Promise Me Eternity (39 page)

As he’d suspected, they were there to arrest
him. Standing on the front doorstep were Steven West and three
uniformed officers. West explained to him that he was under arrest,
that he had a right to a lawyer, and that everything he said could
be used against him in court.

“Yes, yes, spare me the details, please,”
Simon said. “I’ve seen all this on television. I’ll come with
you.”

Edna Weiss put both hands to her cheeks and
stared at the policemen with a frightened look on her face.

Dr. Patterson said to Agent West, “Just let
me do one thing.”

Steven West gestured to the officers to
wait.

Dr. Patterson looked for his cell phone and
called Christine. The answering machine picked up and he decided
not to leave a voicemail message.
Mmm, strange. I’ll call her
again from the police station.

While one of the officers handcuffed him,
Simon turned to Edna, who was almost whimpering. “Don’t you worry,
Edna. Finish the cleaning, your money is in the drawer. I’ll be
back in two hours.”

Shakily, she nodded and replied, “Be brave,
Dr. Patterson.”

He winked at her. “Good-bye, Edna. I’ll be
right back.”

When she continued with the cleaning, she
didn’t know why she couldn’t shake off the feeling that Dr.
Patterson would not be back in two hours.

Chapter 80

_______________________

John Melton was standing by the window,
hiding behind the curtain. “Maria,” he called out, “come here
quick!”

“What’s wrong? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“Oh, come here, for God’s sake. The police
are here to arrest Patterson.”

Maria dropped the cloth she was cleaning the
kitchen shelves with and ran to the window. “Poor Simon, they’ve
arrested him again.”

Her husband turned to her angrily. “Are you
nuts? How can you say poor Simon? He killed Helen, for God’s
sake!”

Maria shook her head. “He couldn’t do
something like that.”

“That’s what you think, but I say he finished
her off. She got on his nerves so much that he couldn’t go on.”

“You’re exaggerating, John. Simon isn’t like
that.”

“You’re so naïve. There’s no point in talking
to you. The police know what they’re doing.”

Maria chose to say nothing more. She watched
Simon get in the patrol car and watched as it drove off.

Resuming her cleaning, her thoughts turned to
her neighbor.
Simon didn’t kill her, I’m sure of that. He’ll be
out soon.

She got hot from her work, so she stopped for
a while and watched her husband.
He’s become so cranky. He’s
really starting to grate on my nerves.

Chapter 81

_______________________

“How could you be so stupid as to introduce
your future boss to everybody?” Anita Carter asked when she and
Jerry were having dinner.

“What else could I do? Dr. Horras asked me
to. Would you have refused?”

“I wouldn’t have let him make a fool of me.
I’d tell him! What does he expect? Throughout Simon’s absence
you’ve been doing his job and that’s the way he thanks you.”

“We’ll manage. If that’s what Dr. Horras
decided, there’s no point in opposing him.”

“Listen to me, Jerry. If you intend always to
give in so easily and let others walk all over you, then don’t
expect any changes. If you don’t learn to stand up for yourself,
you’ll get nowhere.”

Jerry decided not to argue. Even though she
had really hurt him, he preferred to keep silent.

“Why don’t you say something? Does it seem
normal to you what they’ve done?”

“What can I say? I guess they know what
they’re doing.”

She picked up her plate of food and put it in
the fridge. “If I talk to you for another minute, I’ll go crazy.
How can you be so indifferent to everything?”

He was looking at her and it all seemed
genuinely funny to him. “What should I do? Do you want me to shout
and moan? Would that make it better?”

“I don’t know if it would make it better. But
I know it would be the normal thing to do. I’ve never seen a person
as unperturbed as you. However, I don’t want to argue. I’ll have a
bath and read a magazine.”

He lifted his hand, wanting to ask her to
wait because he didn’t want to argue either. He changed his mind.
There was no point, anyway.

Chapter 82

_______________________

When the police had gone, Christine relaxed.
Inside, she was bubbling over with happiness, but on the outside
she had to look miserable. She couldn’t believe that Simon had
really killed him.

The butler stood at the door. “Would you like
anything else, madam?”

His voice made her jump. “How dare you walk
in here without being called!”

“I only wanted to ask you if you needed
anything. I didn’t mean to startle you.” There was a hint of
cynicism in his voice.

“No, I don’t need anything.”

The butler turned and was about to close the
door.

“And anyway, Harold, I don’t think I shall
need your services any longer.”

“Are you saying I can have the afternoon
off?”

She threw the handkerchief with which she had
wiped her nose onto the table. “No, I won’t need you anymore. Today
or ever.”

“I don’t understand. How—”

“You’re fired.”

“But Mr. Vucci …”

“Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear what the
police said? Mr. Vucci is dead. And that terminates your
contract.”

He gave her an angry look and slammed the
door.

She was happy to be rid of him. The butler
had always gotten on her nerves.
From now on, everything will be
different. From now on, things will be as I want them to
be.

Chapter 83

_______________________

As they were driving to the police station,
Simon kept smiling. He knew they’d have to release him.
Then
I’ll demand a public apology.
His thoughts kept turning to
Christine. After a while, he came out of his reverie and looked out
the car window.

“Listen,” he said, “where are you taking me?
Aren’t we going to the police station?”

“Not this time,” Steven said. “On account of
the weight of evidence we have against you, we decided to take you
straight to prison, where you can await trial.”

“No!” Simon shouted. “You have no proof. I
didn’t kill my wife. And this time I have a witness who’ll confirm
it.”

Steven looked at his watch. He had counted on
being home in an hour at the latest. “What are you saying?”

“I’d like to change my statement. I heard on
the radio that Carlo Vucci was dead.”

“Yes, but what’s that got to do with the
death of your wife?”

“Let me explain.” He didn’t know how to
start. “Christine Vucci and I …” He told them about his affair with
her.

Everyone in the car was shocked. Steven
remembered very well how beautiful Christine Vucci was. He hadn’t
seen such an attractive woman for a long time, and wondered how she
could possibly be a part of that bizarre tale.

“We met a few times. I’m embarrassed to tell
you this, but it’s very important. She’ll confirm that I didn’t
kill Helen, since I was with her that night.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, of course I’m serious. We couldn’t have
told you before. We were afraid of her husband, who was a very
dangerous man, but now …”

Steven looked at his watch again. “OK, we’ll
take you to the station, then. You’ll call Mrs. Vucci and she’ll
come and sign a statement confirming what you’ve just told us. It
would be best, really, if your lawyer took care of it.”

“Why complicate things. This way, everything
will be settled nice and quickly.”

At the police station, Simon was offered a
telephone. He thanked them politely and took out his cell phone. He
was looking forward to hearing Christine’s voice again and his
heart was beating fast.

The answering machine picked up, so Simon
hung up. “She’s not available,” he said to Steven. “I don’t
understand. I’ve been calling her since yesterday and can’t get
through. Maybe her phone isn’t working.”

Steven didn’t know what to do. He went to his
boss’s office and told him the whole story.

“Unbelievable. It’s suddenly all getting
complicated,” Richard Ross said. “It’ll be best if you go and visit
Mrs. Vucci now.”

Steven nodded obediently and left Richard’s
office. His anger of not being able to get home when planned was
alleviated by the opportunity to see Christine Vucci.

Half an hour later, he was in front of the
magnificent entrance, and the door was opened by Christine
herself.

“Oh, the police again. How can I help?” she
asked.

Steven shuffled awkwardly. For a moment he
looked at her firm breasts, and then said, “Do you know Dr.
Patterson?”

She looked at him with surprise. “Of course I
do. He saved my husband’s life when he had a car accident.”

“Oh.” He tried to find the appropriate words.
“Dr. Patterson said that he was with you the night his wife was
murdered. Can you confirm that?”

Christine looked shocked. “That’s what he
said?”

Steven nodded.

“This is what I’ll tell you,” Christine said.
“I’ve seen Dr. Patterson only three times in my life. The first
time, when he came to dinner, and then another two times when I
went to see him because of the headaches I get, and that’s
all.”

“So you weren’t with him that night?”

“Of course not,” she said angrily. “How could
he have said something like that? I don’t understand.”

It became clear to Steven that Dr. Patterson
had lied to him.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Vucci, for disturbing you.
There’s obviously something very wrong with him. Thank you and
good-bye.”

“Good-bye.”

While Steven West was driving back to the
police station, he thought about Dr. Patterson, who had looked so
calm and relaxed.
You’d never think he was capable of killing
someone. But there is clearly something wrong in his head to be
making up things like that.

Simon was overjoyed to see Steven. “So, did
you talk to her?”

The special agent looked at him angrily.

“So I can go?”

Steven put his hand on Simon’s shoulder.
“You’re not going anywhere, Dr. Patterson. Mrs. Vucci said you’ve
made it all up.”

“What? How …?” He felt as if someone had
slapped his face. “I don’t understand. … She said what? How is that
possible?”

Steven watched him.
Unbelievable, if he’s
acting, I have to admit he’s very good at it.

“Listen, are you sure that you spoke to the
right Mrs. Vucci?” Simon asked him.

Steven gave a short description: “An
exceptionally beautiful young woman with blond hair, about five
foot nine, living in a splendid house on—”

“It’s her,” Simon had to admit. He was so
stunned he had to sit down.

Steven said, “We’ll have to take you to
prison. You can wait for trial there.”

As if he hadn’t heard him, Simon said, “Why
did she say I made it up? It’s not true. She’s lying!” he said
angrily. “I can prove it.”

Steven looked at him and felt a kind of
remorse. Something said that perhaps he was telling the truth, but
on the other hand Simon could be a typical example of a
schizophrenic. Steven sighed irritably. “How can you prove it?”

Simon told him the name and address of the
hotel where he and Christine had met. He also described the woman
who had given them their room key. “She’ll confirm that we were
there. Please, check it out!”

Steven looked at his watch. He should have
been home long ago. It was nearing seven o’clock. “It’s impossible
to do it today. We’ll go tomorrow.”

“I can’t spend the night in prison if I’m not
guilty. Please, go and check it out. We were there three times and
every time we were served by the same woman. Christine Vucci is
lying and I have no idea why.”

Steven wavered. In a way, he felt sorry for
Simon. “OK, I’ll go there. I hope you’re telling the truth.”

Forty minutes later, he was in the Eden Park
Hotel.

A friendly older woman greeted him. “Would
you like a room, young man?”

Steven pulled out his badge and showed it to
her. “I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

The woman bent down to look at the badge,
squinting. “Of course, just ask. I’ll be glad to help.”

He described the girl Dr. Patterson was
supposed to have seen. “I’d like to talk to her.”

The woman’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you sure
you’ve got the right address?”

“Why?” the agent asked.

“Because it’s only me, my husband, and
occasionally our daughter working at the reception desk. And my
daughter doesn’t even remotely look like the girl you’ve described.
You said her hair was long and red. Our daughter has very short
hair and it’s black. Would you like me to call her?”

“It won’t be necessary,” Steven said, trying
not to show his outrage. “Sorry to have bothered you. Have a nice
evening.”

“You can’t do this! Where are you taking
me?”

“Where you belong. You’ve really made a fool
of me,” Steven said.

Four police officers were pulling Simon along
the corridor to the police station door.

“Did you go to Eden Park Hotel?”

“Yes, I did. They’ve never seen your
receptionist.”

Simon waved his arms as if he had gone mad.
“No, that can’t be true. I’m telling you the truth. Wait!”

The officers took no notice of him. They were
pulling him along and he was resisting desperately. “You can’t have
gone to the right hotel.”