Chapter Seventeen - Veronaville
Content warning: This story contains mature themes and is not suitable for minors. For this chapter, adult situations.
Capp Manor, East Veronaville
Hermia had given birth to baby boy whom she named after his father. Little Puck certainly didn’t lack for attention in the Capp household, especially from Kaylynn who simply adored having a baby to fuss over.
His cries brought her into the living room to see Bottom looking baffled, “nothing happened, he just started crying,” she explained.
“It’s probably time for his bottle,” Kaylynn suggested, “I’ll go and get it. Are you okay to feed him or would you like me to?
Before Bottom could say she would do it, Consort interrupted, “neither of you will feed him, it’s his mother’s responsibility.” Despite his gruff manner he happily gave his great grandson his finger to squeeze which momentarily distracted the infant.
“I said I’d look after him while Hermia had a nap,” Bottom told her guardian, “he kept her up for most of the night.”
“Yes, babies will do that,” he replied curtly before bellowing his granddaughter’s name. Startled by the loud noise, Puck resumed his crying.
Kaylynn put her hands on her hips and raised any eyebrow at her husband, “So when I’m tired after being kept up by our baby, can I expect the same attitude?”
Consort sighed in frustration, why on earth couldn’t women just say what they wanted to say? “What is your point Kaylynn?”
“Either of us could have easily fed him, you could have let her rest.”
“I made it clear to her in no uncertain terms that she was to be responsible for the child’s needs. This is about her accepting responsibility for her actions,” he argued.
Descending the last of the stairs, Hermia clearly heard her grandfather. Mimicking his voice she added, “and she can’t possibly recognise that she made a mistake unless she is reminded at every opportunity.”
Consort could only mutter that that he was not going to say anything of the sort as Bottom crossed the room to hand Puck back to his mother.
Hermia smiled gratefully at Bottom as she took her son into her arms and tried to soothe her son’s cries. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her son, she did. She would spend hours just watching him, entranced by every move and sound he made. But she would also go nights where she would be lucky to get more than three hours sleep. And days where he was so demanding that the only time she had to herself was in the shower. Once she had found herself at such a loss at how to settle him, all she could do was cry along with him.
Determining that her grandfather had ceased his lecturing for the time being, she left for the kitchen to feed her son.
Seeing the crestfallen expressions of his wife’s face, Consort spoke, “What would you have me do? She was careless and is now a mother at seventeen, but I should what, absolve her of all accountability?”
“I’m not saying that,” she replied, “but she knows she made an error in judgement and she is dealing with the consequences. She needs support not judgement. I mean, can you imagine being confronted everyday with the repercussions of your bad decisions?”
Consort’s expression hardened at the very thought of the extent of his actions being discovered. It occurred to him that he had been lulled into a false sense of security as the months had passed and he had been busy playing house. It also occurred to him that now he had so very much to lose.
Kaylynn mistook Consort’s alarm for irritation and her face softened, “I’m not trying to attack you, it’s just, I’m worried.”
Consort’s face blanched for a moment before he realised his wife was still talking about Hermia. “Yes, of course,” he mumbled, before excusing himself from the room leaving behind a very bewildered Kaylynn.
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Unable to get back to sleep, Kaylynn made her way from the bedroom to make herself a cup of tea when she found Hermia in front of the muted television while she burped her son.
“Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t wake you did I?” Hermia queried.
“No, not at all. It was the baby using my bladder as a trampoline that woke me,” she joked.
“Yeah, I remember,” Hermia commiserated.
Once she was finished Hermia cradled Puck back in her arms, “Are you done now?” she joked.
He smiled and gurgled in response making Hermia roll her eyes. “That would be right, be all cute so I can’t be annoyed you woke me up,” she said with smile.
As Kaylynn watched Hermia interact with Puck she thought about how happier Hermia appeared than she had been during the earliest months of her son’s life. It appeared Consort had listened to his wife’s concerns as he had been noticeably less determined that Hermia be the only one to take care of the baby’s needs.
She was also aware that Hermia had completed high school by correspondence and it had occurred to Kaylynn, more than once, that she had one upon a time planned on going to university. Despite knowing her husband would be less than impressed, she found herself wanting badly to offer her the chance.
“I was going to make some tea, do you want some? I wanted to talk to you,” Kaylynn said gently.
“Am I in trouble?”
“Of course not, I just wanted to chat,” Kaylynn assured her.
Although still a little wary, she agreed and went upstairs to place Puck in his crib.
After finishing their mugs of tea in comfortable silence, Hermia finally decided to ask Kaylynn what it was she wanted to talk about. “No one in this family ever just chats so I’m guess there was something you wanted to discuss,” she commented.
No one could accuse her step-granddaughter of not being direct Kaylynn mused, “It’s about you going to University.”
“Oh, so we’re going to talk about things that will never happen,” she said dryly.
“Just, hear me out,” Kaylynn asked. When Hermia didn’t object, she continued, “you not only finished high school, but you achieved good results.”
“Trust me,” she continued, “your grandfather was so proud, he talked about your final grade for days. But my point is that you could easily go to University with your grades and Académie Le Tour is close to here. Close enough that you could come home on weekends. And, during the week, I would be more than happy to care for Puck. I’ll be here looking after this baby anyway, it wouldn’t be,” she tried to find the right words, “it wouldn’t be a burden, it would be a pleasure.”
Hermia was silent for a long moment before she replied, “I can’t.”
“You don’t have to make a decision now Hermia, I was just, putting it out there. Letting you know you haven’t lost that opportunity if you wanted to take it,” Kaylynn told her patiently.
The truth was, Hermia wanted badly to say yes. She had always just assumed she would go to University, but then she fell pregnant and suddenly everything she had thought was certain in her life vanished. And she realised it wasn’t just that she had expected to go to Uni, but that she had wanted to.
“I can’t,” she reiterated.
“Don’t you even want to think about it?” Kaylynn asked softly.
“It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer, I do. And it certainly isn’t because I don’t trust you with my son. Because I really have no doubt you will be a much more competent mother than I am.”
Kaylynn opened her mouth to speak but Hermia continued, “It’s just, my parents died when I was so young and I had to grow up without them. Puck already has to grow up without his father, it’s not fair that he grows up without his mother as well.”
Trying to distract herself from the tears that threatened to flow, Hermia quickly rose from the couch. But as she turned towards Kaylynn she couldn’t help but notice that her step grandmother was looking at her intently. “I haven’t upset you have I?” she asked the older woman.
“Not at all,” Kaylynn assured her with a soft smile, “I’m just in awe of your strength.”
Hermia paused for a moment before replying, “It’s a generic trait for Capp women. You would have got it when you married Gramps.”
Kaylynn couldn’t help but find herself wishing, despite Hermia’s jest, that there was some truth to her words.
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Kaylynn was getting ready to head Downtown for some necessary baby shopping when the doorbell rang. She gave up searching for her earrings when she remembered only she and Consort were in the house and that Consort never felt the need to answer the door.
Opening the door, she was greeted politely by two men who asked if Consort Capp was home.
Knowing that her husband never received unexpected visits, she was surprised by the request, “may I ask who’s asking?”
Before the visitors had a chance to respond, Consort appeared at her side. “I’m sorry sweetheart, I suspect I forgot to mention I was having guests over. You were planning on going shopping this afternoon weren’t you? Do you mind terribly if I don’t come with you?” he asked saccharinely.
“I’m on to you,” she replied with a smile, “I know you hate shopping. You could have just said you’d prefer not to come.”
“It seems she knows me too well,” he said with a forced smile, hoping the officers would play along. His wife may not have noticed, but Consort had been quick to observe the law enforcement identification on the two men’s belts.
Detective Andrew Baity, who had held his title for less than a week, was unsure of the best way to proceed. He had already been chastised by his partner Detective Macarevich for following the law to the letter instead of taking cues from the situation. Eventually he simply followed his senior partner‘s lead, smiling amicably and accepting Consort’s invitation to enter and take a seat at the dining room table.
After wishing Kaylynn goodbye, Consort took a place opposite the two detectives. “I appreciate your cooperation in regards to my wife,” he told them. “In her delicate state you can understand that I wouldn’t want her to be alarmed by routine inquiries.”
Detective Baity couldn’t help but stare at Consort in disbelief, did their suspect really just tell them why they were here?
Detective Macarevich on the other hand didn’t seemed fazed by their suspect’s behaviour at all, in fact, he seemed almost content, pleased even.
“Of course Mr. Capp, and as you say, these are simply routine enquiries,” Detective Macarevich replied with such a jovial tone that his younger partner turned to him in surprise.
But what Detective Baity didn’t know was that his partner knew exactly how men like Consort Capp made their problems go away. Just as he knew he couldn’t afford his son’s private school fees on his meagre salary.
“We’re simply looking into a financial discrepancy which, coincidentally I’m sure, occurred on the same date on which several members of the Monty family were murdered,” Detective Macarevich advised.
“I can assure you have I no problem remembering the date,” Consort replied sharply. “Nearly my entire family, and that of my ward, were also murdered that night.”
“That being said, I suspect I know the ‘financial discrepancy’ you speak of and can easily explain,” he continued. “Having recently retired I was advised to make some changes to the way my money was managed and as such transferred several thousand dollars to an overseas investment. If it is entirely necessary to produce documentation, I’m sure it can be arranged.”
“Honestly, I’d hate for you to be so inconvenienced, but it might be necessary,” Detective Macarevich said dramatically further increasing his partner’s bewilderment. “It’s ridiculous of course, for how little we get paid that we’re expected to audit people’s finances as well,” he finished with dry chuckle.
Consort smiled internally, grateful that the detective in front of him spoke the same language which had afforded him such a successful business career. “I couldn’t agree more,” he replied, his voice dripping with false sincerity, “and indeed I have no doubt that such fine upstanding members of law enforcement have entirely much better things to do with their time. In fact, it seems only fair that instead of giving you financial statements for you to waste your time on, I give you an incentive to pursue an investigation more worthy of your time.”
Pulling out his wallet, Consort placed a substantial pile of simelonians on the table in front of the two detectives, “I hope this will be sufficient.”
Detective Baity had had enough, “you have to be joking,” he cried in alarm. Turning towards his partner he spoke furiously, “he’s blatantly trying to bribe us!”
Yet as Detective Baity was quick to discover, he was the only person at the table to be alarmed. Consort’s response was to smile patiently as he suggested to Detective Macarevich that he bring his partner up to speed.
“This isn’t bribery,” Detective Macarevich said calmly. “Mr. Capp has been nothing but upfront with us. Not only has he given us a completely plausible answer to our enquiries, but has made a personal donation so that we can spend our time on investigations that actually deserve it.”
Detective Baity was silent for a moment as he tried to understand what his partner was telling him. Maybe this was what his partner had been saying when he had told him he had to be better at responding to situational cues. It was unconventional, but perhaps being able to testify that Mr. Capp had attempted bribery would strengthen the case against him?
That being said, he couldn’t ignore the possibility that Detective Macarevich actually believed his own words and that this sort of conduct was considered normal by senior members of the force.
“Of course,” Detective Baity said quietly, conceding that either way, in his current position, his options were limited.
“I’m glad you understand,” Detective Macarevich told him with a broad smile, “I think you’re going to do just fine Baity.”
Consort relished in the calm he now felt. While he would, as a matter of precaution, get some documents forged to support his story, there was no real need for him to worry any further. Unless of course the man he had hired for the job suddenly confessed, but what were the chances of that?