The Park Murders (Kindle Books Mystery and Suspense Crime Thrillers Series Book 1)
Page 7
All the speakers seemed to agree that something needed to be done.
The representatives of public opinion had reached the conclusion that the divider between park and river shore had to take the blame.
”And who elected them to be the representatives of public opinion?” Mark wondered.
The representatives of Town Hall, on the other hand, contended the balustrade had been providing sufficient protection for over twenty years, ever since it had been installed, and that it was only the dangerous behavior of the two ill-advised persons, combined with a fatal sequence of coincidences, that had led to the two deplorable accidents.
An anonymous source had suggested that the man since they were talking about a mature man and a young girl, both victims of the fatal balustrade, must surely have been psychotic. The girl, on the other hand, must have committed suicide unless she slipped over, or was even pushed to her death.
“It is not hard to deduce how these things work out.” Mark thought. “The representatives of public opinion already see dollar signs from possible litigations between the families of the victims and City Hall and construction grants for modernizing and reinforcing the river wall. The city officials, on the other hand, want to be held harmless against any possible damages.”
“This is why a simplification can lead to serious complications.” Mark decided. “Serious complications that may, in their turn, lead to radical simplifications.”
“More to the point Mark. You never told me what you decided. Are you still going to see Marie?”
“You know what the good book says, my friend. Once you save somebody’s life, you are bound to take care of them forever.”
Chapter 18: I love her like a sister
Marie spent the next afternoon with her parents in mourning. Caro called on them after they've been cooped in Marie's room for over three hours, to invite them for a cappuccino.
The remaining van der Brooks came together. A magnificent and powerful family, so tragically stunted by merciless fate. From the famous clan who once ruled the front pages of all the Social Medias, now only three were left.
One son had died in a mysterious plane crash in the Caribbean. Another had been lost in the jungles around Costa Mesa in Brazil. Never to be seen again. With the passing of Stephanie, Marie was now the sole remaining child.
Lenny van der Brook had a shock when she saw Marie with black hair and wearing a ponytail.
“When I looked at the two of you, I was sure you were my daughter,” Lenny van der Brook told Caro. “It’s amazing, but you look exactly like Marie used to only a couple of months ago.”
“Why did you have to dye your hair?” she asked Marie.
“It was high time for a change, mom,” Marie said. “Not to mention that the boys seem to like it.”
“Let's move on,” grumbled Fritz van der Brook, the patriarch of the family. “This place gives me the creeps.”
“Stephanie is gone, ma',” Marie said. “All we can do now is to honor her memory.”
“Do you girls get along together?” Lenny asked, her eyes brimming with tears or maybe it was just the effect of the sun reflected by the mirror facing the open window.
“I love her like a sister,” Caro replied, looking up Marie with sudden interest.
“However, sharing boyfriends is out of the question,” she added pointedly after Marie’s parents had left.
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Contents
Chapter 1: The white rain coat
Chapter 2: The man at the window
Chapter 3: Roger prepares
Chapter 4: Who Stole my Blimpy?
Chapter 5: Persona
Chapter 6: Following leads
Chapter 7: The wakeup call
Chapter 8: In the lair of the wolf
Chapter 9: The reluctant athlete
Chapter 10: In the park
Chapter 11: Dangerous tracks
Chapter 12: In the brush
Chapter 13: Marie
Chapter 14: Stephanie
Chapter 15: Bodyguard
Chapter 16: The River Deep
Chapter 17: The Sideway Cafe
Chapter 18: I love her like a sister
By the same author:
THE MIDTOWN MURDERS, A DETECTIVE NOVEL
MURDER MY LOVE
A DANCE WITH MURDER
BLUE FLOWER
LOVE SHOT
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious.
Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 M. V. Luca
Copyright © 2015 M. V. Luca