The next morning came, and the sky was clear. The trees and grass were still moist. Sir Eric was still sitting on the sofa in the living area. Sir Raymond came to him and said, "You didn't sleep?" He asked.

"No, I am not tired at all, and what the hell did you do with that bloody black suit?" Eric questioned him almost calmly.

"I burned it... Why do you want someone else to be killed?"

"No, of course not." It ended with a slight laugh. He nodded and approved, "You did the right thing by burning that suit. What about the body?"

Raymond bolted, "It may still be lying on the bed. The dead cannot go anywhere. Shouldn't it be placed somewhere else?"

"No. It's suicide. We don't know what happened last night. Oh, my poor lady, may she rest in peace. Where is Matt?" There was no regret or guilt in his voice, which proved him to be inhuman towards his wife.

"Sleeping. What should be done now?"

"Just wait. Lily will go to her room as usual." He looked up at Raymond and brought up a smile on his lips. "And that's where the game begins."

"There's one thing," Raymond asked. "Why did you choose me over hiring any killer to do all this?"

"Because I trust you, Raymond. That killer might have cost me something but above that, what's the surety that the killer won't backfire on me? You know everything so well, even me. I did not expect this question from you." Eric replied casually and turned to light his cigar. Raymond looked at him for a few seconds and nodded.

Then the sirens of the police cars broke into their conversation. They both rushed out. The cars parked at the same place they had before. A cop rushed out to see Sir Eric. The cop greeted him and informed him that a murder took place in his house last night. Sir Eric and Raymond were lost and could not guess where that news leak came from. They were gazing at each other. The third call from the policeman drove them back into reality. "Sir, we are here to investigate your place." The cop said it again. Sir Eric had no choice other than to grant them. The cop ran back to the vehicles, signaled the policemen to enter the house, and one of them carefully got a lady out of the car. She was completely drenched. She was Lady Lynda.

Sir Eric held tightly to the railing of the entrance steps. He was about to fall. Sir Raymond could not believe his eyes from what he was witnessing. She was devoid of any kind of wound on her abdomen, not even a blood stain. The cop helped her walk to her house. They all went inside.

"This morning, Lady Lynda was found sitting helplessly on the footpath near the police station." A cop said. "She informed us about the murder that took place here last night. Who died?" Sir Eric had no answer to his question. The only name he knew was sitting alive near the fireplace. "I don't know anything about it. I was in my bedroom. I'm sorry."

"So, we need to check the place now. Come on!" When they were gone with Lynda, Eric rushed to Raymond and blurted out, "Tell me the truth. Whom did you kill?"

"You want to hear the truth?" Raymond's perturbed words gushed out. "So here it is. I guess I entered the right room, but it was dark. I reached the bed. Grabbed her..."

"Did you kill Matt?" Sir Eric cut in with a horrified look.

"I'm afraid. I don't know. The figure had slim hands." He was trying to vaguely recall things from last night.

"Didn't you hear the scream?" Eric was getting impatient every second.

"I hadn't let the target scream."

Sir Eric was losing his mind. He dashed to the room where that crime took place, and after him ran Raymond. No sooner did Eric break into the room than he saw the bloody corpse lying on Lynda's bed. Eric was relieved that it was Lynda's room, not Matt's. Lynda was seated in one corner of the already police-encircled area. Then Sir Raymond entered the room. Both men were paralyzed and kept staring at the bed unblinkingly. There lies Lily, dead.

They both exchanged horrified looks. Having investigated the crime scene, removing the body from the bed, taking as many samples as they could, and gathering evidence, one of them returned to Sir Eric with evidence in his hand. A broken wristwatch. "Do you know whose it is?"

"No, I'm sorry," Eric said. Sir Raymond approved of Eric as a professional liar. Raymond let out a relieving sigh and took back his empty wrists.

"It's Sir Raymond's." Lady Lynda said it at once when she saw it. She rushed towards the policeman holding that. "Is it yours, Sir Raymond?"

After a pause and gathering enough courage, he said in a whisper, "Yes." The cop noticed him bow down his head, probably hiding his neck. There could be something else. "Sir, please keep your head straight." The cop requested. He had no other choice. The condition of his neck drove everyone into amazement. The right side of his neck was scratched, as if someone dabbed sharp nails into it. It happened when he choked Lily, and she used her nails to defend herself.

"Sir." A forensic expert called the cop who was holding the wristwatch, "Would you please come here?" He went and discovered the tiny skin particles and some flesh that filled Lily's nails. The case was half solved. The murderer was caught.

Meanwhile, Sir Raymond was thinking about his conversation with Sir Eric last evening when they were planning that crime. When they were done with planning, Eric said, "It's not a foolproof plan. You could even get caught."

"Trust me. I am never going to take your name. I'll surrender myself if I get caught."

When Raymond came out of his thoughts, he saw Eric looking at him, trying to remind him of his promise. Raymond had been loyal to him for years. Then it was a matter of life.

"You are under arrest, Sir Raymond, for murdering a woman. Tell us if someone else is also involved with you." The cop said. Sir Eric's heartbeat ran fast. "No. I killed her for some personal reason. No one else is involved."

"Why did you do it?" Lady Lynda demanded while crying. He didn't reply. The police handcuffed Raymond with them and imprisoned him. He didn't glance at Eric even once while leaving. A wave came and took Sir Raymond away from them. Sir Eric spent the rest of the day in the living room, while Lady Lynda stayed in another room (her room had been sealed by the police) and reflected on every second of the night before.

Last evening, Lily came rushing to her. "Lady, Sir Eric, and Sir Raymond are maneuvering to kill you. I overheard them." Lynda stared at her for some time, pondering the words she had just said. "I know, dear. Don't worry about me."

"But lady..." She was mystified.

"Not to worry, dear. I'm not going to die tonight. I have some plans for myself, too. Now, please go to bed right now. Tomorrow, I need you very early for some stuff." Her voice didn't reflect even a diminutive trace of shock or fear, which made Lily even more perplexed.

"But lady, I have to wash the dishes now, and there are some other chores that need to be taken care of."

Lynda interrupted, "Leave it. I'll assign that chore to Podrick. Go and sleep now, or you will not be able to get up early for work."

"What's the work?" She was getting more and more baffled by her actions and words.

"I'll tell you tomorrow. Now go to your room and get some sleep." Lynda mouthed 'Good night' with an untroubled simper.

She knew nothing about her husband's plan to kill her, but she made a plan to save herself while only staring at Lily. An hour later, when she was knitting a sweater for Matt, Podrick entered. "You have summoned me, lady, at this time?"

"Yes. It is something important to do." She told Podrick everything—what happened and what he needed to do. His throat went dry on hearing that. "We don't have enough time." She said that and set forth to practice her plan. In ten minutes, they transported Lily, who was unconscious due to Podrick's chloroform sedation, via the living area, the stairs, the hallways, and Lynda's bedroom. They were lucky that no one had watched them do that, and Lily didn't even wake up. They laid Lily on the bed, covered her with a quilt, and left. Lady left the house that night, and Podrick didn't even come out of his quarters. Sir Eric's and Raymond's plan succeeded that night but with the wrong person.

She was still thinking about herself sitting on the footpath without any shelter during that entire rainy night when Podrick entered her room. She handed him a bag full of gold and dollar bills. "Take them and never return."

He gave her a concerned look. "But lady, I cannot leave you alone with that man. He'll kill you!"

"If you stay, then he can. He wants someone to do his murderous task, and now he'll surely go for you if you stay."

"Can he never do it by himself?"

"No. If he does it, he can never save himself from prison, and most importantly, he can never risk losing Matt. His love for Matt always forbade him from doing such a thing." She reasoned back persuasively.

"So, you still agree to live with him?"

She didn't react to that at that moment. After that, she looked into his face and breathed, "I agree to live with my son." Podrick said nothing after that, bade farewell and left.

She got up and left her room. Matt was with Eric in the living room. She sat next to him and put her arms around him. "Mom, where is Sir Raymond? I haven't seen him the whole day." He asked Lynda.

He was old enough to understand things then. Lynda had informed him about the murder Raymond committed, leaving Eric out of the picture. He was shocked. She hugged him and tried to console him. Eric was staring blankly in the air, holding a cigar. Lynda looked at him. She was getting engrossed in the thoughts of the previous night, and then the thought of not informing the police about Eric's plan encountered her. The reason was the one whom she was holding tightly. Matt. If she had informed the cops about the truth, Eric would have gotten arrested and would have lost his only son because of her. He had enough connections to get out on bail or arrange a culprit who could take all charges imposed on Eric on himself. That could leave an impression on the bond between the father and son, which was too hard for Eric to get over. And that could give Eric a bigger reason to end Lynda before she could take any other step to drag him away from her son, making Matt believe that she committed suicide. After her death, Matt would turn out to be like Eric, or even worse than that. He would also treat his wife like Eric did. By staying quiet, she could save multiple lives. She had already lost her one son by taking Eric's side. She could not dare to lose another by choosing to plot against him.

Eric took the last puff of his cigar and put it out on the ashtray. He was crafting another plan to kill her, surfing through the profiles of some dangerous people who could do that task, leaving no traces of flaws behind.

"I don't think I could even live if anything happened to you," Matt said while his head was on her shoulder. Lynda became emotional. "I am grown now. I am going to take care of my parents till my last breath." He said this while wiping off her tears.

Sir Eric looked at him and kept his gaze like that for a few moments. A clash of thoughts was happening inside him. Any attack on Lynda could affect Matt worse. Matt laid his palm on Eric's lap. "Let's forget everything. Let's promise to be a happy small family, please." He begged both. Eric thought and nodded with a slight smile. Lynda kissed her son's forehead.

"Always, son," she whispered. "I am there to love and care for you."

"Like, Dad is there for you forever." He said it with a teasing smirk. Eric looked at her. She managed to put a smile on her face and blush. She looked at Eric and said, "Yeah, just like that." Matt pulled both of them for a family hug. They both put their arms around each other, caressing one another. For sure, there was something between them that was forbidding them from plotting against each other, or maybe there was someone named Matt.

* * *

Podrick was sitting on the bench at the bus stop. He was on his way to somewhere far from Ravelston. He pulled out a crumpled piece of tainted paper from his pocket. Only a few words were written on it with the most beautiful handwriting he had ever seen. He had found that page in Lily's room, which he visited after executing Lynda's plan. He was reading that text for the hundredth time, with his eyes becoming wet and his throat dry.

He came back to his senses when the bus jerked a bit and some of the passengers boarded. A punk sat beside him, flooded with tattoos and carrying heavy headphones. 'Somebody That I Used to Know' by Gotye was being played at such a high volume that Podrick could hear every syllable of it.

He took a heavy breath, crumbled back the paper, and put it inside. Something was overcoming him. Whether it was guilt, revenge, or sorrow, it was hard to tell.