Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gallows Eve ❯ Epilogue ( Chapter 8 )

GALLOWS EVE (Epilogue)by DRL"More coffee?" Heero asked, smiling across at his companion. In lieu of a reply Heero received an answering smile that dazzled him with its brilliance and an empty porcelain cup thrust beneath his nose. He refilled the cup from a silver pot and pushing aside the sugar bowl, added a small quantity of cream. The smile he earned in return for his attentions was more dazzling than the first and Heero felt sure his head would float away like a balloon. However, he was not so light-headed that he failed to notice a slight shudder convulse its way through his companion's slight frame."Still cold?” Heero asked solicitously, as he rose, took up the poker and used it to stir new life into the dying embers of the fire."No, just thinking." Heero looked across at the smooth, creamy skin stretched across cheeks now hollow with recent privation, made amber by the glow of the firelight. He watched as flecks of gold danced in the violet-hued eyes that looked not at him but deep into the flames. His eyes traced the contours of the delicate profile presented to their rapt gaze - finely curved brow, small, slightly tip-tilted nose, generous rosebud lips, proud, strong chin. Heero could guess at the thoughts that still sent shivers of horror along Duo Maxwell's spine. The braided young man had cheated the hangman, but his sentence was far from over."Do you think he would have let me hang?” Maxwell asked distractedly, seemingly forgetting that he had asked this same question more than once that evening. Heero suppressed a sigh - not of exasperation but of sorrow. Sorrow at the fact that for the foreseeable future at least, Duo Maxwell would be a man haunted by the ghosts of his recent ordeal. His ploy of discouraging the young man from brooding upon his recent experiences by cunningly evading all discussion of the subject had come to naught. He had successfully steered the conversation clear of matters concerning the trial during a sumptuous dinner, prepared and served by his manservant, but now, as they lounged on richly embroidered floor cushions before Heero's living room fire, sipping after-dinner coffee and with their empty desert plates stacked neatly to one side, he reluctantly conceded that it might actually do the young man good to talk. He resolved to allow the conversation to roam where it would."No, I don't think he would." He replied. “In fact, before he would make any statement at all he was at pains to make sure that you were released." Duo Maxwell nodded but looked far from convinced. "He said that he had never set out to point the finger of guilt at any other person and had you actually been convicted, he would have come forward. I believe that he was telling the truth. The Chief Inspector agrees that it appears to have been mere ill luck and circumstance that had made the evidence stack up so strongly against you.""Ill luck? Maxwell gave a bitter laugh. "Yes, you see, Shadwell had intended to shoot Zechs Merquise from his original position in the stairwell." Heero continued, warming to his theme. "He only broke cover because he heard raised voices on the other side of the door.” Duo Maxwell turned to Heero with a gaze as blank as it was weary. He raised an eyebrow, as if wondering where this was leading, and why it even mattered. Undeterred, Heero continued. "Because Zechs came out of the flat unexpectedly and took him by surprise, the fatal shots were fired from a position consistent with your having followed him out, called his name, then shot him as he turned around. But for that final piece of evidence, the case against you would have been much weaker. It was this single fact that placed the noose so firmly about your neck".Duo's gaze wandered back to the flames, which now leaped valiantly in the grate, suffusing the room with warmth and his cheeks with colour. He gave another bark of bitter laughter"So you mean I went through all that simply because James Shadwell couldn't mind his own business?" Heero forbore to reply, but the truth of the statement hung in the air between them. Then Duo Maxwell gave a tender smile. "You know who I feel most sorry for?" "Who's that? Heero asked, impressed in his certainty that the person Duo felt least sorry for was himself."That poor, sweet old man, Joe Knight.”Heero, by now entirely unsurprised by anything this placid, good-natured, totally non-vindictive young man might say, merely smiled. It was just like him, he had learned, to express sympathy for the man who conspired with another to pin the guilt for their own crime upon an innocent man, despite the fact that the innocent man was Maxwell himself."He must be devastated right now." Duo Maxwell clicked his tongue and sighed wistfully. "He loved his son so much and he was so proud of him - you could hear it in his voice. And now..." His voice tailed off. "It's like some terrible Greek tragedy, isn't it?” He continued after a contemplative pause, “James Shadwell is driven to murder to save his father and his father perjures himself in court to save his son.""And in the end their deeds destroyed them both and accomplished nothing." Heero finished.“Accomplished nothing?” Duo Maxwell turned his face away from the blaze and looked directly at Heero, giving him the full benefit of this 100watt smile once again. His cheeks were rosy from the warmth of the fire and his eyes danced with a spark of mischief. `Oh, I wouldn't say that that.” He replied. “I met you because of them, and I wouldn't say that that was nothing.”

 

 

Heero basked in the warmth of the other's smile as he considered how to take this statement - a smile that, though warm, was totally innocent and offered no clue.

Wufei Chang drove slowly up the long, winding driveway, leaning forward to peer through the windscreen, as if that might somehow make his way clearer. The drive was unlit and the driving rain made the going virtually impossible. Suddenly a large house loomed up out of the darkness and Wufei almost drove into what he realised, as he steered precariously around it, was a fountain set in the centre of the gravelled courtyard that fronted the house.“Shit!” He cursed, “Why the hell can't these people use lights?”

 

 

He pulled up outside the front door, realising, as his car circumnavigated the fountain, that the area was indeed flooded with sudden light. Deciding to make a dash for it rather than struggling with an umbrella, Wufei opened his car door and made a bolt for the front door. It was opened even before he reached it. He stepped inside and stood dripping onto a wide, cavernous hallway, beautifully tiled in black & white marble.“His Excellency is expecting you. This way please.” An elderly man, obviously a butler from his dress and manner, let the way slowly up a staircase that swept magnificently upward, towards the upper stories of the house. Wufei followed the doddering old man up the stairs and into a book-lined study. As he followed he looked around him at the unashamed, unadulterated luxury and marvelled.`How the other tenth live' He thought. Not quite half, because he doubted whether half the population were as wealthy as Treize Khushrenada obviously was.Treize Khushrenada was seated in a deep, leather arm chair, surrounded by ancient, leather-bound tomes. The room was warm, cosy and inviting, after the rigours of the stormy weather without. He rose gracefully as Wufei approached, and took his hand in a firm handshake.“Mr Chang, thank-you for coming.” He said in a voice that oozed over Wufei like warm honey. “Please, sit down.” Wufei sat in a chair that placed him in a position facing his host and he looked appraisingly at the aristocrat. He looked much as he had when Wufei had first met him, shortly after the trial of Duo Maxwell had ended in such a spectacular manner. Then, anxious and concerned for his employee, he had appeared distracted and preoccupied. Now he was composed and attentive, the perfect host, although Wufei detected a slight aura of sadness and melancholy about his eyes and in the set of his jaw. A goblet of claret stood at his elbow, and he offered Wufei a glass, which he declined, stating that he had to drive home.“Thank-you for agreeing to see me Your Excellency.” Wufei said. Treize Khushrenada inclined his head graciously. “You said that you wanted to return something that belongs to me?” He queried.Wufei swallowed hard, hoping that his discomfiture would go unmarked. The excuse he had given for this visit was flimsy - a mere pretext. He hoped that the other man would not see through it, although to Wufei's mind a child could have seen through it. All he really wanted was to see again the tall, elegant man who had so struck him with his gracious manners, stately bearing and divine beauty.

`He's like a god,' Wufei had thought when he had been introduced to Treize Kushrenada in the confused aftermath of the trial, `He is just like a god. As physically perfect a being as I have ever seen.' Wufei's breath had been quite taken away in a manner that he had never before experienced, and the red-haired man had never been far from his thoughts ever since. For the next few days, uppermost in Wufei's mind (even more highly placed than the fact that the Zechs Merquise murder trial had most assuredly secured him a place in legal history), was finding a way to see him again. Finally, following a visit to Trowa, he hit upon the plan that now saw him with yes, the audience he craved, but also with sweating palms and a mouth as dry as sawdust."Yes," He said, and he slid a trembling hand into his jacket and withdrew a long, white envelope, which he handed to his host. “I think this belongs to you.”Treize Kushrenada made a small exclamation of surprise, and took the envelope. He lifted the flap, drew out the contents and looked down at the object in his hands. He raised an eyebrow and raised his eyes to meet Wufei's. “I'm sorry, but I think you've had a wasted journey.” Khushrenada said. “This doesn't belong to me.” He looked down again. Between his thumb and forefinger he held a small, dog-eared photograph. He flipped it up to glance briefly at the underside, then looked back at Wufei. “What made you think it did?” “Trowa Barton found it on the mantelpiece of your drawing room.” Wufei said.“Trowa B…, oh yes, the detective fellow.” Treize Khushrenada drew his brows together quizzically. “He found this in my drawing room? Why, who is it?” Wufei looked steadily at the other man.“It's James Shadwell's father, Joe Knight.” He said. Treize Khushrenada's eyes widened. He peered closely at the photograph in his hand.“Good lord, so it is.” He said at length. “That is to say, I've never met the man. I only know him from his picture in the news, but I'm sure this is him. And you say that Barton found this on my mantelpiece? But that's impossible.” “I assure you, your Excellency, Trowa Barton found this photograph on the mantelpiece in your drawing room.” Wufei steadfastly maintained. “It was tucked into the frame of another picture - a picture of a woman. It was this picture that set him upon the track of the person who killed your friend. Trowa told me that he noticed the picture while he was in your drawing room waiting for you. He recognised the person in the picture as Joe Knight immediately, because he was present in the public gallery throughout the trial. He said that as soon as he saw the photograph he realised that he had just found what in detective fiction parlance is called 'a clue'. A photograph of the prosecution's key witness in the home of the victim's best friend? This was too significant a find to pass up, so he palmed it." Wufei smiled apologetically and shrugged.

 

 

"Technically it was theft and if your Excellency would like to bring a charge..." Treize Khushrenda, who was listening with avid interest, made an impatiently dismissive gesture and bade Wufei continue. "Then, your Excellency, you introduced him to James Shadwell. I think you can see for yourself what he saw.”Treize Khusrenada glanced down at the picture, then he looked up, not at Wufei but at a point somewhere beyond him, beyond, Wufei thought, the time and space that they were presently occupying.“The eyes...” He murmured. Wufei nodded slowly. "They don't look alike - not really - but they have the same eyes." There was wonder in the aristocrat's voice, as if the phenomenon surprised him. His gaze lingered on the small portrait in his hand."Yes, your Excellency." Wufei said gently. "Trowa was of the same mind. If one accepted the relationship between them, then it became conceivable that Joe Knight's evidence might have been less than truthful. The reasons for that may have been his own guilt, or the fact that he was shielding someone else. It didn't take long to discover which."

"You're a very clever man, Mr Chang." The aristocrat said wryly. "I see that your accusation of Joe Knight was just a ruse to precipitate a reaction from his son." "Not clever, Your Excellency, just a good judge of character. Whatever he may have said in court, Joe Knight was no more guilty of killing Zechs Merquise than... than I was. Trowa had it figured out from the start. As soon as he met James Shadwell he knew. But we had absolutely no proof. We had not a shred of hard evidence beyond that photograph, which in itself is not evidence of anything. We needed a confession, and I did what I had to do to get one.”

 

 

“As I said, very clever.” Treize Khushrenada passed a hand slowly across his face. “It was all so senseless." He said. "Zechs was vain, selfish and spoilt,” He intoned, his voice hoarse with emotion, "But he was not all bad and I..."

 

 

He stopped short of finishing the sentence, but Wufei had a good idea of how it would have ended and for the first time he found himself envying Zechs Merquise. Suddenly he felt foolish, having inveigled his way into this man's home and intruded upon his obvious grief. He also felt quite disgusted with himself for harbouring thoughts that had no place in the presence of the recently bereaved. Zechs Merquise was, for Wufei, just another case, but for this man he was friend and lover. For all of the dead man's faults, Wufei had encountered at least three people who had loved him. Could Wufei himself claim half as much? He shifted to the edge of his seat. He needed to be gone from here.

 

 

“I… I should go.” He said. “I only came to return your property.” Treize Khushrenada shook his head.

 

 

“No, that photograph is not my property. It belongs to James. I think I know how it came to be found in my drawing room though. We had some restoration work done on the south wing of the house; James study was included. All of the contents of the affected rooms were removed and stowed in other rooms nearby. That stupid girl Brigitte must have put the photograph back in the wrong room. She doesn't have the sense god gave a goat, but she cleans and scrubs well enough so I keep her on, despite her shortcomings. That must have been how it happened, because I can think of no other way.” He looked once again at the photograph in his hand, then slid it back into the envelope. “Here,” He handed the package to the lawyer, “Take it. I couldn't bear to have that thing in the house. Think of it as a souvenir.”

 

 

Wufei took the envelope hesitantly, then rose to his feet. Treize Khushrenada looked up at him, his head cocked to one side and his pale blue eyes burning into Wufei like ice.

 

 

“Mr Chang,” He said, “You say that you are a good judge of character. What does your intuition tell you about me?” Wufei replied without hesitation

 

 

“It tells me that you are a very sad man,” He said, then he added, “And a very lonely one.” The older man smiled a gentle, melancholy smile and rose.

 

 

“I was about to dine,” He said, “And I would be very glad if you would join me.”

 

 

Wufei smiled his acceptance, and as he followed the other man out of the room, he slid the envelope containing the photograph back into the inside breast pocket of his jacket. It had done its work a second time. The first time it took a friend from Treize Khushrenada, but this time it had brought one to him.