Chapter 24: Beneath the Surface

 Welcome to Chapter 24

The river of lies has broken its banks—and the flood is only beginning.

Peter has finally spoken. His testimony paints a chilling picture of complicity, fear, and a family bound by silence. George has been arrested. Doris has confessed. The rifle, the gold, the snowdrift—everything is falling into place.

But just when the McLeod murder case seems nearly closed, Doris McLeod appears from the shadows with a deeper truth… one that pulls Detective Jean Lavallee back into the haunting mystery of his sister Patsy.

As the storm outside settles, another brews within—one that may unravel not just a case, but the very foundation of Lavallee’s past.

Stay sharp. The truth is colder than the snow it was buried under.

Chapter 24

Shadows Unveiled

 

Early Morning of Day 18:

 

Jean Lavallee sat across from Doris McLeod in the dim, smoke-filled living room of her small apartment. The faint smell of cigarettes mingled with the scent of old fabric and tension. A clock on the wall ticked steadily, marking the passing seconds as Doris fidgeted with the lighter in her hand.

 

“Thank you for coming,” she said, her voice soft but strained. She lit a cigarette with trembling fingers, her gaze flitting to Lavallee but quickly darting away again, unable to hold his piercing eyes.

 

Lavallee remained calm, his hands resting on his knees. “You said you wanted to talk about Patsy,” he said quietly, his tone even but heavy with emotion.

 

Doris took a long drag, the smoke curling upward before she exhaled slowly. “Yes,” she said finally, her voice breaking slightly. “I can’t carry this anymore, Jean. You deserve the truth.”

 

He didn’t respond, letting the silence stretch between them, urging her to speak.

 

Doris stared at the floor, her words tumbling out as though they had been held back for years. “I didn’t kill her,” she said, her voice trembling. “But I was there. I saw what happened.”

 

Lavallee’s jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing slightly. He remained still, not trusting himself to speak yet.

 

“It was a stupid, reckless summer night,” Doris began, her voice thick with regret. “Patsy, Réjean, and I … we went to the clearing by the river—the one we all used to sneak off to. Réjean brought whiskey. We were laughing, talking about leaving Harris Bay, about what we’d do with our lives.”

 

She paused, dragging on her cigarette, tears beginning to well in her eyes. “Réjean had his rifle. He always carried it around, showing off like a fool. Patsy dared him to hit a bottle we’d set up on a rock. She thought it was funny. We all did.”

 

Her voice cracked, and she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Then it happened. The gun went off. Patsy … she just dropped. One minute she was laughing, and then …”

 

The words caught in her throat, and she looked at Lavallee, her eyes pleading. “It was an accident. We didn’t mean for it to happen.”

 

Lavallee’s hands curled into fists. Memories of his sister, her bright smile, her carefree laugh, flooded his mind. He swallowed hard, his voice steady but cold. “And then what?”

 

Doris looked down at her lap, her cigarette shaking in her fingers. “Réjean panicked. He wanted to leave her there, said no one would know it was us. But I couldn’t … I couldn’t just leave her. We moved her into the woods, thinking… thinking it would look like an accident.”

 

She finally met his gaze, her face pale, streaked with tears. “I should’ve told the truth, but I was scared. We were kids, Jean. We didn’t know what to do.”

 

Lavallee sat in silence for a long moment, his anger simmering beneath the surface. The years of grief, of unanswered questions, weighed heavily on him. Doris’s confession brought clarity but no solace.

 

“You should have told the truth then,” he said quietly, his voice laced with grief and frustration. “Patsy deserved better than this. My family deserved better.”

 

Doris nodded, her tears falling freely now. “I know. I know it doesn’t change anything, but I’m so sorry, Jean. For everything.”

 

Lavallee took a deep breath, his shoulders stiffening. “Réjean needs to be held accountable. This wasn’t just an accident—it was negligence. And covering it up only made it worse.”

 

Her shoulders slumped as she nodded again. “Do what you must do. He deserves it.”

 

Lavallee stood, the weight of her confession pressing down on him. At the door, he paused, looking back at Doris. “I hope telling me helps you find some peace. But for my family, this is far from over.”

 

She met his gaze, her expression a mixture of sorrow and relief. “Thank you for listening. And I hope … I hope this helps you find some peace, too.”

 

Lavallee nodded and stepped into the wintry morning air. The crisp breeze bit at his face as he walked to his car, his mind racing with the implications of Doris’s confession.

 

The Next Steps:

 

Later that day, Lavallee met with Crown Prosecutor Sheila Summers in her office. He laid out everything Doris had told him about Patsy’s death, carefully choosing his words to frame the confession as a key piece of evidence rather than just an emotional revelation.

 

Summers listened intently, her expression hardening as Lavallee recounted the details.

 

“This changes everything,” Summers said finally. “If Réjean Pilon is still alive, we can charge him with negligent homicide. Doris’s role in covering it up complicates things, but it’s secondary to the actual shooting.”

 

Lavallee nodded, his voice firm. “I want to see this through, Sheila. Patsy deserves justice.”

 

Summers met his gaze, her tone resolute. “And she’ll get it. We’ll build a case, Jean. I’ll need Doris to make an official statement, and we’ll issue a warrant for Réjean’s arrest.”

 

As Lavallee left her office, a sense of purpose steadied him. The McLeod case had unearthed a truth he had sought for decades, and while the pain of Patsy’s loss would never fade, the promise of justice brought a flicker of hope.

 

In the end, it wasn’t just about solving a crime—it was about honouring Patsy’s memory and finding a way to move forward.

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