Suspects: murder case

Chapter Seven

   Daniel marched up the stairs in a minute -- in another he was back with his luggage box. He met Abby's gaze with a cold stare. Abby obstructed him from leaving, but he didn't care. He was not going to let Abby treat him like a child anymore. He paused. He marched forward.

 "Where do you think you are going?" Abby asked with his left hand in his pocket and the right clenched.

 Daniel stopped. His eyes faced the door, standing diagonally shoulder to shoulder with Abby, "anywhere far from you " he said, his lips torn and bleeding, without even darting an eye at Abby. "Anywhere that does not smell like you, anywhere that does not sound like you, anywhere you don't exist."

 Daniel's words left a dent in Abby's chest, but he did not flinch, neither did Abby as well. Daniel marched on toward the door, his head straight, his lanky body danced in the air.

 "The moment you step out that door, regard yourself as a stranger to this family," said Abby, rubbing his bruised knuckles. 

 Daniel paused at the voice of his father. His ears tingled when he heard his father claiming to disown him, and he was ready to take that risk.

He snickered softly, "congratulations to you then... You won't have me as an headache to get rid of," he said, putting on his sun shade.

  Stella, who was restricted by Abby not to interfere in the issue, could no longer take it anymore. She could not watch to lose another son, so she huddled to stop him at the entrance.

 "D-Don't leave," she whimpered, running her hands on his cheek "you can marry her, just don't leave."

 "Nothing of such will happen," Abby turned his face to them, "not when I am alive and definitely not with my money." His towering figure was intimidating, contrasting Daniel's scrawny look. His voice echoed the room, making a statement. Stella wiped her tears while she scurried to meet Abby.

 She hit his chest repeatedly, "he is your son," she wailed, "how can you be so heartless." 

 Abby didn't budge an inch. He stood firm not paying attention to his wife's tears. "If you step out that door, you forfeit your share in ABBY'S ROOM, including your right as the heir." 

 Stella gasped, "you cannot be serious." She looked into his eyes and saw nothing but cold emptiness void of emotions. "You monster."

 Daniel turned back at his father, his wet eyes locked with his father's rock dry eyes, standing a few distance apart. 

 "You can rot away with your money and every s**t you've got," Daniel said, "I wished you were dead, I wished you never existed, I wished you would go and never come back." 

 Stella wept, watching him stomp off, Abby stood still like a statue, but could feel his chest pounding really hard.

 His wish came true six months later. And he lives with regrets. 

He stared at his phone screen displaying Abby's picture, tears trickled down his cheek to the phone screen. He held it tight to his chest, sitting down in the cold, spooky investigation room.

The door opened, and John with Susan entered. He rubbed his hands down his face, wiping his tears. He readjusted his seat and cleared his throat.

 "About time slow pokes," he deadpanned, "I've been waiting since like forever."

 "Shut up." John shunned him off.

 "We are sorry Danny-mighty," Susan said with a devilish grin on her face.

 "I prefer to talk to you," said Daniel, looking at Susan's face. Susan's response was a malicious smile. She glared at him with rage burning inside her but expressing its opposite.

 There was stillness in the room for a while, they stared at each other like predators on preys.

 "You guys gonna talk or what." Daniel broke the ice.

 "I see your nose has healed," Susan started tartly, looking through the folders containing Daniel's pictures they took while trailing him.

 "Thanks to you, I was deprived the pleasure of breathing like a normal human being." He locked his eyes with John, then withdrew it instantly.

 Susan brings out one of the pictures, "doesn't look like it to me," she emphasized. She kept looking through the folder.

Daniel's face froze at the sight of the picture. He maintained his composure knowing the pictures were from the previous day.

 "Where did you get this?" He cleared his throat, sitting upright but folding his hands still.

 "How we got it is not your convern," John echoed.

 "Your father has only been dead for three days and you are seen doing this," Susan said, bringing out the picture that contains where he sprayed money on strippers and stamped it on the table, "you must have really wished him dead."

 Daniel flinched. And they saw it. Mike and Jones observed the interrogation from the other room through the CCTV footage. It was kept a secret from Captain Ali and Nate.

 "So?" Daniel summoned courage, "how does that have to do with my father's killer," he tilted forward, resting his hands on the iron table, "you told me you've found my father's killer, isn't it?"

 They gave him a cold shoulder, and continued looking through the folder. 

 "The last time I checked, you were no longer a shareholder in ABBY'S ROOM and possibly not a potential heir," Susan said.

 "So?"

 "Where could have gotten such money from to waste on club dancers and innocent waitresses?" Susan bellowed, stamping another picture where he slapped Susan's buttock with a pack of cash. John had taken the picture without her knowledge, before he intervened. "From drugs?, definitely not." She placed before him another picture containing his d**g transaction. They left him bewildered.

 "What are you implying," Daniel inquired.

 "We are saying, you killed your father," John said scrutinizing Daniel's face for any trace of guilt.

 "You knew he would not leave anything for your when he dies, you feared he will sell his properties and distribute it the money to the orphanage," Susan added shifting forward, she gazed into his eyes,"you became impatient and killed him, before he makes it official." 

 Their confidence in speech and composure was remarkable, reaching to the core of Daniel. Their words threw him off balance and left him perplexed.