#Chapter 15# My Father's death - A mystery.

"Did he say anything to you?" Officer Gabriel asked my mom as she was narrating what happened to her at our house. I couldn't believe I almost lost my mom.

She rushed home immediately after receiving my call, informing her that someone was in the house.

"Oh! How stupid of her!" I said to myself.

According to her story, when she got home, she started yelling my name to confirm if I was still in the building. She heard no response except for a faint meow coming from the room. She knew very correctly that that was Pinky. She quietly walked to the doorpost of the room and gently opened the door. She saw Pinky tied to the accelerating Ceiling fan and got very terrified. She looked around the room and saw no signs of any living objects. Anxious and scared, she put off the fan, dragged a table directly under where the ceiling fan was, and climbed on to release Pinky. She successfully did so. She was a bit relieved when she untied Pinky. Just immediately after releasing her, she turned back to get down from the table, and suddenly she saw a soul. A tall, huge, masked guy in a black robe appeared in front of her with a trench knife in his left hand. She couldn't stand what was right in front of her. Her heart raced faster than a cheetah's legs could. Knowing that she has to stay alive for her only daughter, which is me, she summoned courage, jumped down from the table, forcefully pushed the masked man out of the way, and rushed to the living room. He followed her as fast as he could. Almost getting close to the door with Pinky in her arms, he grabbed my mom by her hair and strangled her with his handkerchief till she became unconscious, which he mistaken for death.

" He whispered, "Go meet your loving husband in hell," in my ears as he used his handkerchief to suffocate me." She replied to Officer Gabriel.

"Mom, I'm so sorry about what happened to you." I said, almost crying.

"It's okay, Tara. I'm fine now," she said.

"Did you know if he killed Pinky?" I asked.

"No, I don't. I couldn't control everything around me when I became unconscious. I lost hold of Pinky, and I don't know what he did to her." She replied. 

"Don't you worry, Tara. We'll come out of this. Nobody is coming to harm you or your mom. You are both safe in this hospital. We, as officers, will do our job to get the assassin." Officer Nelson said it assuringly.

"So I won't be going to school till everything is sorted out?" I asked. 

"It's for your own safety. Asher won't be going either." Asher's mom said as she placed her hands around my neck

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"We need to go to Besork High School to find Anna and bring her in for questioning." Officer Nelson said

"I don't think that would be necessary. That little girl can't possibly be behind this. The assassin knew Tara's father was dead. Definitely, we should be focusing on what killed him, why, and how he died. The assassin must have had something to do with what happened to Tara's father and is now after her and her mom." Officer Gabriel said

"What a good point you've made. But I feel that girl needs to be questioned, not because I feel she is behind this, but because of her mother." Officer Nelson said

"What does her mother have to do with this? She is a Cardiologist." Officer Gabriel asked.

"More reason to be concerned about her is the fact that she is a Cardiologist." Doctor Antonio cuts into their discussion.

"I know Dr. Stella too well. She is a very desperate and treacherous woman. 20 years ago, before I was an Officer, she committed many hidden atrocities to get herself to the post she holds today. Though she is very good in her field and patients also love her, she still envied Dr. Taylor, the best Cardiologist in the whole country, until Stella got her out of the way. She was selfishly ambitious about becoming the top cardiologist, which made her plan an accident to kill Dr. Taylor. The plan was successful. The death got the policemen involved, and as the investigations were going on, information started to reveal she was behind it. She then bribed and slept with the D.P.O. of the police to drop the case and declare the accident an unexpected and unplanned one. I was there spying on her through the keyhole of D. P. O's office as she threw herself at him. Everything went as she wanted, and the case was forgotten." Officer Nelson narrated.

"Interesting." Dr. Antonio said, amused.

"Could she want to kill Tara because her daughter is in love with Asher? If that is the reason, then she is an immature and senseless woman." Officer Gabriel retorted.

"I don't think that should be the reason. You see, Tara's father, Mr. Max, was also a C.A.D. patient like Tara. I was his Doctor. One day, he came to my office and informed me that he had made friends with a Cardiologist at a party and that she said she would love to be attending to him. I asked her name, and he told me 'Stella'. Knowing very well that Stella is no doubt very good in her field—better than I am—I was very happy with that. But I was worried because he may not be able to pay the bills because she is a professional and her cost of treatment must be high. I told Max about it, and he told me that Stella was ready to treat him without charge. I was very happy for him. That was good news. She must have seen something about him that got her interested in treating him without charge. They both became very close, and it worried Tara's mom. After a month, Max came to me and told me he wanted me back as his doctor. I inquired what the reason was, and he said he felt better with me and didn't want to take advantage of Stella. The reason wasn't firm enough to convince me of his decision, but I didn't bother him about it. He died three months later in a shop where dolls were sold. When an autopsy was carried out, it was discovered he had suffered a cardiac arrest. I felt that the arrest was strange because I examined his heart a day before and there were no signs of a blocked coronary artery, which could have caused the arrest. The only way that could have happened is if he took a substance that could exponentially cause blocking of the coronary arteries." Dr. Antonio explained.

"Well, if he took something, wouldn't the autopsy detect it?" Officer Nelson asked.

"There are some poisonous substances, such as Potassium chloride, which, when induced in an individual's body, will detach its chloride and mix with the human's chloride and will be very difficult to detect through autopsy." Dr. Antonio explained further.

"Well, there was no way he would want to poison himself. What was he doing at the Doll's store?" Officer Nelson asked.

"According to Tara, he was going to bring back her lost pinky, which was a doll." Dr. Antonio replied to him.

"Pinky!" Officer Nelson said this and sighed.

"Was there any story if he went somewhere before going to the Doll's store?" Officer Nelson asked.

"No," Dr. Antonio replied.

"We need to find Anna and bring her in for questioning. Her mom wouldn't come if we asked her to. But if she knows her daughter is with us, she will definitely come. I need to know the reason why Mr. Max suddenly cut ties with her." Officer Nelson said that and walked away.