The Star of Egypt
Eatonville, 1940
"Pavel?" You call out as you walk up the stairs to the second floor of your modest home.
Your father-in-law doesn't answer.
"Pavel?" You step closer to the closed door that leads to his bedroom. "Are you okay?" You knock on the door. "Pavel?"
Still no answer.
You carefully turn the doorknob and push the door to Pavel's room open. The lights are off. You can vaguely make out the single bed in the center of the room.
"Hello?" You gingerly step into the room. You see a shape on the floor. "Pavel? Is that you?" As you approach the figure, you recognize your father-in-law, Pavel Knight.
He isn't moving.
"Oh my God!" You yell when you realize what's happened. "Dmitry!" You run out in the hallway, call your husband's name. "Dmitry! Come quick!"
-/\-
"We believe Mr. Knight was poisoned," the police officer reports. You, your husband and several officers are standing in your foyer.
"Poisoned?!" You gasp. "But - but who would have poisoned him?"
"Mr. Dmitry," the officer says. Your husband steps away from you and removes his arm from around your waist. "You're under arrest for the murder of your father, Pavel Knight-"
"What?!" You cry out in shock. "But Dmitry would never-"
A pair of handcuffs clicks into place on Dmitry's wrists. You grab his arm as the police try to take him away.
"M'am, I'm going to have to as you to step away." The officer steps in front of you. You tighten your grip.
"Carol, please do what the man says," your husband says to you. You turn to him with a pleading look in your eyes. "It will all work out in the end, love. I promise."
You release him.
The police march him out the front door, leaving you alone.
-/\-
The Next Day
You get out of bed after a sleepless night. While you style your short black hair, you start to form a list of suspects in your head. You know Dmitry is innocent, but who would want to hurt an elderly man like Pavel? Maybe they wanted to get revenge on Dmitry, not Pavel, you think to yourself. Or maybe they wanted to hurt me.
Following that line of thought, you put Peggy Keaton at the top of your list. She had a thing for Dmitry back in the day and never seemed to drop her grudge against you or your husband. She works at the clothing store on the South End of town.
You put Jacob Moore, the "town drunk", on your list, too. For some reason, he always yells at Dmitry when he sees him in public. His slurred words are difficult to understand, but you can usually pick out something about "manufactured lies" and "tarnished honor." His episodes are so violent, you and Dmitry tend to avoid the East End where he lives (and drinks).
As you continue to think about it, you also add Matthew Winston. He and Dmitry were both journalists for the Daily News at one time, but Dmitry moved on to the New York Times where Matthew never moved up in the ranks. The jealousy and resentment Matthew still held towards Dmitry was almost palpable. Nowadays, he ran a bookstore in the West End.
As you zip up your red dress, you try to come up more suspects. There's one name you can't get out of your head no matter how hard you try: Arthur Hughes. He and Pavel were archaeologist partners back the day. They travelled all over doing expeditions, from Egypt to England. The duo were still close, and Pavel has introduced you to Arthur before, but something about the man just rubs you the wrong way. Sorry, Pavel, you think as you put Arthur at the bottom of your list and vow to visit his antique shop in the North End sometime today.
With your outfit in perfect order, you step outside your home and begin your investigation.
"Pavel?" You call out as you walk up the stairs to the second floor of your modest home.
Your father-in-law doesn't answer.
"Pavel?" You step closer to the closed door that leads to his bedroom. "Are you okay?" You knock on the door. "Pavel?"
Still no answer.
You carefully turn the doorknob and push the door to Pavel's room open. The lights are off. You can vaguely make out the single bed in the center of the room.
"Hello?" You gingerly step into the room. You see a shape on the floor. "Pavel? Is that you?" As you approach the figure, you recognize your father-in-law, Pavel Knight.
He isn't moving.
"Oh my God!" You yell when you realize what's happened. "Dmitry!" You run out in the hallway, call your husband's name. "Dmitry! Come quick!"
-/\-
"We believe Mr. Knight was poisoned," the police officer reports. You, your husband and several officers are standing in your foyer.
"Poisoned?!" You gasp. "But - but who would have poisoned him?"
"Mr. Dmitry," the officer says. Your husband steps away from you and removes his arm from around your waist. "You're under arrest for the murder of your father, Pavel Knight-"
"What?!" You cry out in shock. "But Dmitry would never-"
A pair of handcuffs clicks into place on Dmitry's wrists. You grab his arm as the police try to take him away.
"M'am, I'm going to have to as you to step away." The officer steps in front of you. You tighten your grip.
"Carol, please do what the man says," your husband says to you. You turn to him with a pleading look in your eyes. "It will all work out in the end, love. I promise."
You release him.
The police march him out the front door, leaving you alone.
-/\-
The Next Day
You get out of bed after a sleepless night. While you style your short black hair, you start to form a list of suspects in your head. You know Dmitry is innocent, but who would want to hurt an elderly man like Pavel? Maybe they wanted to get revenge on Dmitry, not Pavel, you think to yourself. Or maybe they wanted to hurt me.
Following that line of thought, you put Peggy Keaton at the top of your list. She had a thing for Dmitry back in the day and never seemed to drop her grudge against you or your husband. She works at the clothing store on the South End of town.
You put Jacob Moore, the "town drunk", on your list, too. For some reason, he always yells at Dmitry when he sees him in public. His slurred words are difficult to understand, but you can usually pick out something about "manufactured lies" and "tarnished honor." His episodes are so violent, you and Dmitry tend to avoid the East End where he lives (and drinks).
As you continue to think about it, you also add Matthew Winston. He and Dmitry were both journalists for the Daily News at one time, but Dmitry moved on to the New York Times where Matthew never moved up in the ranks. The jealousy and resentment Matthew still held towards Dmitry was almost palpable. Nowadays, he ran a bookstore in the West End.
As you zip up your red dress, you try to come up more suspects. There's one name you can't get out of your head no matter how hard you try: Arthur Hughes. He and Pavel were archaeologist partners back the day. They travelled all over doing expeditions, from Egypt to England. The duo were still close, and Pavel has introduced you to Arthur before, but something about the man just rubs you the wrong way. Sorry, Pavel, you think as you put Arthur at the bottom of your list and vow to visit his antique shop in the North End sometime today.
With your outfit in perfect order, you step outside your home and begin your investigation.