A Twisted Web - Benoit Blanc

Two - A Death in the Family

Flora wasted no time in packing her bags and jumping on the first flight out of London back to the States. Jetlag meant nothing - she still made it back in time for the funeral, and that was all that mattered to her there and then in that moment. 

She hadn't expected to be back this soon.  Only the other night she had been talking about not knowing when she would be back, and now here she was. This had certainly not been how she was envisioning coming back to the States for a visit. Certainly not what would bring her back to her family.

Although it had been a long time since she had driven to Harlan's country house, pulling down the familiar drive was refreshing. It instantly filled her with memories of spending every summer and every holiday there as a child. Running around with her brother and cousins, back when they could - sort of - stand each other. 

And pulling up in front of the cozy brick mansion made her smile. The trees out front were changing colour, and there was even a puff of smoke trailing from the chimney.  She almost expected Harlan to step out of the main doors and wrap her up in one of his hugs in greeting. Of course, that wasn't going to happen this time, or any other time for that matter. The realization of this made a distressing feeling settle deep within her gut. 

She sat there in her car in the front drive for a good ten minutes before thinking 'screw it' and heading inside. She could face her family, she could do this.

She was honestly expecting them to swarm her before she had even barely set foot in the house, but she stepped inside, not encountering anyone.  The big old house was so quiet it was unsettling.

"Hello?" she dared to call.  

"Hello Flora!" she almost expected to hear Harlan's voice calling back.  "Welcome back! We missed you!"

I miss you too.  From now on, this house was never going to be the same.

"Flora!" The sudden voice made her jump. There was Fran, the housekeeper, coming down the main staircase.

"Fran!" Fran hugged her a little too tightly, but she didn't mind. It felt very comforting.

"I'm so sorry," Fran was saying.

"I'm sorry too," Flora said, pulling away.  "I can't imagine what it would have been like to find the body."

"Pretty gruesome." Fran looked shaken, understandably so. "The others are in the library, I know they're eager to see you. And don't mind the police officers - they've been here since this morning. They're still hovering around." 

"I'll go see the others soon," she promised.  "I just need a minute."  Fran nodded. "Is everyone here?" 

"Yeah, everyone except for your asshole brother - sorry."

"No, that's okay. You've got a point there."

With that, Fran left her to her wandering, which led her to the portrait of her grandfather sitting in the hall.

She had mixed feelings about this painting. On the one hand, it looked just like Harlan, however, he looked so stern and not very friendly, which was the total opposite of how Harlan really was - had been. 

Her aimless wandering eventually led her to the library. 

 It was time to face the family.

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It didn't help that she burst into tears as soon as she saw them, falling into her mother's arms.

"Oh, Sweetie," said Joni, rubbing her back, as though she were a child and not a thirty-five year old woman.

"There, there." Linda patted her back, attempting to, but not really helping either.

"Hey there, Princess," said her father, hugging her tightly.  She was able to ignore the nickname this time. "Welcome home."

"Where's Ransom?" she asked, once again noticing her brother was not present.

"He's not here," sighed Linda.

Surprise, surprise. 

"He couldn't be bothered to be here with his family, after all that's happened," grumbled Walt.  "Couldn't even be bothered..."

"Walt," sighed Linda. "That's enough."

"People grieve in different ways," said Joni.  

"Why are you defending him?" demanded Walt.

"I'm not defending him, I'm just saying he's grieving too and maybe he needs some time alone."

While they  continued to argue about Ransom's reasoning and whereabouts, Meg hugged Flora.  "Hey. I'm glad you're here."

Flora found she was speaking the truth when she  said, "I'm glad to be here too."

Welcome home.

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Everyone was numb and shocked - no one could believe that Harlan was really gone, and so suddenly as well. One night he was celebrating his birthday surrounded by his loved ones, and the following morning he was dead. 

the manner of death was even more shocking: the police were calling it a suicide. Harlan Thrombey committing suicide, slitting his throat in his own home right after his eighty-fifth birthday? It was so unbelievable.

But it had still happened.

 The funeral passed by like a blur. It was a small service, only family and close friends attending.

"Where's Marta?" Flora asked Meg, noticing Marta's absence right away.

"I wanted her to come," her cousin responded. "But I was out-voted."

Flora wondered if anyone had even extended an invitation to Marta. 

"But she's family." Marta may not be blood-related, but she was Harlan's trusted nurse and friend. It only made sense that she would be here, Harlan would have wanted her to be here. Flora felt awful.

Her family always said Marta was 'like part of the family', and while they said it, she knew they didn't really mean it. They saw her only as Harlan's nurse.

"She really should be here."

"I know."

This made her angry.  What made her more upset, however, on top of how upset she was already feeling over her grandfather's death, was the fact that her brother was still a no-show, at their grandfather's funeral.  The rest of the family was there, but no Ransom.  She was getting real tired of his constant bullshit. It really pissed her off.

And then the police started asking questions. 

(Whew, that took me a lot longer than I'd hoped, but here it is!  Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)  (Blanc will appear in the next chapter, yay! ;))