The man behind the mask

Detective Stella Njoroge had questioned dozens of people in her career;liars, killers, victims in denial,but there was something uniquely exhausting about interrogating the smart ones. The ones who thought they were untouchable. The ones who had never been challenged.

Dr. Peter Kariuki was exactly that kind of man.

He sat across from her in the precinct's quiet interview room, tailored suit unwrinkled, hands folded, expression politely neutral. A soft smile played at his lips like this was all a misunderstanding.

"Would you like some water, Doctor?" Stella asked, placing a file on the table between them.

"No need," he replied smoothly. "But thank you, Detective."

She studied him for a moment, too calm, too poised.

"We'll get straight to it then," she said, flipping open the file. "You've been the therapist for several individuals connected to an unfolding case. Lucy Mumo. Annah Mwende. Kevin Langat. Even Pastor John attended a few of your church-sponsored sessions."

Kariuki gave a nod, expression unreadable. "I've seen many patients. Privacy is essential in my line of work. I'll do my best to assist within ethical boundaries."

"Ethical boundaries," Stella repeated, leaning forward. "Let's talk about those. Lucy Mumo came to you months before she died. She reported night terrors. Paranoia. Said someone was stalking her."

"I remember," he said, voice low, almost sad. "Lucy was fragile. She often blurred memory with fear. It was my responsibility to keep her grounded, not to feed into her delusions."

"But her fears weren't delusions, were they?"

Silence. A pause just a second too long.

Stella continued, pressing the edge.

"She mentioned Wendo Munge. Kevin Langat. Men she felt unsafe around. Did she lie?"

"She misunderstood boundaries," he replied, voice clipped now. "She was easily triggered. Her past trauma colored everything."

"She was raped, Doctor."

"I am aware."

"And you did nothing."

His jaw tightened. The mask didn't crack,yet,but Stella saw something flicker in his eyes. Discomfort? Defensiveness?

"She was supposed to trust you," Stella said, now holding out a copy of Lucy's handwritten note. The one from her notebook. The one that read:

"Dr. K. warned me not to speak."

"She wrote this. Do you deny it?"

He didn't answer at first. Then he sighed, as if burdened.

"She came to me with accusations. Dangerous ones. But without proof. My job is to treat the mind, not wage war on every shadow it sees."

"But what if the shadow is real?" Stella asked. "What if she was trying to protect herself?"

Still no answer.

So she changed tactics.

"You also treated Annah Mwende, yes?"

"I did."

"And what was her condition?"

He leaned back. "Severe post-traumatic stress. Her sister's death destabilized her. She began to show signs of dissociation. Hallucinations. Anger displacement. I recommended long-term therapy. She slowly stopped showing up after Lucy's case was no longer being investigated."

"How convenient," Stella murmured. "Because right after that, people started dying."

Kariuki's eyes flickered again, just for a moment.

"I don't follow."

"You were the common link, Doctor. You saw them all. You knew what Lucy feared. You knew who Annah trusted. And you knew what Kevin and Wendo were capable of."

He folded his arms now, posture stiffening.

"You're implying I had foreknowledge of criminal activity. That's a very dangerous assumption."

"I'm not implying," Stella said softly. "I'm asking. Did you know?"

Silence again.

Then, quietly: "I suspected."

Bingo.

Stella's breath caught, but she didn't let it show. She let the words hang between them like a lit fuse.

"Go on."

Kariuki rubbed his forehead, the first crack in his composure.

"There are things you can't say in my profession. Sometimes patients come to you with confessions. Sometimes they hint. Sometimes they don't even realize what they're revealing."

"Did Lucy confess something?"

"She never said it outright. But she was afraid of Wendo. She believed Kevin had once followed her home. She mentioned... an event. Something that happened at a church retreat."

"Was Pastor John involved?"

He hesitated.

"She believed so."

"Did you report it?"

"No," he said. "She refused to go to the police. And frankly... I didn't think she was strong enough to survive a trial."

Stella slammed her pen on the table.

"But she didn't survive you protecting them either."

His eyes widened,just for a second.

"Detective..."

"No. You sat in your office and let these men walk free. You convinced her to stay quiet. And now she's gone. Kevin is dead. John is dead. Wendo is dead. And the girl you failed to protect,Annah,is out there, crossing a line you helped draw."

Kariuki stood, abruptly. "I won't be spoken to like this."

Stella stood too, calm as a still blade.

"You can sit down... or we charge you with obstruction, negligence, and accessory after the fact. You enabled these crimes by doing nothing."

That landed.

He sat again, slower this time. The arrogance had dimmed.

"Why protect them, Dr. Kariuki?" she asked. "You're not stupid. You knew. You let it happen."

"They were powerful," he said finally, voice hollow. "Untouchable. Men like Wendo had police friends. Government ties. They would have come after me. And I would have lost everything."

Stella stared at him with disgust. "So you chose to keep your license instead of saving a girl."

"I made the safest decision," he whispered.

"You made the wrong one."

She gathered the file and turned toward the door. Before she left, she spoke once more.

"I'll find her, Doctor. I'll find Annah. And when I do, you'll testify. You'll stand in court and admit everything you ignored. You owe her that much."

As she walked out, leaving Kariuki in silence, she felt it in her gut:

Annah had stopped trusting the system the day Lucy died.

And maybe she was right.