I had been expecting his call for a while but it didn't stop me from letting out a sigh before answering.

"Sir."

"Wilson. Why is the Coker case not closed?" His voice held anger waiting to burst free.

"Because it hasn't been solved, sir."

"Why hasn't it been solved? What are you doing?"

"Everything I can. We just need a little more time."

"You said that before." His voice was rising.

"I know and a lot has changed since then. We are so close to the truth, sir. I can smell it." The only thing I could smell was the stench of my unattended dirty laundry.

"I can smell it too, sitting in a cell at the headquarters. Tender your report and wrap this up."

"I can't do that sir."

"Why not? What are they feeding you in that house?" I reminded myself to stay calm as I rose from where I was leaned against the tiny table.

"Because Mfon didn't kill Mrs. Coker."

"Then why is she taking up jail space!"

"I believe she possesses information that is vital to this case."

I could hear him taking deep breaths. His voice was controlled when he spoke again.

"You have concrete evidence and the motive is glaring to everyone. What more do you need?"

"That is not enough."

"Do you expect her to tell you how she stabbed her?"

"I am certain Mfon didn't commit the crime, not only is she clueless on the weapon, the timeframe doesn't match and I have reason to believe that the victim was already dead at her arrival." I was pacing the room, trying to get through to the unyielding man.

"Reason doesn't help us, Kaima. Find proof!"

"I will. I just need more time."

He was quiet for a moment, leaving me to listen to the sound of his ragged breathing.

"One week." I dropped onto the bed.

"One week and if you do not give me something tangible, I am working with Mfon."

"Yes sir."

"You do understand the importance of this case right? People are scared, someone was killed in her bedroom and the killer hasn't been found. Put their minds at rest Wilson. Give them a killer." He ended the call.

That was exactly what I was trying to do and Mfon wasn't a killer. She was guilty of something, something I had a week to figure out, something I could only hope would shed some light on the dark maze we were threading.

      With the sisters all out solitary confinement, Sade suggested a group breakfast and invited me down. Funmi was absent but Tamara made up for it with her extra chatty demeanor. Sade served baked potatoes and vegetable egg sauce while I tried to ignore Tamara. She was trying to get a rise out of me but honestly, it was getting old.

I ate slowly, watching the youngest sister. Vera had the lightest skin after Tamara but now it had paled. Bony fingers weakly wrapped around her fork and her collarbones jutted out against her skin. I hadn't seen much of her on the past days so the drastic weight loss worried me.

"Are you okay?"

They all stopped to look at me, then at Vera who looked like she had been pulled out of the depths of her mind. She looked at me with eyes that didn't seem to belong to a child, cold and empty.

"Why aren't you eating?"

She put down her fork slowly and left the table, no one tried to call her back.

"What is wrong with her?" I asked Sade but Tamara  answered.

"Her mother died, detective. Everything is wrong with her." She slipped a huge slice of tomato into her mouth.

"Everything seems to be fine with you though, it's almost like you didn't lose a mother too."

She kept her eyes fixed on her plate as I left the table. I was going to go back up to the guestroom but changed my mind and headed to the only bedroom downstairs.

Funmi took her time getting the door and I wanted patiently, not knocking after the time. Like before, it was obvious she had showered but unlike last time when she was working on her system, she appeared to have been reading a novel that was placed face down on her pillow. I took the liberty to read the title and turn back to her.

"Hadley Chase?" She shrugged.

"He nails the element of surprise."

"I'll have to take your word for it."

She pushed her chair to the edge of her bed, relaxed and stared up at me.

"Not a reader?"

"Not anymore. I don't get the time."

Hadley Chase had a wide range of crime novels as far as I knew but I could only recall reading one.

"Sucks. I can't imagine not being able to explore the world in these books."

I knew crime novels were her thing, that it was what kept her cooped up in her room, I just didn't expect her to express her passion to me of all people.

"Real life makes up for it." She smiled at that, I couldn't recall ever seeing the girl smile.

"I hope it does."

We were silent for a while as I thought of a subtle way to bring up what I really wanted to talk about.

"Do you miss her?" I heard myself ask and her eyes dimmed.

"Not so much." She laughed knowingly at my neutral expression.

"We weren't very close but you already know that."

I still wondered what that felt like because despite being in different continents, my mom was still the most important person in my life. I couldn't imagine growing up without telling her embarrassing stories of my out-of-home life and her filling my ears with repetitive words of advice for hours unend.

"Did you wish you were?" She stared blankly for a while.

"Now I do. After the accident, I couldn't stop blaming her, all I knew was that she had pushed me down the stairs because she preferred Sade to me. It was childish but I was in pain and I needed someone to blame."

She did that thing where she'd blink and I could almost see the walls come up.

"I guess that's what mothers are for, to take the blame when we give it to them." I leaned my weight on her large table.

"Though my mother would never take the blame for me, even if it were her fault she'd blame it on the cycle of life;  it's just one of those things that happen Kaima."

She cracked a smile as I attempted to mimick my mom.

"You two are close."

"We are. So close that I don't even get that mad at her when she slaps me for cussing or not greeting the neighbor."

There was a small smile on her lips but her eyes seemed faraway.

"I stopped blaming her after a while, a couple years. After I made my peace with the possibility of never walking again, I began to see that it was no one's fault. It was an accident, just one of those things that happen." She cast me a sly smirk and I laughed.

"I tried to let her see this but I guess she had shouldered the blame for too long it had become a part of her, she couldn't let it go and seeing the guilt in her eyes, it didn't let me forget and it was frustrating."

I could hear the regret in her voice. I guess it was hard missing something you never truly had, something you never worked hard enough for. She shook her head as if to get rid of the thought.

"So, detective, any strong theories?" I almost scoffed. Theories, yes but they weren't growing past that.

"Fine, don't tell me. It must be hard right? I mean the weapon had Mara's prints on it but was found in Sade's room. If it was Mara, why didn't she wiped the knife down? If it was Sade, why would she take it back to her room and place it in a place where it'd definitely be found?"

I watched her contemplative face as I mulled over her words. Whoever had placed the knife there wanted it to be found. Why would Tamara want that? It was her prints on it, maybe she didn't think the police force was that advanced, most people didn't and it wasn't entirely untrue.

Why would Sade want it though? It was her blade, in her toilet, of course she'd be the first suspect. I looked at the calmness of Funmi's face and thought that it could have been her, she confessed to not missing her mother, to her, their relationship was broken beyond repair.

Maybe she was more bitter than she was letting on and that was why her mom made her see a therapist. Maybe that was what ticked her off.

I groaned internally at the whole thing, too many maybes, without evidence it was all just assumption. I needed to talk to my partner so I excused myself and returned to the guest room. His call came in before I could dial him and I smiled.

"I was just going to call you." I told him

"Wavelength Kay, wavelength."

"What do you have?"

"News. Not sure if it's good or bad."

"Hit me."

"Damola isn't Anthony Joshua."

"Well, good for him."

"You don't sound disappointed."

"Yeah it's just__" I took a seat by the window. "We watched the surveillance footage for that entire day and the only odd person that entered the compound was Mfon. Whoever killed Idara had to have been in the compound before 1am and there was no one aside the girls. At most, it has to be someone who knew to avoid the cameras."

He was quiet for a while.

"What else are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking about having a chat with Sade".

******************************

Fun fact: I've read just one Hadley Chase book but my mom happens to be a huge fan, read a bunch in her youth.

Anyway. Happy new year once again!! The other one seemed half-assed. Sorry, I wasn't feeling very enthusiastic but I guess I am now🖤