A mournful wail echoed throughout the entirety of the grand house. Soft sobs were heard in the background while murmurs of consoling words flowed out from the mouths of the men.
The thunder thudded and the rain became more violent, but even so, those weren't enough to mask the surging storm inside the residence of the Grants.
"Ohhhh, Chester, why do you have to leave me?", the woman wailed. She almost swooned, but her sons immediately came to her aid.
"Mamá, this would do no good for you... Rest now, and let the Pinkerton handle this," Jonas said calmly while caressing his mother's shoulder.
"This wouldn't have happened if we..."
A curt knock interrupted her, and when it opened, a pale woman carefully walked inside. The woman saw her, and anger immediately lit her eyes. Before her son could have stopped her, she swiftly lunged toward the girl. The girl yelped in pain as she struggled to break free from the grip of the furious woman. After she managed to disentangle her hair from the woman's fist, the pale girl immediately distanced herself from the thrashing woman.
"You! You killed him, wench! I know you did!", she shrieked, her face contorted with grief and fury.
"Mamá, please stop. She didn't do anything wrong...", Lyndon pleaded as he restrained his mother.
Like a mad creature, she continued to thrash about as if she were on the brink of losing her sanity. She tried to fight against the restraints of her sons, but after a few minutes of trying, she slumped down on the floor in resignation and wept soundlessly.
Even if she was terrified, the pale girl watched the woman with great sympathy, and she bit her lips to stop a sob from escaping her lips.
"I-I am—"
The door suddenly opened, and a bespectacled middle-aged man entered. He was wearing a practical suit, a bowler hat, and a mirthless smile.
He removed his hat in a rather abrupt manner, and he pushed the door handles swiftly, thus shutting it from the house staffs who were idling near the doorway.
"Good morning everyone, pardon my intrusion, but I'm here because the agency asked me to deliver this message to you: The culprit has been identified. Madam Grants, please come with me; the policemen were already outside. Don't try to flee, for your house is already surrounded by our men and of the state," he said sternly as he made his way slowly to the crying woman slumped on the floor.
All were shocked and appalled after hearing what the man had said.
The sobbing woman, upon hearing this, suddenly rose up and tried to land a slap on the man's face, but the man intercepted it and held her wrist firmly.
"You... You... Let me go, you devil! How dare you speak of me that way?", she screamed as her teeth chattered in anger. She tried to retrieve her hand, but his grip was too tight.
"I'm sincerely sorry about what happened, Madam, but we are obliged to do our duty to make the whole truth known. It is indeed unfortunate that you chose to end it this way, but I know you're certainly aware of the consequences of the crime you have committed. Cruel it maybe, but justice needs to be serve."
The sons look at their mother with an expression of disbelief and betrayal. The man let go of the woman, and she immediately strided her way towards her son. Jonas looked at her with a pained expression, while Lyndon's expression changed into a grim one. He just stared at her mother with his eyes filled with anger, and his lips were pursed into a thin line.
"I–I didn't do it—believe me, sons... Please believe me... He's lying! He's lying! I couldn't do—"
"We've already got the evidence and testimonies, Madam Grants, so please let us peacefully escort you outside your residence, or else we'll be forced to drag you out," the man said harshly.
"What? Don't you dare—", she spluttered.
Out of anger, she shouted curses at him, but instead of lashing back at her, the man just shot her a sharp look. Before she could shout a new round of shrill expletives to him, the door opened, and a couple of policemen entered. They advanced to her, and in just a few moments, they were holding her by her arms. She thrashed, kicked, and shrieked like a madwoman.
"I didn't do it! Please, sons, save me... I didn't do it... I can't kill him... I just can't...", she screamed as tears profusely spilled down her eyes.
"Mamá...", Jonas said as he tried to reach out to his mother, but the policemen dragged her out of the room. Her screams died out as soon as they successfully dragged her downstairs. She stops thrashing as they reach the gates of their grand house.
"I didn't do it... I can't do it... I loved him even though he's naught but a stupid cheat... He never loved me, but I loved him... Killing won't be worth it... I want him to suffer as much as I do... So why would—why would...", she mumbled absentmindedly.
The policemen just stared at her with pity as they forced her into the prison wagon. She stole a last glance at the house that had sheltered her for almost a half century, but instead of feeling the melancholy she's supposed to feel, she felt an odd relief. That house was once her prison, and it did shelter a lot of her memories. Some of them are beautiful—but most of them are horrible.
The wagon was starting to move, but she still continued to gaze at it, and that is where she noticed a figure gazing down at her through the window.
She squinted her eyes and saw it was her son, Lyndon. She was about to give him a sad smile when she noticed something in his hands.
It's a spider!
It was too tiny to see, yet she knows what it is. It's his favorite among his arachnid pets. It's the shiny black spider with a red hourglass pattern on its abdomen.
"Web... I think I've seen it... Wait... hourglass pattern! It's that? No.. No...", she muttered incoherently. The wagon shook, and before it could move away from their house, she peered out again and saw his son's expression.
She frowned when she saw him smiling at her. But it isn't a smile of sadness and empathy.
Amusement.
She choked back a gasp as a sudden, cold realization washed over her.
It's him. It's him...
"Stopppppp! Stop this wagon! I didn't kill my husband! It's him.... Noooooooo!", she screamed as the house disappeared into the distance.
The crows nearby cackled as if laughing at the poor woman's fate.