XV.

Stuart mumbled exact directions to Erwing's place. Upon their arrival, he stopped Regina from exiting the cab, but under these conditions she considered him incapable of handing any excitement on his own. They were still stumbling forward, Regina holding Stuart firmly around his elbow, when a woman came out through the front door. Loreley, tidy and handsome with her hair combed in a braid wrapped around her head, wearing a neat blue coat with high collar and carrying and umbrella in one hand while reaching with the other one towards her daughter. And Louise wearing a short skirt and pretty pink boots, her face covered with freckles. Stuart stopped in awe of the unexpected beauty displayed before him. Erwing's wife prepared to climb down the stairs when she noticed two figures. Louise hid behind her mother, unused to strangers in their yard.

"Excuse me", Regina said, "is this the house of the Malcolm family?"

Loreley turned to her daughter and whispered something to her, then in quick leaps and bounds approached the newcomers. Almost arrogantly neglecting Regina, she immediately addressed Stuart. "Uncle", she spoke as if he was a close member of the family, "how unexpected of you to pay us a visit! Are you well? You look sick."

Stuart opened and closed his mouth. Loreley sounded carefree, as if nothing had yet happened, but he couldn't stop imagining a murderer in the same house with Carol. Regina jumped in once again. "He's terribly shaken. He wants to see his nephew at once."

Loreley's brows knitted. Accepting Regina's message, yet refusing to take notice of her, she spoke into the empty air: "I can see that you're distressed, but Erwing isn't at home. Of course, you must come inside." Then she finally looked at Regina. "Both of you, that is."

Except for faint clinking of dishes from the kitchen, the house was silent. Against his will, Stuart's eyes directed their regard towards the huge group portrait next to the stairs. More memories threatened to be unearthed from the chasm of his mind, but a tender voice prevented their revelation. "Stuart! My goodness, do have a sit! What's happened?" Carol was more discerning than her daughter-in-law. She addressed Regina as soon as she saw how distressed Stuart was. However, before Regina got to pronounce a single word, Stuart regained his ability to speak.

"It's alright, Carol", he said. Seeing her healthy and unhurt dispersed his fears. "We came to see Erwing."

"So you did", Carol nodded, visibly offended by his neglect of herself. "But he's not here, you I'll have to suffice." She turned to Loreley who was still standing beside them, seemingly concerned for Stuart and in the same time annoyed by his unannounced appearance. "Do go deal with your business, Loreley, Louise is waiting for you."

Grateful for permission to leave, Loreley went away. While asking Regina about her identity, Carol led the guests into a small room where Oliver and her used to drink their afternoon tea. Stuart still remembered how he had tea and biscuits with them there when the freshly married couple just moved in. It was only a few days before he moved to Durfenmil. He was anxious and spoke little. A third member to their already complete company, he hoped to leave as soon as possible. Before he left, when he and Oliver remained alone, his brother spoke to him in an intimate manner Stuart didn't hear from him since before they had gone to war. "Stuart, don't be a stranger", he begged, "I understand better than anyone else that things shall never be the same, but we're still brothers and friends. Carol likes you, too. Visit us whenever you want. If you come to my door in the middle of the night, I'll let you in and do whatever you ask of me. I love you, brother."

"Wow, slowly!" Regina grasped him by the hand in the last moment to stop him from falling. The two women sat him on a chair and stood in front of him, Regina nervously fixing her already perfect hairstyle, Carol blankly starring at him. "He wasn't sick at home", Regina said, "I mean, tense, aye, because..."

"Did something bad happen?", Carol asked.

"No", Stuart intervened. He didn't want Carol to find out about the photo.

"So you suddenly decided to visit us. How nice!" Carol said sarcastically, irritatedly sighed out and went to ask servants for tea.

Regina kneeled down next to Stuart and asked: "What now?"

"I'll wait for Erwing", he excluded her from his plan. He didn't want to oblige her to anything. "I'll ask him about... Situation."

Regina nodded. "Fine. But I'm staying as long as you are." She got up when Carol's approaching steps became hearable. A young maid brought tea and biscuits on silver plates. "When is your son coming back?", Regina asked Carol.

"In an hour or so. Some business." Both Regina and Stuart were surprised when Carol, a sturdy woman of age with a grace of a hearty madam, lighted a cigar. She brought it to her lips in an elegant movement and blew out a smoke as if trying out a sweet. Then the skin around her eyes wrinkled and she sorrowfully lowered her head. "It's been so empty here lately. I miss him so much..." She raised her eyes and sighed out. "But no good comes from talking about it. Life goes on. But you know, Stuart, you always remained dear to Oliver's heart. When I last saw him..." She had to take a deep breath to calm herself. "He was in the guest room. We had to move him there because we couldn't sleep together. I didn't mind it, I didn't sleep anyway, but he wanted me to have my piece. Oliver was always so caring. He told me that the only thing he regretted was not spending more time with you after..." She gave Regina a cautious look and decided not to mention what might be too private for her ears. "He regretted losing contact with you."

Her words fell hard on Stuart's already heavy consciousness. Lately he'd been feeling the same regretfulness. Knowing that Oliver felt the same was simply too much for him and it reminded him why he avoided coming here in the first place. But when Carol's words went through his mind for the second time, he paused at one part. "Oliver spent his last days in the guest room?"

Carol nodded. "Well, before he was admitted to the hospital where he passed away. He was sick, you know, and old, but it still hurts, especially since he was... My love..."

Regina's hand suddenly moved and covered Carol's small hand. A sentiment of mutual compassion passed between them.

Glassy door opened loudly when Erwing entered the tea room. Carol hurried to greet her son. She managed to explain him the circumstances in less words than most people could compose. Stuart droopingly approached them, asking Erwing to speak to him in private. Carol protested, but Erwing realized Stuart wanted to protect her. Not that Carol was unworthy of anyone's confidence, but she recently lost the love of her life and Stuart wanted to spare her from another chaos.

Two men locked themselves in the working room. "My father used to do his office work in here, though to tell you the truth, he never did much of it", Erwing smiled. "He childishly avoided it. My mother often had to take the job in her hands while he played outside with me and Spike. We had a dog, you know. A beautiful retriever."

Stuart remembered how their parents never allowed them to adopt a dog, so Oliver, who loved all animals, would often smuggle sausages and ham to distribute them among stray dogs. Stuart was unsure how to behave near them, but Oliver knew exactly what each dog wanted to say. He'd even stand on all fours and walk and jump around with them, barking and howling as if he was one of them.

"What happened?", Erwing wanted to get to the point.

"Did you catch an intruder in the house lately?" On Erwing's confused look, Stuart continued: "Perhaps not in the house, but nearby, on the property. Have you seen anyone hanging around?"

Erwing shook his head. "No. Why do you think I should have?"

Stuart thought a lot how to explain his suspicions. He had the advantage of warning Erwing on time, but he didn't want to include them into the affair he himself didn't understand. "I've gotten... a kind of threat." He calmed alerted nephew with a sharp look. "Nothing serious!"

"What kind of evil business have you involved yourself in, uncle?"

"Nothing", he sighed out, "trust me, it's nothing. Someone has something on me, but I've done nothing bad. I see everything's fine here, so you shouldn't worry neither." Though in truth, Stuart was worried for them both.

"And that woman?", Erwing asked, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.

"Regina is just a friend and my new partner. She's a photograph enthusiast and her father was a crime scene photographer."

"Crime scene? Oh, uncle, did you..."

"Stop. I've done nothing. A stupid provocation scared me and I was so stressed out that I bothered Regina to accompany me here. I bothered you all, in fact. I should leave."

"Wait", Erwing was before him in an instant. "I don't want you to go. Mother is lonely since father passed away. She mentions you all the time. She says the two of you could've become good friends if you hadn't moved away and never visited. Be a part of the family now!"

The same thing Oliver asked of him so many years ago. He was tempted, but...

"Did Oliver truly spend his last days in the guest room?"

Erwing was confused. "Yes. We didn't tell you when you stayed here last time. Didn't want to frighten and repel you. But what..."

"I'm sorry, Erwing", he was honest, "but I have many things to deal with in Durfenmil. Pass my goodbyes to Carol. I often think of her, too."

Regina was already waiting for him in front of the cab. She was so deeply indulged in her thoughts that she noticed him only after he referred to her: "We'll stop at the cemetery on our way."

Oliver's grave looked sad. He was the only member of their family buried in Edinburgh. Stuart found himself wondering where shall the survivors lay his dead body. Surely not next to his brother. The places next to him are reserved for Carol, Erwing and his family. Who will take care of his burial? Will they send him to the north?

"The lady", Regina spoke silently, "Carol. She wanted you to stay. Why didn't you?"

"We have things to do. Besides, I can't put them in danger."

She slightly nodded. "Yet it baffles me why you failed to mention how much they cared about you before. You claimed you had no family, while in fact you have cousins who love you."

"We're not close", Stuart turned to leave, "they're not much of a family to me..." He turned mute when he made out the meaning of a call from a distance. Then he saw a boy running in their direction. He was waving at them with his hand and yelling their names.

"Mister Maxwell sent me as soon as he heard you were in town", said the boy. "You must follow me. He said you must bring your cameras."

"We have no cameras with us", Stuart protested. The last thing he wanted was to be at a crime scene. Both Regina and the boy ignored him and he was left without other choice but to follow their fast pace. Their guide lead them to a nearby Greenside Parish Church. In the vicinity of the religious building, a group of men stood on the ground covered with low vegetation. Lifting the skirt of her dress, Regina quickened her pace.

"What happened?", she asked when Maxwell faced her, but her eyes were already observing the scene. "Poor girl", Stuart heard her say.

"Priest found her", chief of the police informed them. Surrounded by inspectors and policemen, a corpse of a young girl was laying in the grass. She was scantily clad and her lush brown hair was a mess. Her eyes were turned so that they saw only the whites of her eyes. Her lips were soiled with saliva. Stuart had to turn when he noticed how her arms were strangely twisted. "She suffered a violent death", Maxwell noted unnecessarily, "and we presume she was a prostitute. Those of her kind are more common around here than you'd think."

"Her kind?", Regina repeated in rage. "Poor creature must've been horribly poor and hungry. Look at her thin arms! Society is to be blamed for her death." Her eyes sinisterly circled around the men. "Society and her killer, of course."

A man wearing big glasses was taking samples of saliva, hair and dirt under victim's nails while Maxwell was fussing about Regina and Stuart being useless without their equipment. He didn't care that they hadn't been informed about the need to bring cameras with them beforehand. He shouted so much that he lost his breath, and then Regina interrupted him: "Did you find out anything about the little girl in the bath?"

Maxwell didn't understand what she was talking about right away, but when he remembered he waved his hand vaguely. "It was probably the parents, all other suspects are clean. Why you care? Roland never interfered where his business wasn't involved."

"Curiosity", she replied simply.

"Curiosity killed the cat", Maxwell answered grimly. He left them to talk to the policeman who called him and came back a minute later carrying a small camera with him. Stuart mockingly grinned at it. It looked like a toy to him. "Laugh all you want, but this is the best you'll get. Now do your damned job!"

"It's a Kodak", Regina explained, "the newest model." She stretched it out and aimed the lens at the corpse. After a few flashes, she stopped and frowningly looked at the girl. "What's that?" Nobody was near enough to hear her except for Stuart. It never occurred to him to approach the deceased prostitute, but Regina's gaze urged him to do just that. Many a times through his career he'd been close to a corpse, but those were decently dressed deceased people placed in a sitting position in his studio, not murdered strangers in an unknown landscape. His hands shivered as he pulled that something Regina was pointing at from the tuft of girl's tangled hair. He handed it over to Regina without taking a look himself. He felt sick enough without pondering over crime evidences. "My gosh", Regina covered her mouth with one hand. She quickly glanced at Maxwell. He was busy talking with witnesses and inspectors. She hid the object in her coat and continued photographing as if nothing had happened.

Stuart remembered to ask her why did she keep that one evidence a secret from Maxwell only later in the cab, when they were already on their way home. He was concerned that she included both of them in a crime by doing so. She put the object in his hands.

It was a photo of the dead woman in the same position as she was when they came to the crime scene. Except on this photo her mouth was open and her chapped lips stretched into a wide smile. Stuart stared in fright into disproportioned broken teeth from which the light of the sun was being reflected straight into the person behind the camera. He blinked and looked more closely. Down her cheeks, drops of water glided into her mouth. She was crying and laughing in death.