13 A Match Is Found

When Judith arrived at the Robinsons mansion, she met Abim sitting outside with his girlfriend, passing information to their house cleaner. Something struck her thoughts instantly. Why had she not thought of any of the employees that worked for the Robinsons? Because she was certain there were. For example, there was the gatekeeper and the house cleaner. There had to be others. Perhaps a cook and James must have been very familiar with them too. That could mean more suspects with a potential to abduct the boy.

She strolled up to them.

"Hey Detective! You are here. Why don't we go inside? Max and the others are here already. Paris only arrived a few minutes ago." Abim sounded unusually excited that evening.

"Asides the gatekeeper and the house cleaner, is there any other person that works for you and Max inside your home?" She looked around the vast compound.

"Yes. Mrs Diana the cook."

"None of you men..."

"None of them came to work that Tuesday, Judith." Abim replied sharply to avoid the intended accusation.

"Oh really?! And why was that?" Judith bit her lips until it hurt. She was having a sick feeling in her stomach.

"We... I mean Max and I offered them a one week leave prior. That Tuesday was the last day of the leave. You can ask all of them."

"Hmmm interesting." Judith folded her arms, not buying Abim's story. "And you don't think it's weird that your brother went missing while your house help, cook and gateman were away on leave? By the way, I thought gatemen were essential workers? And for a family like yours I'm surprised there is not even one security man around."

"He said you can ask the workers." Doris said eyeing the Detective.

"Of course I'll do that." Judith answered with a scornful smirk, then turned and walked towards the entrance of the house.

***

Before Judith joined the others in the sitting room, she questioned the cook, the housecleaner, and the gatekeeper. She did not spot anything out of the ordinary in their responses. They seemed honest enough. They might have well rehearsed their stories together but Judith felt strongly that the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach had nothing to do with them.

***

She took her seat beside Paris on one of the long couches. "I have the forensics results from the lab." She announced and provided a piece of paper from her breast pocket.

"What does it say?" Paris's curiosity shone all over her pretty face.

"It says you visited Brainstorm High some days ago and said nothing about it!" Judith was intentionally curt. "Why didn't you say anything about this before?" She attacked, trying hard not to lose her temper.

"First of all, it wasn't necessary for me to. Secondly we are not working together. We are not working together! Can you just do your freaking job and let me do mine?" The conquering smile on her face as she said this almost made Max laugh.

"Once again, this is not about the two of you. Judith please tell us, what does the result prove?" It was Max.

"Well..." Judith stood up and passed the result sheet to him. "The Sibling DNA test produced a 51% match between Abim and the evidence, and a 53.1% between Max and the evidence which is pretty high for a Sibling DNA test. I'm so sorry Max and Abim. Your brother is dead."

Abim gasped and started heaving. His mouth opened but he couldn't speak. Doris held on to him, rubbing his back in circles while muttering "Breathe baby, breathe..." in between exclaims of "Oh my God!"

It wasn't that Abim had not suspected or even prepared for the worse. But he had prayed and hoped that those bones had nothing to do with James. He had prayed.

Max stared at the paper for a long time before letting it drop off his fingers.

"I'm so sorry, Max." Judith uttered again and bent down to pick the paper.

"I can't believe this." David was shaking his head. "Before now, I thought this was all a joke. But I...I just can't believe it."

"I told you all." Paris announced without a pinch of remorse. "I told you all. And now can we move on to identifying suspects? What am I even saying? Of course! You all are suspects! One of you abducted and killed that innocent boy. I just don't know which one of you it is, or perhaps, it was a combined effort? Anyways, y'all cover up your asses up real good because soon enough, someone or some persons in this room, will be spending the rest of their pathetic lives in jail!"

Judith rolled her eyes even though she thought the same thing. A lot of things did not make sense but at the same time, made sense. "I was wondering..." she squinted at Abim who by now, had stopped heaving and was now sobbing quietly. "There seems to be deliberate withdrawal of useful information from you and your brother. Abim you especially. You spoke to Mr John the principal in charge of James's school. You didn't mention that. Why?"

Abim's looked up at Judith with red eyes. "I thought I did. I did. I said..."

"You didn't." Judith pressed. "You are lying. I just need to find enough on you to make arrest."

"And what about Max who I found in the forest on the night I found the bag of bones? What about Jolene who..." Paris stopped short when she realized she was about to give out sensitive information. Jolene was Max's therapist and they were fucking. She would mention that only when absolutely necessary. Not yet. "Max is as much as a suspect as Abim. In fact even this mannerless Doris and this David whose significance I'm yet to discover in relation to this family."

Max covered his face. "I'm tired." He said. "I am really tired. If you want to arrest me, go ahead. If you want to arrest anybody, please do so. Like I earlier said, I don't care who you investigate as long as you find out who did this to my brother. I know I'm innocent."

"Max what are you saying?" Abim whispered. "It can't be us. It just can't." He then turned to Judith and Paris.

"Look Detectives, we didn't do this. David is just a family friend. He shouldn't be bothered much about this." He said.

Doris shifted uncomfortably as he spoke.

"Okay! But that is my job to decide, not yours. I'm wearing a Police badge for a reason."

Judith continued regardless; "According to James's school, an anonymous person with the voice of a man had called with an untraceable number on the Tuesday James went missing, inquiring about his whereabouts. I have the number with me and when I return to the station I'll have my tech guy try to trace it again to ascertain if the Principal was being honest. This caller did not provide a name and this speaks volume. The caller knew James was supposed to be at school and he was calling to affirm if he really was there? Why? That's because he already knew that he wasn't going to be in school!"

"Or..." Paris chipped in. "The caller knew James was supposed to be in school, but had no idea he didn't attend school that day. Perhaps he hadn't planned to abduct the boy at home, but at school. Because why else would he call anonymously? He had intent already. So it's possible that after that call, the abductor and murderer calculated that James not being at school meant he would be home. This person could as well be a family friend." Her eyes fixated a gaze on David and Doris. "And I've always wondered why David and Doris are almost always here at the mansion, especially since the boy went missing. I can create an excuse for Doris because she is the girlfriend right? But David?"

"Oh I'm the murderer now?!" David advanced forward towards her, his chubbiness more pronounced as he took long strides. He stopped when he was facing Paris directly. "Arrest me and you will be arresting the wrong person."

"Hmmm." Was all Paris responded with.

Judith turned to Abim, "What state of mess did you meet the house in exactly? I mean the day you arrived to find James missing. You were the first person to arrive home."

"Well... it was just normal. James's room was really messy though. Just like one of those times he would play with his toys and games. The front door was ajar when I met it."

"Okay." Judith boomed. "Another very obvious thing we all agree on is that the abduction wasn't done violently. James knew this person and he would have easily talked him into following him out of the house. But the person did make a stupid attempt at making it look like a forced abduction. Leaving the door ajar and creating a mess. about the door that was left ajar? A few days went by and no ransom was demanded because the person's problem wasn't money. The person wanted to eliminate James. This person expected that when no tangible evidence was found by the Police, the case would be closed up. Unfortunately for him or her, the bag of bones showed up. This person did not expect us to find them." She breathed calmly and shortly and then turned to Max. "James isn't the type of kid who would leave home without informing you, is he?"

"There have been a few times but no." Max shook his head. "Whenever James goes out, no matter where, he tries to reach us."

"Okay." At that moment, Judith's phone began to ring. It was Hasley her girlfriend. She declined it.

"Well, I need to go back to the office to sign out and go home to handle some personal business. I'll update you all if anything comes up." She said and excused Max for a private discussion.

When they were outside earshot, she said "Forget whatever happened in the office that day. It was unprofessional of me and unfair to my relationship. Just in case..."

"That never meant anything to me, Detective Judith." Max's voice was bland. "I regret that it happened." He then walked away.

A lump grew in Judith's throat and remained there because she was scared to swallow it.