Chances

Chapter Fifteen

With panic, Tina immediately hid the bowl of water; which was already covered with her blood, under the bed. She cleaned her palms and also threw the clothe in her hand under the bed.

She tied her handkerchief on her wound to stop her blood from oozing out and showing on her dress. With a lump in her throat, she shouted, "Who's there?”

“It's Leah. Open the door," she answered, pacing behind the door.

Her body trembled and quivered as her eyes looked around to find any blood stain or anything that would make the person behind her door suspect her.

Finding none, she cleared her throat again and told the person to give her a few seconds. Reaching for the door knob, she nervously knocked on the door, which made Leah frown.

Tina quickly regained consciousness and turning the key to the left, she opened the door and invited her sister in.

Leah gracefully walked in and stopped in the middle of the room. It was as if something familiar had hit her nose and so she shut her eyes forcefully to inhale it all in.

For a moment, Leah's eyes widened and suddenly became normal again. She then continued walking and sat on her bed; the very one Tina was sitting on, minutes ago.

“I'm here to talk to you about a few things. Since you came around, we've not had enough time to talk," she stuttered, folding her legs beneath her so she would comfortably sit on them.

Oh really now? And who said i am interested in spending time with you or talking to you? I'd rather sit outside the house and have fun killing birds than to see your face or hear your voice!

Tina thought to herself. She wished she could say that to her but rather, she just smiled at her.

Before Tina could even tell her she was fine the way things were, the look on Leah's face became strict. Her eyes became darker while her eye brows almost met each other.

what is wrong with this woman and her mood swings!

“I better be going, I have something else to do, I forgot. OK so I'm leaving and I don't want you causing trouble. Just keep cooking," Leah ordered her before heading out of her room.

When she closed the door behind her, Tina hurriedly locked it and with a mournful sound, she uttered in pain; she limped to her bed, almost falling to the ground.

She heavily sighed and bent under her bed to pick her hidden items. She could feel the pain screaming down at her but she ignored it to finish cleaning her wound.

***

Jad started walking toward the big hall of his workplace. He hated it when they called him for cases which just needed a smart school boy to conclude. He had one of his own he couldn't solve.

He walked with his both hands in his pockets, feeling how they kept his fingers warm.

He nodded as he entered and everyone sighed in excitement, including Red who was almost dozing off. Red moved closer beside the guy standing on his right side, to make space for his friend, Jad.

Red had been slow in the head for some time now and Jad decided to have a serious conversation with his partner. He had been absentminded lately and almlst nothing he did or said made any sense.

Jad looked on the screen; the very one every one was staring at. He then quietly but quickly brush through the files in front of him, with his eyes and attention. Everything seemed easily.

He then shook his head, wondering why the hell they were still on the case. He then cleared his throat.

“So there's a girl in picture one, picture two and three. But only the one in picture three survived. There's also another girl in picture A and a boy in picture B. The three of them were poisoned at three different times and different places, am I correct?" Jad voiced out what he gathered from then files.

“The survivor believes it's the girl in picture A and the boy in picture B," he stopped for a while and continued, "Why is there no face on picture B?"

"Nobody knows the face behind B. The survivor only mentioned his name. She described him though but we are still searching for him," Biggie answered.

"So she believes they are responsible. Why? Because the girl in picture one and the one in A are friends. They had a serious fight and she threatened to finish her off. She again told us about how the guy in picture B was abusive toward her friend. He was the boyfriend of this one," he told, pointing at picture one, "According to the survivor, the guy was just using her friend," Jad narrated more to make things clear.

“Have you interrogated her friends? I mean those in A and B. What was the result?" He again attentively enquired, sitting on the table with just half of his tighs.

“Yes we first interrogated the friend in picture A and she told us she never had a fight with her. She was her roommate and they did everything together. According to her, she didn't know what could've happened to her since she was always cheerful...that was when they thought she probably killed herself. We asked if she knew her roommate's boyfriend and we were told she didn't have one. Which kind of like seems like nonsense to me,” Red continued as he opened into another file.

“Well the survivor had told us her friend was planning on moving out from her room. She wasn't happy and comfortable with this girl," Scorpion; another man standing by them, added while pointing at the girl in picture A.

"Oh and the suspect in picture A suggested we asked the survivor who exactly her roommate fought with and what secrets they had been hiding," Biggie; another man chipped in, "We went back to her and she couldn't remember any secret they were hiding that was big and serious."

Jad smirked and took a critical look at the victims' pictures. There was something familiar with the pictures.

“So apparently, they all had handkerchiefs around their wrists," Jad whispered, looking from Biggie to Red.“That's probably a childish thing to do," Biggie sneered, touching his forehead.

“So the culprit has to be that close to them in order to have to poison their foods. And also according to the survivor, she left her food to go and take her bathe. After she ate her food, the next thing she saw was herself sleeping in a hospital.”

“That probably means the suspects we have here, aren't the culprits. It could be possible they are but I believe they aren't. Why? Because her roommate isn't friends with the survivor or the other dead girl...so is the supposed boyfriend; that is even if he exists. So how come one of them possibly poisoned them?" Jad confessed what he was thinking.

“So we need to interrogate them again," another man wondered.

“Tying the handkerchiefs on their wrists is probably childish but reasonable. It is their code of friendship. Ever thought of 'till death do us apart'? Or 'even after death'?" Jad looked at them for a while, "OK, bring out your handkerchiefs. Make it quick," Jad ordered as they put their hands inside their pockets.

“Biggie, why are you not holding your handkerchief? Scared of what you would bring out of your pocket?" Scorpion joked as the rest of the team laughed.

“OK, quickly tie them on your wrists," he urged as he turned to face Red and Scorpion, "No, not the two of you. Now Red, tie yours on his wrist and you should also do same with Red's.”

After a short while, he asked them to tell him what they realized with the tied handkerchiefs on their wrists.

"Red's handkerchief is tighter on his wrist, so is Scorpion's. But the one on their wrists are loose,” Biggie contributed, making Jad nod his head.

“So now look at the pictures in font of you. What is similar in there?" Jad again requested, making Red grin like a little boy.

“The real culprit is the survivor!" Red exclaimed.

“Bingo!" Jad screamed, snapping his two fingers at them.

“So what are you waiting for? Go and arrest her or better still, give her a plane ticket to run away," Jad joked, while putting his arms around Red's shoulders.

***David walked in tiredly and sat in his chair as he picked up his phone to make a call. The first one didn't go through. But the second one did but the person at the other end didn't pick the call up.

He tried the third and fourth time and yet still nothing happened. He threw it beside him, giving up.

He started to doze of few minutes later, when his son ran into his arms. He woke up and when he saw his little boy, he stroked his cheeks and messed his hair up. David began to tickle him. Tyler giggled as he told his dad to stop, between his laughter.

Then he carried him to sit beside him. "How was school today, little champ?" His dad asked him as he looked down on his tighs.

“There is a new girl in my class. She came today," he replied, still looking down on his tighs.

The blush on Tyler's cheeks did not go unnoticed. David then questioned him more, looking interested all of a sudden.

“She is an amazing speaker. She smiles beautifully. She also has big eyes like mum's. She wasn't talking to me: she was talking to those closer to where she sat, she talked about herself and her horse," he continued.

“You don't say. Oh so I got a competitor now?" A voice echoed from their behind. Tyler could identify the voice anywhere he was, anytime, anyhow and any place.

“No mum, I love you," he nervously told his mother, "She loves you too. And I promised to bring her one of your shirts and I told her I'll make you write her name on it.”

Marisca laughed carelessly making her son wonder if he said something wrong.

“If I hadn't told her that, I'm sure she wouldn't even have watched my way," Tyler quickly explained.

What age did you say my son is? David silently asked himself.

"She's older than me with a year. Her hair is super cool," he nervously added.

“Exactly! That's my champion. I feel like a proud teacher at last," Dean shouted, jogging into the room.

Leave your son with this monster for just half a day and you'll wonder if you did or didn't switch your child with anyone else.

David again wondered, giving Marisca a heartfelt smile.

The smile was gentle, which sent chills down her spine.

“Are you ready for your next lessons?" Dean asked Tyler who began to laugh so hard.

Dean held his hand to him, which he gladly took and followed him outside the house.

“Tyler is a cute boy," Marisca told, earning a chuckle from David. He knew that from the very moment he saw him.