"Ashley, how are you doing?", I asked.
"I'm...fine", she nodded slowly with attitude. She sat with her hands next to her handbag on the table, fingers intertwined with each other, and her thumbs pressed together.
"I see you're aren't still shaken up by the murder?", I asked.
"Yes...", she answered, boldly and audibly. Then she pulled out her lipstick and and mirror from her handbag.
"So tell me, what exactly did you witness?", asked.
"Nothing...I was...drunk. I only saw Lucy after...after she was murdered", she said.
"And you got nothing on the murder? Not even a little cue?", I asked as flicked the pen in my hand, between my fingers, slowly.
"No, I don't", she replied. She gave me a look of disgust, as she uncovered her red lipstick cover.
"Okay...how do you describe your relationship with Lucy?", I asked.
"Not the best of friends", she replied, applying the lipstick, slowly on her lower lip.
"Friends, okay. But you threatened to kill her and her boyfriend. Is that correct?", I asked.
"I didn't mean...Yes. But, I didn't mean it", she said. Shaking her head, with her hands raised towards me, indicating that her hands are clean.
"What exactly happened?", I asked, as I stretched to pick up my cup of coffee.
"Well, it was out of anger. I was provoked, you know. Otherwise I didn't mean it. We were at the party, and Anwar aggressively confronted Joe. He started hurling insults everywhere, and was pushing Joe, all to provoke him to a fight. When Joe pushed back, I held him, and Lucy went to Anwar and put her hands on his chest, blocking him. Lucy was mumbling stuff to Anwar I couldn't hear, and Joe said, "Yeah, talk to your filthy pig", and laughed as I pulled him away, and made pig sounds, mockingly. Apparently, it provoked Lucy, and she walked up to me saying, "You fucking bitch, you dare make fun of anyone? Aren't you Joe's pig? He fucks you night and day, even at the office. Now oink oink to that bitch", I could not believe my ears. The fact that the only person that knew, Anwar, had told her. Plus, the audacity, and the crowd cheering and jeering. I could only think of bashing her head...", she paused.
"And...you did?", I asked, twisting my head a bit as I gestured her to continue talking with the cup in my hand.
"No, only raised a hand. To slap her, but Joe stopped me. He held my wrist, and told me not. I was still shaking in anger, and honestly, I couldn't let her win. So I made the threat, but it was just empty, really", she said. She put her lips together, then blotted her lips.
"Empty innit? What did you say then?", I asked as I sipped a little coffee and lowered the cup.
"Well...I said, if it wasn't for Joe, I'd have sent her and her Rottweiler six feet under", said said, raised her head and began checking her face on her hand mirror .
"Then you later met her by the pool and hit her head, which made her bleed to death?", I suggested.
"Jesus...no, I didn't", she proclaimed.
"Alright then, you're free to go. See you soon?", I asked with a faint smile.
"I hope not", she said. She put her stuff in her handbag, picked up her keys, and left.
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"May, hope you're full of beans?", I asked.
"Yes, I am", she answered. She looked pale, with sore eye bags. Her eyes were dull, and I could tell that how much she has been crying.
"What did you witness?", I asked.
"Well, I only saw Anwar, holding Lucy's dead body in his arms", she said.
"Your last encounter with Lucy?", I asked. Then I leaned my back on my chair.
"At the party, obviously. Right after the squabble with Joe and Ashley. I tried to talk to her, but she was pissed but she shrugged me off", she said.
"And moments later you find her dead body?", I asked.
"Yes", she nodded.
"So, why didn't you stick out for her when she was in the middle of a heated confrontation? Thought she was your best friend?", I queried.
"Well, yeah...'cus it wasn't my business. Relationship stuff and all", she said.
"Right, so you believe Anwar did it?", I asked.
"I don't know, maybe, maybe not", she said.
"Okay, that's all I guess", I said.
"Thanks", she said, as she got up to leave.
"Oh, and Mo", she said, snapping her fingers.
"Mo?", I asked, raising my right eyebrow.
"Yeah, I don't know, I saw him before going in. Unrelated, but my last action was talking to him", she said. Then left.
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"Alright? Ryan, Sabrina", I looked through my case file, then I looked up to the two of them. Seated, across my table. Ryan sat with his arms folded, staring blank. Sabrina on the other hand, had her hand crossing from under Ryan's arm and locked with her other hand on the table.
"Yes, we're fine", Sabrina said. She looked at Ryan, who slowly looked back at her. He gave her a slow blink of both eyes while nodded really gently, like he had a crate of eggs on his head.
"Yeah, we fine", Ryan said. He cleared his throat.
"You here as witnesses. So, I need as info as possible from you, okay?", I said to them.
"Sure", Sabrina said
"Yeah, okay", Ryan said. Their voices collided, and they looked at each other again.
"So what did you witness?", I asked.
"Well, to be very honest, we were away from the crowd, we were making out. Sex. We were having sex", Sabrina said.
"Oh, uhmm. Well, that wasn't all, was it?", I asked. Then I cleared my throat.
"We...we only heard noise from the pool, and came out to check, and...", Ryan said.
"She was dead innit?", I chipped in.
"YES", Sabrina and Ryan said in unison.
"Okay, your relationship with Anwar?", I asked.
"He was a nice person, didn't really have issues. All he cared about was work and Lucy. I really don't think he did it, murdered Lucy. But, who knows", Ryan said.
"Right. What about your relationship with Lucy?", I asked.
"We were cool, really cool. We had double dates, and just good vibes. Lucy was cool with everyone. I don't even know why anyone would want to end her life, to be very honest", Sabrina said.
"Okay, that should be it", I said as I closed the case file.
"Thanks for having us Detective", said Sabrina with a faint smile. She pulled Ryan by the arm and they slowly walked out.
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"Meshach, what did you witness?", I asked Meshach who sat in my front, with his arms folded, with a frown worn on his face.
"I witnessed nothing", he said.
"Where were you at the time the murder took place?", I asked.
"At the lawn", he said.
"Doing what?", I asked.
"Nothing. I was fucking drunk", he said, provoked.
"You got no alibis innit?", I asked.
"I don't fucking know man, I said I was drunk, okay?", he said.
I opened the case file, took my pen, and scribbled over it. Then closed the file, and I dropped the pen.
"Can I go now? Please? I wanna leave", he said with concern written all over him.
Yes mate, you can", I said. Then he got up and left.
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"Mohammed, Where were you at the time of the murder?", I asked.
"I went home to change, my shirt was ruined", he said. He
"And then...?", I promptly said.
"When I got there I searched for Mesh, and before I found him, we all heard May scream. Lucy was dead then", he said.
"What did you do in response to the incident?", I asked.
"Well, I was shocked. To be honest, I didn't even know that was going on. I only went to May who unconscious, took her to the hospital", he said.
"I reckon you had a close relationship with Lucy?", I asked.
"No, I wouldn't say close, or anything. Her brother is my best friend. So it was a mutual relationship", he said.
"Oh, I see, you have the right to be this shaken up. That will be all, for now", I said.
"Okay Detective", he said, then left the room".
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"Joe Akuma", I said.
"Joseph. Call me Joseph, you're not my friend", he said.
"Okay, Joseph. Like to dance?" I asked.
"Salsa? Breakdancing? What the hell has that got to do with this?", he said.
"Well, I was thinking tango, where it takes two", I said.
"Don't bullshit me", he said.
"Alright, going in hard. Tell me, why did you kill Lucy?",
"Are you fucking serious? Wow! Okay detective, I'll take my leave please, thank you", he said, but he seemed upset. But then, if he didn't, he should not have been provoked that easily. But nonetheless, I needed more information, with limited time. I knew, sooner or later, the investigation will be called off, because it's still not a thing in this country. They'll best believe it is the primary suspect, and therefore aim to make pronouncements of prejudiced justice.
With no new progress from the evidence techs, I left the office, grabbed a quick lunch, and made my way to home. I take recorded interviews with each of my interviews and go through them. Most of the information I got confirms what I already know from the evidence, but a couple of new pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. Progress.
A few statements contradict each other, which is a frustrating but common occurrence when dealing with different people who have different perspectives; witnesses' minds often try to make sense of what they saw after the fact. The challenge is to separate the facts from the speculation—a challenge to be sure, but nothing I haven't dealt with a hundred times before.
My suspect's answers are short and somewhat evasive, and it's clear the suspect has been coached. He offers an alibi, but I've got some witnesses who contradict that. I'm not ready to play that card just yet, though. I can tell the suspect is lying, but I want to get more proof to back it up before I call him on it. But there's no assurance of time, so I worked till it got really dark, and then slept off.
I'm not sure how long I had been asleep, when my ringing phone woke me up. A glance at the clock tells me it's 2:17 a.m. The fog of sleep slowly lifts as I answer the ringing phone. It is dispatch calling.
"Good morning Detective," the dispatcher says. "We've got a signal 7 for you. Are you ready to copy?" I grab the pad and pen I keep by the bed and start to take notes. It's going to be another long day, I thought to myself.