Chapter 99 Another Tragedy
"Dad? Really?" Bryce said after reading the message on his father's notification screen. "Now the police report to you? I thought you said you were not interfering with anything," he added and turned to leave.
"Bryce, I am not interfering with anything. I only ask the police to keep me updated on the case. This is my daughter we are talking about," Devon defended.
"Elena is my sister. I care about her. Angela is my wife, and she is carrying my child. So I care about her too. They are both family. Something is not right, and all I ask is time to unearth the truth and find the true murderer," Bryce said.
"You are in love with her, and that is clouding your sense of reasoning. I would not let that girl harm my family," Devon said, making Bryce halt in his steps. "For the sake of the child she is carrying, which you claim to be yours, this is what I am going to do," he said, and Bryce frowned, hearing his father insinuate Angela could be lying about the true paternity of the child she is carrying. "I will get a good lawyer, so she is detained in a safe place until she delivers the child, and she will be sent to prison," he said. "That is what I can do," he added.
Bryce exited without saying a word about what his father had said.
Back in Patricia's room, she was pacing up and down the bedroom. She had heard the news claiming Angela's fingerprints were on the murder weapon, but she was unable to believe it.
"Why do I feel this way?" Patricia asked herself and sat on the bed, feeling this was a bit strange, but she couldn't ignore her strong instinct, which made her feel she would be making a big mistake if she believed Angela was guilty. "Why this strong feeling that Angela is innocent?" she asked herself, feeling that two innocent lives were about to be sacrificed, and she needed to do something about it.
"Bryce lived with Angela without our knowledge for months, and nothing happened. My husband found out about Angela somehow, and Bryce finally brought her here," Patricia recounted. "I heard she fainted and was rushed to the hospital," she continued. "What made her run away from the hospital and go into hiding?" she whispered to herself. "Elena went to meet up with her, and that was when she got killed. Bryce mentioned that Angela was brought to the hospital unconscious by her friend. Why did the news skip that part?" she asked herself. "A murderer will not go unconscious after committing a crime, which means something happened that day. Something no one is saying," she concluded. "I need to find Angela. I need to know what happened that day. If she killed my daughter, I want to know why," she concluded and stood up from the bed.
She entered the walk-in closet and changed her clothes into a pair of jeans and a long top. She exited the bedroom carrying a small purse and a scarf. The purse was big enough to carry two phones, a wallet and credit cards. Patricia headed for the staircase. When she approached the top of the staircase, she saw Bryce exit the front door. She came downstairs and went into the small room under the staircase. She grabbed one of the car keys and also exited the front door. One of the servants got a glimpse of Patricia's back before she closed the door, but the servant said nothing and rather carried on with her activities.
Patricia located the car whose keys she had taken from the room.
"Ma'am, would you like me to come with you?" one of the guards asked as soon as Patricia got to the car parked under the car shed.
"No, I just need time alone. I will be back," Patricia said and got behind the wheel.
She soon drove out of the compound. She opened her purse and brought out Elena's phone. She connected the phone to her car Bluetooth and scrolled through the contacts. She quickly identified Zora's contact, and she dialled it.
It was an hour to 3 p.m. Zora was in her room packing when her phone began to ring. Angela was downstairs in the living room watching TV. Zora picked up her phone, and her heart skipped multiple beats seeing Elena's name on her phone screen.
"Who is using her phone to call me?" Zora thought and watched the phone screen till the call dropped.
The phone started ringing again, and this time Zora decided to answer out of curiosity to see who would speak. Zora brought the phone to her ears after answering the call, but remained silent, waiting for whoever had called to speak first.
"Hello Zora, this is Patricia Moore, Elena's mother. Look, I know Angela did not harm my daughter like the news is making it sound. Please, I want to know what happened that day. I will be glad if you can meet up with me. I am alone. No police. Just you and me," Patricia said, and Zora was stunned.
"Zora, please. I strongly believe Angela is innocent. I just want to know what happened. I know something is not right. Please, I need justice for my daughter, but I want the true criminal to be found," Patricia tried to convince Zora.
"Okay," Zora said, feeling it would be a good opportunity to let someone know exactly what happened without involving Angela.
"Thank you so much. This means a lot to me. Where can I meet you?" Patricia asked.
"I will send you a location, and we can meet there," Zora said.
"Okay, that is fine with me," Patricia said, and the call ended.
Zora stood there in deep thought for a while, wondering what the Moore family was up to. She had planned to leave at dawn so no one would see her leave, but as it stands, she would have to leave now without anything. If Angela puts on the light later, people would just think she is back. With this in mind, she sent the location of a coffee shop in a town far away from the cabin to Patricia. She exited the bedroom and headed for the living room.
"Hey, Angela, I have to rush out quickly to take care of something. I may not come back. Take care of the house. If anything, I will call you," Zora said.
"Oh, I thought you said you were going to leave at dawn?" Angela said, standing up to face Zora.
"I know, but something came up. I am not sure I will come back here. This is why I am not taking my bag along. If anything, when you put on the lights at night, the neighbours would think, I am back and I probably walked into the house reason they didn't see me come in," Zora explained, and Angela's face fell.
"Okay," Angela said and hugged Zora.
Zora walked out the front door and locked it up. She waved at a neighbour who was watering her flowers inside her compound. A short wall separates Zora's compound from that neighbour.
Zora took the bus and got off at the bus stop at the coffee shop whose location she had given to Patricia. Zora entered the coffee shop and found a table. She ordered a cup of tea and called Elena's number.
"Hello, I am here. So let me know when you get here," Zora said.
"I am also here," Patricia said and put her hand up.
Zora, while holding the phone to her ears, started scanning the place, and her gaze fell on a woman who appeared to be in her forties sitting behind a round table in the corner of the shop with her hand in the air, waving. She had a scarf wrapped around her head.
"Oh, okay," Zora said and ended the call.
She grabbed her cup of tea and walked up to Patricia. Patricia stood up and greeted Zora before they both sat down again.
"Nice to meet you. My daughter's friend spoke highly of you," Patricia said.
"Nice to meet you too. I know about the Moores. It's nice to meet you, Mrs Moore," Zora said.
"I would not waste your time. No one knows I am out of the house. The police found the gun and the knife used on my daughter," Patricia said, and Zora frowned.
"A knife?" Zora repeated hearing about the knife for the first time.
"Yes, aside from the gunshot wound on her head, she had multiple knife stabs in her chest," Patricia informed Zora, and she looked surprised. "You looked surprised by the knife wounds. Were you there when my daughter was killed?" she asked, and Zora averted her gaze, but it was too late to deny anything.
"Look, I had someone call 911," Zora said.
"Please tell me, what happened?" Patricia begged.
"Your daughter came over to my apartment to convince Angela to come back to Mr Moore. I excused them to have their conversation. I came down later after your daughter left, and Angela told me, per your daughter's request, she would consider calling Mr Moore. I left to take a shower. I returned and couldn't find Angela anywhere. Later, I saw my balcony door open. I was there, and that was when I saw Angela lying down next to another person. I quickly came downstairs to find Angela had fainted, and your daughter had her head resting in a pool of blood. There was no knife wound on her chest. I didn't see any gun or knife around when they were both picked up by the ambulance. This is the truth," Zora said.
"My instincts were right. Angela is innocent," Patricia said.
"Is there anything else you saw at the scene?" Patricia asked.
"No, I was devastated, so aside from what I told you, I didn't have time to scan the environment for anything else," Zora said. "Are you a cop?" she asked curiously.
"No, it's just that my instincts tell me something was wrong with the findings claiming Angela was guilty," Patricia informed Zora. "Thank you for coming out to meet me. I am going to make sure the true criminal is apprehended. I know you know where Angela is. Keep her and my grandchild safe. I'll speak to an officer friend of mine to help me find the true murderer," Patricia said.
"I will be happy if my friend's name is cleared, but I don't know where she is," Zora said, feeling Patricia was trying to trick her into revealing Angela's location.
"Okay," Patricia said and stood up. "Thank you," she said one more time before heading for the door,
Patricia parked her car across the street. She crossed the street and headed back to her car, but before she could get to the car, she fell to the ground.
"Ma'am, are you alright?" A stranger passing by who saw her fall got closer to help.
The stranger got closer only to see blood, and she began to scream. Meanwhile, Zora was sitting inside the coffee shop, unaware that Patricia had been gunned down.