CHAPTER FIVE: “The Little Sister
525 Words
CHAPTER FIVE: “The Little Sister”
POV: Ify Okoye
The room was cold. Not from air conditioning. From the silence.
Ify sat in front of the inspector, hands in her lap, eyes focused on nothing. He was watching her closely, like she was a puzzle.
She didn’t feel like talking.
She felt like screaming.
But she just sat still.
"Tell me about your sister," he said.
“She was loud. Smart. She always got what she wanted,” Ify answered, voice flat.
“Did she have enemies?”
Ify nodded slowly. “Plenty. Most of them were at the wedding.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Including you?”
Ify looked up. Her voice was sharp. “I loved my sister.”
“But love can turn into hate, can’t it?”
She didn’t respond.
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He waited, then asked, “When was the last time you saw her?”
“This morning. Around 10:45. In her suite. I gave her the gold necklace. Our grandma’s.”
“What was her mood?”
Ify thought for a second.
“She wasn’t scared. She wasn’t happy either. She looked… like she had already made peace with something.”
“Did she say anything strange?”
“She said after today she’d finally be free.”
Alabi wrote that down. “Free from what?”
“She didn’t say.”
“Did you know about the letter in the bouquet?”
“No.”
“Did you go through her things?”
“Yes. After. I found an envelope. In her desk. With photos.”
“What kind of photos?”
Ify paused. “A man. A woman. A car. Some dates written on them.”
He leaned forward. “Do you still have them?”
She reached into her bag. Pulled out the envelope. He took it and flipped through the pictures. He stopped at one. Stared. Jaw tightened.
“You recognize someone?” she asked.
He nodded once. “This… changes things.”
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After a long silence, she said quietly, “You think someone in our family did it.”
“I think this wasn’t random. I think your sister had something powerful. And someone didn’t want her to speak.”
“She said she had dirt on everybody. Even Dad.”
Alabi looked up sharply. “What kind of dirt?”
“She never told me. She just said when she dropped it, the whole house would shake.”
He closed the file in front of him.
“It’s already shaking.”
---
As she stood to leave, she hesitated.
Then she turned and said, “My sister wasn’t perfect. But she wasn’t stupid. She knew this day would come.”
Alabi watched her walk out. He pulled out his phone and dialed fast.
“Get me everything you can on Chief Okoye. Business, politics, offshore accounts. Start with 2017. Look for something linked to the name Nora.”
He hung up and looked at the last photo again.
Adanna had circled a car’s license plate and written something under it:
“The night everything changed.”
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End of Chapter 5.
- Writer
