Read Online Accomplished In Murder by Dara England - Free Book Online

before
removing the final obstacle in my path: My brother. I would have
done that particular deed more carefully, of course. Poison or some
such subtle means. I still will when the time comes. Do you want to
know why? Because there will be no one to stop me.”
    While he was speaking, he had begun removing
his silk neck cloth.
    Drucilla didn’t want to find out what he
planned on doing with it. “But why the taunting of Celeste,” she
asked. “Why the ‘ghostly’ charade?”
    His eyes glinted with dark amusement. “You’re
trying to put me off. But that’s all right. I don’t mind taking a
moment to satisfy your curiosity. Unlike you, I’ve got all the time
in the world.”
    He tipped his head to the side and appeared
to consider her question. “In the beginning, I was only watching
her to learn her habits, to discover her weaknesses, while I
plotted the least obvious method of removing her. But after awhile,
it became a sort of game between us, I the hunter and she the prey.
There’s something thrilling in watching your victim, knowing you’re
going to kill them. What power could be greater than holding
another being’s life in your hands?”
    Her expression must have shown her disgust
but he did not appear to mind the lack of appreciation.
    “The ghost costume was a precaution,” he
continued, “in case anyone should witness me stalking her about.
The fact she mistook me at first for a real specter was unintended
but entertaining. Rather like when I arranged for her to discover
‘Mrs. Portillo’ was Absalom’s real wife. I had known the truth
there for some time but didn’t see any hope of convincing others of
it. Perhaps I lack your impressive skills of persuasion.”
    “So it was through you Celeste learned about
the secret marriage? Why? What advantage was there to be
gained?”
    “I briefly entertained the idea of
undermining my brother with a denouncement. Allowing the truth to
be known, that his current ‘marriage’ was invalid, would make the
child Celeste was bearing him an illegitimate heir. I thought I
could use Celeste as a tool for bringing that about but it didn’t
happen as I’d hoped. She didn’t confront him publically, didn’t
even tell him she knew, apparently. And so I was forced to find a
different solution to my most pressing problem, the little
heir-to-be.”
    He paused. “And that catches us up to our
current dilemma. You proved surprisingly perceptive in sniffing out
my brother’s secret. I knew then I couldn’t risk your delving into
my own little mystery. And so it must end.”
    She shuddered but maintained a brave façade.
“Surely you don’t intend throwing me off the roof too? That has
been done, after all. You don’t think it would seem a trifle
suspicious for two women to die by the same ‘accidental’ means
within mere days of one another?”
    “Come, you must give me more credit than
that, Drucilla. I am not stupid. No, I’ve chosen an entirely
different method of removing you, one that will actually serve a
dual purpose. Perhaps you can take comfort in that, the knowledge
that your death will be particularly useful to me. You see, I’ve
been looking about for a method of removing my brother and you have
now provided it. As many witnesses as were present during that
unpleasant scene at the dinner table, there will be no question
that Absalom has an excess of motive for revenge.”
    “You would frame your own brother for my
murder?”
    “Do not look so surprised, Drucilla,” he
chided. “I thought we had already established the lengths of my
ambition.”
    She swallowed, throat tightening as it became
clear how conveniently she had played into his hands. She said,
“You’re insane.”
    He shrugged. “Possibly. It depends on your
definition of insanity. Is greed equivalent to madness? Because if
it is, I’m not the first or the last in my family to demonstrate
the signs.”
    Drucilla did not realize how far she had
backed across the roof until she