morning eventually arrived, and surprisingly, I was not tired. We got dressed in summer clothes, because the weather said that the day was going to be sunny, even if I could not understand what they were saying. It was early in the morning, but at least we would have the full day in the city. Chloe said that it would take about half an hour to get to the city center, which was not bad, considering Paris was a capital city, and we were on the outskirts.

When I got downstairs, I was surprised to see that almost everyone who was going on the trip was there: the Sandersons, Stephanie and Brendan, and of course, the Wilson, although they were not sat with the others in the red outdoor seating area. They were sat out of the way on a nearby table. Chloe then arrived, looking as stressed as ever.

"Right, everyone," she said. "The bus will leave in ten minutes. Now, where are those Miltons?!"

The Miltons, of course, were elderly people, so they would take their time with things. I worried that they might not make it in time.

"If they don't hurry up we'll have to leave without them!" Chloe cried, pulling her hair.

"They'll get here," said Veronica. "Don't worry."

"Oh," said Stephanie. "I've forgotten my sun cream! I'll just be a minute."

"You were looking for it earlier, weren't you?" said Brendan.

"Yes. I don't know where it is," replied Stephanie.

"I'll help you look for it," I offered, considering I had nothing else to do. Stephanie agreed, so we went up the stairs and onto the first floor, directly above the outdoor seating area. We looked for a couple of minutes.

"It's a lovely place, isn't it?" she said.

"It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to," I replied, still feeling as though I was living a dream.

Stephanie then went out on to the balcony, where she saw the bottle of sun cream. Before picking it up, she took her dry, red towel from the balcony, and then put a wet, blue towel over the balcony, leaving the green one in the shade.

"I'll have to leave this one in the shade," she said, pointing to the green one, "because this one tends to fall off and fall into the seating area."

Stephanie and I continued to make small talk. She seemed like a very nice girl, and I was happy for her that she was engaged. That reminded me of Alan and Shona –they were in a hot mess. They had not yet approached me to ask about last night, but I sensed it was coming. I knew it was.

We arrived downstairs, and surprisingly, the others were now by the swimming pool, including Veronica.

"It's nicer here," said Shona. "We get more Sun."

Alan, Shona and Brendan were all talking to Veronica, and I found it rather strange. Then again, she might have been nice to talk to if she did not dislike you. I thought about whether I wanted to approach her to start a conversation with her, but decided to go out and look for my parents.

"Those bloody Miltons!" cried Chloe. "We've only got five minutes before we leave!"

"They'll get here," said my father, trying to calm Chloe down.

"I knew this would happen. I knew it would! Every week, we go into Paris, and nothing ever changes. Someone either gets sick, or there is some sort of drama!"

"Calm down!" said my mother, getting rather stressed out herself for no apparent reason.

I then noticed Christopher off by himself, doing nothing but sitting in the sunshine in the red seating area.

Fortunately, the Miltons arrived, dawdling their way down the stairs.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Milton," Chloe said, altering her tone of voice. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," said Mr. Milton. "Very well. We aren't late, are we?"

"No. Of course not!" cried Chloe.

Now that everyone was here, we all set off on to the bus – me, my parents, Chloe, the Miltons, the Sandersons, Stephanie, Brendan, and of course, the Wilsons all got on the minibus, ready for our exciting adventure into the heart of the city of love.

There is one word that describes the main part of Paris: breath-taking. It was the most beautiful place I’d ever been to. Everywhere you looked, it was beautiful. The buildings just blew me away –– they were so wonderful. Their structure amazed me. I loved every single molecule of Paris that existed at that moment in time. I truly believed I was in Heaven. Everyone else around me loved it as well, except for Chloe, of course, who was too busy stressing out about the day’s schedule. We were in the bus, and had been driving through Paris for five minutes, when Chloe picked up a microphone and started to speak.

"Good morning, everyone," she said. "It's usually a larger group than this, but never mind. It's easier with just a few people, anyway. Today we are going to see the main sights of Paris. Now, first, we are going to go on a boat trip. It's a little unusual for daytime, but less people are present, and it's just as nice anyway..."

I did not like the way in which Chloe expressed her opinions as facts. It would have been much nicer when it was dark.

"...While we are on the boat, we will pass some monuments: some famous bridges, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and of course, the Eiffel Tower. We will then go off into town for some dinner, and then we will go to the Eiffel Tower!"

There were cheers all around on the bus. I was even tempted to join in. This was going to be the perfect day – I knew it.

As Chloe said, the first thing that we did was go on the boat trip. That part of the day was amazing, even though it was in daylight. The boat went through the city slowly, allowing us to see the sights of the most romantic city in the world.

On the boat, my parents and I sat near the front, while Stephanie, Brendan and the Sandersons were behind us, and the Wilsons were sitting out of the way. The Miltons sat next to them as well, taking in the sights, enjoying the peace away from the crowd on the boat.

"Do you mind if I take a photo?" said Stephanie, seeing that I had a camera in my hand. "I'm interested in photography."

"Of course," I said, passing her the camera.

While Stephanie was taking the photo, Veronica surprised me again by conversing with the Miltons and Chloe. Before, she had shown no interest in the Miltons (or Chloe for that matter), but now, she was keen to talk to them.

"So, what other exciting adventures are we getting up to this week?" said Vera.

"Well, on Thursday, I'm arranging a visit to the little French village next to our hotel," said Chloe, attracting the attention of the neighbors. "It's a nice place. A lot of things that happened in the war remained there, and it's interesting to see what the people from World War One left for us."

"Sounds interesting," said Veronica, smiling.

Christopher just sat there, listening in, saying nothing while the rest of the group was having fun.

To my great and utter shock, when I turned round, underneath the empty seat next to me, I saw a gun. It was a pistol.

"That was not there before!" I cried. "How on Earth did this get here?"

Everyone on the boat just sat there in silence, staring. We approached Notre Dame.

"Somebody has just put this gun here!" I cried.

"Well... We'll hand it over to the police," said Chloe, acting a bit nervous and shaky.

I knew it was a real gun. I had seen these before. They were very common.

I wondered who could have put the gun there. Perhaps someone on the boat dropped it when they walked past?