The KILLER (1)

THOMAS

"Hello? This is Thomas Richards. I- uh, my wife, uh.. Hillary Richards passed away yesterday morning. The results show that she- uh she was poisoned, and they are looking into it. Either way, they say uh it wasn't natural and I don't- I don't know what to do, uh"

"Mr Richards, I am very sorry for your loss. We will need the physical reports first and also would like to speak to you in person. We will look into it right away"

"Thank you. Thank you so much. At what time should I be there?"

"Well, after 11 am would do just fine."

"Ok. Thank you."

What would happen now? What if they asked me if I was sure if it wasn't a suicide? What would I say? Was I even sure? Maybe Janice was right, Hillary would never do that. But how would I know? She barely talked to me since that day. Did I even know her anymore? Did I hurt her that badly?

I set all the reports in a single file and waited. I was shaking, cold sweat running down my forehead. I walked over to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water.

I sipped the water slowly, looking around. This was where Hillary yelled at me. I remember sitting at the table looking at her and regretting what I did. I was an idiot. How could I do that to Hillary? And now she was gone before I even made it up to her.

It was 11:00 on the dot. I took the files, aligned them on the table, and locked the door.

The drive to the police station felt surprisingly short. Probably because I was thinking about what I would say the whole way there.

The place seemed busy. I walked in noiselessly and went to the front desk.

"Um- I am uh.. Thomas Richards, I... I have been given this time to uh come here so um.."

"Yes, Mr Richards, just a moment." He called another officer. "This is officer Michael, he will look into this case, if you may step into that room..... Thank you"

"Good morning Mr Richards... Please take a seat"

I handed him the files

"Thank you, I assume it's all in here?"

I nodded

"Mr Richards, first of all, I am extremely sorry for your loss and give you my sympathy. To carry on this investigation you will need to cooperate with me and answer a few questions and maybe later we can talk to other associates. Would that be alright with you?"

I nodded again.

"So tell me, when did you find out that your wife had passed?"

"It... It was on Sunday.. um, yesterday. I had woken up before her... uh I waited for some time and went to her room because this was unusual-"

"Her room?"

"Umm. Yes... uh, we use separate rooms as... it was um Hillary who... Um insisted... after... after we had um.. a fight? Uh recently."

"Okay.... go on"

"So um... when I went in she was motionless and I thought she might be uh sick because she was complaining about a headache the day before, but I thought you know, it might be just a headache, and then... then I went near her and she was pale, colourless and she- and then I checked her pulse and I thought- I knew-"

"Take a deep breath, Mr Richards"

"And then I... I called 911 and they came and they confirmed it and.. and I didn't know what to do and then they said she was poisoned and I don't- I .. I don't know what to do"