The Truth About Mariam

Chapter 12

★★★

Perhaps I wasn't cut out to be a detective . The murderer may be closer to me than i ever thought. I could be walking into a trap, i could even be killed and no one would know what happened to me.  I could be kidnapped as well.

But I decided to take it upon myself to get to the end of all this charade.

Her killer is out there, people involved in her death are also out there.

She needs justice. And that's what I would ensure she gets.

I saw a tall boy with full hair and I knew it was Hillary, he jogged to meet me.

He opened the door of the cafe as I got in, my eyes conscious of my surrounding.

We sat down and he asked me if i wanted anything"No thanks, I don't want anything" I turned his offer down

"Fine, suit yourself then."

I faked a smile. He leaned closer

"The reason I called you here was because I have so info concerning Mariam. She was suffering from emotional abuses and also her parents beat her at home.

"How are you so sure of that?. You need to have a proof of what you are saying."

"Would you let me finish?" He brought out a paper, "Here, Mariam's being admitted into this hospital often, a photo was even taken. There were marks on her body and also private parts,  she was beaten and also raped." I took a look at the document and also the pictures, the date that she was admitted as well. April 22, 2021. Last year.

"How do you get all these documents and also the signature of the doctor?" It was confusing.

"My uncle is a detective, he's the detective in charge of Mariam's case. He is careless, I saw the document in his office when I stopped by one day. I took it and I printed a photo copy of it and I returned the original copy."

"You know that's not right? If you were caught, you and your uncle would be in serious trouble."

"I know I know,you just need to take risks, and more so he was really careless, he left it on his desk just like that with the picture and all, if it was another person that came in, what would they have done?"

I crossed my legs " Why do you want to help? Tell me your motive behind all this.

He sighed "Mariam is my friend. I mean she's a close friend, we share secrets together. I can't just let her killer go scott free. The police give us the same story every time, before we know it, her death and investigation would be a forgotten thing. I want to avenge her killer... And you are the only one who can help me do that."

"How am I so sure of that? You want me to trust you so easily?  How am I sure you aren't lying to me?"

"Believe me, I'm not lying to you. I was just stupid all these months i said and did mean stuffs to you"

"Yeah right. Stupid. Words aren't enough."

"You act so righteous. You think you know Mariam, when in reality, you don't. If only you knew the type of person Mariam was , you wouldn't want to be friends with her at all"

"I don't get you. You claim she's your friend now you are saying she's a bad person. You are the one that's obviously a fake friend. Yes I didnt know Mariam that long, but she was a sensible girl and also a good friend and she was killed."

I lowered my voice, I was getting angry, he was frustrating me. I didnt even know why I agreed to meet up with him.

He laughed "Don't act like you know her because you never did. She isn't a saint or a perfect girl that you thought"

"For your information, I never saw her as a perfect girl or a saint. You know what? I'm done. Clearly you don't know what you are saying." I stood up to leave, I opened the door of the cafe leaving him there scowling at me.

‡

"Asake?"

My mum's voice woke me up from a sleep that I didn't even remember falling into.
My neck felt stiff from not moving the entire time and the rest of my body ached in protest as I forced myself to turn and look at her.

"It's four in the afternoon", She whispered, stepping into my room and closing the door behind her.

I was half asleep so I stumbled. "I was studying"

"You've graduated" Mom said. "Something is bothering you, tell me what it is."

Should I tell her? Should I tell her how Mariam's death still torments me, Should i tell her how I find things in our family and between she and dad strange?

"Mom, I don't know what to do again. I said I want to help uncover the mystery behind Mariam's death, but every step I take brings me far away from the truth. And there is the boy in my class who insists that Mariam isn't the girl I thought she was,he also wanted to join hands with me in the investigation. And between you and Dad, you fight and quarrel often. I just don't what to do again. I just feel hopeless.

"I don't know what to say again. I've told you countless times to leave the case to the police, but yet, you refuse. You are still young, you can't engage your self into that. There are dangerous people out there, you can't just make a promise to someone to find his or her killer. How would you go about it? You are not a professional and you don't have the knowledge to deal with cases like this.

I know. I know .

I sighed "But I feel like I've betrayed her, I just don't know what to do"

"You didn't betray anyone. But you really want to go ahead with all of this, promising her to find her killer. Life doesn't work that way. You can't make a promise just like that, you can't determine to do something you know you aren't capable of."

Maybe she is right.