Mirabel

Chapter Four

Officer Tom rubbed his temple gently as he views the chaos in front of him. No matter how many years he has spent on the force, he still finds it difficult to adjust to the scene of a gruesome murder .

When the call had come in he was actually hoping it was going to be a quiet morning of simple desk work. He had loads of report to write and that shrill call had chattered his morning.

He watched as his immediate superior Andrew gently pads his way in the middle of the chaos, the flash of camera and the presence of the forensics seems not to bother him.

Anyone looking at Andrew will think he is actually unaffected but Tom more than anyone knows how much scenes like this affects him. Andrew had been away from the office that morning following a lead on another case. Tom had to call him in, homicide was not a case to be trifled with. Andrew gently manoevered his way in other not to interrupt the work of the forensics going in and out of the bathroom.

He collected gloves from one of forensics near the door, working this scenes for years had him more careful than most. Placing a hand on Tom's shoulder, he winced as they carried the now covered body of Mira.

' So much for a quiet morning right?' he asked Tom

' It is a disaster'

' Obviously' taking a cursive look at his obviously ruined shoes as he can feel water entering his socks. Gently squeezing Tom's shoulder as a form of comfort because more than anyone knows how this scenes can be with the nerves.

'Who found her'

' A young girl, who was supposed to report as a maid today unfortunately'

'Spoken to her yet?'

'Not really, she is quiet shaken, she is with the medics, upfront'

' Why don't we go talk to her'

' Ok'

They made their way gently down the stairs side by side. Caroline was outside sitting on the pavement just outside the door with a blanket around her shoulders, she is still shocked from what she has seen, something so foreign too her, she couldn't comprehend the fact that she just saw a dead person, the thought of her absent gaze still made her shiver, not far from her, Kent sat down with his head in his hand,It seems he is trying so much to calm himself down.

Andrew decided to question Caroline first, her face was so white from the shock that he almost wanted to leave her alone but he knows that it must be done.

Glancing at his side to see Tom get his writing pad out.

'Hi'

'Hi' Caroline glanced weariedly at Tom and Andrew. Tom didn't blame her, it was a delicate situation and talking to a cop can be tricky most times,knowing well that everything you say or do is taken under the microscope.

' You found her'

' Yes' nervously licking her lips as it has suddenly dried up.

'What is your name'

'Caroline' she shivered

' Ok, Caroline, can you explain in details how you found her?'

Caroline nooded taking a deep breath to steady herself before she relieved her nightmare.

' I was supposed to report this morning for work as her live in maid at 9:00am but I was held up and came a little late' she paused to take deep breaths before she continues.

'When I got here,Kent told me to go in and..'

' Who is Kent?' Tom cut in. Caroline answered him by pointing at Kent sitting on the other side.

'He is the gateman, he told me to go inside that she should be waiting for me.'

'How did you know to go upstairs, you could have waited till she came down'

' Kent told me to go upstairs incase I didn't find her downstairs'

' Ok,so what happened after you entered the house?'

' She was not there, I mean the sitting area' her voice was audibly shaking as she narrates her harrowing experience. ' I thought maybe she was upstairs then, but as I began ascending the stairs, I saw traces of water on the floor,I followed the flow of the water to the room and when I opened the door to discover that the room was flooded,I don't know what happened but I began to get scared' she paused taking deep breaths.' I saw that the water was actually seeping into the room from the bathroom, may be I should not have,but I moved towards the bathroom,I could hear water running in there so I walked towards the bathroom door and opened it' Her hands started to shiver as she relieved her experience.

Tom exchange glances with Andrew. Andrew got the look, they had to let her wrap her head around the issue for a day or two more then ask her the questions all over again and see if her story still remains, sometimes it works that way, a little slip up and boom case is solved. They knew that if they didn't handle this case delicately it could blow up right in their faces.

A celebrity of Mira's standing can not drop dead just like that, there must be answers and somebody must be blamed, it gets tiring sometimes. Andrew cleared throat

and addressed Caroline, she was still looking pale and shocked.

Andrew felt sorry for her, her experience must have really dazed her

'Caroline,we need to talk to Kent ,we will need you to still hang around,we might have one or two questions to ask you' not trusting herself to speak, Caroline nodded.

Andrew and Tom made their way towards a clearly shaken Kent

' Hi'

'Hi'

'I am Andrew, This is my assistant Tom' Holding his bottom lip between his teeth, Kent mumbled a simple 'ok'

'We will love to ask you questions, do you think you can answer them?'

'Yes'

'How many years have you been working here'

'Two years and three weeks now'

'How many of you work here'

'Two'

' You mean you and the maid?'

'No, the maid came in today, there is a part time gardner that comes in three times a week'

' What days does he come in?'

'Mondays,I think Thursdays and Saturdays'

' Which means he should be here now?'

'Yes but I haven't seen him today'

'which means he hasn't reported for work today'

' No' Kent replied firmly. Andrew look towards Tom to see him taking note.

' What is his name?'

'Who?'

'The gardner'

' I don't know his name's This the officers exchange a questioning look.Even Tom that has been scribbling furiously on his notepad was forced to look up immediately he heard that.

' How many years has he been working here'

' About a year now'

' Can you be more specific?'

'Like seven to eight months now'

' And you don't know his name,You both have bin working together for that long,and you don't know his name?'

' See, we were never introduced,and when I tried to reach out to him,he made it obvious that he didn't want to have anything to do with me?'

'Why '

' I guess she must have warned him about mingling with anyone'

' Who is the she?'

' Miss Mira'

' Why would Miss Mira do that' Tom asked, from his tone it was obvious he was doubting Kent's words.

'Look,I don't know why she does what she does,It was her thing she doesn't just like her staff fraternizing'

' Do you know who might have done this to her'

' No' Kent answered so fast that Andrew wandered if he had been expecting the question.

' Are you sure'

'Look, I don't know who might have done this to her or if she had enemies, she is the type that doesn't relate with staff besides she wasn't a particularly nice person' Kent was becoming agitated now.

Andrew was on the edge of asking him to emphasize on what he meant by Mira not been nice when one of the men from forensics signalled to them that their attention was needed inside.

He looked at Kent cautiously.

' Don't go anywhere Kent, you need to to get down to the station along with Caroline to write your statements'

Kent only nooded and watched the officers move back into the main house. The one he remembered as Tom looked back at him when he was about to enter the house, that look left an unsettling feeling in his stomach, if he hasn't bin scared before,now he is scared.