Chapter 35

The following day was a blur. Beth took a day off and took care of Lily. Mrs. Fraser was shocked. I sent her back home as soon as I had told her the news, and then I was very discreetly visited by two state police officers. They didn't admit anything, but it seemed that they were not really surprised by the behavior of the local police force. My aunty was there all the time, but she didn't really intervene. Only when the policemen said they wanted my cellphone, did I disagree.

"I run my own business, and I cannot give it away just like that. But I can give you a copy of that recorded call, and make sure that the digital signature and the checksum of the file stays intact. It probably isn't enough, as it might not be admissible as evidence, but the same applies with the phone itself."

They agreed. I made a copy of that recording and gave it to them. They said they would check the facts, and if they found anything, they would get back to me.

I was back at school on Thursday and Friday. I managed to get through the days. Late Friday afternoon I drove to the hospital and looked through the autopsy report and it fueled my anger even more. Had there been a doctor on site when Sara was moved she probably would have made it. But there was no way she could have made it when the piece of metal was forced away from her stomach. She had bled to death while on the way to the hospital. What a waste of life. But I still could not cry.

What really shocked me Friday evening was a letter that invited me - as Sara's husband - to the reading of the will of her ex-boss on the Friday afternoon next week. I showed the letter to my aunty. Sara was mentioned in his will, and as Sara had lived longer than he had, she had inherited something. Shit. He really had been a sick puppy.

"I do not want anything from him."

"And that is exactly why we should go there. You want to make things clear at one single sitting."

I reluctantly agreed and gave her permission to agree a meeting as soon as possible after the reading of the will. Of course, I'd need to take care of Sara's belongings in her apartment. I already feared that task.

During the weekend I was contacted by the state police who asked if they could keep Sara's cell as evidence. I gave my permission but I also said that I also hoped that its contents would be handled very discreetly. I didn't want any unnecessary bad mouthing even if Sara was already dead. I took Lily to see Sara, as I had made arrangements for the funeral. Lily cried a bit when she put some early flowers on Sara's coffin. My tears were still burned away by the anger inside me. I thought that I needed some payback before I could cry again. If ever.

Somehow, I made it through the following week until it was time to start our early ride to Sara's old home. Without my burning anger, I probably would never been able to visit Sara's apartment. Everything reminded me about her: the tidiness, the clothes, even the smells. When I gathered all the important documents she had neatly stored in a few folders, I found some old photos. Sara and her mother. Sara and me years ago. My aunty noticed my temporary distress but she didn't say a thing. When I was sure that there was nothing more that I wanted I did one final thing by taking two old stuffed animals from her bedroom, ones that I remembered from years back. I sure felt like crying, but there just weren't any tears.

I was numb during the reading of the will. There were only few people present: the lawyer responsible for executing the actions of the will; a girl who looked like she might still be in high school, and her friend or lawyer; and, clearly, someone from his company. Then my aunty and me. The lawyer of the dead bastard ... after all, his actions had taken Sara away from Lily, and me ... laid out the facts of his client's accidental death and the reason for me being present. Like I would have liked to be there. It turned out that the bastard had been very wealthy, and almost everything was left to his only heir, his eighteen year old daughter. Minority ownership of his company would be given to his workers. Finally, two million dollars were to go to Sara, in case he died before Sara. I guessed that he didn't think that it would happen the way it did.

When that last part of the will was read, his daughter threw a terrible tantrum, looking exactly like the spoiled brat she was. I didn't really care. I had not wanted any of his money, and had already told that to my aunty; but, when she was yelling and cursing and slandering Sara and me for stealing HER money I changed my mind. No emotion was visible in my face when I listened to the brat, but I wrote something on a single sheet of the notepad I had with me, and gave it to my aunty. while the two lawyers did their best to calm the girl down. My aunty wrote something under the note I had shown her.

'you sure?'

I picked up my pen and replied.

'absolutely!'

She just nodded. Finally, things settled down and it was time for the next part of the meeting. I left the room and let my aunty make all the necessary arrangements, the way I wanted them to be made. I managed to escape the area. I found a cafeteria a few blocks away and started nursing my coffee there and made some calls in order to get Sara's old apartment emptied and cleaned. Another call advised the apartment managing company as to when the apartment would be vacated, and when I would come by to sign the papers and leave the keys.