The Last Great American Dynasty - A Folklore Novella

No Body, No Crime

Chapter Nine

No Body, No Crime

Over the years, Rebekah had developed quite the reputation in the small Rhode Island town where the Holiday House was located. Every time she went into town to go shopping or out to a restaurant, she could feel the gaze of eyes directed towards her. Women would whisper to each other. It was worse in the small town than in New York City: people talked to each other more there and Rebekah found herself too easily in the spotlight in the small town. There were more opportunities to run into those you know, and less opportunities to hide from them. It was common knowledge at intimate dinner parties to gossip about the unwelcome rich woman with a history they couldn't prove to be true.

"I've always said I think she did it." Rebekah and Marjorie overheard a ballsy lady whisper loudly to her friend on a sidewalk one morning. It made Marjorie feel super uncomfortable, she didn't know what they were talking about. It didn't phase Rebekah; she was numb to strangers' thoughts and opinions. They didn't matter anymore to her. Rebekah was only interested in those who had a vigor for life.

The event in question all took place the very first summer Rebekah and William bought the Holiday House fifteen years prior. Este was Rebekah's best friend and the most important member of Rebekah's infamous" Bitch Pack." Rebekah loved Este. She was hilariously pleasant, beautiful, dressed well, and newly rich, just like Rebekah. Este and Rebekah had been friends for years; they had met when they both worked as ballet dancers at the New York City Ballet. The only problem was that Este was married to a man Rebekah absolutely hated. Earl was a narcissist, too opinionated, drank too much (even for Rebekah) and worst of all, he could be so mean and nasty to Este. Este and Earl fought horribly for days at a time. It was a cycle of Earl chasing Este out of the house in anger. Este would run for cover to Rebekah at the Holiday House, and then Earl would come sauntering to Este a few days later with his sad little voice apologizing to Este, promising her that he would change. And Este would always fall for it. Rebekah had a feeling deep in her gut that Este was being abused by him, although Este would never admit it. She was too proud.

The abuse was confirmed one night when Este showed up to dinner at Rebekah's with dark bruises on her arms. Rebekah was livid. Este confessed to Rebekah that she knew Earl had been cheating on him. She had found a receipt in his wallet for one thousand dollars on jewelry Este never received from him. He came home stinking, and she had found red lipstick on his shirt collar. The writing was on the wall for Este, but Earl would never come clean or admit it.

She bawled to Rebekah. "I just can't prove it." Rebekah didn't need proof, she had always known that Earl was a dirtbag and a pathological liar. At first, she felt angry for Este, but not very surprised about it all. Then over time, she began to become genuinely scared for Este. Her best friend was trapped in a cycle of abuse that was heading nowhere good, and Rebekah didn't know how to help or convince her to leave her marriage.

"Leave him!" She told Este.

"I can't!" Este said. "No one else will want to be with me."

"That's ridiculous!" She ordered Este, "You're amazing. You deserve so much better. You must escape. I'll help you, with anything you need, stay here at the Holiday House for all of the rest of time if you need to!" But Este also confessed to Rebekah that she was pregnant. She felt she would have to stay with Earl for now, and just see what happens. Rebekah gave one last try to convince her best friend to safety, "sometimes running is the brave thing." Este still went home that evening, her bruises covered by sleeves and the diamond bracelet Rebekah had given to her for her birthday.

Rebekah was disappointed in her inability to free her friend from her terrible situation, and was powerless to stop the moving trainwreck she could see coming down the line. She wanted to help Este, but she just didn't know how.

Then, just three days after Rebekah and Este's conversation, Este went missing. She hadn't been seen by anyone. There was no doubt in Rebekah's mind that Earl had murdered Este. Rebekah felt haunted and sick by the thought of Este's lifeless body decomposing somewhere, alone. She knew that Este wasn't missing, she was dead. Rebekah felt riddled with guilt for not trying harder to help Este leave and escape Earl. Rebekah knew Earl had murdered her and vowed to take revenge.

When talking to the police about Earl fell on deaf ears, Rebekah took the matter into her own hands. Rebekah had decided, Earl had to die.

She began to stalk Earl. Driving by his house, waiting, and then following him out. She wasn't worried about him figuring out that she had been following him because she knew he was as dumb as a doorknob.

It didn't take long for Rebekah to see that Earl had moved on from Este with a woman who looked eerily similar to Este. She knew this was his mistress, and she had moved into their house already. Rebekah thought about the woman sleeping on Este's side of the bed and her whole body shuddered with disgust and dread. She was the reason why Earl had wanted Este gone.

So, one night, when William was working in the city, Rebekah called Earl and invited him over for a "party" at the Holiday House. Earl assumed there would be many friends there, but when Rebekah opened the door, she told him everyone was coming later because she had wanted to be alone with him before the party started. Earl was clueless and liked that it was just the two of them - after all, he was a dirtbag.

Rebekah spiked Earl's drink and when he had fallen unconscious, she hit him over the head with her Father's old miniature Greek statue of Aphrodite. It was very heavy and blunt. A perfect murder weapon. Rebekah also enjoyed the symbolism of the statue. Rebekah checked Earl's pockets, and inside his suit front pocket, she found Este's diamond bracelet. She recognized it instantly. Rebekah put it on her wrist, she stared down as the bracelet dangled on her blood-splattered wrist. She promptly wrapped his body in a tarp. She was shaking profusely, running on whiskey and adrenaline. She cleaned up the blood quickly. Earl's body was heavier than Rebekah could have ever imagined a dead body could be. She dragged it out of the living room, onto the upper balcony, and down the long set of stairs that led to the shore of the beach. Rebekah had never felt so grateful to own a sprawling shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean so that no nosy neighbors could see what she was about to do. She took William's rowboat out towards the moonlight and dumped Earl's body out into the water. They would think he had drowned. No one could prove it. His body would be waterlogged enough by the time he was found to hide the gash from the statue on the top of his head. There would be no evidence left behind. Rebekah was smart enough to know how to cover every detail. She even had an alibi, Este's sister had promised to swear she was with Rebekah on this night, no questions asked. Rebekah didn't feel as much guilt as she thought she would; it was karma.

When William got home from New York, Rebecca was sitting on the living room floor next to the miniature Greek statue turned murder weapon. She was bawling, her tears streaming down like the ocean she had dumped the body into. She wasn't crying about the regret of killing Earl but for the loss of her best friend Este. Her grief had been released and she couldn't keep the tears in. She told William everything. William held his wife in disbelief.

"We have more money than we know, and a good lawyer if we need. No one will know. The way you describe it, I think all our bases are covered. They will think he drowned. It will be okay."

When Earl's body washed up on the shore a week later a few miles from the Holiday House, word spread around town like wildfire in dry lightning. Earl became famous for the man who drowned under suspicious circumstances after his fiancé had seemed to suffer the same fate. There were whisperings and jokes of a curse in newspapers and among people on the coast and even back in New York. A curse between the ill-fated couple that drew them both into the ocean. Rumours of suicide were sprinkled around. The mistress was even a suspect. Rebekah's name did come up as a possibility in the police department, and some people were even adamant it must have been the party girl at the Holiday House mansion. The police were skeptical at first but started to be coerced by the darkness of the gossip-fueled witch hunt that took hold of the town. "I think she did it, but I just can't prove it." The police did not have enough evidence to make any criminal charges.

It angered Rebekah to see the obsession people had to discover what had happened to Earl, while it seemed everyone had forgotten about her beloved Este. No one had suspected Earl of murdering Este, but they had no hesitation about suspecting Rebekah of murdering Earl. It was a double standard and drove Rebekah even more mad than she already felt about the entire situation.

Only Rebekah and William knew the truth, and they swore they would take it to their graves together.