CHAPTER FOUR: “The Interiew
723 Words
CHAPTER FOUR: “The Interview”
POV: Inspector Tunde Alabi
The ballroom smelled like sweat, perfume, and tension. It was quiet, but not peaceful. Everyone was whispering, pretending not to be scared, but he could see it in their eyes. Some were angry. Some were nervous. All of them were hiding something.
Inspector Alabi had been a detective for 17 years. He’d seen rich families cover things up with money, seen criminals wear agbadas and sit on thrones. But this one was different.
This time, the bride was the one holding the power—even in death.
He stood at the front of the room, clipboard in hand.
First person he called?
Lola Adebayo.
---
She walked in slow. Face pale. Dress still neat, but something about her eyes looked wrong. Guilty. Tired. Like she hadn’t slept in days.
He didn’t offer her a seat. She sat anyway.
“Where were you between 11AM and 12PM?” he asked.
“I was with the bride. Adanna.”
“What were you doing?”
“Helping her get ready. Fixing her dress. Holding her veil. Talking.”
“What did you talk about?”
Lola paused. Her lips pressed together. Then she said, “She asked if I loved Chuka.”
Alabi didn’t react. He just wrote it down.
“Do you?”
“No,” Lola said. “Not anymore.”
“But you did?”
She said nothing.
That was answer enough.
---
He flipped to another page.
“Did you know about the blackmail?”
Lola looked up quick. “What blackmail?”
“She had recordings. Documents. We found some. We know she was planning to expose someone today.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“But she gave you a warning, didn’t she? Before she died.”
Lola’s hands tightened in her lap. “She told me not to act innocent. I didn’t know what she meant. I still don’t.”
“Of course you do,” Alabi said.
She looked at him. “You think I killed her?”
“I think you had motive. I think you had access. And I think you were the last person to see her alive.”
Lola swallowed. Her voice was lower now.
“I didn’t kill her.”
“Then tell me why your fingerprints are on the scissors we found near her body.”
Lola froze.
For five seconds, she said nothing. Then: “We used them to cut the ribbon on the bouquet. She handed them to me.”
“She didn’t mention that in her letter.”
Lola’s eyes widened. “What letter?”
“The one hidden in the bouquet. You didn’t know?”
Now Lola looked truly scared.
“No. What did it say?”
Alabi smiled. Not kindly.
“I guess you’ll find out with everyone else.”
---
After she left, Alabi called in the wedding planner, Mr. Akin. Middle-aged man. Gold chain. Overdressed. Smelled like cologne and desperation.
He came in fast, already talking.
“I don’t know anything, officer. I just planned the event.”
“Yet you were the first one out of the suite after the body was found.”
“I went to call security.”
“You called someone else first. I traced the number. You called Chief Okoye. Why?”
Akin wiped his forehead. “He’s the father of the bride. I had to inform him.”
“Or were you warning him?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Alabi leaned in.
“Let me be clear. If you knew what was coming and didn’t say anything, that makes you part of it. If someone paid you to keep quiet, the law won’t be kind to you.”
Akin said nothing. His hands shook.
“Let me guess,” Alabi said. “You just planned the wedding. Not the funeral.”
---
Next up would be the sister, Ify. Young. Quiet. Observant. The kind of person who sees everything and says nothing.
And after her, if Chuka didn’t show up soon, the inspector would issue a warrant.
Dead bride. Missing groom. Best friend with a lie on her lips.
Someone wanted Adanna gone.
But the mistake they made?
They didn’t make sure her secrets died with her.
---
End of Chapter 4.
- Writer
