“I understand,” said Mrs Ellen. Emily had gone to her for comfort since she knew that Mrs Ellen had been taking care of Cordelia since the day she was born. She was a plump, motherly woman, and Emily loved her more than her own mother. “At least she had been happy in her last few months.” Emily stiffened.
“You really still don’t trust him, do you? But she did love him. Shortly after they got engaged, she changed her will so that everything would go to him when she died.”
“But-”
“No, she didn’t forget about you.”
“Can I see her will?”
“Of course! Come with me.”
Back down long haul and into the office room. On the table was a neatly written piece of paper. Emily went over to the desk and skimmed through the paper. And then she found what she was looking for.
There it stood, in black and white:
“I, Cordelia Birchley, bequeath 3/5 of my fortune and all of my property to my fiancé, Edward Freighton.”
She felt chilled to bone. The money didn’t matter, but this gave Edward a motive for the murder. And Cordelia would never have overlooked her like that. She really had changed in the last few months.
“And all because of that Edward!” Emily thought bitterly. She continued reading. What Mrs Ellen had said was true after all, Cordelia had not completely forgotten about her. She had left a small sum of money to her, and nothing else. But still, the old Cordelia would
have left nearly everything to her!
“But,” Emily decided, “her mind had clearly been poisoned by that snake of a fiancé.”
However, Cordelia had still left an enormous sum of money to be divided amongst the servants and had written: “I bequeath an additional sum of money to my butler, Thomas Johnston, who has served me faithfully for many years.”
Emily didn’t think much of it, it was probably just one of Cordelia’s random bursts of excessive kindness. Emily resolved to wait until Edward left the house to look around for further clues. She would not leave Cordelia’s murder unsolved!
—
“Finally! He’s leaving!” Emily thought from her uncomfortable hiding place in a bush by the drive. She then went to the back door, the servants’ door, and politely explained that she had forgotten something in the house. She then crept carefully through the many corridors until she reached Edward’s bedroom. She opened the door and was surprised to find that it was messy and looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned for a few days. Of course, he wouldn’t let the servants in for fear of having evidence discovered. Emily went over to the desk, where papers lay sprawled over the polished surface, and started searching. For what she was searching, she didn’t know exactly, but she needed evidence! Suddenly, she heard brisk footsteps coming down the hall and froze. Thinking quickly, she dived under the bed and hoped that whoever it was would keep on walking past the door… but no, the footsteps paused, and the door opened. It was Edward. Emily involuntarily let out a gasp, quickly stifled it and prayed that he didn’t hear.