by Willow Rose
It was Buddy. His daughter's beloved teddy bear had been ripped to pieces. Even the face was scarred. Who would do such a horrible thing?
Erik reached into the box and pulled out a letter with the words:
IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE, KEEP QUIET ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW.
13
December 2013
I WAS DISAPPOINTED TO SEE how few had been able to make it to the reunion. Only five people of the entire class of twenty-six students? That wasn't much. What was worse was that most of those who had chosen to show up were the ones I really didn't care to see again. Like that Jacob Lomholdt-guy and Preben Krogh. They both seemed to have grown into even worse versions of themselves. I had liked both Soren Hedelund and Line Elgaard back in high school. Soren I never knew very well. He was mostly the quiet boy in class. Always seemed to get himself in trouble, but that was just because he constantly took the blame for the others. He was constantly nervous and goofy when he opened his mouth. I remembered how we used to laugh at him. But now he had actually grown into a quite handsome man, even if he seemed highly uncomfortable at the table. He was drinking heavily and I wondered if he was just nervous or if he had a real problem with alcohol. Line had actually been a close friend of mine back then, but somehow after we graduated, we lost contact and I hadn't seen her since. I was glad to see her, but she seemed to be ignoring me. Maybe she was just shy? Maybe she was intimidated by my success or something. I couldn't quite figure her out. She kept saying no to wine and telling everybody with a shrill voice that she couldn't, not in my condition. Then she rubbed her stomach gently. I couldn't help but chuckle at her theatrical way of telling everyone she was pregnant. I tried to keep it inside, but she noticed and gave me a look. I drank from my glass to try and drown out her disapproval.
"So who put this thing together?" I asked and looked around. "Who do we have to thank for this amazing weekend with delicious wine and food?"
Everybody around the table became quiet. People looked at each other, first to the person sitting next to them, then the person to the other side. No one spoke. Jacob Lomholdt shrugged. Preben Krogh looked at me like he expected me to be the one.
"Do you mean to say that none of us sitting here sent out the invitations?" I asked, puzzled.
People shook their heads, some shrugged. They all looked confused.
"So none of us here knows where our host is?" I asked.
They all shook their heads.
"Or even who it is?" I continued.
All eyes were on me.
Jacob Lomholdt burst into laughter. We all looked at him. He leaned back in his chair and stretched his neck, trying to look down at all of us. He was a short guy so it kind of looked like he was trying to make himself taller or something. It made me chuckle again.
"It kind of feels like were in a bad mystery-novel, now doesn't it?" He said. "Five people invited to a hotel in the middle of nowhere not knowing who their host is. I think I've heard that somewhere before. Emma, you're the writer you must know what I'm talking about."
I shrugged. "Lots of mystery-novels start like that," I said. "Like those of Agatha Christie."
"Ten Little Indians," Preben Krogh said. "It reminds me of Ten Little Indians. Where a flock of people were invited to an island or something and then they were killed one by one."
"I believe the title of the book is And Then There Were None," I said. "And the island was Soldier Island. The book was written in 1939."
"We have a connaisseur among us," Jacob Lomholdt said and nodded in my direction.
"Connaisseuse," I said.
"Hm? What was that?" he asked.
"I'm a woman," I said. "Therefor I'm a connaisseuse not a connaisseur."
Jacob looked at me with outrage.
"So what are you saying, Jacob?" Line asked. "That we are in a set-up of some sort, like an old mystery-novel?"
"Yeah, so what are we supposed to do?" Preben said with a slight chuckle. "Wait for whoever invited us here to kill us one after another?"
A silence broke out along the table. Everybody looked at each other pensively. Jacob Lomholdt was the first to burst into a loud laughter. Then the rest of us followed.
14
December 2013
PREBEN WAS LAUGHING HARD. So hard that tears rolled down his cheeks. He lifted his glass and looked at his old classmates.
"Let's toast to our host, whoever it might be."
The others around the table followed.
"To our host," Jacob Lomholdt said with a deep voice.
"To our host," Line said.
Preben looked at Emma, then toasted with her as well, before he finally drank from his wine. Soren hadn't said a word and wasn't going to now. He was getting drunk and now emptied his entire glass.
"Leave room for the dinner tonight," Preben said to him.
Soren looked at him, his eyes glassy and red. Then he forced a smile before he looked down at his food and continued eating like he didn't care about what Preben had just said. In the few seconds Soren had shown his teeth while smiling, Preben had spotted a brown tooth among his front teeth. It annoyed him immensely. The man obviously hadn't been to the dentist in a long time. It was too bad since Soren had become a handsome man, but that one tooth completely disfigured his smile. It was obviously a dead tooth, one where the nerve inside had died. Either it had happened by trauma to the tooth or bacterial decay. It wasn't very obvious yet, since it was only slightly darker than the rest of them, but he needed to have it treated as soon as possible. Either he needed to have it extracted or have a root canal.
Preben shook off the thought and looked at his food. He ate some and tried to think about something else. This wasn't his problem. Soren wasn't his patient and Preben wasn't at work now.
Preben shot a glance at Emma and their eyes met for just a second. She didn't smile, so he couldn't see her teeth, but he was certain they would be perfect like everything else about her. She seemed pensive, like she was thinking about some very serious stuff.
"So Emma," Jacob Lomholdt said.
She turned her head and looked at him.
"Maybe this will be your next book, huh?" He continued. "Maybe we'll all be in it?"
Emma smiled indulgently. "I'm sure I could write many books about you, Jacob," she said. "You'd make a great crook."
Jacob paused and looked at her. Then he burst into a loud, very awkward and forced laugh. Emma didn't laugh. She stared at him like she meant it. Preben felt a pinch inside his heart. Did she know? After all these years, they had always thought she was oblivious to what had happened back then. But maybe she wasn't? Maybe she knew everything?
Could it be? No … She couldn't have … Was she the one who had invited them here? Why? To get rid of all of them? To let them know she knew their secret? No, it was ridiculous. How could she know after all these years? Had someone told her? No, no one would dare do that. Would they?
Preben looked around at the people sitting at the table while he was eating the rest of his food. They all knew, didn't they? Everybody around this table knew. Except for Emma, hopefully. Something was definitely off here. Something was wrong. It couldn't be a coincidence, could it? No, it was too obvious. Whoever invited them here knew their secret.
The waiter approached the table. They all looked at him expectantly.
He cleared his throat and spoke: "Coffee is served in The Green Room next door."
15
December 2013
THE FOOD WAS ALRIGHT, Line thought to herself as she followed the others into The Green Room. Good but not great. At least not as great as she had expected it to be. It was, after all, one of the most expensive places to eat, wasn't it? It was okay to expect more from them than the usual steak houses she went to with her dates. But to be honest, she had been a little disappointed. To her, the portions were way too small. They had just been served four courses and all of them had been nothing but a small piece of fish or meat in some sauce and a little piece of bread or two tiny potat
oes. How was she ever expected to get full from just that? She who was now eating for two? Line had never been to any fancy or gourmet restaurants, but she had to say, she wasn't very impressed. Every bite she ate tasted delightful, but it was like they thought she was on a diet or something, or maybe they were afraid of running out of food? She didn't understand it. She left the table after two hours of eating and she was still hungry. So, as she sat down on the old-fashioned couches that looked like they belonged in a castle somewhere, she grabbed a handful of the home baked Danish butter-cookies that were placed on the center of the table, put them on her plate, and started eating greedily.
Preben Krogh looked at her like she had gone mad.
She smiled, a little shy. "Sorry. Eating for two, you know?"
"Those are really bad for your teeth," he said. Preben seemed to be staring only at her mouth. It made her slightly uncomfortable.
"They're filled with sugar," he continued like was he telling her some secret that she couldn't share with the others. "Do remember to brush as soon as you can afterwards to prevent cavities and decay."
Line nodded and continued to eat while trying to look at anyone or anything but Preben. The room was nice and light. It was packed with plants that made it look very green, indeed.
"Coffee?" Preben asked.
Line nodded as she swallowed yet another cookie. Preben poured some in her cup. They were small as well. She couldn't even get her finger in the hole. What was this hotel? Made for Pygmies? Dwarfs?
Preben kept staring at her.
"Can I help you with anything?" she asked.
He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "I know you have told."
"Excuse me?" Line said. The cookie made a lot of noise in her head when she chewed. "What are you talking about?"
"I know you've told."
Line stopped chewing. She looked at Preben, her heart racing. Then she shook her head.
"That's why we're here, isn't it?" she asked with her mouth still full. The thought had crossed her mind several times during the lunch.
"I believe so," Preben said. "I mean, look at who is here."
Line nodded and swallowed. She slurped her coffee. Line looked at Preben, then touched her front teeth with her tongue.
"If you drank your coffee through a straw, you could minimize the contact with your teeth surfaces. It can significantly limit your exposure and help keep your teeth whiter for longer," Preben said.
He was staring at her mouth again and she closed it. Suddenly showing her teeth to him made her uncomfortable.
"I never told a soul," she whispered.
Preben looked into her eyes. He scrutinized her for a while, then nodded while biting his lip.
"Well, someone clearly has spilled the beans," he said and sipped his own coffee. "And I intend to find out who it is."
16
December 2013
HE WAS DRUNK, BUT SOMEHOW it didn't make him feel better. It did numb him slightly for a little while, but it was like it wasn't quite enough. He couldn't seem to forget. Now they were served coffee with an avec, an old very tasteful brandy that he hurried up and flushed down. He asked the waiter for one more and soon his glass was full again. Soren felt how the brandy was burning in his stomach and the room was spinning. He leaned back and let the alcohol do its job inside of him, making him forget where he was and what was going on in his life. His phone was still turned off, but every now and then he took it out of his pocket and looked at it, wondering what would happen if he turned it on, speculating if Margit and the children were alright. But he didn't dare turn it on again. He wondered if he ever would.
Soren put the phone back in his pocket and looked at his old class mates sitting on the soft couches debating something that Soren couldn't care less about. Like the discussion around the lunch table. It was so ridiculous. Who cared who had invited them to this hotel? Soren was certain it was someone at the table who simply didn't want to tell. Maybe it was just to make them all wonder, to play games with them for a little while and then reveal everything. But again, what did it matter? Soren didn't care even a little bit.
Now they were talking about old times in high school, and Soren tried to be social, thinking it might do him some good to think about something else.
"Do any of you remember Hans Frandsen?" Emma suddenly asked.
Line shrieked. "Three-legged Hans, our biology teacher?" Then she laughed. "He couldn't control that thing in his pants whenever one of the girls wore a summer dress or anything short. He was such a pig."
"So gross," Emma said.
"Did you know that he died?" Soren suddenly said.
Everyone turned to look at him like they were surprised that he was still sober enough to talk.
"He did?" Emma said.
"Yes, shortly after we graduated, Soren continued." Apparently he was killed in a car accident or something."
The conversation ceased. Soren lifted his glass of brandy and drank some. His eyes met Jacob Lomholdt's as he put the glass down. Jacob looked like he could kill him. Soren didn't care. He was a dead man anyway. His life as he knew it was over, done, finished. Might as well come clean, right? Maybe on everything?
Soren chuckled and drank again. That would show them, now wouldn't it? Go out with a bang. Take all of them with him? Maybe even get Jacob to kill him? Then he wouldn't have to do it himself.
"Kind of makes you think," Soren said.
Jacob stretched his neck. He seemed uncomfortable. Soren realized it pleased him. Making Jacob feel uncomfortable, felt good.
"Makes you think of what, exactly?" Emma asked.
Soren smiled. Preben stared at his teeth like he couldn't take his eyes off of them again and Soren noticed he clenched his fists. Soren closed his mouth. Maybe it was about time he had a little fun with his old bullies. Scared them a little like they used to scare him.
"It is kind of odd, don't you think?" Soren asked. "That he should die right after we graduated?"
Emma chuckled. No one else said anything. They all stared at Soren.
"Well it's not that odd if it was just a car accident," Emma said and drank her coffee.
"Well, as far as I know, the police investigated it as a hit-and -run," Soren said, grinning.
Jacob and Preben were both uneasy in their chairs. If it had been just the three of them, they would have jumped him.
"A hit-and-run?" Emma said. "How do you know?"
"Because I was questioned," Soren answered.
"Why would they question you?" Emma asked. She looked confused. Oh how badly Soren wanted to just tell her everything. Just to see the faces of the others. Every little part of his body wanted to just tell her right here and now.
But he couldn't. At least not like this. Instead he chose a lie:
"Because I had a car similar to the one witnesses had seen hit him. But as soon as they heard that I was in Spain at the time of the kill, they let me go."
Emma nodded but looked pensive. The rest of the party gave Soren looks to make him shut up.
"The kill? You mean they believed he was killed? Like deliberately?" Emma asked.
Soren shrugged and drank more of his brandy. "Who knows?"
"Yes, who knows?" Jacob interrupted them. "It's all a very long time ago, now isn't it? Now what about Gitte Hougsgaard our math teacher, now she was a character alright, does anyone remember her?"
17
December 2013
JACOB LOMHOLDT FELT HIS HANDS getting sweaty. There wasn't much in this world that could make him nervous or off-balance, but right now he was feeling a little anxious. Soren Hedelund had gotten so drunk he was ready to tell almost anything, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that Jacob had started fearing that this was more than just a social reunion, that whoever had invited them to this thing had done so with a purpose other than them just talking about old times.
Jacob looked at the others wondering who among them would have the audacity to try such a thing. Who would da
re to do this and not fear his wrath? In the beginning, he thought it was Preben, but now he was leaning more towards Soren. He never did trust him and now less than ever. He had been so quiet during the lunch and then he suddenly started talking about Hans? Knowing perfectly well that if he ever told anything Jacob would make sure it was the last thing he ever did. They had told him then and there was no way he didn't know it still. He had been so frightened back then it had almost been too easy. But now this? What had happened to him since then that he suddenly dared to speak up? Soren had always been the quiet one, the self-effacing type. The one who wanted their approval so badly he would do anything for them.
Including killing Hans Frandsen.
He was the one who had the most to lose here, so why was he so cocky all of a sudden? He knew Jacob could destroy his life, if he wanted to. He knew Jacob would kill him if he said anything.
Luckily, Jacob had been able to turn the conversation away from their old dead biology teacher and on to their math teacher who had that shrill voice that everybody hated. While Line told them all about the time she had been caught cheating on a test, Jacob watched Soren closely. He wondered what his plan was. What his intentions were in inviting all of them up here for the weekend. And furthermore, he wondered how Soren could even afford it. He was a simple paramedic as far as Jacob knew. He didn't make much, and especially not enough to be able to afford this. And he had young children and a sick wife who couldn't work. No, money wasn't something he had. But could he have inherited some money? Jacob wondered. Yes that had to be it.
Jacob picked up his brandy and looked at Soren who smiled at him and lifted his glass to salute him. Jacob nodded politely and saluted him back before he drank without taking his eyes off of Soren.