Chapter Seven

Ivy & Alex

{Ivy's POV}

I have to confront Colin and make him confess to this crime. This matter has dragged on for too long and I'm sick of it.

I wait for him. As soon as he sights me, his countenance changes. I'm sure he's not over our breakup yet. Still, I don't give a damn. This madness has to stop.

“What are you doing here?” He raises his voice.

“I don't have the time for this drama right now. I'm going straight to the point.”

He stares daggers at me.

“Why don't you just confess to this already?”

“Why should I confess to what I didn't do?”

“Or are you just enjoying what's happening?”

“Shouldn't I be asking you that?”

I groan. This is pointless! We're just throwing questions at each other. Let me come down to his level now and reason with him.

“What do you want?” I ask calmly.

He looks at me as if he doesn't understand what I mean.

“I said, what do you…”

“Nothing! Absolutely nothing, especially from you.”

“Colin, we both know you're just pretending to be innocent but I know you. I know who the real Colin is.”

“If you knew me, why are we discussing this? You of all people should know that I'm not capable of killing someone.”

“Oh shut up!” I unceremoniously attack him.

We give ourselves a moment of silence that consequently turns him into jelly.

He exhales. “Did you ever really love me Ivy?” He asks, his eyes filled with pain.

I feel it but I refuse to understand it. “You're just a kid Colin. You knew we would be questioned by society. There's no way our relationship would last. We are just a mismatch so why weren't you expecting me to end it?”

He lets out a soft cry. “So why did you take me with you?”

I go dumbstruck. I may be selfish and sometimes inconsiderate but I'm not inhumane. I broke his heart, my conscience can't allow me to break his mind. If he knows I took him in out of pity, his self worth will be gone. His last shred of dignity left.

He's not the person who murdered uncle Benjamin but I poisoned him and that is something that should remain hidden forever. Come to think of it, if he confesses to it, they might lighten his sentence so why can't he just make things easier for both of us?

I should just give him the answer he needs to hear. “I took you with me because I thought I could trust you. Clearly, you broke my trust and murdered my uncle.”

“I didn't do it!” He yells.

Okay, umm… things aren't working quite as planned. Before this gets out of hand, I better leave. I'm already feeling emotional as it is. The same thing I felt when I first saw him beaten up by drug addicts.

“Colin, it would be better if you just admit to this crime.”

I get up to leave. As I walk a little distance pass him, he says something that throws me off balance.

“I know you're the one who poisoned uncle Benjamin.”

I stiffen.

“You're not getting away with this I promise you.”

I want to try self-defense to save face but words fail me.

“Cat caught your tongue?”

My heart starts to pound, then it dawns on me. Laurel leaked our secret. That backstabber! She's good at keeping secrets but she can't keep this little tiny secret. I will surely teach her a lesson.

Back to the problem before me. I have to get out of here by any means. “I don't know what you're talking about,” I lie.

“Sure you don't.”

Just look how overconfident he is.

I brush him aside and walk as fast as my legs can carry me out of the police station. Wherever Laurel is, I will haunt her down.

{Alex's POV}

We drive back to the city after meeting up with the Irish speaking lady in Officer Henry's car. Laurel and I sit at the back seat.

“How is Kelvin connected to all of this?” I ask particularly no one.

“That's what we have to find out,” Mrs Meers answers.

“Okay, let's say he was part of the conspiracy, what is he going to gain by poisoning uncle Benjamin?” I ask again.

“You know what baby, I think you should relax. We've gotten a new lead so it's better I deal with Ivy and you with Kelvin,” Laurel says.

“Funny enough, they are your best friends,” Officer Henry chips in.

On the long drive, I look out the window, thinking how and why Kelvin could be involved in this.

Laurel brings me back from my thoughts as she holds my hand. “It'll be alright soon.”

I smile, believing her words.

*

I invite Kelvin to a club party so we can have a good time. Drinks, music, girls, Kelvin is one to never refuse these things, especially if it's free. At the party, I make sure he gets so drunk but not too much to pass out so I can extract all the information I need from him. Kelvin is a heavy drinker but when he's drunk, he says things without even knowing.

We party so hard but I make sure as hell not to taste a single alcoholic drink. Kelvin and I aren't the same when it comes to drinking so don't judge me. After achieving the state I want him to be in, I sit with him to give him some company.

“Are you okay bro?” I ask.

“Yeah I'm fine. This party is lit! Thank man for bringing me here”

I nod, “yeah, sure.”

An upbeat plays in the background.

“You wanted to tell me something, right?”

“I met your friend, Mrs Martha a while ago.”

“Hmm, yeah Mrs. Martha. So hardworking, isn't she?”

“She is. But I was wondering, why does she work for you?”

“She works in my house while I'm away for some important work.”

I narrow my eyes. “What work?”

“I told you I'm a marketer, right?”

“Yeah,” I reply, quite disappointed. “So do you know Ivy?”

I'm not sure how that question sounds but I don't have the time for unnecessary chitchat.

“Ivy?” He wonders with a questioning look.

“Yeah, she's my fiancée's best friend and you know what, she's single,” I quickly add.

Oh I'm so good at this! I manage to coat my question to suit my purpose.

“Oh yes! Ivy, I know her. She's hot!”

Talking rubbish as usual. I roll my eyes but he doesn't see it. “Have you… you know,” I say, hoping he understands.

“Nah, she's not my type. We just work together, that's all.”

Interesting. One point for me.

He continues, “someone like Laurel can only get me excited.”

What!!!

“Sorry bro, you know Laurel is smoking hot, right? That's why you fell for her, right?”

This guy is so fucking drunk.

“Yeah, she is.” I'll just swallow this bitter pill so I can get this job done.

“If you hadn't proposed to her before now, I swear I'd go after her.”

He is seriously getting on my nerves now.

“Why don't you try and get close to Ivy too. Maybe she's hotter, you never know. Besides, you helped her before, right?”

“Ivy is hot but nah, she's not as good as Laurel. I only go for the best. Besides, Ivy and I share a working relationship so there's no point taking things further than that.”

“So you help her then?”

“Ivy can be clumsy at times so I do things for her.”

Obviously, he's not going to say anything about his relationship with Ivy, let alone his involvement with this case. And secondly, I might kill him myself if he says anything disrespectful about Laurel.

So my job here is done. I stand up to get more drinks for him. I load him with alcohol until he passes out which is necessary so he doesn't remember a thing he said tonight. Plus, he'll have a strong hangover for eyeing Laurel and talking disrespectfully about her. That's not enough punishment but for now, that would do. I'll surely come back to this issue and deal with him specially.

I take him to a room with someone to take care of him. Something I curse myself for but he shouldn't think bad of me. At least, not yet.

{Ivy's POV}

To my surprise, Laurel calls me to meet up before I get the chance to confront her. Initially, I plan to go give her a piece of my mind but I give it a second thought and wonder why she called first.

I enter the coffee shop and there she is already seated at her usual table waiting for me. I walk to her and take a seat across. She fixes her eyes on me, I return the gesture, hence a staring contest.

After a short while, I break the silence, “why did you call me here?”

“I'm sure you have a hint.”

“I'm not going to pretend like I don't know, so tell me what you want to tell me.”

“Who called Colin that day he made uncle's coffee?”

“You will think I'd tell you that?”

“Nope. I know you won't.”

“So get on with…”

“Because I did my own investigation and I know who it is,” she interrupts.

Damnit! Lately, I'm always the one getting shocked, why is that? Here's why, I made the biggest mistake trusting Laurel.

“So who is Kelvin?” She asks.

Unconsciously, I explode. “You backstabbing witch!” I launch myself at her to slap her face but she catches my hand in midair.

“I didn't tell anyone about our secret just in case you're wondering,” she says expressionlessly and puts my hand back on the table.

I go back to my sitting position. Laurel is such a self-esteemed woman so yeah, it'd be hard to intimidate her.

“So who told Colin?” I ask.

“It wouldn't be hard to figure out who's responsible for the poisoning with the act you've been putting on ever since his death.”

I sigh. She's right, even I would suspect myself.

“Ivy, I'm trying my best to save your head from the police. If it wasn't for my involvement, you'd probably be in jail by now.”

“So should I thank you for that?”

“No. Your appreciation won't be needed. The only thing I ask of you is to cooperate with me.”

“I have absolutely nothing to say to you Laurel. You have broken my trust completely.”

“I won't blame you if you feel that way,” she says, trying to reach for my hand.

I pull my hand back. The nerve of this woman! She thinks she's so good and in charge of everything. I'll show her.

“Ivy, please don't get yourself into any more trouble,” she advises me.

“It would be better if you don't advise me, mother.”

She exhales deeply. “I guess there's nothing much left to say then. But don't say I didn't warn you.”

“Is that a threat?”

“I'm pretty sure you're old enough to draw the line between a threat and a warning.”

I get so furious at the poise she keeps throughout, she even dare to insult me. I stand up and stomp out of the coffee shop.

Laurel and I may be friends and she may think she knows me completely. She just doesn't know one thing. I can be the worst nightmare she could ever have once I feel betrayed.

Too bad for her because I feel betrayed now.

{Alex's POV}

I arrive at the police station. Laurel, Mrs Meers and Officer Henry are already discussing.

“Did I miss anything?” I ask.

“Nothing much. You're actually the one we've been waiting for,” Mrs Meers tells me.

“So what did Kelvin say?” Laurel asks.

“A lot of stupid things. But he has a connection with this case most definitely.”

I report to them what Kelvin said at the party except anything personal.

“So our next point of action is to know the basis of their relationship. If Kelvin is a marketer as he claim he is, and Ivy is his colleague, then we must know what actually connects them,” Officer Henry concludes.

“I think I can help with that,” a voice behind us says loudly.

We turn around to see who it is. Colin stands without his cuffs and a prison warder beside him.

“How can you help us?” I ask.

“I may know the reason why Ivy poisoned uncle Benjamin,” Colin says with all seriousness.

We look at each other and agree with our eyes to hear him out.

Officer Henry and Colin enter the interrogation room while Laurel, Mrs Meers and I stand outside watching them through the one-way glass and listening to their conversation with an audio receiver.

“Tell me Colin, what else do you know?” Officer Henry asks him.

“Usually, when uncle Ben is around, Ivy doesn't go to work at night to avoid his inquisitiveness. But that day, she didn't care about that. He caught her sneaking out of the house and after much questioning, she brushed him off and went ahead.”

Officer Henry studies at him closely.

“I'm sorry that I didn't say this earlier.”

“Don't worry kid, I believe you,” he reassures him.

Colin sighs deeply before finishing up his story. “The same thing happened the next day but this time, he followed her secretly.”

“So what happened after that?”

“He came back more suspicious than ever.”

“Was he suspecting something about her?”

“I think it's her line of work.”

“So what did he find out?”

“I don't know but the night before the poisoning incident, uncle Benjamin was worried, disappointed and ready to scold the life out of someone.”

“Ivy?”

“I wasn't sure then. I thought that's why Ivy asked me to make his coffee in her stead.”

“Hmm, so what we're dealing with here is what Benjamin found out about Ivy, right?”

“I guess so,” Colin says with a sulky face.

“What's wrong?”

“I feel terribly bad for uncle Benjamin. I've always hated him for being so intrusive but I judged him wrong.”

“It's okay son. We'll make everything right soon. At least, half of this case is clear to me now.”

“About the murder, I don't want to point fingers but I know Ivy is not capable of killing someone.”

“I know, but we'll catch the murderer soon.”

*

I step out of the police station to catch my breath. This case is overwhelming. The friend I trusted is manipulating everyone to dance to his tune. I fear the most for Laurel. A smile appears on my face when she comes out to meet me.

“You don't have to worry, I believe we're very close to solving this case. If we're together in this, we can certainly overcome everything.”

I take her by the hand and take the long walk home.

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Q&A

Do you think Colin is still in love with Ivy or do you think he'll move on?