6 Chapter 56-Espresso

Metropolitan City Police Headquarters :The Office of the Head of Homicide Unit.

"Good Morning Inspector Jacobs" My secretary greets as I make my way into my office.

"Good morning Miss Ponce. How do you do?"

"How do you do Sir. Hope you slept well in spite of all the workload?"

"I wish that was the case Miss Ponce. I've put my life on hold just so I could get the cases solved quickly. I met a pretty woman I would like to go out with but this job hardly gives me time to unwind, let alone think of the comforts of a woman"

"You'll be alright, Inspector Jacobs. You should try and involve this pretty woman more into your life rather than put a hold on things with her. For all you know, she may be understanding and may provide special comfort to you in this time of distress"

"You're right. I have to open up to her more before she starts assuming that I'm no longer interested in her. I'll hate to lose her even before things get started"

"Right. Settle down Inspector, I'll bring your espresso....and also lest I forget, there's a woman here to see you"

"Who is it? Am not expecting anyone"

"She refused to give me her name Sir. She said it was urgent. She's been waiting in my office for 45 minutes now. I had to look for a more comfortable chair for her because she's heavily pregnant and could not still comfortably or stand for too long"

"I see. Bring her in when you're bringing my cup of espresso by then I would have put my office in order to meet her. I have files scattered all over and for all you know, she may be bringing valuable information for my cases"

"Alright Sir"

Inspector Jacobs' POV

I put back the files in their designated folders and dust the small dust collecting on my office table. I've been moving up and about so I've not sat behind it in days. A light knock sounds on my door and in walks my secretary with my cup of espresso. Behind her is the pregnant woman looking nervous and so frightened.

"Thank you Miss Ponce. Kindly shut the door behind you" I say when I notice that Miss Ponce was hesitating to leave. She definitely wants to listen in on what our morning visitor has to say. Miss Ponce shifts her eyes uncomfortably and then walks to door.

"Yes Sir" She responds and steps out, firmly closing the door.

"Please sit ma'am. The chair should be more comfortable than in the other room" I address my visitor while smiling but my friendly approach doesn't seem to change her disposition. I regard her lightly. Her clothes are modest, nevertheless rich. She has a familiar face but I can't really wrap my mind about who she may be. Looking at her enlarged abdomen, she should be in her last trimester, probably the last month. She is taking in slow shallow breaths and looking around my office.

"Anything the matter ma'am?"

"I learnt you're looking for me... I know you've been looking for me for a while now. You've been to my father's house on two occasions already and he denied that I was around. Well here I am and I want to tell you all you need to know about what has happened. But before that, assure me of one thing"

She says with a tremulous voice and looks deeply into my eyes as if she is reading my thoughts. It is then everything begins to make sense to me.

"Are you Suzie? Suzie Jones?"

Her eyes begin to water and then she nods fiercely grabbing a pocket tissue from her purse, wiping her tears.

I'm moved by her display of emotions but I remain quiet and look on. I don't want to force any confession out of her either. She came here on her on, so she must have a reason to show up despite her father's wishes.

"Yes Officer"

"As you can guess, I'm here with nobody's knowledge. I'm the shame of my father and he would rather have me indoors than strutting around. To top it all, I'm pregnant, unmarried and my....sex video is on the internet!" Suzie cried hysterically.

"Calm down Suzie. Crying wouldn't solve any problem now but I can assure you that if you give us the information that can connect the dots in the story, I'll help you clear your name, that is if you're not guilty"

"Please assure me that you'll tell no one else that I came here"

"I'll try. I can't promise because I have superiors that I report to and the Mayor too"

"Alright"

"I'm all ears for what you have to say, Miss Jones"

"I met Daniel in 2nd year of college. He was the smartest boy in my chemistry class and I found him very attractive. He wasn't rich though. He didn't come from the kind of family I came from. We were of different social class but I liked him, a lot. We became closer when he helped me prepare for a resit exam and then we started dating. My friends were against our relationship but I didn't care. My ex-boyfriend tried to come back and mend things with me not because he loved me but he couldn't stand the fact that I was with Daniel. He thought I was trying to make him jealous"

"So what happened after, Miss Jones?"

"I realized that I was truly in love with Daniel and he with me. He didn't have anything to offer me except his love but I was content. He worked two menial jobs to make ends meet even though he was on half-scholarship which cover all his tuition. After school, I would go and help him in his workplace. I had never worked a day in my life but I did it for him. With time, I developed love for the work he did and got employed too. At the end of each month, I would give my salaries to him because he needed it, I didn't need the money. However, he never took them from me. In fact, I tried countless times to give him my own money, he never accepted them. He rather opened a joint account so we could save towards the future. He was an amazing man"

"After we had dated for a year, he wanted to take the relationship to the next step. He introduced me to his senior brother who had just retired from the military and had come back to the city. Douglas and Daniel looked very much alike. You could confuse them for identical twins. They were very close and very protective of each other. Douglas was first wary because of the different social classes we belonged to. He later approved of us and we even had double dates with him and his girlfriend, Mae".

"If I understand you well, Daniel was your lover and the one in all the pictures and the video that was circulating and his brother in the military was Douglas, the man who shot your father"

"Right, Officer"

"I didn't tell my father about my relationship from the start. I knew he wouldn't accept me dating a run-of-the-mill guy, even worse one who was poor and had no powerful family name. I am his only daughter and I was to be married to a man of his liking, possibly a politician's son or one with a very powerful background. Daniel didn't fit the criteria. He had no powerful family name or background, heck, he didn't have a fam-ily. He only had his brother. They were the only two surviving members of their family after they were involved in a train accident so many years ago"

"How did your father find out?"

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