ℂ𝕃𝕆𝕊𝔼ℝ 𝕋ℍ𝔸ℕ 𝕐𝕆𝕌 𝕋ℍ𝕀ℕ𝕂

║TWENTY～ONE║

      APPLYING THE COLD GEL on her wet her, Nicole shuddered from the tingling feeling of the gel on her hair, she loved the cooling effect on her head. She moaned as  she combed her natural long black hair to her back with a comb, she ruffled it so the curls of the hair will be visible and then, patted her hair and smiled at her reflection on the mirror after been satisfied with her hairdo, she immediately did a light make up before standing up from the stool, she grabbed her wrist watch from the vanity table, hastily walking out of her room to the kitchen, where she quickly made toast bread and ate it with evaporated milk. After she was done, she took her handbag from the kitchen island and dashed out of the house to the garage. Minutes later, she was on the road driving to work, she hummed melodiously to no music in particular, but as far as it is melodious, she is okay with it. She was ecstatic, why wouldn't she be, when the difficult murder case is  about to be solved? For good three years she has been on the case, racking her brain and wearing herself out just because of a single case.
    When she arrived at the London police department, she sighed and  smiled in anticipation, as she got out of her car, walking into the police department. She was greeted by a male police officer and she responded with a smile. Before now, it was rare to see her smile, but now, she wore the most beautiful smile in the world, once this murder case is solved, she was going to be awarded with a title: The most Intelligent and youngest  female detective in England.
She will be a celebrity and her mum will be proud of her.
As she was about entering the office, she saw Mr Darwin.
“Good morning,” he greeted her.
“It is really a good morning.” she smiled.
“Indeed, it is.” Neil smiled too.
“Is the smart killer already here?”
“Yes, he is in his cell, he will be brought out of his cell as soon as you're ready to interrogate him.”
“Good, I can't wait to see the person, who gave me sleepless night. I'll join you in the interrogation room, soon.” she said over her shoulder, walking into the office to search for the Murder book.
    Nicole opened the door to the interrogation room, seeing only the back and the brown hair of the smart killer.
She worked further into the room and Neil announced her presence,
“She is finally here.”
The smart killer turned his head to look at her and a pair of familiar face met her.
“What are you doing here?” she and the smart killer asked each other,  simultaneously, surprised .
“I…I…” Nicole gulped not finding the right word to say.
“Detective Harper, do you know him, have you two met? ” Neil said, not understanding what was going on between them.
“Mr Darwin, what is he doing here?!” Nicole said infuriated.
“He is the smart killer.” Neil said, so surprised by her sudden outburst.
“He is? Alfred?”
“He is Gary Baxter, Detective Harper.”
   Nicole looked at Alfred from up to down, he was actually wearing the prison uniform and he was handcuffed. Tears blurred her vision ad she staggered back, dropping the files she held in her hand on the floor. Her chest burned with anger, her head did a lot of acrobatics, making her nauseous all of a sudden.
“He is Alfred Blaylock, that's his name.” she managed to find her voice.
“ No, he isn't, Detective Harper. He has been hiding under a false identity, his real name is Gary Baxter. The 2.34 rim fire handgun was found in his car. He is the one who killed the McBride's.”
The interrogation room spinned before her eyes, she reached for the door knob to regain her equanimity. She looked at Alfred with a teary eyes, registering what Neil had told her about him. She squeaked, heart-rendingly  and yanked the door open, running out of the room. Neil called for her to come back but she didn't listen, she ran out of the police department to her car like a maniac. She opened the door of her car angrily, slumping on the driver seat and closed the door with a loud thud. She ignited the engine of her car and pulled out of the police department parking lot.
“Wake up! Wake up, Nicole! This must be a bad dream.” she sobbed, hitting her forehead with her palm.

“No, he isn't, Detective Harper.He has been hiding under a false identity, his real name is Gary Baxter. The 2.34 rim fire handgun was found in his car. He is the one who killed the McBride's.”

She shrieked, hitting the steering wheel repeatedly as she remembered what Neil said.
“This can't be true! No! No! It can't be Alfred, I know Alfred, he can't do it, he can't be a murderer… Nooooo!” she cried uncontrollably. “God is this how to proof to me you are real?!” she cried angrily.
“Alfred Blaylock is Gary Baxter?” she asked herself, she didn't want to believe even if it was true.

“Alfred?”
“Yes?”
“When I entered your room that day, there was something you said that made me confused, you called me Sally. You said ‘Go away Sally, I know you have come back to haunt me.’”
   “Oh!” Alfred laughed it off.
“Sally is the name of my sister.” he said.

Nicole pinched her eyes closed as she remembered, she should have known better, she should have known he has been lying to her all this while. He has been a camouflage of his real self. How could he deceive her? This was her first time she was having a romantic relationship with a man and now,  look at where it has landed her. Is dating a man a crime? For God's sake, she was ripe for marriage. With what had just happened will she be able to go into another romantic relationship with a man?
“How could you deceive me Alfred?! How could you?! I trusted you with an innocent heart, only for you to betray my trust, you were never open-minded, even as I  was ever ready to listen to you, you never opened up to me but I did, I poured out my heart to you…” she blubbered, her chest heaved as she cried. She held on to her stirring wheel tighter, her cry suppressed what she wanted to say.
“I hate you! I hate you!” she cussed out, ignoring the stares of passerbys and drivers of other vehicles as she as she yelled aggressively.
    The blaring of a horn, frightened her, making her lose control of her car.  She tried stepping on the brake to bring her car to a halt to avoid hitting the upcoming Jeep but, it was too late as there was a fatal collision of the two vehicles. She collision threw her off balance, pushing her forward. She hit her head hard on the stirring wheel, the land impact made the airbag burst open. If not for the seatbelt that held her,  she would have been flung out of her car through the  collision. She sat there on the drivers seat unconscious with  the airbag covering her face and blood oozing from her mouth, head and nose. If she isn't rescued on time, she will die in less than ten minutes.