Page 44 of When You're Forgotten

Richard’s eyes widened.“Wait—no!”he gasped.

The muzzle barked in a flash of fire.The shot was deafening in the enclosed space.Richard jerked backward, chest blossoming red.He hit the floor with a sickening thud.Jenna let out a shriek, her hands flying up as though to ward off the horror.

“God, no!”she cried.

Edwin pivoted and fired again, not giving Jenna time to run.She, too, collapsed in a heap, the syringe clattering from her limp hand.Blood pooled rapidly on the polished boards, her final breath escaping in a ragged exhalation.

“Theywere the killers,” Edwin said with a grin.“If only I could have gotten there before they murdered Inspector Winters.BraveFinn struggled with the killers as he tried to save his partner, but I guess I’m just not as good a shot as I used to be...”

Mrs.Hughesstumbled forward, kneeling on the floor near the two corpses.Tears streaked her cheeks.“Edwin… how could you?”Her voice cracked with the betrayal of seeing him execute co-conspirators.

Edwin’s features hardened.He gave a bitter shrug, stepping sideways to keep the rifle trained on Finn.“They were losing their nerve.We need everything neat if we want to collect the spoils.You and I will be fine.We’ll say Richard went insane and killed them, or something.We can spin it.With Catherine and Richard dead, the estate goes to where we need it.”

Mrs.Hughes bowed her head, shaking in silent sobs.“I never wanted this.”

Finn seized on the moment to push for answers.He raised a trembling finger at the two bodies, heart pounding.“Why kill them?They were your allies.Wasn’t the plan to share the inheritance from the estate once it sold?”

Edwin gripped the rifle, ignoring the question.He addressed Mrs.Hughes: “Help me tie him up.Let’s finish off the girl.”

Amelia moaned softly, stirring in the chair.Finn’s protective instinct surged.He shifted to position himself between her and the rifle’s muzzle.“Edwin,” he said in a low tone, “I get it.You were cast aside.James used you, then threw you away.Catherine championed you for a while, but apparently that wasn’t enough.You were forced to live in the woods.But you expect to escape murder charges now?”

Edwin's eyes burned."I dedicated my life to the Penrose.Because of Wilkie's death, James hated me.All for telling Wilkie old folklore.Then James cut me off, refused me a livelihood.Catherine tried to help me, but once she took up with that plan to sell the house, taking half of the money with her, it wasn't enough.We had to act."

“I do wonder if Wilkie was the first kill…” Finn said.“When I was in your cabin, I noticed a lot of local plants being grown, cultivated.You said yourself you loved folklore, does that include knowledge of poisonous plants that might be undetectable in an autopsy, unless you’re specifically looking for it?”

Mrs.Hughes sniffled.“You’re wrong, Finn.Edwin, he suspects we used poison for Wilkie.But Wilkie simply died.He was frightened by the old stories and he was a paranoid poor soul...”

Finn took a bold step forward.“Stop lying, Mrs.Hughes.Did you or Edwin kill Wilkie with poison that simulates a heart attack or fear-induced seizure?Was it put in his food?Edwin could cultivate it, you would have opportunity to put it in any served food.Have you been planning this for years, finishing off the family one by one?I do wonder if you even killed your husband that way so you could be with the man you love.”

Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly.Finally, tears glinting, she stammered, "James reneged on the lump sum for me, yes.I was old.I had no future.Meanwhile, he spent it on prostitutes… that vile man."She spat the last words with surprising venom."So yes, we conspired because he spent all that money on his own pleasures while we starved in service.But we never did anything to Wilkie or my husband!"

A flicker of guilt crossed Edwin’s face, as though old secrets weighed him down.“Enough of the lies!Yes, Wilkie had to go.But I did that alone.I was furious he had told James about the stories I shared, knowing full well James wouldn’t approve.That brought pressure on me.But Mr.Hughes’s passing… that was a mercy.He was a depressed man who was in between me and the woman I loved… I did that because it was necessary.Mrs Hughes didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Mrs.Hughes pressed a hand to her mouth, sobbing harder.“Edwin, no...”

Finn felt sick to his core.He spotted the splatters of Richard’s and Jenna’s blood shining under the lamp.The entire house reeked of betrayal.

“Enough chatter,” Edwin snapped, lifting his rifle.“We have to finish.Finn, step away from the girl.”

Finn’s mind raced, scanning for a weapon.On the desk behind him lay a heavy paperweight—he recognized the same object he’d used earlier.But before he could reach for it, a sudden noise erupted from somewhere in the corridor—

A horrible, unearthly scream.It sounded like Marianne.

It came from another part of the house, echoing with inhuman volume.Everyone froze, eyes wide.Even Edwin’s finger twitched off the trigger.A hush followed, thick with a sense of dread.

Seizing that instant, Finn lunged for the paperweight.He swung it in a wide arc, aiming squarely for Edwin’s temple.Edwin tried to pivot, but the blow connected with a dull whack.The gun fired wide of its mark, burying a bullet in the wall.Finn threw himself forward, arms up to shield Amelia from stray fire, but no further shots followed.

Ameliamoaned more strongly, blinking as she fought off the remnants of the drug.The loud shot must have jolted her nearly awake.“Fi…nn,” she slurred.

Mrs.Hughes, eyes wild, grabbed a candle holder from the floor and made a desperate swipe at Finn.He ducked her swing, pushing her back into the desk.She tumbled, sprawling on the ground.Meanwhile, Edwin, bleeding from a fresh wound on his scalp, raised his rifle once more.

Finn grappled with Edwin, the man’s grip slippery from the blood coursing down the side of his face.They wrestled across the floor, furniture scraping.The rifle muzzle pinned at awkward angles.Amelia groaned unable to help from her chair.

At last, Finn overpowered the older man, forcing him face-down with a knee to his spine.But as he pinned him, he felt a sudden, stunning blow—Mrs.Hugheshad seized the paperweight, smashing it against Finn’s skull.Pain exploded across his vision, sending him reeling onto his side on the floor, choking on a wave of dizziness.

Edwinpropped himself up, rifle still in his grasp.“Chloroform!Quick!”he rasped.

Finn’s head spun, disorientation pressing in.Mrs.Hughes and Edwin converged, cloth in hand, forcing the chemical-laced rag toward his face.He tried to thrash away, but half his senses reeled.The pungent odor battered his nostrils.This was it.

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