Molly and I were newlyweds, and we were so happy. We were certainly older than most newlyweds, but I doubt that any felt more joy than us. We both had a few days off from work, so we spent as much of our time together as possible. Molly was so youthful and full of excitement. Sometimes she would suddenly jump into my arms or come up from behind and grab me. Although I may not have been as forthcoming with my emotions as she was, I was very happy too. After a long, hard life, everything seemed to have fallen into place.
Our little Eric was growing quickly. Soon enough, we had taught him to walk, talk, and use the potty. We knew that we were older than most parents of children his age, but we hoped that we would be around for a long time to come. He filled our hearts with such joy. He had a very sweet way about him. He was so well-behaved and had a very sunny disposition, which endeared him so much to Molly and I. He was our baby boy, but he was growing up.
It wasn’t long until he became a child. His toddlerhood seemed to go by in a heartbeat. We knew we would miss our cute baby boy, but we looked forward to bonding with him as a child.
I was so proud of Eric. He was very friendly, kind, athletic, and intelligent. He did well in school and was also popular with the other children. He was very well-liked and was nice to everyone. He was a good boy and the apple of my eye.
Molly was crazy about him too, and he was a saint for putting up with her gushing, babying, and cheek pinching, however begrudgingly he withstood it. She always remarked on what a handsome young boy he was. She said that he looked like me, but I saw more of her in him.
I had advanced very high in my political career, and soon it was time for me to launch my campaign for president. For the past several months, I had been carefully hinting at my intentions to run, as had the other candidates. One of the candidates was none other than the current governor or my hometown, Alec Hamilton. I was not surprised when I saw on the announcement that he was running for president, but I still felt anger at the injustice of his freedom and power. He won’t get far into the race, I had told myself, but of course, by the end, it was him or me, just like in the climax of a movie.
One morning, I was reading the newspaper and found an article that put a foul taste in my mouth. “Presidential Candidate’s Wife has Illegitimate Daughter!” the headline said. I knew that Governor Hamilton liked to play dirty, and I had no doubt that he had provided the information for the article, but I had no idea how he had found out.
“Molly Westington, presidential candidate, Victor Westington’s wife has a child from another man! Sources tell us that she was never married to this man, and that he has criminal records. Sources also tell us that the illegitimate child, now an adult, lives with the father.”
There was a paragraph break and then a photograph of me looking shocked. “Presidential candidate Victor Westington reacts with shock to news of wife’s illegitimate daughter!”
The story continued. “It seems that his wife never told him of her past transgressions. Molly Westington has always had a reputation for being loose, not to remark on the clothing she wears, even in her old age, but hiding an illegitimate child from her husband goes beyond the usual negative remarks about her character. What else might Molly Westington be hiding? Will the public accept Molly Westington’s past sins and choose Victor Westington as the president, or is her sullied reputation too much?”
I sighed. I gave Governor Hamilton credit; at least this was partially true, aside from me not knowing about the child. Molly had been in contact with Sandi and had recently run into her in the neighborhood. Sandi was still rebellious and independent, but seemed to have soften towards Molly. Her change of heart made Molly so happy. I wished that their fortuitous meeting wasn’t being used for libel.
Despite Governor Hamilton’s attempts to ruin my reputation, the race for president went on. People liked both of us, and we were neck-in-neck for most of the race. I was popular for my charisma and inspirational speeches. People also seemed to find me likeable, where as Governor Hamilton was more cold and godly. Governor Hamilton, however, had more experience, and instilled a sense of confidence that he could successfully run the country. The race was tight, and I knew that Governor Hamilton would continue to play dirty until the bitter end.
One day, a miracle happened. Governor Hamilton’s long-time secretary, Mary-Kate Sanders, came forward, accusing him of unwanted advances. It was all over the news, and it didn’t take long for the scandal to erupt.
“He made comments that made me uncomfortable,” Mary-Kate Sanders had said. “He gave me jewelry and paid me extremely well, but I couldn’t let it keep going on.” She was very pretty, and although I had no doubt that she was telling the truth, she seemed to be enjoying the spotlight a little too much as she theatrically wiped away a tear. “I can’t even speak of what happened between us,” she said sobbing. Suddenly, she ran off the camera, unable to continue the interview.
Of course, Governor Hamilton issued a statement that Mary-Kate Sanders was being over-dramatic and that he had never made any advances. Furthermore, he said, he was very committed to his beautiful wife Eleanor.
The statement quelled some of the flames, but he faced a lot of backlash. I was in the lead, although I would have liked it to be by my own doing and not his.
Eric was growing up so quickly, and even though I was extremely busy, I tried to cherish the moments of his childhood that I could be there for. I loved to read him bedtime stories and see his eyes light up with wonder. He was an amazing little boy: smart, kind, and athletic. He made me proud every day. I only wished I could have spent more time observing his childhood.
One day, I got an unexpected phone call from Detective Houston. He suspected that Mary-Kate Sanders might be the lead we were looking for.
“I don’t know,” I had responded hesitantly. “I’ve moved on now. Of course I still regret what happened, but I have a life with Molly now…”
“But surely you want to see justice carried out?” Detective Houston said with surprise. He was right. I may have moved on emotionally, after so many years of grief, but I needed to see justice done. I ran down to the bistro that Molly worked at, preparing to tell her the news and hoping she would understand.
“Molly, I have something to tell you,” I said trying to find words that would explain the situation without upsetting her. “I just got a call from Detective Houston. He thinks that Mary-Kate Sanders might know something about Governor Hamilton. He thinks she might have some evidence about him murdering Celeste!” Molly flinched at the name, but I scrambled to explain how I felt in hopes that she would understand. “You know I love you Molly -- You know I’ve moved on, but--”
Molly interrupted me. “I understand, Victor. You want closure. You want to see justice. I promise I understand.”
I wrapped my arms around Molly and gave her a passionate kiss.
“Thank you for understanding, Molly. I might be away for a while, but please remember, my life is with you, and it always will be.” Molly smiled, her eyes blurred with tears. I ran off, and when I looked back, she was still standing there the exact way I had left her: smiling with tears in her eyes, that made me know she understood and felt the love I had for her.
When Detective Houston and I entered Mary-Kate Sander’s house, we were surprised by how posh it was. She clearly had a glamorous lifestyle, not consistent with the salary of a secretary. I wondered if Governor Hamilton had given her more than the jewelry, which I assumed were the pieces she was wearing.
“Miss Sanders, do you have a few minutes?” Detective Houston asked, showing her his ID.
“Of course,” she said. “Anything for a man of justice.” Detective Houston smiled. I rolled my eyes. He seemed to like her flirting, but quickly cleared his throat and pulled himself together.
“Miss Sanders, we have reason to believe that Governor Hamilton murdered this man’s wife many years ago. Did you happen to come across anything that could be used as evidence for his past crime?”
Mary-Kate Sanders looked surprised. “Governor Westington! I had no idea. Let me think…” she paced around the room and luxuriously reclined on the loveseat. “Well, now that you mention it, I may have come across something…”
“Please, tell us anything you know,” I said, looking her in the eye sternly.
“There was a file I came across one day. It just had a number on it -- I think it was a date. He saw me going to open it and snatched it from my hands...I’m sorry. That’s all I know. I never got to look at it. I always wondered what it was. I was the only one who had access to those files, but after the incident, he locked that one away elsewhere.” She smoothed out her short skirt and looked up at us, showing special interest to Detective Houston.
“Thank you, miss,” he said politely. “Do you have any idea where this file might be?”
“It must be in the office somewhere. I still have the key. He couldn’t get it from me before the scandal began,” she said, going to her purse and pulling the key out.
“Please, Miss Sanders,” Detective Houston began professionally. “This key is of the utmost importance to this case. We know that you understand what kind of man Governor Hamilton is, and we will need it to expose his true treachery. If you could please give us the key, we would be very grateful.” Mary-Kate Sanders walked straight up to Detective Houston and gave him her best sexy pout. She took his hand and wrote the address of the office on it.
“You will come back and visit me sometime, won’t you Detective?” she asked dangling the key in front of him. Detective Houston chuckled, seemingly lovestruck. He looked over at me and saw the expression on my face and knew that it was time to go. He cleared his throat.
“I will do my best to visit you once we have something to report on,” he said, shaking her hand formally, but holding onto it a bit too long. When he thought I wasn’t looking, he gave her a quick wink.
“Oh!” she said suddenly. “There was a backroom in the office. He would never let me go in there. I bet anything of use would be in there.”
Despite Mary-Kate Sanders’ information, we did a perfunctory inspection of the main room. I looked in the bookshelf, and Detective Houston looked through files on both of the computers. I was impressed at how easily he figured out the passwords. We found nothing out of the ordinary, and quickly shifted our interests to the back room.
After about 20 minutes of jiggling the handle of the door and picking the lock, Detective Houston successfully opened the door.
We found ourselves in a small dark room filled with bookshelves and an armoire. The safe was what caught our attention.
“It must be in the safe,” Detective Houston said, stating the obvious. He knelt down and examined it. He knocked on it and twisted the dial. “This might take a while,” he said with a frown. “I may be good with simple computer passwords and locks, but a safe is something entirely different.” He got to work, and I decided to search the rest of the room. I looked in every book and in every shelf of the armoire without finding anything of interest. It was hours later when I finished searching and found myself bored enough to start reading one of the dusty old books. The book was boring, but it kept my mind occupied as I waited for hours as Detective Houston tinkered with the safe.
“Uh huh!” he said finally. I looked at my watch. It was seven hours later. He opened the safe, revealing file folder with a date on it -- the date that I found Celeste lying there covered in blood. The file folder contained a single piece of paper. It was a handwritten note. Detective Houston handed it to me, knowing that it needed to be me who read it first. My heart pounded in my chest.
“To whom it may concern:
This is my confession. If you are reading this, I am no longer alive. Only in death can I admit my sins. I, Alec James Hamilton, murdered Celeste Westington, the beautiful wife of Governor Westington. It was a crime of passion, and to this day, I see her blood-stained body whenever I close my eyes. I lured her to a hotel room with blackmail information about her husband, my opponent. When she refused my advances in exchange for the blackmail photographs, I killed her in cold blood. I have done many bad things in my life, but there is none that I regret more deeply than this.
Alec James Hamilton”
I stared at the piece of paper for several minutes, unable to comprehend what I had just read. I held in my hand the incriminating evidence we needed to bring him to justice. And yet, his repentance shook me. Could such a man really, truly repent for his actions? Unable to speak, I handed the note to Detective Houston. He read it carefully.
He looked up, and said “We have him.” My heart felt like a stone and I wondered whether I could go through with my plans to expose him. Repentance or not, he had committed a crime, and I knew that justice was needed.
