Chapter 30 The Mask Begins To Crack
"My sister," Mrs. Laura answered.
"Why then are you not picking up?" Wills asked further.
"I said it's not important. Does this have anything to do with my husband's death?" She said, her tone rising.
"Alright, Mrs. Laura. I will take my leave then." Wills rose to his feet.
Mrs. Laura walked him to the door.
"Do you know there is another murder linked to this case? Wills asked, his question rhetorical.
"The hotel attendant? It is really terrifying" Mrs. Laura said. Her remark was sharp.
Wills stood still. He wondered how she knew that the hotel attendant was murdered. He knew something was amiss.
"Please be careful. I will get back to you if need be." Wills said.
Amanda paced round the room. She was expecting Detective Wills who promised to get back to her after seeing Mrs. Laura.
The children were also in the living room anticipating Wills's arrival. They are now used to seeing him.
When Amanda heard the sound of a car parking, she rushed to the window to check if it was Wills. She quickly opened the door.
"Detective! The kids rushed towards him and clung to him at the entrance."
"Hey, how are you all doing?" Wills asked.
"We are fine." They chorused.
"Come and see my drawing," Mason said, running into the room. He came out with a drawing sheet. "Here, this is a detective going after the criminal."
"Wow. This is really nice, the detective also has a very long right leg." Wills said, playful. The kids giggled.
"Now go into your rooms and no peeping!" Amanda said to the kids. They obeyed reluctantly.
"Hello Amanda, am sorry for keeping you waiting," Wills said to Amanda. "It was a long drive here."
"I am sorry for the inconvenience. We could have talked over the phone." Amanda said, pity evident in her eyes.
"No. I want to do this. It's my way of checking up on you guys." Wills sat on the couch across from Amanda.
"Thank you for doing this. I really appreciate it." Amanda said. "So, what's the update?" She added, impatient.
"Something about Mrs. Laura is weird. I can't place my hand on it yet." Wills said, his tone serious.
"Did she identify the number as her husband's number? Amanda asked.
"She does not know anything about that. She claimed not to have meddled in her husband's business."Wills reported.
Mrs Roberts entered the living room with a glass of water for Wills.
"Thank you, Mrs Roberts." Wills said before she settled into the couch beside Amanda.
"Something is not right. I went through the record at Xi, Mr. Kenny filled in the same number I copied. It was the same number in his profile at the hotel." Amanda removed the document from the brown envelope. She passed it to Wills.
"Also look at this," tracing with her finger, "the line attached to the phone given to him at Xi is not the same as this number. "
"Which means, the number you sent those messages to was only registered in his name but was not his work line nor his personal line." Wills said, tracing the dot.
"Exactly." Amanda exclaimed.
"Here is the number in his work phone." Wills passed Amanda a notepad. "Is that the same number as the attached number?
Amanda took it and quickly went through it. " Yes, it is." She responded after checking.
"That leaves us with one question, who responded to your messages? " Wills asked. He relaxed his back on the couch.
"I still believe Mrs. Laura has something to do with the manager's death. Mrs Roberts remarked.
"Hold on" Amanda interrupted her mother. She was quiet for a few seconds before she spoke.
"How did you get this number?" She asked, pointing to the number written on the notepad.
"From his work phone. I got the phone from Mrs. Laura." Wills answered. Curious about what was going on in Amanda's head.
"How did she get the phone? Amanda asked.
Wills became confused "What do you mean?"
"How did Mrs. Laura get his work phone? The last time he was active according to this document" Amanda scans through the document as she speaks"
"Here! On the 17th, 9 pm. That was the last time he sent a message with his work number which was on his work phone. He was already at the hotel."
"How did she get the phone if she was not at the hotel? Wills finished the puzzle.
"Exactly!" Amanda screamed in triumph.
"And she knew about the hotel attendant's murder. How?" Wills asked himself.
"That means Mrs. Laura is the killer right? Mrs. Roberts asked.
"No, that makes her a suspect." Wills said. He stood swiftly. "Thank you for your help, Amanda. I should get to work immediately."
It another morning and Amanda was yet to get an update from Detective Wills. Ever since Rowan's driver started to pick her up for work, she has been going to work early.
She would get ready as early as she could so that her kids could leave after her.
"Here is the proposed task for today. Please make me a schedule" She received the message from Rowan while she was in the car.
Amanda was still trying to go through the attached file when her phone beeped again. She reluctantly opened it, her eyes glued to her laptop screen.
"I know who killed Mr. Kenny and it is no other person than you. If the law won't come for you, I will."
A shiver ran down her spine as she read the message. She closed the laptop immediately and lost composure.
"Is everything okay?" The driver asked when he noticed her sudden nervousness.
"Yes." She faked a smile.
"Where are the kids?" She texted her mother immediately.
She didn't get a response from her till she got to the office. She couldn't call because of the kind of conversation. She forwarded the message to Detective Wills.
Meanwhile, it was a busy day for Rowan and other employees. There was an inspection from government bodies so they were all making preparations. Rowan also had important meetings scheduled with stakeholders at Xi Telecommunications.
"They left for school already. I am also on my way to the salon. I'm sorry I got your message late" Amanda read Mrs. Robert's message some minutes into the morning briefing.
Rowan noticed that Amanda appeared distracted during the morning briefing.
"Are you alright?" He asked after the briefing.
"Sure." She responded.
Rowan was not convinced but he didn't have a chance to dig more into it.
"Is the schedule ready?" Rowan asked Amanda.
"Yes, I will send it to your desk now so you can go over it," Amanda replied.
"No, just send it to Belinda. She would get it across to the concerned parties." Rowan said before he walked into his office.
Belinda saw it as an opportunity to embarrass Amanda again. She decided she would change the schedule once it gets to her table.
"Amanda, you have not sent the schedule yet," Belinda said over the phone.
"I'm sorry. You will get it now." Amanda said. She was not composed so she mistakenly sent the document to the supervisor's computer instead of Belinda's computer. She quickly corrected the mistake and sent the schedule to her.
However, different calls started coming in from the investors and stakeholders. They complained about the sudden change of plans. This caused some of the investors to cancel their participation, leaving Rowan frustrated.
The whole preparation became useless. The manager noticed the problem with the schedule and called Rowan's attention to it.
Belinda, aware of what she had done called out Amanda and shifted the blame onto her.
"I think Amanda altered the schedule." Belinda said in front of everyone.
"What do you mean?" Amanda questioned, confused.
"You have been distracted all day as if you were forced to work. I even had to call you several times before you sent the schedule only for you to do this." Belinda yelled at Amanda.
Amanda quickly pulled up her email history to prove that she had sent out the correct schedule. She searched her laptop but that particular email was not there.
"I sent the right document and I didn't alter the schedule. I am sure of that." Amanda tried to defend herself.
"Then prove it" Rowan yelled. He was already frustrated by the damage the altercation had done.
"I can't find the document on my laptop anymore. I don't know how that happened. Amanda tried to convince Rowan.
Rowan's anger flared " Really? Were you forced to work this morning? Belinda was right. You have been absent-minded since the briefing this morning. You could have asked for a day off if you were having a bad day instead of spoiling the day for us all." Rowan yelled.
Belinda laughed in her head seeing that Rowan reprimanded Amanda in front of everyone.
Amanda was shocked and disappointed. She could not believe that Rowan could react to the situation in that manner.
"What is the way forward?" Rowan asked the manager.
"We can start with an apology." The manager suggested.
"I will draft the message right away." Belinda said.
Amanda suddenly remembered that she had sent the file to the supervisor by mistake.
"Hold on. I remember I sent the document to you as well." She pointed to the supervisor. You can check what you have. "Amanda said firmly.
"There is no need for that. We are looking for a way forward." Rowan said, dismissing Amanda's explanation.
"You just said I should show you proof just now. I am about to do that." Amanda said to Rowan, anger evident in her voice.