While all deception requires secrecy, all secrecy is not meant to deceive.
★

It was a little after six P.M when Detective Archer Finn pushed open the door to his house with his leg. His right hand was holding a stack of manilla files while his left precariously balanced a medium sized white box. Emilia, who had been anxiously awaiting his return, rushed to help. She tried to take the box but Archer pulled it away from her reach. Emilia scowled but settled for taking the files instead.

"Hey. How was your day?" Archer inquired.

"Dramatic. Yours?"

"Dramatic." Archer replied and for them, that answer was good enough. "You said you had another surprise?"

"Well yeah but she went out for a walk. She will be back soon."

"You brought me a woman? Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?" Archer asked with a knowing smirk.

"What do you think I am–?" Emilia's jaw dropped and she had the good grace to blush. "No. God no. I wasn't meaning that." She smacked his arm. Archer pasted a  pained expression on his face and Emilia smacked him again. "You sleazy pervert."

"Hey, I was only kidding. And besides, it's good your "woman" is out because I also have a surprise for you."

Emilia beamed. "Is it chocolate flavored macaroons?"

"Well yes and no." Archer replied.

Emilia frowned, "Huh?"

"Open the first file in the stack."

"These are your divorce papers. Wait, Rosalia signed them?" Emilia asked after skimming through the contents of the file. She knew the real reason why Rosalia had signed the divorce papers, but she never thought that Rosalia would give up that easily. Emilia was expecting a fight. Maybe to Rosalia, her reputation was that important.

"Yep, she delivered them to the courthouse a few hours ago. Now open the box."

Emilia opened the box and her jaw dropped. The box contained twelve decadent chocolate flavored macaroons arranged in the shape of a flower. In the center of the flower, stood a square blue leatherette box. Emilia opened the box with shaking hands and a silver ring with a circular shaped ruby in the middle stared back at her. Her heart was hammering in her throat and tears were threatening to push out her eyes.

"I know some may say that this is too soon but I just couldn't wait. When you said yesterday, that you loved me, I knew that it was the perfect time."

"Archer–"

"Let me finish. Emilia Gardiner? Would you make me the happiest man in the universe and marry me?" Archer sensed her hesitation and added. "We don't have to get married now. I just want the whole world to know that you are mine. I–"

Emilia silenced him with a hot kiss. "Yes. Yes, ofcourse I will marry you." She smiled against his lips.

Someone knocked on the door and Archer and Emilia broke away like two teenagers who had been caught necking.

"Well, brace yourself Detective Archer Finn." Emilia said as she picked an imaginary piece of lint from his sweaty grey shirt. "It seems my surprise has finally arrived."

"Is it better than mine?"

"Well you will just have to see for yourself." Emilia smirked and opened the door.

Gabriel and Alea walked into the house with their hands intertwined. Emilia arched a suggestive brow and Alea's face turned the color of a ripe tomato. She quickly let go of Gabriel's hand and began to play with a loose string on her shirt.

"Alea?" Archer leaped to his feet and grabbed Alea in a fierce hug. "Emilia, how did you find her? I've looked for her for as long as I can remember with no luck."

"Actually, I didn't. She found me. She has been my patient for the past month but I didn't know that she was your sister until she told me today." Emilia said.

Archer broke away long enough to plant a kiss on Emilia's forehead. "Thank you for making this the best birthday ever. And I know that if there's anyone that can make my sister talk again, it's you."

Gabriel cleared his throat and Archer belatedly registered his presence, "Umm I'm sorry. Name's Archer Finn." Archer offered his hand for a handshake.

"Gabriel. Gabriel Hidalgo." Gabriel introduced and shook his hand.

Seeing as everyone was properly acquainted, Emilia got down to business. "Alea is not only here for a social visit. She wants to tell you something about the killer."

Archer immediately erupted, " The killer?Did he harm her. I swear if he–"

"Hey, calm down tiger. Nothing like that. Alea thinks she knows who the killer is." Emilia finished and all eyes shifted towards Alea, who effectively glued her eyes to the floor. Alea sneaked a pleading glance at Emilia.

"Hey, let's sit and talk. We can hear what she has to say over some chocolate flavored macaroons. What do y'all say?" Emilia said in a bid to alleviate the tension.

They settled down at the dining table. Archer had most certainly lost his appetite. He pushed the box towards Alea who gobbled down six macaroons. Gabriel begrudgingly picked one, tested it then decided that he liked macaroons and picked one more. Atleast the macaroons had succeeded in alleviating the tension. It was either that or they were doing one heck of a fine job hiding it.

Emilia cleared her throat and began, "How do you want to do this, Alea?"

For her answer, Alea pulled out a folded yellow paper from her pocket and handed it to Emilia. Emilia opened the note and began.

"Ready?" Emilia asked Archer. He sighed then nodded. And Emilia began to read the note. " I don't know much of the story. What I know, I got through eavesdropping and going through our parent's things. I guess I will start from the beginning. I found out from one of mom and dad's arguments that dad had a brother. I wanted to know more about him so I became nosy. A little too nosy for my own good. Anyway, his name was Martin Finn. Everyone just called him Marty. Right from when Marty was young, he was the apple of his father's eye. He was the colloquial ideal son. I got the feeling that despite the fact that Marty was favoured, dad still loved his brother immensely. All was going on great until Marty and dad fell in love with the same woman."

"Abigail?" Archer inquired. Alea nodded. Archer got the feeling that doom was imminent. It was like he was listening to a suspense novel but involving his family. Maybe a suspenseful autobiography of sorts. If that even existed.

"Where was I?" Emilia looked for where she had stopped reading and continued. "Marty and dad both fell in love with mom. According to the way dad put it, it seemed that he and mom had a 'thing' at first. Then Abigail saw Marty one day and she was smitten. Marty was the perfect guy to start a family with. He already had a steady job as an accountant in a bank. He was responsible and he was handsome. Marcos, on the other hand, was the proverbial ladies' man. He was as dependent on sex as an alcoholic is to alcohol. His businesses were failing terribly and even back then, he had a temper. Mom chose Marty over dad and dad was pissed. Nonetheless, Marty and mom got married. I know, because I saw a copy of the marriage certificate in mom's bedside drawer. A year later they had a son who they named Matthias Finn. Dad stopped coming around and everything was fine for about four years."

"Wait we have a brother." Archer interjected again.

"Patience, Archer." Emilia chided and she continued reading Alea's note.

"I learned later that dad had caused a huge scene at the wedding and as a result, the family ostracized him. Dad didn't take that well. He buried himself in alcohol and work. Consequently, his wine company grew. I think dad thought that if he was more successful than Marty, mom would come back to him. When that didn't happen, he began to terrorize both Marty and Mom. He would stalk mom to such an extent that she stopped going to work. He would also send letters with very elaborate messages on how he would murder them. Marty thought that dad was just acting out. Then one day, there was a robbery at the bank where Marty worked and he was the only person who wound up dead–"

"Dad killed him." Archer chimed in. It was not a question. Both Alea and Archer knew the full extent of their father's rage. They had experienced it first hand. No pun intended.

"Dad threatened mom that if she didn't marry him, then little Matthias would meet the same fate." Emilia continued.

"Jesus Christ." Archer sighed. He picked a macaroon from the box and stuffed it into his mouth to keep from exploding.

"Well, after their marriage, dad took care of Matthias like his own son majorly because mom behaved well. She didn't throw fits. She didn't mention Marty's name anymore. Things were quiet until you were born. Dad now had his own son. So little Matthias had to go. All I remember is that when I was seven, dad packed his things and sent him away despite mom's fervent pleas for mercy. I never saw him again until yesterday night. Atleast I think I saw him yesterday night. I'm not so sure.." Emilia finished, folded the note and gave it back to Alea.

Archer leaped to his feet causing the chair on which he was sitted to fall. "What?"

Gabriel also stood up and added, "Alea thinks he is the same person that shot at us this morning."

"What reason would Matthias have to go on a killing spree?" Emilia asked.

"Revenge. Think of it this way. Matthias is angry. He has had to grow up without the love of his parents because of dad. And since dad is dead, his next best option is destroying his son. The same one that got him sent away from home." Archer replied.

"Why now?" Emilia pressed.

"I don't think he has just started with his revenge. I think he has been plotting this for a while. I talked to Rukelle. They found a mass grave in the forest. They haven't fully analyzed it yet because the forest got burnt. But there were more than five bodies in that grave. Enough for Matthias to hone his craft." Archer picked up his chair and pushed it back under the table. "We need to find Matthias."

Emilia caught his arm, "And how exactly are we going to do that?"

"If there's any person that knows where Matthias is, it's mom."

★★★

Hyde Park was even more beautiful at night. The street lights illuminated well trimmed hedges and trees that had turned lime green given that it was autumn. Emilia occasionally spied a jogger or a late night dog walker moving around without a care in the world. Tastelessly opulent mansions stood tall and proud on the rolling hills showcasing decades of family wealth. Emilia was sure that people in this neighborhood found names such as John and Mary to be mediocre. Instead they preferred names that exhibited their status and wealth. Names like Eugene, Hildegard and Alexandria.

The Finn mansion was situated at the top of a hill. The open metal gate came into view and Archer made a sharp turn onto the property. Alea ,who had fallen asleep on Gabriel's shoulder, jerked awake. Archer mumbled his apologies and they continued up the expansive driveway. Archer parked his Lexus in the deluxe car shed and just sat there. Emilia knew that this house held a lot of bad memories for Archer and Alea. She gave his hand a light squeeze, indicating her unwavering support, and they were good to go.

They all found Abigail sitted alone in the living room with her legs crossed, twirling what Archer would assume was her umpteenth glass of vodka that day. Archer was struck by the fact that although she'd probably been drinking the whole day, she still looked splendid and camera ready as always in an orange one shoulder belted mini dress. Abigail's gaze was glued to the blaring television screen that dominated the wall. She only recognized their presence after they had been sitted for one very long minute.

"So nice of you to make time out of your busy schedules to come and see me." Abigail smirked.

Archer was in no mood for bullshit, "Where is Matthias?"

The colour drained from Abigail's face and then it was back instantaneously. Abigail looked at Alea who was hunched over in the sofa as though she was trying to make herself a miniscule presence in the room. "You were always one nosy bitch."

Archer was struggling for self control. This was always how it was with his mother. She never missed an opportunity to insult them. He  repeated his question. This time he enunciated every single word, "Where. Is. Matthias?"

"Why? Has he committed some sort of crime?"

"As a matter of fact, he is considered a person of interest in relation to a string of murders that have taken place over the past few days." Archer replied.

Abigail laughed. It wasn't a pretty sound, "But ofcourse. You can always trust the spawn of a murderer to spin lies in order to get whatever he wants. My son is no murderer. And I don't even know where he is. Even if I did, I would never tell you that."

"Why don't you love us the way you love him?" The words were out before Archer could stop them. Archer's voice was hoarse like he was holding back tears. Emilia could see him clench and unclench his fists multiple times. She would do anything to erase the wounded expression on his face.

"Because Matthias does not have the blood of a murderer coursing through his veins. Because whenever I look at Matthias, I am reminded of the man I loved but when I look at you two, I am reminded of the man that destroyed my life. The man that took everything away from me. Should I continue?"

Archer and Alea unanimously leaped to their feet. Gabriel and Emilia didn't know what to do so they stood up as well.

"And how is that our fault?" Archer growled.

Abigail's voice took on a calm tone. Infact it was so calm that you could sense the hidden warning behind it. "Get out of my house right now!"

"Ma'am–" Emilia tried.

"Get out!" Abigail screamed.

They had all but left the room when a small voice echoed through the room. "Stop!"

They all turned and saw Callie. She looked different. She was not in her usual black and white maid's uniform. She was in baggy jeans and an even baggier shirt with the words 'God heals' scrawled over it. She wore her grey streaked auburn hair around her shoulders and there were traces of makeup on her face. Archer barely suppressed the urge to run into her arms.

"If Abigail's not going to tell you where Matthias is, I know someone who can." Callie said.

"Don't you dare, Callie. I'm still your boss." Abigail threatened.

"Oh please Abigail. Get over yourself. What are you gonna do? Fire me? You can't even if you wanted to because then, all your secrets would be out in the open."

"You wouldn't dare." Abigail sneered.

"Then why don't you try me. I've worked for you for forty years. I know things about you that you can't even trust your pillow with."

Archer was desperate for this conversation to get back on track. Forty year old family secrets could be divulged later. Now, they had a possible murderer on the loose. "Callie, who can tell us where Matthias is?"

"Your grandmother."

"What? My grandparents are dead." Archer replied incredulously.

"Not all of them. Have you ever wondered why everyone talks about your father's parents but never your mother's? Abigail's mother is still alive and I am going to take you to her."

★

Phew!!! this chapter has been one heck of an emotional rollercoaster. Secrets are out and we now know who the"killer" is.

But how will they find a killer who has no face? A killer who they have never seen? What will happen next?

Comment and vote. You can't finish this chapter without a comment.