The Butterfly Conspiracy (23 page)

Stephen thought to himself it would be more than alright but instead said, “Sure, but only if you will let me draw you.
 
I’m tired of trying to duplicate those dumpy old women in the old master’s pictures.”
 

Jeanette laughed and said, “Draw me!
 
I don’t think so.
 
There must be many more beautiful things you can illustrate besides me.”

    
Stephen blurted out, “I doubt that!” and then realized he probably said more than he wanted to. He continued, “No, I think it would be fun to see if I can capture your personality, but if it would make you feel uncomfortable, we don’t have to.”

    
“I don’t mind.
 
But only if you have patience with me since I’ve never done anything like this before and I’m going to feel very self-conscious.”

    
Jeanette finished her lunch, got up and put her dishes in the sink.
 
She returned to her office and went back to her work, all the time thinking about meeting Stephen in the afternoon.
 
She straightened up her desk, went back to her room and tried on several different outfits.
 
She ended up selecting a beautiful lace dress.
 
The dress was black, sleeveless, with a lace overlay and decorated with beads.
 
She quickly put on some make-up, pulled her air up in a twist and headed up to the library.
 

    
Stephen was so busy preparing a new sheet of paper on his sketchpad, he didn’t notice when she walked in.

    
“I hope you like my new look!” Jeanette said nervously. Stephen glanced up.
 

    
At first, Stephen didn’t recognize that it was Jeanette standing in front of him.
 
She was stunning.
 
Stephen just stood there.
 
After a few long seconds, he felt like a complete idiot.
 

    
Stephen stammered, “You, you look beautiful, Jeanette.
 
Now I only hope I can do you justice!”

    
The hours melted away as Jeanette posed and Stephen sketched.
 
She was amazed at how talented he was.
 
She had never seen any of his work before and seeing herself as his inspiration was very thrilling.
 
As Stephen was finishing a third sketch of Jeanette, the library clock chimed five times.
 

“Come and see, Jeanette.”
 

For this sketch, Stephen had Jeanette sit in a retro pinup type pose with her hands resting on her knees.
 
Jeanette gazed at the beautifully illustrated picture.
 
She knew it was her, but found it hard to believe Stephen could capture her likeness with such a soft and beautiful spirit.
  

“I love it!
 
I think it’s my favorite one. But you forgot one thing.”

Stephen inspected the drawing. “What did I forget?”

“You forgot to sign it, silly.”

“Oh, it’s only a sketch,” Stephen dismissed with a laugh.

“No, it’s MY sketch and I want you to sign it for me.”

Stephen scribbled his signature on the bottom, tore it off his sketch pad and handed it to her.

“I had a wonderful time,” he said.
 
“I hope you did to.”

Jeanette leaned into him.
 
Stephen wrapped his arms around her.
 
Jeanette looked up and Stephen kissed her.
 
The kiss was long.
 
It was like they had both wanted this and once it happened, neither wanted it to stop.
 

Jeanette said, “Do you do this to all your models?”

“You’re my only model,” Stephen replied.
 

Jeanette helped Stephen pack up his supplies and store them back in his room.
 
They held hands as they walked downstairs towards the kitchen.

Cora was in the process of setting out a roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes and green beans.
 
Stephen and Jeanette fixed their plates and moved to the dining room to eat.

Stephen poured two glasses of merlot.
 
Cora entered the dinning room with some hot rolls just out of the oven.
 

“Cora, have you seen Britt today?” Jeanette asked.

“No, I thought she may have changed her mind and gone to
California
with Mr. Kahle.”

Jeanette said, “I was up helping Mr. Kahle get ready for his trip and he was the only one using the car service to the airport.
 
It’s not like Britt to stay at her place all day without coming over to the mansion.
 
We all know she doesn’t cook. Is Bobby around?”

Cora said, “No, the last time I saw Bobby was around
ten o’clock
when I saw him talking to those annoying protesters at the gate.”

“If Britt doesn’t show up for supper, Stephen and I will walk over and see if she is all right.”

Jeanette and Stephen continued to eat, expecting Britt to breeze in at any moment.

After the meal, Cora set down two pieces of warm strawberry/rhubarb pie.
 

“Who wants coffee?”

“I’ll take a cup, Cora,” Jeanette replied.
 
As Cora brought the coffee, Jeanette said to Stephen, “Let’s walk over to Britt’s place and see what’s going on.”

The sun was just going down and the sky to the west was bright orange.
 
Fast moving grey clouds hugged the horizon.
 
The wind was picking up and a cold breeze was blowing fog in from the lake. They walked hand in hand down the narrow path that meandered through the wooded area that connected the mansion to Britt’s place.
 

Jeanette approached the back door and rang the bell.
 
From inside the house, Stephen could hear the muffled sounds of the door bell as it chimed three times.
 
Jeanette pushed the button again.
 
Three more chimes and then silence.
 

“Could she have gone somewhere?” Stephen asked.
 
“Maybe she drove into town?”

“I don’t think so.
 
Britt doesn’t drive. She lost her license a few years ago and has never shown any interest in getting it back.”
 

Stephen could see that Jeanette was worried.
 
She tried the door bell again.
 
There was no activity from the house.
 
Jeanette knocked on the door.

Jeanette said, “Let’s walk around and check the windows.”
    

The first window they came to was the kitchen.
 
Both Stephen and Jeanette peered inside.
 

“Looks fine to me,” Stephen said, somewhat relieved.
 
They walked to the next set of windows.
 
Stephen looked in and froze.

“What is it?” Jeanette asked.
 

“I see legs lying on a bed and it looks like there’s blood.
 
Do you have a key, Jeanette?”

“I don’t.
 
Only Britt and your uncle have a key.”

Jeanette pounded on the window and called, “Britt, Britt, Britt!”
 
She turned to Stephen, her face was white, “She’s not moving, Stephen.
 
We have to call the police.”

They turned and ran back to the mansion.
 
Jeanette threw open the back door and ran for the phone in the kitchen.
 
Cora jumped up from the table.
 
Bobby was sitting with a cup of coffee.
 

“What’s going on?” he asked.
 

“We’re calling the police.
 
Something’s happened to Britt.
 
She’s lying in her bed and not moving. We can’t get in because her place is all locked up.”

Bobby started for the door.
 
“I’ll break in.”

Stephen grabbed his arm.
 
“I don’t think we should do that.
 
It looks like we may be dealing with a crime scene.”

Bobby pulled his arm free and shot Stephen a look.
 
“Crime scene?
 
What the hell are you talking about?

I’m the guard around here.
 
I need to see what’s going on.
 
This is my responsibility.”

Bobby bolted for the door as Jeanette reached someone at the sheriff’s office.
 

“Please send help to Cliffside Manor on
Pine Ridge Road
.
 
We need the police and an ambulance.”
 

It took the police eighteen minutes to get to the mansion.
 
By that time Bobby had broken a window in the back of Britt’s house, climbed in and had confirmed that she was dead in the bedroom.
 
There was lots of blood.
 
Bobby was standing in the front door when the police arrived.
 

Once the officers saw the condition of Britt’s body, they were not pleased Bobby had broken in.
 
Bobby was ushered out of the house, crime scene tape was being unrolled, and the Michigan State Police Investigation team was called, along with the county coroner.

Stephen and Jeanette sat silently in the trophy room.
 
Bobby had poured a drink and was pacing aback and forth.
 
The police were not talking, but they were asking questions.

“Ms. St. Jacques, I’m Detective Drew and this is Detective Franklin.
 
We have a few questions we would like to ask of Mr. Kahle.
 
Would it be possible to talk to him?”

Jeanette was holding on to Stephen, quietly crying into his shoulder. She looked up at the detective.
 

“I’m sorry, Mr. Kahle’s in
California
.
 
Once we reach him with this terrible news, I’m sure he will be returning as soon as possible.
 
Can you give us any more details?
 
Was it a suicide?
 
Was it…” Jeanette paused.
 
“When I break the news to Mr. Kahle, I have to tell him something.”

“As you know, Ms. St. Jacques, these things take time.
 
Once our technicians go over the scene, we will all have a lot more information.
 
Could you tell us who discovered Ms. Adolfson?”

Jeanette explained to Detective Drew that Britt had not been seen all day.
 
Detective Franklin interrupted and asked Stephen if he could step away.
 
He had a few questions of his own to ask.
 

Detective Drew asked Jeanette if there was a private area where they could call Mr. Kahle.
 
She got up and led the detective to her office. Jeanette didn’t know how to break the news to Phillip.
 
She sat quietly for a moment at her desk before picking up the phone.
 
She dialed Phillip’s hotel and asked to speak to Mr. Kahle.
 
The phone rang twice and Phillip answered.