Mrs. McDermott’s vanity is almost unrecognizable. The once pristine ebony piece is dull and decrepit, devoid of its sparkling life from before. The lone perfume bottle, now tipped on its side, looks nothing like the glittering ornament it was. The vanity drawer is opened, like a mouth agape in horror. You can’t bring yourself to approach the mirror itself, as it’s tarnished almost beyond recognition, especially disconcerting since the bulbs surrounding it seem to have blown out at some point.
All that remains inside is this torn family photo.
You hesitate for a moment, then pick up the empty perfume bottle. Almost before you can breathe in, the floral notes surround you. You then hear a familiar voice whisper behind you.
“Keep manhandling the personal objects of the deceased, and people may begin to get the wrong idea.”
You turn to find the foggy figure of Vera sitting at her vanity. She stares into the discolored glass, not bothering to turn towards you.
“Getting serious? You’re trampling all over the scene of multiple murders. Seems to me things are already serious.”
“Why am I expected to keep track of that girl even unto death? I couldn’t possibly tell you where she’s gone. She’s always running around, and I couldn’t keep track of her even when we were alive.”
“As I mentioned before, things got blurry rather quickly. I remember entering our house, and that it felt suddenly too full of people for such unpleasant weather. I had wanted to tell them all to leave, that the day had gone sour enough as it was with the breaking down of our car, but I didn’t. Birdie was rather insistent that we have a conversation, so after putting her off onto Jane I left the room. Duty compelled me to at least offer everyone some refreshments, so I went to the kitchen to gather a tray. I did, believe it or not, peep my head into Elsie’s room to make sure she hadn’t snuck off somewhere to cause trouble, and I was satisfied that she appeared to be sleeping. I found that someone had already prepared hot cocoa in the kitchen. It was sweeter than I would have prepared myself, but I figured it would do well for the guests. As I returned to the chaos of the crowd and sat down the tray, I started to feel faint. My head swam, and I felt as if I had swallowed a purse of coins! It had to have been that awfully sweet cocoa!”
“Plundering not only our personal items, but our personal lives, as well? Goodness, what behavior. As you so kindly put it, no, I admit my affections for Elsie were, well, cool. I had my fill of maternal requirements with Virgil, and he was struggling and needed everything I could conjure up and likely should’ve had more. You must understand however, that while I may not have… loved Elsie, I do love Charles, and he loved Elsie beyond anything else. I knew that from the start. To harm her would harm him, and that is something I never would have done.”
