Walking In Deception

CHAPTER 7: If only she knew what I knew...

"So, we're clear that it was no accident, right?” Detective Osahon asked.

“Right!” The rest of us chorused.

“Before we continue, Mirabelle, are you comfortable talking about this with you here?” Mr. Jonathan pointed out.

“Sure. Where else will I be?” I chuckled nervously.

“Good. No more questions. I ask all the questions.” Detective Osahon interrupted. “All murderers are always linked with their crime. Meaning, there's always a clue, a similarity between the murders. If there is no similarity, then we have multiple killers.”

Mr. Richard raised his hand as if he were a student in a class. “Why are we all here? And what if one of the people you are looking for? Doesn't that mean you're letting us in on your strategy?” Mr. Richard asked.

“I am counting on that and still…” At this moment, he paused, took off his and looked upwards. From my angle, I could not tell whether he looked up in thought or he looked upstairs in thought of Mrs. Okon. “I hope it is not. I have been called a lousy detective and instead of trying to prove that I'm not, I have chosen to embrace it.” He continued. “One thing I know and that I expect to be clear to everyone is that: the killer has knowledge in toxicology and perhaps, medicine.”

“True.” We chorused again.

“I'm sure you all have this much thought so I ask, what trait do you think our friend may have?”

Mr. Jonathan was about to go first but he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Enter!” Detective Osahon said. “I invited Miss Grace yesterday. I wasn't going to let someone out for fun.” 

Miss Grace would have been better off as a model. As she walked, she was as elegant as always. I did not always see her this way because of the little hatred inside me. Even Mr. Richard could not take his eyes off her until Detective Osahon spoke. “Please, have a seat. I was just about to ask what we think about our killer.” Detective Osahon said.

“No offense but I think the person we are looking for is a man.” 

“Whoa! Easy there.” Mr. Richard interrupted.

“I'm sorry Mr. Mannequin but will you let me finish?” Miss Grace shot back. “I have all the reasons to believe this. I mean who else? One of you probably has a history with Mr. Oluwatoyin and you chose this way to settle it. Like Mr. Mannequin here could be using a fake name. Is ‘Mr. Mannequin’ even your real name?”  To me, the last part was an overkill but she said it so comically that Mr. Jonathan and I could not hold back our laughter.

“No, it's not. Now, I feel disrespected. I'm out.” Mr. Richard said in protest.

“You will do no such thing, young blood. Your mannequin hasn't done enough showing today.” Detective Osahon said.

“What's that for?” Mr. Richard asked, almost in tears.

“Okay, can we get back on topic?” Mr. Jonathan asked. We all tried to keep a straight face as Mr. Jonathan continued but Mr. Jonathan himself all this in between laughs. “Thank you. I believe the killer is a woman, I'm not saying this in protest of Miss. Grace's opinion but the answer is right in front of us. He had what seemed to be an affair and he got killed.” Unaware of the weight of what he just said, he kept on smiling and was surprised to see such a grave reaction.

“So you are saying I killed my husband and Mr. Okon?!” I asked and did not wait for a reply. I landed a slap on Mr. Jonathan's face and I stormed out of the living room, into my study. My study seemed to be the only place in the house that was mine. However, my moment was short-lived as soon as I remembered that it was in this very room that Mr. Okon died. 

“So many memories, right?”, said Detective Osahon who was now disturbing the flow of thought.

“Get out!” I said without hesitation.

“Do you want to know a secret that will make you feel better?” Detective Osahon asked with a devilish smile.

“What?” I said reluctantly.

He then closer and whispered something in my ear. My eyes were wide open. He asked if I could keep this secret and of course, I agreed. He stepped back and said, “As long as nobody else knows this, you will be safe. The killer doesn't have the guts to harm you. It'll be too risky for the killer to undertake such.” 

I was unsettled. I kept on arranging the pieces in my head. I could not stop pointing out clues I should have noticed.

Again, Detective Osahon cut short my flow of thought, “You have to do something for me, though.”

“What's that?” I asked.

He leaned forward and whispered to me again. This one was heavy but if it meant that the devil that brought this grief upon my household will be dealt with, I was going to do it anyway.

“I hope I'm not interrupting anything.”, said Miss Grace whose knock we had ignored. “I'm no public opinion expert but running out like that makes it look like you have a bit of guilt inside of you. At times like this, you need to remain strong. Don't forget that the press doesn't know about it so you'll definitely receive a lot of questions from the press. You can't act like this in front of the press

 It'll only prove their point.” Miss Grace said.

“Now I know why my husband chose to keep you.” I smiled or at least, tried to smile.

“Truth be told, I thought you needed space Mr. Jonathan and Mr. Richard asked me to come to you. I think they really care about you, especially Mr. Jonathan.” I could not stop staring at Miss Grace as she laughed. If only she knew what I knew…