No Body, No Crime

2 | merlot

"Betrayal was what I felt, my heart broke, not just by a guy I was in love with, but also by, as I once believed, a true friend."

— Danka V.

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2 | merlot

Carson was late today. As far as Este knew, he didn't have a meeting with any of the consultant firms, or a site inspection. At eleven pm, only a forced rendezvous dinner party with his colleagues would keep him out there. No other plausible option presented itself. But he always informed, and urged her to eat without him, or call Danielle over for company. He did neither of those today. Instead, he wasn't even answering her calls, which was rare.

In hindsight, Este should be terrified. Anything could have happened. Construction related accidents are not uncommon. A scaffolding could have toppled over him, a slab could have collapsed, he himself could have fallen down from somewhere, the possibilities were endless. And she would have been agitated to hell and back, if only the wondrous visit to the bank didn't occur today. Now, she was brimming with conflicting doubts and acrimonious thoughts.

At half past eleven, she called up Alan, a fellow engineer. "Hello?" He picked up after four rings and sounded a little drunk.

"Hi, Alan. This is Este, Carson's wife."

"Este?" No, not drunk. Sleepy. Este calling Carson's colleagues was highly unusual, so it's understandable that he freaked out. "Is everything okay? Why are you calling this late?"

"Everything's fine. I was just wondering if Carson mentioned stopping by anywhere, for dinner or drinks, maybe?"

"No? No, he didn't." Alan was wide awake now. "Is he not home? We all left hours ago."

"Oh. No, he's not. Not yet. Maybe something came up. Anyway, thanks for your help."

"No problem. Did you try calling him?" Carson didn't deserve such good friends.

"Yeah, but it's unreachable," Este lied. "The network sucks down here."

"Tell me about it. Text me once he comes alright?"

"Yeah I will." The doorbell rang at that exact moment. "Hey, wait. I think he's here. Thanks Alan. I'm so sorry for troubling you. G'Night."

She didn't wait for his reply and hung up, darting to the door. She wrapped her fist around the doorknob slowly. For an unfathomable reason, she was frightened now. At this very second. Everything could change from this moment on. Then the second passed, replacing the fear with strength and gallantry that could face any news.

The bell rang again. She twisted the doorknob open and there he was. The supposed love of her life. The one she stood with on that hot summer day, reciting her vows. When he grinned at her like she brought the stars to the earth. Her husband. Carson Gray. To love and to cherish till death do us part, she could hear him say.

"What are you staring at?"

His voice broke her trance, crushing the perfect memory. He stormed past her into the house, shrugged out of his coat and directly put it to wash. Este always urged him to do that, but this is the first when he actually did. He raked his disheveled hair with his left hand, smoothing it over. He grabbed a pitcher from the dining table and poured himself a glass of water, sat on the dining chair and drank it in one go. Then he noticed her still frozen in the foyer.

"What's wrong with you? Este?" He sounded concerned and Este reminded herself to not leap to conclusions yet. She digested her repugnance and faced him.

"Nothing, I'm just tired. You're so late, I was about to sleep." She locked the front door and perched on the opposite chair. "Where were you? Did you have dinner?"

"Yeah, with the usual bunch." His voice slurred just a notch and she wondered how he controlled himself even this far.

"Who? Mark and Gibson?"

"Yeah." Carson rubbed his temple.

"And Alan?"

"Yeah, he was there too."

"Right. I went to the bank today," she waited for any reaction from him but he gave none so she continued, "to the collect the rent. And I found a pouch with a lot of jewelry. Where did that come from?"

"Oh right. I must have forgotten to mention it to you. It's Clary's. She wanted me to keep it safe until her divorce settles." Carson's posture and swift answer gave away only one thing – that it was well rehearsed, but not smart enough.

Clarissa is his cousin that lives just out of town. She divorced her husband of four years because she found a lace underwear in his car. If anything, it's ironic that he used her name. It could be true, no doubt. Except that perfume. Este had never smelled it on her.

"Carson, did you drink? I'll get some Aspirin." Este got up from the chair over to a cupboard and fished out two tablets. She patiently brought them to him and he toppled them down without water. "Come on, go to sleep."

"Yeah, that'd be great." He undressed on his own, throwing all his clothes in the laundry. He wore a Beatles tee and a spongebob pyjamas, and plopped down on the bed. He was dead asleep within five minutes.

Este went up to the laundry and sniffed. Apart from the fruity Merlot that she never bought, the unmistakable scent of freesia reeked from his discarded clothes.