The Murvelli Murder

15. The Evidence of the Cook

"Then all was quiet save for the sound of the rain. I think I must have heard a door open. Oh if only I had come out then. But it felt so surreal, like I was still asleep, perhaps I was dreaming? I was so scared. I felt something bad was about to happen but it must have been the wailings of a frightened and weak woman." She was speaking frantically now. "I must have fallen asleep. Oh no no, it cannot be!" she put her forehead on her hands and wept.

"What cannot be?" the detective who had been quietly listening attentively asked.

"No it just doesn't make sense. it doesn't feel right. it must have been all a dream. But then it couldn't have been a dream. They say you can never tell exactly what the time is in a dream. Oh my!"

"What exactly are you talking about? Pray, be more elaborate."

"Yes, yes. I will for the love of Justice. I must have slept for quite a while. Then I woke up and it wasn't raining anymore. I was less scared now. I checked the time and it was 3:17am. My instincts were uneasy and so I decided to look out my door and along the passage." She hid her face and wept again.

"What did you see when you looked out? Max asked.

"It was him. He was coming out of Mr. Murvelli's room. It was quite dark and so he couldn't have seen me as I peered out of my door with only my head out. But I saw his outline in the dark. He walked out of Murvelli's room and towards his. It was Jason!"

Max was transfixed. All this time he had made a conviction and a theory within his mind about the crime, only for this theory to be dashed against the wall. He stood up and paced about with a finger to his chin, deep in thought.

"What's the position of your room, Madam Beatrice?" He finally asked.

The woman was quick to reply. "As you must have noticed, there are seven rooms in this passage. Four on the left, three on the right. The third one on the right belongs to Mr. Murvelli and it is larger than the rest. When you walk into the passage, Mine is the first on the right. The second which is unoccupied for some time, is between mine and Mr. Murvelli's."

"And Jason's is the fourth and last on the left, correct?"

"It is so, sir."

"That means anybody coming from the late man's room must walk diagonally to the right when approaching Jason's room."

Beatrice nodded in agreement. She was clearly much calmer now.

"The outline of the person you saw in the dark, did you see it enter Jason's room?"

Beatrice wrinkled her forehead and thought. "Now you asked, I really don't know. Seeing somebody walking in the dark at that unsocial hour gave me the creeps and I quickly withdrew into my room and shut the door. I saw him walk towards his door, that is Jason's door, and since I didn't know what had happened then I didn't think much about it until this morning when the atrocity was discovered."

Since Jason's room was the last on that side, then there was no other destination for anyone walking in that direction. This Max knew. If it wasn't Jason, then who else could it have been? Max admitted in his mind that there was hardly any other explanation.

"Did you see him open the door of his room before you withdrew?" Max inquired.

"Uhm, well it was so dark I couldn't really make out if his door was open but I think I saw him reach out a hand for the door knob. It's all so vague now. Like I said, I didn't think it was of importance at the time. I didn't wait for him to enter his room and so I withdrew and ran to my bed and slept."

Beatrice coughed. "Oh my, I think I'm coming down with the flu. This whole affair makes me sick already."

"Are you very sure that it was Jason?"

"Oh by God, what do you expect me to think?" the frantic woman cried. "It was dark and all I saw was an outline of someone who I think must have been Jason as he was leaving Murvelli's room and going to Jason's room. Oh no I feel so sick." She held her hands upon her head and wept. It was quite dramatic to the detective.

Max watched her for some time, giving her time to comport herself.

"When you brought Murvelli his coffee last night, did you notice if his window was open as usual?"

"Why, of course it was shut. I don't know if he had locked it but I guess so. It was already getting real cold and windy due to the impending storm."

"Very good. Do you have knowledge concerning a bottle of his which he drinks every night?"

"No sir. About that, I admit I have no idea."

"Thank you so much madam Beatrice you've been most helpful. If there's anything else I'll need of you I'll let you know. You can take your leave now."

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