David felt like he needed some aspirin. He was having headache, and had barely slept in a week.

Since he took charge of Samson’s murder case, he had been busy unraveling the life Samson lived. But it seemed like the more he appeared to have uncovered, the more there was to uncover.

Samson’s life fascinated him. He wondered how a man could get intimate with three women from the same family and do so successfully. ‘Well, he was murdered, so he wasn’t so successful after all’, David concluded.

He swallowed some aspirin and sat lazily on a sofa in his apartment. He knew he needed some sleep, but he felt sleep was a luxury he couldn’t afford. He was yet to get a strong lead in the case, much to his frustration.

As he had done severally that day, David replayed all he had gathered so far about Samson.

‘He moved in with the Johnsons when he was 13. Started having an affair with Mrs. Johnson when he was 16. Began his relationship with Jannice years later, when he was in the university. Started having a thing with Josephine at an unknown period. A week before his death, both Stella and Josephine found out that they were having affairs with him, yet they were strangely unperturbed about it.’ David recounted.

David couldn’t think of a motive for Stella to kill Samson. Samson had an affair with her first, and if she didn’t want Samson’s union with her daughter, she could have stopped it years back.

David had doubts over the likelihood of Chief Johnson being the murderer since he was just recuperating during the period leading to the wedding. Barring that, he theoretically would have had a motive to harm Samson, who had slept with his wife and two daughters.

David was yet to get much information about Josephine, and it bothered him. Since he knew very little about her, he couldn’t think of a motive for her.

David however had his money on Jannice. She could have found out about Samson’s whole escapade and decided to get back at him. ‘She might have planted the specks in the bag, thus making her mum fall for the crime in retribution for her sins.’ David thought.

‘No. it doesn’t add up. Why would she get him the inhaler that night if she was trying to kill him? She could have tarried and let him die.’ David countered.

‘Someone planted the specks. Someone removed the inhaler Jannice claimed she had kept in her bag. Someone eventually poisoned Samson, but who?’ He wondered.

‘It was someone close to the family. It must have been. Someone who had access to the gifts, knew about Samson’s allergy, and had access to the bride’s bag she took to the hotel.

‘Who could it be?’ David wondered for a while as he slowly blanked out.

Moments later, his phone rang. He was startled, as the ringing had just woke him up.

“Hello.” David said as he picked up the call. It was Jane from the forensic team, and he hoped they had uncovered something big.

“Really?” David questioned over the phone as he got up, picked up his keys and stormed off his apartment.

“Hello Inspector.” Jannice greeted.

“You sounded very urgent over the phone.” She noted.

“Yes, I’d just received a call from the forensic team, and I thought of sharing the news with you.

“When we removed your husband’s body from the hotel, there was a carton of fruit juice on the table beside the bed. Can you please tell me where the drink came from?” David asked.

“I got the drink, along with a couple more that were in the refrigerator. That was Samson’s favourite drink, so I included them in the items that were taken to the room we booked.” Jannice replied.

“Who took the items over to the hotel?” David asked.

“Esther did. She was the one in charge of setting up the room. What’s the matter, Inspector? What did you find out?” Jannice queried.

“We’ve discovered the poison that killed your husband ma’am, and it was in the juice he took on your wedding night.” David explained.

Jannice appeared numb for a while, before tears began to trickle down her eyes. She tried to hide the tears and quickly wiped them from her face.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but I’m going to need Esther’s contact detail.” David announced.

“She’s a suspect, huh.” Jannice asked, rather coldly.

“Yes ma’am, and I’d have loved to ask you a few questions about her, but I’m not sure you’re in the right state to entertain them.

“I’ll be taking my leave now ma’am.” David said as he rose to leave after Jannice wrote down Esther’s address.

“Inspector.” Jannice called.

“Yes ma’am.” David responded.

“Please stop.” She pleaded.

“Excuse me?”, David remarked, looking perplexed.

“Please stop your investigation. It’s too much. Every time you come, it’s like I’m experiencing his death all over again.” She explained.

“I’m sorry it’s weighing so much on you ma’am, but I’m sorry I can’t do that. I have to do my job. Goodbye ma’am.” David said as he stepped out of the house.

It was already late in the day, so David chose to return home rather than visit Esther who lived far across the city.

As soon as he got home, David crashed on his bed. He was feeling exhausted. Even though he would have thought it impossible, he dozed off minutes after getting home.

David had been sleeping for a couple of hours when he suddenly woke with a start.

In frenzied motion, he rushed over to his study room, scurrying through a file on his table. It was Samson’s file.

He brought out some photographs. Pictures taken at the scene of Samson’s murder. He picked one out and scrutinized it delicately. He had only looked for a few seconds, when his face lit up.

David saw a tumbler on the table, just beside the fruit juice that was poisoned. However, it was the second cup that lay on the floor that was his great revelation.

‘They both drank the juice. How come only Samson died?’ David wondered.



To be continued
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