The Hunting Of The Lattimer Party

[SimonW]

( chapter 6, part 5…)

Guye Lattimer was squatting down, intently engrossed in observing the body of Lady Constance Lattimer.
There was nothing ladylike or demure in the contorted form laid before the bounty hunter. The corpse’s face beheld a contemptible expression as the faded blue eyes were unceremoniously rolled back in the angle of her head, which was twisted slightly unnaturally from her fall.
‘At least she still looked fashionable, even in death,’ begrudgingly thought Guye as they stood up once more, having observed enough.
“Well, this poses a problem. None of us is sure which one of us three are liars,” Guye said, having heard the conversation between Sid and Terry just a moment ago.
The two of them just looked at the bounty hunter with unamused faces as they had already drawn that conclusion just mere seconds ago. Guye just shrugged at the two other guests that gave incredulous looks.
“I hardly think it is the time to be stating obvious remarks,” Sid Lattimer stated to Guye Lattimer flatly, obviously put out by the bounty hunter’s aloof conduct.
Before Guye Lattimer could reply, Terry butted in his own statement suddenly.
“Honestly, this is just so stupid! I mean, why kill the old bat? Lady Whatever is hardly likely to be a threat to anyone, right?” the sixteen year old suddenly asked and seemed to be in slight hysteria as he was shaking.
Rolling her eyes, Sidney Lattimer decided to take charge of the situation.
“Get ahold of yourself, Terry! This is hardly a time to lose your nerve! Now, let us all go into the Parlour Lounge and have a nice sit and chat, okay?” Sid asked in a calm tone after making her bold exclamation that made the other two readily nod in agreement.


The silence within the Parlour Lounge was eerily quite deafening as the three surviving members of the Lattimer Party sat, unsure how to begin.
Gerard the head manservant had entered five minutes earlier at their bequest to pass on to Mr. Henry Carmichael Lattimer that they would not be joining their host for breakfast and to not be disturbed as they had to deliberate upon the events of this morning. Gerard did as bidden of their request and left them to their solitude within the Parlour Lounge.
A clock upon the mantel of the fireplace currently displayed the time to be ten minutes past eight and still ticking, the ever-present tick a reminder of the quietness within the room.
Breathing heavily in amongst the tense atmosphere, Miss Sidney Lattimer let her breath out and raised a glass of sherry to her lips to give herself liquid courage for what she was sure going to be an arduous task.
“Now, I just want to go through this again, as I do not wish to forget anything,” she had started saying after swallowing the smooth alcohol down her throat and placed the small glass down upon the small coffee table in front of herself.
“As I have said, I came down at the time of the crime at roughly seven fifty six or so. Terry mentioned he had left his room at around seven. Guye, you said you left yours at around seven thirty. Despite this, we can’t even verify that any of this is correct, as nobody could bear witness to each other’s whereabouts or time frames.”
The room fell silent once again as the three of them let these words Sid Lattimer had just spoken recently soaked within their minds. Regarding each other in turn with looks of suspicion, the three Lattimer relatives looked stumped in defeat at this realisation that they could not prove or disprove anything at the moment.
“Well, how about this? There is nothing to say that Terry did anything at seven because there was no tripwire when I went downstairs,” carefully thought out loud Guye Lattimer as the bounty hunter inched forward within their seat in a hunched over position.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Terry said with half expected enthusiasm at Guye’s point.
But that jubilation was soon squashed as Sidney thought for a few seconds before shaking her head.
“That does not make sense, though. For Terry could say it was after he left that the tripwire could have been set up by you, Guye. It seems the most possible solution with the facts we have as of now is that you’d be the most likely suspect,” Sid pointed out in a logical manner.
Guye Lattimer seemed to do a double take with a quizzical look upon their face until calmly smirking as they leaned back once more in a restful position.
“Ahh, I see your point. Despite how the logic looks, I can attest I did not do this crime,” Guye Lattimer stated calmly whilst their cold eyes stared seriously at Sidney without emotion.
“Say for the sake of argument that I agree with you. So, what other option is there for us to think of?” Sidney asked, keeping her eyes locked with the steely gaze of the ruthless bounty hunter.

( to be continued…)

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 6, part 6…)

Terry Lattimer-Davies glanced silently between the other two guests from his seat, sensing the high tension of the situation. He said nothing but did not have to, as the bounty hunter responded to Sid’s question.
“There are plenty of options that make me believe to take the heat off of me. For example, she could have set this up herself. Now, I doubt it was the case, but suicide is definitely not off the table. Another way of thinking is that fifteen minutes had passed after I left my room, granted, if I am telling the truth, but let us just say I am. Fifteen minutes to tie a tripwire, even Terry or you could have done that in possibly five. No, there are too many theories and variables in the air to confidentially declare me the killer,” Guye Lattimer said with confidence, having proven their point to Sidney Lattimer whilst still smirking with aloofness.
“Point taken. And let us say for in a theory I may have slipped out of my bedroom to tie the tripwire within that fifteen minute gap to kill her. But, I heard the scream. I heard the fall. Now, one could say I had planned this but there are too many scenarios that I could be caught. I’d hardly make a very good killer, I admit. I could and would not do this bold of a crime,” Sid countered with her mind slightly reeling in her own elimination process.
“And what about Terry?” Guye asked upon the tail end of Sidney’s argument, barely acknowledging her as the bounty hunter looked over at the teenager.
“What about me?” asked Terry incredulously, a perplexed snarl upon the sixteen year old’s face.
He was looking lost in this tirade of logical talking between the two of them. Sidney and Guye just stared at him as if expecting an answer that seemed to fluster Terry at the judging gazes he was receiving.
“All’s I know is I didn’t kill her!” Terry blustered, standing to his feet as the pair of them seemed to mock his outburst with silence.
The teenager walked over to the cold and empty fireplace, turning away from them both as his shoulders slumped down in a look of exasperation before turning back to them with tears in his eyes.
“I didn’t mean to hurt her, just, I don’t know, frighten her is all, I guess,” weakly explained Terry, the look of shame crossing his face. “There was no harm in it, just a trip to make her want to leave this place. I had tied the tripwire after I noticed Guye had left their room and waited for her to come out. The old bat was clearly not well, despite how much make up she wore. I could tell, you know? When my…parents died, I could see the signs of a life that had given up hope. I just wanted to know, as the letter said, emotional riches. I just wanted to know if they loved me.”
The teenage boy broke down in tears, all the angst and fight leaving him as he slumped down to his knees, unable to bottle his emotional state any longer.
Sidney Lattimer got up from her chair and gingerly walked over to the crying teen. She crouched down demurely and gently hugged Terry, who did not shy away from the affection given to him. She held him gently and coddled him within her arms as the shot rang out and the boy fell limp within her grasp. She only hoped he had found peace and love just before the end of his suffering life.


End Of Chapter 6.


( to be continued…)

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 7, part 1…)


Chapter 7: The Hunt Is Over…

Sidney Lattimer laid the still warm body of Terry Lattimer-Davies down upon the Parlour floor and stood up with a concerned expression upon her face.
“So, just the two of us left,” she mused thoughtfully out loud.
The cocking of Guye’s pistol made her slightly jump and turned to face the bounty hunter holding it casually in their hands.
Guye noticed the look of fright within Sidney Lattimer’s eyes and merely shrugged in compliance before holstering the weapon within their jacket.
“No need to be scared. I ain’t totally ruthless. There is enough money for the both of us, besides, I’m already living a comfortable lifestyle. Only thing that would make me kill you is if you tried killing me first,” Guye stated almost sincerely as they sat back down in the lounge chair.
Sidney Lattimer was still slightly shaken up but walked over and sat back down within her own seat.
The Lounge door was deftly tapped upon, the bubble of tense peace bursting within the scene of the two surviving Lattimer Party members. They did not say anything. After a few seconds of silence, the door opened to the white gloved hand of Gerard, the head manservant lightly bowing as he entered. Stiffly rising himself from the bowing motion, Gerard gazed into the room before speaking.
“Excuse me for the intrusion, but Mr. Lattimer would bequest you both for a mid-morning brunch, if you could spare him this small favour,” eloquently said the aged butler.
“We may as well see what he wants,” stated Guye Lattimer hastily, as the bounty hunter noticed a look of thoughtful contemplation upon Sid Lattimer’s face.
Instead of causing a fuss over nothing, Sid Lattimer begrudgingly agreed silently but did feel somewhat put out at the agreeable nature of the bounty hunter to their host. She shrugged it off mentally in her mind as she tagged along. Guye Lattimer had gotten up from the seat they were in and started following Gerard towards the Dining Room with Sidney Lattimer trailing behind them.

( to be continued…)

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 7, part 2…)

The elongated chamber of the Dining Room beheld a stale air as the last two guests entered and sat down within the dark velveted seats of the black marble table. The ten manservants and maids stood to attention against the walls, ready to attend if need be. Gerard had fallen back to ominously close the door they had entered from. Despite the safety they both felt, Sidney Lattimer and Guye Lattimer did not let it pass their notice that the butler had locked the door with an audible click from behind them. But they did not turn around, as their host was already seated and waiting patiently for them at the head of the table. There was no movement from their host currently, just the ragged breathing that seemed to settle the military man into calm and relaxed breathing after two minutes time.
The padded shuffles of Gerard was heard from behind them until the butler stood facing them by Mr. Henry Carmichael Lattimer’s side, a picture of punctuality.
Suddenly, as if letting the musky air settle for a moment, their host began talking slowly but meticulously.
“Well, it has come to my attention that you both have reached an agreement, of sorts. Neither want to die and neither want to kill, is that correct?”
It took a brief second for the two survivors to process what their host was saying. After that second, they both just glanced at each other in mutual understanding before nodding their heads.
Thoughts were whirling within their brains.
‘Would this mean the nightmare was over, finally?’ thought Sidney Lattimer with renewed hope.
‘Would this just infuriate their host that his “weekend hunt” would be ruined by their refusal to play his game?’ thought nervously Guye Lattimer as a bead of sweat left their brow.
What the two were not expecting under the serious glare of their patron was that serious visage was soon replaced with an asinine grin that spread to a smile of benevolence before thunderous laughter left Mr. Henry Carmichael Lattimer’s lips.
The two guests sat stock still within their seats as the laughter receded and their host was soon able to regain composure of his laughing fit.
“I have to admit, that is fine by me. I have never said there would be only one beneficiary,” Mr. Henry Carmichael Lattimer admitted in an off-handed and matter of fact tone.
This seemed to make Sid Lattimer feel a rage that had been yearning to bubble out of her. She abruptly stood up from her seat in a fit of frenzied fury as her body shook with anger.
“You mean we could have avoided all of this?! That this…this massacre need not have happened at all! What is WRONG with you?!?”
This outburst fell upon deaf ears as their host simply kept his composure and let her get her message across without word or action against the irate lady. Guye just remained emotionless, understanding how Sidney felt, but they had no need to interject. The bounty hunter just staying quiet within their seat for the moment.
Sidney Lattimer’s rage subsided into tears of regret as she felt her anger turn to remorse of the lives lost this weekend, slumping down into her seat as the emotional outburst had taken it’s toll into fatigue of sadness. She gingerly covered her mouth, aghast at her emotions overtaking her moral sensibilities. Sid demurely hung her head down in embarrassment and self pity.
Again, nobody did or said anything as the quiet sobs of Miss Sidney Lattimer reverberated within the quiet Dining Room.


( to be continued…)

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 7, part 3…)


The silence lasted a good four minutes as Miss Sidney Lattimer bawled her genuine feelings out until she was able to quiet herself down. Mere heaving breaths were all she could muster to regain complete composure.
“I sympathise with you, Miss Lattimer. Sincerely, I do. But, if I may be so bold, your tears are shed not just upon your compatriots, but upon their own folly, is it not so?” beseeched Mr. Henry Carmichael Lattimer in a soft yet stern tone towards Miss Sidney Lattimer.
Sid Lattimer did not have any fight left in her to reply, so she just nodded her head weakly in meekness, unable to even glance at their host.
Guye Lattimer had heard enough, the bounty hunter pounding upon the black marble tabletop with just enough force to warrant a glance in their direction from their host.
“I gather you also have something to announce, Guye?” questioned Mr. Henry Carmichael Lattimer with feigned interest.
“Not really, just an observation, if you’d be so kind to clarify. Does this mean the hunt is now over?” the bounty hunter flat out asked with a curious glint within their eyes.
The host of the Lattimer Party seemed to mull this question seriously, sitting with rigidness within their chair at attention. There was a slight pause of hesitation before his eyes flittered over for a brief moment to Gerard before glancing steely-eyed back to Guye Lattimer.
“That…is a delicate matter. I shall let Gerard announce it formally up for discussion. Gerard, if you please?” Mr. Henry Carmichael Lattimer announced, giving a slight nod for Gerard to proceed.
Gerard stood more straight in his butler attire, coughing politely before bowing to the two confused guests in front of him and their host.
“The hunt has officially ended. All survivors have been crowned victorious and shall be forthwith inheriting a portion of assets hencewith within the household name of Lattimer. Let me be the first to congratulate you both by formally introducing myself. My name is Gerard…Lattimer,” Gerard briefly stated, grabbing a shotgun and pumping it before pointing it squarely at the head of Guye Lattimer.
Sid gasped in shock and before she knew it, the other staff members had weapons of their own pointed directly at the two of them seated. Now it all made sense to her now. Why the servants were not able to disclose their last names and why there was no punishment if they simply helped a murder occur.
“Let the hunt begin…again,” darkly declared Mr. Henry Carmichael Lattimer with a sadistic grin, relishing in Sidney’s frightened face before the shotgun in Gerard Lattimer’s hands let out a powerful blast directly at Guye Lattimer’s head.
The bounty hunter had no time to react, half their face blown off from the blast. This made the body slump forcefully forward upon the black marble table. The dark crimson was a stark contrast as blood came out of the now dead bounty hunter, whom was unable to draw their pistol.
Sidney Lattimer’s scream pierced the Lattimer Estate one last time until the English countryside was quiet once more.


The End.