CH 14

“You? Pregnant with John’s child?” Sheriff Chandler looked at Amy cautiously.

Amy only reacted at this moment and was flustered, “No….no….” Amy’s eyes were evasive but when she saw Evan’s half-smile, she quickly said, “I mean yes. Yes, I am indeed pregnant with master John’s child.” Amy was now completely calm.

Sheriff Chandler frowned, “Amy, I know you’re a good girl but you can’t say nonsense about this kind of thing. I watched John grow up. Although he’s a little arrogant, he’s not a casual person. You….”

“No! Sheriff Chandler!” Amy interrupted Sheriff Chandler, “It’s not master John’s fault, it’s mine. I’m the one who seduced master John. I…I just love him too much. I love him more than Miss Alia! But, he doesn’t belong to me. I’m in too much pain. I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”

Amy was really sorrowful, she buried her head in her palms and sobbed loudly.

Sheriff Chandler was stunned for a moment. It seemed that he had not seen such an open lady in his entire life and he was at a loss for a while, “A…Amy, don’t cry, your…. Does Mr Lawrence and his wife know about your situation?”

In the sheriff’s view, Mr and Mrs Lawrence are the most serious couple in the town, and if they know about Amy’s pregnancy, they will be very angry.

“They already knew it.” Amy raised her head and said.

Sheriff Chandler’s eyes widened instantly, “That’s impossible! They didn’t tell me.”

“They both knew it but they all pretended like it didn’t happen. They really loved master John so much that they didn’t want to ruin his reputation.” Amy replied.

Sheriff Chandler was in total disbelief, they dared to conceal such a serious matter, “This is so outrageous! I always thought that Mr Lawrence was an upright gentleman.”

“He is, indeed, an upright gentleman.” Evan added with a smile, “It’s just that John is his son, what would you expect him to do?”

Sheriff Chandler sighed, “This is just great, the only clue is broken again.”

Evan smiled slightly, “Sheriff Chandler, have you forgotten what Amy said before?”

Sheriff Chandler’s eyes lit up, turned his head and stared at Amy with his eyes shining like a falcon’s, “Little Amy, what did John do? Was there another lady beside him?”

Amy trembled. She looked at Evan, who had a gentle smile on his face, and couldn’t help shaking. She suddenly felt that the most dangerous person in the interrogation room was not the fierce Sheriff Chandler but the kind and merciful Reverend.

“I…..I don’t know.” Amy said weakly.

“Little Amy, you can’t lie to me. I’m a policeman. I know how to deal with liars. You’re still pregnant with John’s child and it’s really not suitable for you to stay in prison. I’ll advise you to tell the truth.”

Amy was still trembling and she looked at Sheriff Chandler with fear on her face. Even though she was loyal to John, she couldn’t help worrying about the child in her womb, so she could only talk, “I….I only know one thing. The second time master John and Mrs Lawrence quarrelled, Mrs Lawrence said that she didn’t like Miss Alia. She wanted master John to marry a lady form London but he refused. Mrs Lawrence said that the Lawrence family will never accept such a depraved woman.”

Biting her lip while she was speaking, she still remembers the vicious and crazy expression on Mrs Lawrence’s face when she said this.

Sheriff Chandler frowned. He glanced at Evan, feeling a little ridiculous in his heart.

“Anything else? You’d better not hide anything from me!” Sheriff Chandler stared at Amy.

Amy shrank her neck and gently shook her head, “No more, I only know this. That night, I originally wanted to tell master John about my pregnancy but I saw Miss Alia come out of the house. I didn’t go in, this was all done by Miss Alia, it really has nothing to do with me.”

At this time, Amy still wanted to speak ill of Alia.

Sheriff Chandler was becoming impatient. No one can rule out any suspicions in the current situation and things are getting more complicated.

Sheriff Chandler waved his hand, signalling to the police officer to take Amy out. But, at this moment, Evan suddenly said, “By the way, Amy, did master John light the stove that night?”

When she heard Evan’s question, Amy was stunned for a moment before replying decisively, “No!”

Evan smiled, “How can you be so sure?”

Amy blushed, “I….. I….” Sheriff Chandler saw that something was wrong and immediately said, “Quickly tell the truth! Otherwise, I will really throw you in jail for the rest of your life.”

Amy sobbed, “I…. I was wrong! Please don’t put me in jail.”

Sheriff Chandler sighed with relief, his face still stern, “Since you don’t want to go to jail, just tell me the truth!”

With a sad face, Amy sat back down, “Actually…. I actually saw master John after Miss Alia left.” Her words were light and soft, you couldn’t hear her if you didn’t listen carefully.

Sheriff Chandler listened carefully, of course. He jumped up when he heard her, “Amy! How can you be like this! Trying to frame a lady! Are you really crazy?!”

Amy turned her head in shame, not daring to look Sheriff Chandler in the eyes.

“Go to Dr. Hester’s house and tell those officers to come back. Miss Alia is innocent.” Sheriff Chandler quickly gave an order to the police officers around him.

Sheriff Chandler rushed to exonerate Alia, but Evan is concerned about another problem.

When the sheriff finally finished giving his orders, Evan spoke, “Sheriff Chandler, since John didn’t light the stove, doesn’t that mean that there is something wrong with the time of death that Dr. Hester deduced?”

Sheriff Chandler couldn’t help but say a dirty word, “This Dr. Hester is really causing us so much trouble.” He sighed, “If John’s time of death is between ten to eleven o’clock, then everyone has the time to commit the crime. The fireworks display was over by that time and the whole town was in chaos.”

Evan smiled, “I’m afraid you’ve forgotten. If it happened at that time, then the murderer should be someone John is familiar with. Think about it. It’s already so late, someone can quietly go to the Lawrence house and without disturbing anyone, quietly enter John’s room and kill him. Either the person is really familiar with John and the house, or it was done by the Lawrence family.”

Hearing Evan’s reasoning, the sheriff frowned and his vague thoughts came to his mind again.

“Is it possible?” The sheriff said with some hesitation, “The Lawrence couple are very upright people and they dote on John so much, they couldn’t do such a thing.”

At that time, all the servants had gone home and the only ones left at home were the Lawrence couple.

Evan didn’t express his opinion this time, only lowered his head and smiled, “I also don’t want to believe such a terrible thing. But, it all depends on your investigations.”

Sheriff Chandler was very happy. He gently patted Evan’s shoulder and said with a smile, “Don’t worry. I won’t let the murderer escape, no matter who it is.”

After Amy’s interrogation came to an end, Evan left the police station alone. At first, he wanted to go back to the church, but he suddenly remembered Mrs Sanders, who still had not gotten better. So, he turned to head to her house.

Mrs Sanders lives on the main street of Delanlier. She doesn’t have her own house and lives in a rented house. Evan stood at the door and stared at it for a while. He sighed in his heart, the church is very generous to the priest but not so generous to the parish secretary.

Evan knocked on the door for a while before someone, belatedly, came to open the door. The person who opened it was an old man who looked like he was in his fifties. He was not tall and wore a ridiculous dark red wool suit jacket. He looks a bit like Sheriff Chandler. (Are men in their fifties old?)

Evan instantly understood that he should be Sheriff Chandler’s uncle.

“Hello, Mr Chandler.” Evan nodded politely.

The old gentleman looked at Evan’s special collar and a smile instantly appeared on his face, “It’s Reverend Bruce. Quickly, come in. Mrs Sanders has been thinking about you.”

Evan raised his eyebrows with a little surprise.

The decorations in the room were simple; with a dresser, a bed, a table and a chair. Mrs Sanders was lying on the bed with her eyes closed. Evan thought it looked like a nun’s room.

“Reverend Bruce?” Mrs Sanders heard the sound, and she opened her eyes and weakly looked at Evan.

Surprised, Evan looked at Mrs Sanders. He had thought that she was sick with a minor illness, but looking at her skinny appearance, it was clear that she looked like she would die soon.

“Oh, my dear lady,” Evan strode to her bedside, “What’s the matter with you?”

Mrs Sanders gave a weak smile, which softened her face, “I’m afraid I won’t live for much longer.”

“Nonsense.” muttered Mr Chandler as he sat down beside her bed and gently held her hand, his cloudy eyes a little red.

Mrs Sanders’ face flushed and she whispered, “Mr Chandler, thank you for your kind care these past days, but could you please give me a little time to talk to Reverend Bruce?”

Mr Chandler coughed gently and raised his hand to wipe the corner of his eyes, “Okay, I’ll just go out to buy some beef. You need to supplement your nutrition.”

Mr Chandler turned and left the small room. Only Evan and Mrs Sanders were left in the room, looking at each other. There was a moment of awkwardness between the both of them because they are not really familiar with each other.

In the end, it was Mrs Sanders who spoke first, “Did you invite Mr Chandler over here?”

Embarrassed, Evan touched his nose, “This….is also to take care of you.”

Mrs Sanders looked at Evan and said, “Reverend Bruce, can I ask you for one thing?”