Chapter 38: Chapter 38 – Reunited

By the time he managed to wake up, the messy shed had vanished. He was no longer sitting on an uncomfortable sofa that may have survived three generations, but found himself lying on a much softer surface than he had ever experienced in the bedrooms of any of his last two jobs. There were no voices either, and the autumnal chill of those days seemed to have dissipated. In fact, it was curious, but even the blanket that covered Oscar seemed to feel warmer than had appeared when Madeleine reluctantly threw it over him.

As comfortable as he felt, it took him a couple of minutes to fully awaken to contemplate where he was resting. And what a shock he got when he did it! Not that he had returned to his room in the service wing. Nor is it that the universe had conspired to fulfill his belated wish to return to his time. No, that´s what he´d like!

The place where he now found himself was a room, very similar to the one he had been described as belonging to the late Mr. Patterson.

It had its distinctive paintings and rugs, spotless solid wood furniture, a double bed with enough blankets to keep someone warm all winter, and even a fireplace that stayed lit. So, was this one of the guest rooms at Fairview? But if so, what was he doing there? How much did he sleep? Well, in any case, he shouldn't be there!

Panicking at not being aware of the time or why he was in a room that clearly seemed too good for him, Oscar felt the urge to get up from the cot and leave. To go anywhere far from there, before someone arrived, he discovered him dozing in a guest room and it condemned him forever to never get a job again.

It was then, when he tried to sit up in bed, that he noticed.

He still felt constipated, his throat felt dry (which he was able to remedy thanks to a glass of water that someone had conveniently left on a nightstand to his left) and he wished he could rest a little more. But other than that, he didn't feel as bad as in the days before. The headache that held him was gone, nor did it seem that his body would go into a frozen state if he did not move. And although he could have slept more, he was not as sleepy as before. If he were to get off the mattress and stand up, now migraine free, he could do it just fine.

But again, why was he there? Although he got to sit on the cot, he never managed to leave it. Either because the warmth of the blankets was too pleasant to abandon, or because, if he was there without a single scratch, was because he was expected to stay in bed.

Since there was no one in the room, he took advantage of that moment to think about what the hell had happened the last time he was conscious. Which was a futile attempt. That is, he could remember the shed and the conversation he had with Madeleine, but little else. If he made an effort, he could recall the strange figure that stormed before them, the sound of a weapon charging… Then his sight had blurred and he vaguely remembered moving. Or that he had been moved, because in the state he was in then, it was unlikely he could have taken two steps on his own. After that he didn´t remember anything. No voices, no places, no sensations. Nothing, absolute emptiness.

And Oscar knew for sure that something had to had happen, because it was not normal to wake up where he did, not knowing how long after and a half naked - because that was another thing, they might not have bothered to wake him up, but to leave him in his underwear, well, they were avid-. Fortunately, and this did have to be granted, checking he realized he had no wounds, neither from a bullet nor from a knife.

It was all too strange!

"Oscar, you woke up!" Exclaimed Kenneth, who had just entered the room as was typical of him, without first asking permission.

He was finishing arranging the pillows to remain seated, leaning on them, and on guard for what might happen when someone arrived in the room. He didn't want whoever it was to catch him unconscious. Now, who was going to tell him that his annoying co-worker would be the first person he would see after his little nap? No, more than that, who was going to tell that Kenneth would be so happy to see him conscious that he threw himself on his bed without any qualms?

Oscar had to knock him out of the cot, because the guy was practically crying and refusing to let go of his legs, on which he had fallen.

"I thought you were going to die!" Kenneth continued sadly, although little by little he regained his calmness and allowed himself to be pulled away without resisting. “But I'm glad to see that you're already regaining your strength and, like Moore, you have no qualms about using it against me. It's a relief! I thought you were never going to hit me again!”

‘But have I ever hit him before so he can now act as a martyr?’ Oscar wondered. His memory, after waking up from what looked like a coma, wasn´t good, but it was not so bad that he´d forget a violent detail like that.

“What happened?” he asked aloud, wanting to know where he was before he rearranged his priorities. “And what time is it?”

“You don´t remember?” Kenneth looked surprised, for a few seconds, before continuing with a smile. “It doesn't matter, I guess it's normal. You were already with one foot in the grave when they found you. You´ve been unconscious all night and most of the day! Right now... It´s now past five in the afternoon on Tuesday”

"How did you not wake me up earlier?!"

Oscar made a move to get up. He had already seen the clothes he had brought the day before: they were folded and deposited on a chair, a couple of meters away. He wanted to get dressed and proceed to report to the service area, where he should have been since early in the morning. But Kenneth, who had anticipated this, urged him to lie back down.

"It's just that Mr. Ramsey is a maniac," he explained, "it doesn't seem right to him that sick people overexert themselves to the point of passing out! Looks like that ‘that gives a lot of problems to the guests.’ Can you believe it? It's so funny! As if they were the ones to take care of a sick man, much less someone who works as a servant for someone else's master! Ah, although I must say that it surprised me that you could be here. In general, when one falls ill, they send him to rest in his own room or at most, if he has something contagious, they isolate him in a warehouse or closet where they leave him blankets and herbal teas and, well… The minimum to subsist. For example, they once put me inside...”

"Kenneth, is it true that it would be a problem for Ramsey if I get up now and start pacing around the house like nothing?"

"So I told you, yes."

"What if I did? Would you try to stop me?"

"Of course I would! I can't let you hang around in your state, they'd scold me! Although I'll tell you one thing, now that I have discovered you´re recovering your energy, after spending a whole night with a fever, you got a very bad awakening, I wouldn´t want to get in your way! But it's something I´d have to do, of course. Since you are here, all the guests already know of your existence. And it would be a scandal if they saw you dying in the corridors due to my mismanagement!”

"Well then, unless you want to confront me and, in the worst case, have to follow me around Fairview, you'd better stop beating around the bush and tell me once and for all where we are, how I got here and why."

This was a false threat: Oscar no longer had any intention of getting out of bed, much less of wandering around an unfamiliar mansion like a madman. But he had said it in such a serious way that Kenneth truly believed he would be capable. Therefore, he was quick to reply:

"We're in Mr. Northrop's room." Before Oscar could ask any further, he continued. “And yes, I know, you don't have to put that face on me. I was also surprised when he brought you here! I thought Mr. Northrop had it in for you, for wanting to rob Miss Cornell and stuff, but it seems I was completely wrong and I'm going to need a few moments to rethink the whole story in my head”

"Forget about that fiction you're trying to represent in your head and tell me why they brought me here, wouldn't it have been better if they left me in one of the utility rooms?"

"That's what the other guests said! But Albert Northrop insisted, claiming that we´re short of rooms downstairs and it would be much easier for you to recover in one of the guest rooms. Because up here you don't have to worry about roommates, the noise of people passing by during the day and you also got a fireplace. Who doesn't want a good fire with the storms that are falling these days? So that´s it, Mr. Ramsey had to agree, because old Northrop is a good friend of his and it would not be right to make a bad impression on his son for such a request”

"But then, Mr. Northrop...”

Oscar was going to ask where he slept, if it was true that he gave him the room. But Kenneth had already begun to get the conversation in other directions:

"Isn't that attitude strange to you? When they told me he had found you locked up with Madeleine, in a shed in the middle of nowhere, I thought he was going to freak out. But it turned out that he´s a kind guy and all! Or well, kind to you, because with her...”

"You say he found me?" Oscar asked, trying to get Kenneth to refocus. “What happened?”

"Ah, about that! Did you know that they already caught the killer? No, wait, what are you going to know? If you were hibernating when the good things started!” Kenneth didn't seem to need encouragement to continue his story as, in high spirits, he proceeded without any help. “Last night as dinner time approached, no one could find Madeleine Cornell. After a long time searching the house, we realized you weren't there either, and I was like: That's it, my dear friend has managed to elope with his beloved! Good for him!”

"Could you leave your opinions out of the story?"

"But of course, it's just that a snowstorm was starting to fall," he continued, leaving Oscar in doubt as to whether he would have heard him, "it was dangerous to be outside! So Mr. Ramsey gathered a handful of employees, also joined by a couple of guests (Mr. Northrop among them), to search for Ms. Cornell. Well, from what I've been told, it was Mr. Northrop who found you in that shed. It seems he arrived just in time, because the murderer was there pointing a revolver at you that even now I have no idea where she got it because, uh, the girl was one of our maids. I mean, not ours, but the Ramseys. Anyway, it seems that upon entering the shed she left the door open while she walked towards you. And then it happened! Mr. Northrop appeared from behind her, holding a rifle, and forced her to hand over the gun!”

"Wait, wait, what was he doing with a rifle?"

“That matters?”

“Mr. Northrop seemed reluctant to go hunting, despite bringing a weapon with him, it seems unheard of that for a search he took it”

“One way or the other! The thing is, there he was, stopping the murderer with his bare hands. Ms. Cornell practically threw herself into his arms, crying and still lamenting Mr. Seymour had not appeared even when she was calling him (which by the way, our employer was one of those who decided to stay inside the house, because this humidity is terrible for health and such). But, as she was telling him she was very grateful, which she reiterated numerous times, even after she had everyone returned to Fairview, Mr. Northrop must not have heard her, even he had the gall to ask her to shut up sometime! In the shed they say that, after catching the culprit, he ignored Madeleine and went straight to you... Which is not surprising, on the other hand, because I already said you were half dead on a sofa. Who wouldn´t take care of first attending to those who are worse off?”

“Well, I know I shouldn't laugh, but I've had to put up with Miss Cornell and her mediocre deductions for over half a day and I can't take it anymore. The occasion deserves it! Because it seems that Mr. Northrop, after checking that you were not yet in the grave, was the one who picked you up and took you to Fairview. The young lady had to walk behind him, despite the fact that she spent all the way complaining that her feet hurt and that she was cold”

At this point, Kenneth laughed.

“Can you imagine? Mr. Northrop had three other servants with him, but none of them wanted to carry Miss Cornell the way he did with you. And when they finally reached the mansion, people were more concerned about you, who was still unconscious, than about her. For aside from looking fine, she was dirtier than any of the soot workers. It was so hilarious…! Hey, it is a shame you were asleep. You missed your fifteen minutes of fame!”

"Well, I'm here, right?"

Wasn't that enough? He couldn´t be in a better room, for the comfort of that bed was only comparable to that of the cot he used when he lived in his original time.

"Yes, but all that worry from when you arrived now has turned into hatred. People here are very traditional, you know. They don´t like someone of the service to occupy a room that does not belong to them by right”

Oscar sighed upon hearing this. He couldn't say he wasn't expecting it, even if the idea hadn't been his, it was natural that those people blamed him. After all, it was easier to blame him than someone like the villain. And speaking of Albert, how was he going to thank him the next time they met? He felt like he had done too much for him. Too much to be able to repay with a simple thank you.

"Now that I've told you the whole story," Kenneth continued, "will you be honest with me?"

“About what?”

"What do you mean with what! I wanna know what you and Mr. Northrop are up to! I thought he would take advantage to win the points that you lost with the eldest of the Cornells, but no! And on top of the fact that he pretended that she didn´t exist, it is to you that he gives his room. It's suspicious!”

"Maybe it's because of what you said earlier, that against all odds, He´s kinder than you thought."

Although Oscar had no problem admitting that he and the villain were good friends, he was unwilling to confess the fact that he suspected that, as a result of a certain incident, Albert had a greater attachment to him than before.

"Ah, speaking of nice people!" Kenneth jumped to his feet, as if he had just remembered something important. “I have to let them know that you already woke up! They'll go wild if they find out I didn't do it right away, even though it was a direct order from the host. And as I go, are you hungry? You must be, yes, it's been more than twenty-four hours since your last meal. I'll tell them to get you something! Oh, and the medicine too”

"So now there's medicine too… why didn´t I pass out sooner?"

“While you were unconscious, the doctor had time to come and check you, but you better not try to die more times. Believe me when I tell you that you make a lot of enemies among the upper classes”

Oscar didn't reply, although he was thinking that it wasn't like high society people would pay much attention to him anyway, no matter what his merits were. So teasing them a bit, or, as he had hitherto done, ignoring them, made no difference to him.

Kenneth proceeded to leave the bedroom, although before he managed to do it, a knock was heard on the door. It was possible that the person behind it had opened it after a couple of taps, but Kenneth was already so close to the exit he was the one who opened it

As soon as the door was opened, the figure of Albert Northrop was exposed. He looked, for a moment, towards the bed where Oscar was and seemed surprised that the other was finally conscious. Perhaps he would have asked why he hadn´t been notified earlier or, even more likely, had rushed into the room to verify that his new tenant was okay. In any case, none of that could have happened instantly. Because, when Kenneth realized who he had in front of him, he proceeded to inform him of his plans to go to the employer and send someone to bring what had just been promised to Oscar.

It would be hard to tell if Albert heard Kenneth say that considering that he, abstracted as he was, didn't even look at his face when speaking to him. But after Kenneth finished reporting and Albert approved of him, there was nothing more to add.

That charlatan left and Oscar was left alone with the villain.

It was curious, while Kenneth was telling him what happened when he and Madeleine were rescued, Oscar was thinking about what he would say to Albert when he saw him. But, now that he finally had him in front of him, he had gone blank. What the hell could he say in that situation without sounding forced?

Luckily, Albert made it easy for him.

“Are you feeling better?” Was the first thing he asked, as he approached the center of the bedroom, stopping at the foot of the bed.

"Much better, yes. I´ll be able to be on my feet shortly, visiting Thornfield when we return and bothering you to lend me a couple of books from your library. Although," he added, with a smile, "to get back to work I won't be so enthusiastic. I'll end up spoiling myself if I continue to use rooms like this, and then I won't want to go back to my little room in Lilac Hall!”

"What's wrong with spoiling yourself? Having a whim from time to time isn´t bad.”

"No, but... Who would pay for such a whim? You, maybe?”

Oscar had asked that question as a joke, since it still seemed surreal to him that the supposed individual destined to kill him was the one who had donated such a room. But from his expression, Albert must have taken it seriously.

To prevent him from committing to something completely unnecessary, Oscar was quick to say, before the other had time to give an answer:

"Let's leave it, I couldn't accept it anyway. That way of living doesn´t suit me. I'd much rather work to earn myself and owe no one anything”

"It is commendable that you think so," the villain conceded after a pause, although it seemed that wasn´t what he meant at first, "one should try to preserve his independence as much as possible. So that tomorrow, when you´re in trouble, you can figure things out on your own, without thinking about whether there will be someone to get him out of trouble.” Then, under his breath, he pointed. “Although, sometimes, it isn´t wrong to delegate some responsibilities to someone else. One alone shouldn't have to carry the weight of the world”

Without understanding what he meant by the latter, Oscar decided it was a good time to bring up the subject:

"Speaking of welcome help, I wanted to thank you for getting me out of that damn shed. I'm not sure what happened after I passed out or to what extent what Kenneth told me was real, but anyway, I know we were locked up and it's a relief that you ended up finding us” Referring to the room where he was, he continued. “Oh, and I also thank you for giving me this room. But isn't it a problem for you to have given it to me? Where will you sleep?”

“Don´t worry about it. Yesterday, when we brought you in, there was a slight inconvenience regarding the choice of a room in which to leave you while recovering. And, as it was urgent, it wasn´t possible to wait for the other guests to reach a consensus on the request of preparing your stay on this floor. Therefore, I considered the quickest thing would be to leave this bedroom for you. Mr. Ramsey was kind enough to prepare the next room for me to occupy since there was no other room left in this corridor”

That "minor inconvenience" was Albert's polite way of referring to a serious discussion, in which probably at least half of the guests were opposed to sharing wing with one of the grooms who accompanied them on the hunt. And, despite the fact that the villain used plural, Oscar assumed that the idea of ​​bringing him to that room belonged to a single person who had lost patience at the precise moment in which his fellow men began to debate nonsense.

"That room next door, wasn't it Mr. Patterson's?"

"Yes, but the police have already finished investigating there. We have permission to use it again. It only took a cleaning and it can be used again”

"You really don't mind having to sleep in the same bed where someone has died?"

"Is there a difference between that and any other? If it´s for deceased people, one never knows, when visiting a strange home, who had the misfortune to perish on the mattress he´s using. And it´s natural, how are the hosts going to give that information?” Albert laughed, perhaps because of seeing Oscar's expression of disgust; Maybe he wasn't afraid of many things, but for some reason the thought of a person turning off in the same bed he used seemed to cause him to panic. “We could have taken you to that room too, but it wasn't that convenient. Because the sheets were still unchanged and since it had been uninhabited for a couple of days, the fireplace wasn't working either. So it was still a little cold”

"Whatever the reason, I appreciate you letting me have this room," Oscar continued, feeling more relaxed seeing that the villain didn't really care he had given up the place. “I don't think it was easy to convince others to abide by that decision”

“It´s true that many objected, but you´d be surprised. Your employer, for example, agreed”

"How did Mr. Seymour agree?" Oscar asked, visibly amused; it was beyond his imagination. “Did the marriage request affect him that much? These days he's been acting too bizarre”

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"I can attest to it, but such a thing benefits us, doesn't it?"

Oscar had to agree, still wondering how much harm it could do to the brain of a guy like Patrick to tie him up in a marriage so roughly.

"You mentioned earlier the police have finished the investigation, does that mean they have already caught the culprit?"

"Didn't that friend of yours tell you?"

"Just a bit, without dwelling on the details. However, to be honest, even if he had given me all the details, I would have asked you anyway. Kenneth is quite given to fantasies, to fill in the plot gaps of real stories with his own stories. So what he told me may not fully match reality”

"Perhaps you should wait until you´re fully recovered to find out, don't you think? You just woke up, wait a couple of days and...”

"Do I have something better to do lying here other than listen to you?" Oscar interrupted him.

It was true that since he regained consciousness, he hadn´t felt like getting out of the blankets and, as the minutes passed, he realized he still had some weakness from his cold. He was hungry and constipated, but at the time he was wide awake. He didn´t want to continue resting.

"On the other hand," Oscar continued, "how did you find us last night? And at the right time too!”

"It was… a matter of luck, perhaps? We divided into various groups to search for you. I was accompanied by three other employees, one of whom knew the property well. So we went to that area where the shed was located and found you”

"I don't think it was just luck, even though you brought one of the Ramsey workers with you who knew the grounds well. It was too timely! And that, as I said, I  especially appreciate you showing up, since Kenneth said you were the one who stopped the person who tried to kill us. And who knows where Madeleine and I would be if no one had shown up then”

"Looks like Kenneth did tell you some details."

"Only the righteous, I really don't know much else."

"Did he also tell you how you got here?"

That question was too ambiguous to answer, and so Oscar was going to ask him to specify. But he didn´t manage to do it, because at that moment someone knocked on the door. Said someone could have passed as a servant, who brought dinner and the medicines that Oscar had to take, if it were not because after the light touches on the wood this person didn´t try to pass. No doubt was waiting for someone to give permission.

So Albert, much to his regret, had to leave his position by the bed to proceed opening the door. A decision he instantly regretted, as Madeleine's smiling face appeared behind it.

"I was coming to visit my dear friend Oscar, as they´ve already told me he woke up," she declared. “So, Mr. Northrop, would you kindly let me pass?”

Albert was silent for a couple of seconds, looking first at Madeleine and then at Oscar. Then, having decided on an answer, he said:

"I'm sorry, but right now is a bad time. Come back another day”

And before Madeleine had time to protest, Albert slammed the door in her face. That action amused Oscar, who could barely contain his laughter when contemplating this scene, while the protagonist must have been outraged. Well, not five seconds after she had been so grotesquely rejected Madeleine knock on the door again.

The villain seemed fed up, but he opened it anyway, placing himself in front of Madeleine as if he was a bodyguard, preventing her from seeing beyond the threshold. So even if he had opened the door, it was impossible for her to set foot inside the room.

"Look, I don't know what's going on or why so much secrecy," Madeleine was heard saying, "but know that I'm not coming with bad intentions. I didn´t plan to disturb Oscar's rest, on the contrary! I have even met the maid in the hallway, when she was bringing his food, and I convinced her to give it to me. So I could be the one to come bring them”

Madeleine said that in a friendly tone, without a hint of haughtiness, the same tone she used whenever she tried to score points with someone. But from what happened next, it was clear that her supposed goodwill was not well received.

"Is that the tray they gave you?"

“Yes, this is it! So, can I…?”

Oscar saw Albert pick up the tray with one hand and slam the door shut with the other before the protagonist could complete her question. The villain took a couple of steps towards the bed, but then seemed to regret it and turned back to the door just to lock it. Madeleine wouldn't bother anymore.

By now, Oscar could no longer suppress a laugh. Forgetting that he still had some phlegm built up due to his illness, that action triggered a small coughing fit. But it was not as if that mattered to him, it had been worth staying alive for so many months just to contemplate how the female lead had no choice but to withdraw.

When he had calmed down and the villain had made sure he was okay, the latter inquired, as he handed the tray to him:

"Was I too mean?”

He may have been considered the most evil being in the whole plot, but Albert's ethical principles forced him to be kind to even the worst scum. At least in public.

"If we're talking from a moral perspective, yes, what you did was rude and likely to have negative consequences," Oscar mused. “Now, if you´re asking for my personal opinion, I would ask you to please do that more often. I really needed someone to make Madeleine go away, even for a little while”

That must have reassured Albert, because he didn´t worry about it again.

The tray that had been prepared in the kitchen had small legs, which could rest on the surface of the mattress and allow anyone to enjoy a lunch without getting out of bed. Oscar loved this well-known invention, since he had never before had the possibility of eating from his bed with such comfort.

After placing the tray on his lap, Oscar tried to resume the murder conversation with Albert, but Albert refused to comment on it. Oscar had to insist a bit so that, in the end, the villain would give in. Saying that after his dinner was over — and not a minute before — he would lend himself to speak on the subject. And in the face of such treatment that denoted Albert's concern for him to replenish his energy, how could he refuse? What he had asked sounded reasonable.

The kitchen employees had prepared a vegetable soup for him, and that dish had been accompanied by two glasses. One of them was full of orange juice, while the other served as a container for an unidentified liquid of a suspicious color that must have been medicine, since it didn´t occupy even half of the glass.

Oscar decided to finish the medicine first. Maybe it was because he hadn't tried any medicine for years or because he wasn't used to 19th century remedies. The fact is that the infusion tasted particularly bad, worse than anything he had tasted in his own time. But he managed to finish it, suppressing the odd gag.

The worst was over.

The villain picked up the clothes that had been deposited on a chair and, being careful not to unfold them, placed them on a chest of drawers. Then, grabbing a book and taking that same chair, he sat on the side of the bed, less than a meter from it, pretending to read until Oscar finished with his food.

As for Oscar, he may have been hungry, but after eating a few tablespoons of soup, his appetite was satiated. Thus, he managed to drink most of the juice, while the bowl of soup was left half. Considering his state, the villain didn´t force him to continue and, after verifying he didn´t want to drink anything else, he proceeded to remove the tray as if he was the most efficient valet.

At that time the door was still sealed and Albert didn´t seem to intend to call for service yet, so he simply left the remains of dinner on a nearby table, until further notice. Seeing this, Oscar proceeded cautiously:

"Kenneth told me the culprit was one of the Ramsey maids...”

"Her name was Emma," Albert pointed out, returning to his place, as if he was already prepared for that line of debate, "and indeed, she came to work for Mr. Ramsey only about two months ago."

"Did you know her?"

It was unusual for Albert to speak of someone unfamiliar using her first name.

"Yes, and it's been a long time, even though we haven't talked to each other in years. Have you heard that the Pattersons and Northrops became partners at some point? Well, I knew Emma from back then. Not that we were friends or that we hung out often, but her family worked for the Pattersons and I occasionally accompanied my father to the factory, so we saw each other a few times”

Oscar also remembered this part of the original novel, despite the fact that Albert was not directly blamed for the crime and this Emma was hardly mentioned. Everyone knew that old Peter Northrop had always been in the fashion industry. Unlike the Cornells, who made fabrics, the Northrops were busy turning these fabrics into clothing for both men and women. And there was a time, maybe fifteen years ago, when they needed the services of the Pattersons to expand their business to London.

The Pattersons were in charge of making both the mannequins and some pieces of furniture that, later, the Northrop would place in their stores. In exchange for a discount on their orders, the Northrops would give them the publicity the others needed. And things went well until, due to a legal problem, the Pattersons were ruined, having to give up their factory and being left with only a small workshop.

"So Emma's family worked for the Pattersons before the business went under?"

"Yes, her parents worked there making and assembling the furniture, although it´s a somewhat sad story." Since Oscar was anxious to keep asking, Albert stepped forward. “After the business closed, they were unemployed. Emma's mother had to stay home to take care of her grandmother, as her health had deteriorated. And Emma's father couldn't find another job, no matter how hard he looked. The aforementioned was an alcoholic in his past, he was in prison for minor crimes, inclusive. So the job he had with the Pattersons was achieved out of friendship rather than merit. And without the support of that family, no one was willing to hire someone with a track record like him”

“It appears that, a few months after the factory closed, Emma's father was killed in an accident. He was walking down the street at night, with a few drinks on top of him, when a car hit him. Anyway, his wife fell into a depression and not long after she committed suicide.”

"And what happened to Emma?" Oscar asked, urging him to continue, even though it wasn´t a pleasant subject.

“She…  was left in the care of her grandmother, who in her state could not do much of her either and ended up dying a few years later, when Emma was a teenager. It could be said, then, that it was Emma herself who had to work since she was little to provide for her younger siblings. All this, without family to support her. Well, whether it was due to illness or because her brothers were too young to help her at first, she had no choice but to get by on her own”

"If she was to blame for what happened to Patterson, it's easy to think she held a grudge against him for what happened to her family. Even if Mr. Patterson was not to blame, his business failure was the catalyst for her misfortunes to begin”After a pause in which Oscar seemed to be considering something, he asked. “Hey, but how do you know all that? I thought you were just acquaintances.”

And even if Albert told the truth about that and they had only seen each other three or four times, an ordinary person would not go on to relate somebody´s life experience to just anyone. Much less now, when she was being investigated for murder.

"And so it is, we hadn´t met for more than ten years. The day we got to Fairview I ran into her and we talked briefly, catching up on what was happening in our lives, but without going into detail. That conversation didn´t last more than five minutes, so I was surprised that the next day, after returning from the hunt, she insisted on seeing me on an urgent matter. I thought it was a serious problem, that she would ask me for help with something, who was going to tell me that she was only going to give me an envelope and ask me not to open it until after I had left this mansion?”

"But of course you opened it," Oscar deduced.

"I've had enough problems with envelopes, I didn't want one more!" By saying this, he was no doubt referring to the confusion from last time, at the Seymour fair, which made Oscar feel a pang of guilt. “I waited a bit to open it, debating whether it would be okay for me to do so. But when it was discovered the next morning that Mr. Patterson had been murdered, I had my suspicions she might have something to do with it and I read what she had written to me. There was everything I have told you, what happened with her family and her future plans. Apparently, she came to work with the Ramseys because she had been planning to get rid of the last remaining member of the Patterson family. She didn´t confess to the crime as such, she only threatened to carry it out and then commit suicide”

“You´ll understand, then, my concern when I realized Emma was totally depressed and full of hatred, thinking of ending someone's life in the same way she believed that they had killed her relatives. Therefore, the first thing I did was deliver the letter to the officers, asking for their discretion. No one, apart from them, knew about that letter. Since it was not a confession as such, the only thing that could be done at the moment was to keep an eye on her, as well as question her as well as the people who had contact with her person. But you and Miss Cornell disappeared last night...”

"You weren't looking at random; You were suspicious of Emma and followed her when you saw her going out,” Oscar concluded. “Makes sense. Knowing she could be the culprit also explains why you carried the gun”

"Right, that explains what I did. But what about what you did?”

“Me? I suppose Kenneth would tell you that I was helping those two catch the criminal… But that's not entirely true. I would be lying if I said that certain enigmas do not appeal to me, but I am not so desperate for some action as to start investigating anything, at the cost of putting my life at risk. I already warned both of them when they came to insist that I accompany them, I don't want trouble!”

"No, that part has already been explained to me by your friend. He seems sorry for insisting when you didn't want to take part, in fact. And I believe him, since I know that you aren´t the type of person who meddles in other people's affairs. Less when these could pose a danger to you. What I was referring to was what you did with the necklace”

For a couple of seconds, Oscar didn't understand which necklace he was referring to. Then he suddenly remembered. That damn Madeleine pendant that kept giving him trouble even after he returned it! How had they come to this? Oh, true. A few days ago he had a hunch that the villain was upset after seeing it in his room. But, even after running into him on previous occasions after that, he didn´t bring up the subject of the jewel or reproach him for anything. Hence, Oscar had forgotten, worried as he was about larger issues.

"I gave it back," he murmured at the end, thinking that if Albert kept asking, he was going to have to always keep telling the truth since there was no point in hiding anything anymore. “I needed the money, but realized that was not the way. Then Madeleine insisted that I keep the necklace, she left it in my room without my consent and well, these things that happen to me for not speaking clearly from the beginning. At least the necklace is back with its rightful owner”

Oscar didn´t know if what he said had been credible or if he needed to elaborate more on the matter, since Albert did not insist again. They spent a full minute of silence until the villain got up from his seat and, with total parsimony, walked over to a dresser and opened a drawer while he said:

"The day I went to visit you in your room, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Then I saw the necklace and I thought, ‘Oh, so we continue with this nonsense. Isn't it time to finish?’ Because it was obvious the pendant belonged to Miss Cornell and therefore must have been something that Seymour would have given her. I don't like these two people, so…” Saying this, Albert returned to Oscar's bedside with an envelope in hand, which he handed over without further ado. “For me, hunting was the last straw. I could´t bear to see how you worked for something that wasn´t worth it (and I already know, from Kenneth, that you went partly obliged, partly because you needed the money). And, well, I wanted to recommend you too… Even though Patrick Seymour is your boss and given Miss Cornell's position in that house right now, that you'd better not get mixed up in their nonsense”

Although he still didn´t understand, Oscar knew that Albert wanted him to open that envelope. Which he did, leaving all his questions for the moment he discovered a small wad of bills inside the wrapper.

“What´s this?”

"It's yours, I'm giving it back to you."

“How is it mine?

“Don't think I'm not aware of the problem you're having with the books debt. Theresa told me about it on the day of the fair and then, with what you told me about the mistake about the envelopes, I sensed where the money would have gone”

"So you already knew." Oscar felt more and more ashamed of his own stupidity. Wouldn't everything have been solved sooner if he had discussed these things with him? “Wait, if you already knew, why the hell did you let me raise the money again?”

"I wanted to see how you handled it, considering the circumstances. I thought that, eventually, you would either confess the truth to me or seek a confrontation with Seymour. I didn't think you would try to carry everything and work to replace the money! It was interesting to watch,” Albert admitted. “But I saw the necklace in your room, I knew where it came from and I thought enough was enough. It´s not a plan dragging through a debt that is not even yours”

"That's why you said before that I shouldn't carry the weight of the world."

Oscar wanted to get angry, because he had spent a couple of months worrying about something he could have avoided in a very simple way, but he couldn´t. He couldn't do it because, in the end, he had gotten back the money he earned from his extra effort. And that no one could take away.

"That day I was angry when I saw the necklace. Not with you, but with myself for not having spoken to you about this matter before and with Mr. Seymour, for continuing to treat you with such little consideration. In fact, I wanted to talk to him right away, but he spent the whole afternoon in company...”

"So you had to wait until night," Oscar completed, thinking correctly that that afternoon, when he spoke with Albert, he must have kept all the anger and frustration he felt not to worry him.

"That's right, although I almost didn't get to talk to him that night. Who expected that after Miss Cornell's dinner act, Seymour would almost die too? I had to wait a while for him to recover from his shock to approach him. And, the truth is, it was good for me. Because I don't think he would have agreed to talk to me alone if he had been in his right mind, but at the time I think he only had in mind to escape from his now fiancée. It costed a bit, because he's always been tight-fisted by nature, but I managed to get the money he stole from you. Ergo, I have already collected what belonged to me. I no longer need the money you gave me”

Oscar sighed. If things had happened as Albert claimed, it was no wonder Patrick was so agitated the night he found him leaving that room. First, the gullible he was courting became his fiancée, without warning. And then his enemy from his school years threatened to get a good amount of cash out of him. It was normal for the guy to react like this!

"Okay, I guess I'll have to give up."

It was not worth hiding things from a character like the villain. 

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