Fortune Favors The Bold

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: THE WITNESS

With a heavy heart, Alaya marched inside the interrogation room and sent a sideways glance at the man already waiting for her. Her first impression of Kenneth Benedict Fortune was that he was not what she’d expected. Kenneth Fortune was so slim that he had a slanted face with practically no cheekbone.

“Mr. Fortune,” she delivered the same name in another tone. The first one she’d addressed to Adonis had been cold and brittle, this one was welcoming and encouraging. “I’m so glad you decided to come forward.”

She deposited her files on the table and took the seat opposite the man in front of her. He looked very uncomfortable and unsure why he was at the station for the moment. Not unusual for a witness, it was her job to make him feel at ease.

“Alright, so,” she said when the man only shrugged without speaking. “I’m afraid this will be a recorded session if you don’t mind?” The law forced her to acquire the consent of the persons being recorded for privacy’s sake. It would not be allowed as evidence otherwise.

Again the man nodded without a single word, and Alaya had the uncanny feeling that he wasn’t here voluntarily. The hunched position and the tightness of his body indicated that he had somehow been coerced to present himself at the precinct.

“What brings you here? I believe you have information about the murder of Mason Fortune?” she asked loudly enough because it was being taped.

There was a moment of pause before the man in front of her fidgeted frantically. “I do,” he finally acquiesced in a small voice. “I have someone who threatened to kill Uncle Mace right before the crime.”

“Alright,” Alaya accepted with adrenalin filling her body, this was getting more and more interesting. A death threat would be surely enough to inculpate the criminal? “Can we start from the beginning please? It was on the night of the murder, on the seventeenth August…,” she prompted.

“Yes, it was the seventeenth August when Uncle Mace invited us over at the mansion to announce the family heir. I mean we were all expecting it to be Adonis. He’s always been everyone’s favorite.”

Alaya noted with interest that there was no inference of jealousy or bitterness in his tone. On the contrary, there was a subtle layer of admiration and love when Kenneth mentioned his cousin.

“Okay, so you’re saying that the name of Adonis being announced as the CEO was no big surprise?” she asked, and although she’d been aware of that information, it was the first time that a family member had given an official statement.

“That’s right. We all knew that Ad worked hard for that position. And the others are also taken care of, but they just hate the fact that the control had been given to Adonis only. It meant that every decision would have to go through him, and my Uncles aren’t too keen on conceding that much power to him.”

“It’s not personal,” he added quickly like he’d thought of something in between. “I mean that the wouldn’t have liked it if the control had been given to anyone. And if either Uncle Maddox or Uncle Victor had been chosen, things would have been far far worse.”

Alaya nodded her understanding, allowing him the time to pursue the conversation.

“So, like I said it was no big surprise, but I was still shocked and disappointed by the announcement.”

A frown marred her forehead as she tried to make sense of his words. “That doesn’t make sense. If you were already aware what was in the limbo, why were you so surprised?”

He sighed wearily. “I don’t know. I’m being pressurized by my girlfriend to have an expensive wedding, and the fact that I need to go through with it asking for Adonis’s permission was a bit awkward for me. I mean things are more complicated than that, but let’s not go into the details. So, after the news was official, I went in my uncle’s study to digest the news.”

She didn’t react, and she had the feeling that it wasn’t the response he’d been expecting.

“Going into my uncle’s study was strictly forbidden to us, the third generation. And even my uncles would only go when summoned or when they had something extremely important to discuss with Uncle Mace. I want to stress on the fact that even Aunt Nora is not allowed in the room.”

Alaya nodded her understanding, but she was eager for him to get to the juicy part.

“So, when Uncle Elijah caught me sitting on Uncle Mace’s chair, he freaked out. He got angry with me, and I lashed back. There was quite a heated argument where we both said things to each other which we would never have said under normal circumstances.”

“Normal circumstances being?” Alaya prompted in the middle.

“Well, I mean if Uncle Mace was still at the head. When the reign moved to Adonis, it would be difficult for me to have the financial help because of some changing procedures in the legal terms. I mean, I would have to wait for Adonis to become officially the CEO to be able to sanction my demand for money.”

“To finance your wedding?” Alaya confirmed.

“Exactly. And the timing sucked. I really need cash as soon as possible, and I’m already under a lot of pressure from my fiancée. So, things became so tense between me and Uncle Elijah that in the end, he threatened to kill Uncle Mason.”

Alaya sucked in a deep breath. “What time was it when he felt the study?”

“It was only eleven past a few minutes. And I have been informed that Uncle Mason died within the next one or two hours.”

Alaya nodded her confirmation, that was barely a secret since it was issued in the official files and media. “Why are you coming forward now? After weeks of the murder? Surely you must have known that coming forward when the murder had just happened would have helped the police?”

“I was drunk on that night. Stone drunk. So, I could remember only part of the conversation. It was only yesterday that I remembered the threat and felt it my duty to inform you about it.”

Her hands trembled with the turn of events, but she hid by dropping them on her lap. “Alright, I think that’s enough for now. We may call you if we need more information,” she advised, her heart beating so loudly that she could hear it.

“Is that it?” he asked bewildered as Alaya stood to leave the room. “I mean what will happen to Uncle Elijah now?”

“Well, it’s not enough proof, but we will have to summon him to the precinct for interrogation. If we can get him to confess, our job would be so much easier. But it’s enough for a lead. I thank you for your courage to step forward,” she smiled, and winked at him. “One free advice. You might want to drop that fiancée of yours if she’s insisting too much on an expensive wedding. No man should go beyond his means to provide for his girlfriend, we’re not in the medieval times. if she wants a fairy-tale wedding, she can finance her own.”

Kenneth blinked at her in surprise, and Alaya left him with his thoughts to head towards Adonis who was still waiting for her interrogation to be over. Now, she was perfectly sure that he had bolted because he’d received a call from dear Uncle Elijah.

The case was as simple as the Gregory’s – she should have known better than to listen to Adonis’s bullshot and stifle the affair. It had been a crime of passion, Alaya hadn’t insisted on catechizing him about the reason behind the argument.

“Where’s your uncle Elijah?” she asked without preamble, and Adonis stood up immediately to greet her.

“Al…,” he began in a pacification mode, but she stopped him with a searing look. “Could we have a talk in private please?”

“Not now,” she snapped irritably, sending a fleeting glance towards the Captain who was heading their way. She would murder Adonis if her boss had a whiff of what was going on between them. Louder, she repeated. “So, do you know where your uncle is right now?”

“Detective?” Captain Gibbs called for her, and she moved out of the earshot to join the latter in his office. “Any news?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Elijah Artemis Fortune had issued a death threat right before the murder. We’re suspecting the announcement of Adonis to be the heir as principal motive for the moment, but we need more concrete proof. I was on my way to the mansion to call in Elijah Fortune for questioning.”

Cap reacted with thumbs-up and Alaya left his office to find that Adonis was gone. Her heart sank as she realized that he now had the lead over her and would do his best to hide his uncle from her. It would be a cat and mouse game as from now.

Furious to have herself hoodwinked, she grabbed her car keys and drove to the mansion like the devil himself was after her. All through the road, she was praying fervently to be on time. How fast could a man run, she pacified herself. Even if he was a Fortune, she was sure she would catch up on them.

However, when she reached the Xanadu Estate, there was an eerie silence over the mansion, and acute disappointment filled her. With a sinking heart, she dialed the office to set a crime patrol to secure areas such as the airports and the harbor.

It took her a moment to organize the teams over the phone, and when she was done she looked up to stare in the coldest pair of green eyes she’d ever encountered. They should have been familiar to her now because those were the eyes she’d woken up to only last night, but the cold glints staring back at her were those of a stranger.

“He’s innocent,” he proclaimed vehemently, and Alaya scoffed in disbelief. There was no longer any need for subterfuge, they both knew quite well of whom he was speaking. His favorite uncle Elijah, who could also be a father figure to him, more than his actual father. Or was he the father of Adonis? Was that why Adonis would favor his uncle Elijah over his own father?

“Then why is he on the run? Why is he not at the station right giving his statement? And why are you protecting him? I thought you would be glad to find out about the murderer? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Icy frost froze over the green orbs as he comprehended her intended double entendre. “What are you implying?” he asked in a tone which he’d never used with her before. There was enough tension in him that she could literally feel the rigidness of his body as he controlled himself with great difficulty.

She sighed. “Nothing. I just want to know why you’re favoring your uncle. I know you’re the one to send him in hiding, and trust me, I will dig him out of whatever whole he’s dug himself into. You’re obviously not thinking objectively. We have him! He has both motive and a witness. I’m sorry to tell you that your Uncle Elijah is the murderer of your father? Or it that your father who is the murderer of your Uncle?” she asked boldly, and when his eyes shuttered, she knew she’d said the wrong thing.

It was too late to retract.