Condemned Daughter - S01 E06

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2 years ago

Condemned Daughter - S01 E06

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 6

Dad and mum were surprised to see me back home so early.

They knew that it wasn’t my thing at all.

I greeted them warmly and took a shower.

After wearing my beautiful night robe, I walked into the kitchen and told the maids that I was going to cook dinner.

I have never cooked for my family all my life.

They had no idea about my cooking skills.

That night, I made white soup and yam.

When I was done with serving on the dining table, my sister returned from work.

She gasped when she saw me wearing an apron and coming out of the kitchen. “you cooked?”.

I winked at her. “Drop your bag in your room and come and eat baby”. I rushed to my parents room to call them for dinner.

They were just as shocked as Dominic.

After everyone had sat around the table, I clasped and closed my eyes. “Everyone, close your eyes, let us pray before we eat”.

They gasped at me.

I never prayed before.

Dominic leaned. “Let me pray then”.

I shook my head disapprovingly at her. “Sinners don’t pray and it is answered”.

Dominic gasped. “Sinners? So I am a sinner and you are what? New saint Rosa?”. She cackled.

“Only sinners take up cases that condemn their sisters”.

Dominic rolled her eyes and looked away.

I prayed on the food and we began to eat.

My father was the first to commend my food. “I never knew that you were such a good cook”.

“Thank you sweetie pie “. I winked at my dad and continued eating.

My mum nodded thoughtfully. “I see a wife material somewhere”.

I and Dominic burst into laughter.

It was crazy.

Thinking of me as a wife material?

Yuck.

I sat in my room and watched the trending movie on Netflix.

Coming to America.

I watched and laughed.

It was a comic movie.

I suddenly heard a knock on the door of my room.

I rushed to open.

My parents.

They craned their necks into my room to see what had been making me laugh.

They were surprised again.

“You are watching a movie?”. My mum finally found her voice.

“Everyone is talking about Coming to America! I want to be a part of the fun”.

They nodded impressedly and left my room.

I returned to my bed and realized that my phone was ringing.

Raymond Maxson was calling me on video call.

I connected the call immediately.

His face appeared on my phone screen and he was sipping coffee in a coffee shop.

“You are still outside this late at night?”. I cried out.

He rolled his eyes. “look who is talking about ‘late'”.

I chuckled.

He cleared his throat. “Have you eaten?”.

“Guess what! I cooked today!”.

“Whoa! What did you cook?”.

“White soup and yam!!!”.

“How did your family react to that?”.

“You need to see the shock on their faces! ‘Rosa, you mean you cooked this delicious meal?’ They were happy. I am actually watching Coming to America movie right now. My parents rushed into my room to see what was making me laugh. They were surprised that I was watching a movie”.

We broke into laughter.

“I told you, Rosa. Doing responsible things is what makes you geniunely happy because deep within you, you are a responsible person”. He said softly.

Tears filled my eyes. “Raymond, please don’t ever leave my side until I am able to walk alone. Please”.

“I never leave anyone… especially people that want to come out of their past”.

“Thank you, Ray”.

“Now, switch off the television and go to bed so that you will wake up early tomorrow for work”.

He drove to the house of the Andersons.

He offered to do the questioning in Alexander Anderson’s study room.

He would call them one after the other and ask them questions about Gretta.

He would read their expressions and body movements too.

The first person he called into the study room for questioning was Alexander Anderson.

The formidable looking man sat before him and met his eyes.

Raymond maintained eye contact with the man. “Why did you make Gretta the heir to all your inheritance?”.

“I suppose you must have read her secret book, so you must have found out what her mother had done to her. Her mother was bi-sexual. Not just bi-sexual, she was attracted to little girls. I wanted her to forget about everything. I wanted her to be happy. The inheritance I had given her had made her happy”.

“Days or weeks before her death, did you notice anything strange about her?”.

“It was as if after she braced up concerning the guilt she had felt over her son’s death, that someone had reminded her about it again”.

“You mean, few days before she died, she began to feel guilty over her child’s death again?”.

“Sometimes she would be in her room, cursing at her ex-husband. She had cursed herself before, but now, she was cursing her ex-husband. It was confusing. We had called therapists but nothing had worked”.

The next person that came into the room for questioning was the oldest son of Alexander Anderson, Peterson Anderson.

He had a hard face.

Raymond was beginning to imagine how that hard face had threatened Gretta about the inheritance when she was alive.

The night mares she must have had.

Raymond noticed how comfortable the man was with him that moment.

He was not darting his eyes around or playing with his fingers.

He was comfortably staring at Raymond.

Suddenly, there was mischief in his eyes. “So the young man that was almost my brother in law is now questioning me huh? What an irony of life”.

Raymond chuckled. “Even if I had become your brother in law, if matters like this arise, I will still question you. I am an upright man, no biases”.

“Why did you break up with my sister?”.

“Look here Peter, we are not here to talk about your living sister, we are here for your dead sister, the one that someone had murdered”.

He shrugged. “Everyone would suspect me because I and Gretta had never been on good terms. She was Joseph and I was Reuben. I am the one that her death would really favour because dad will definitely give me the inheritance”.

“Is the inheritance more precious than the life of your sister?”.

Peter smirked. “Rich people treasure their possessions than their family. That is one thing you should know. Ask your dad since he was a gold digger”.

Raymond smiled. People always called his dad a gold digger because his mum was from a rich home and her dad had given all the possessions to his dad after they gotten married. “You keep diverting the question”.

Peter rose to his feet impatiently. “I don’t have anything to say about that stupid girl’s death.”. He walked out of the study room.

The second son, Arnold walked in.

He was the exact opposite of Peterson.

Very cool headed.

He was Raymond’s age mate.

Also thirty three.

Just two years difference between him and Mirabel.

The young man smiled warmly at Raymond. “My little sister never loved her family the way she had loved her ex-husband, that was why it had hurt her so much. She had cried all day in her room but she wouldn’t tell us anything. Dad had even called a therapist. My sister was not herself till she died. Find him”.

“Her ex-husband?”.

“Yes”.

Mirabel walked in for her own questioning.

“Keep the question rolling, boy”. She met Raymond’s eyes.

“Do you have an idea who the killer is?”.

“Yes”.

“Who?”.

“You”. She said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

He rose to his feet. “You are stubborn. So I don’t expect to get anything from you”.

She rolled her curls in a single finger. “Was that not why you fell in love with me? My stubbornness? You said it during one of our crazy nights”.

“You don’t keep a man by reminding him about one of the crazy nights you spent together”. He walked out of the house of the Andersons.

He was done with the questioning session.

I had preserved it in a flask.

The pepperoni that i had cooked that morning as breakfast for my family.

I had preserved Raymond’s share in a flask and brought it to work.

As I attended to some records that morning, there was a knock at the door.

“The door is open”. I said softly and watched as the door was pushed forward.

Ryan stepped in.

I gasped at the sight of him and rushed to hug him. “How have you been?”.

“I am sorry I didn’t call last night. I got home around two this morning and I knew that you would have been asleep by then”.

“How was it? Hope everything was fixed yesterday?”.

“It was. What about you? Were you fixed”.

I smiled to myself. “Your detective friend was not as I had thought after all”.

“Raymond Maxson?”.

I nodded. “I was still angry at myself for everything that was frustrating my life yesterday, and Raymond had made sure that I was okay. That was why I brought him a good meal to appreciate him for everything he had done for me last night”.

He frowned slightly. “You made a good meal for who?”.

I walked to where the flask was kept on my table. “For the first time in my life, Raymond motivated me to be a better person. I cooked for my family for the first time yesterday and this morning. I want him to taste what it feels like to eat Rosa’s food. I will make a special delicacy for you tomorrow”.

My phone rang.

It was Raymond on the line.

“Talk about the devil”. I chuckled and connected the line. “Hello Raymond?you are here? At the parking lot? Okay, I am on my way”. I disconnected the line and met Ryan’s eyes.

“I will call you this evening. I have something to do”. Ryan rushed out.

I sighed indignantly.

Ryan was always so busy.

I took the flask on my table and rushed out of my office to meet Raymond at the parking lot.

He relaxed on his car and smiled. “That spoilt brat look that used to be on your face those days has vanished”.

I chuckled and placed the flask on his car bonnet. “Have a taste of my pepperoni”.

“You cooked again this morning?”.

“Yes. How was the questioning with the Andersons?”.

“We can talk about that later. Let us talk about you. Have you forgotten that I promised you a treat?”.

I chuckled. “You remembered. But how do I take excuse from my boss this time?”.

“I will deal with that. Go get your bag”.

I rushed to my office to get my bag.