A Psychotic Killer? How to Get Away!

CHAPTER 45

“What are you doing here?” Jasmine asked as Kim kept walking ahead to Connor’s office in the police station.

“If you’re looking for your guardian angel, he’s not in” Jasmine said.

Kim ignored her and marched on.

Jasmine pointed one of her fingers at her “Let me tell you something. You can’t get away. I’ll get irrefutable evidence” She said, “And then, I’ll make sure you’re charged with Richard’s murder again”.

“You can never be free of me!” She yelled.

And Kim slammed Connor’s office door on her face.

Jasmine was like a leech. Kim thought. A parasite that won’t let the host rest. She took in deep breaths. Connor was not on his seat. Yet, she needed to know what he has discovered so far.

She walked to his desk. She would check his drawers, perhaps, his file on her case would be there. She sat on his seat and rummaged through his drawers.

How did Connor forget to put a lock on his drawers? He was a person who liked his privacy. She finished checking the papers in his drawer and didn’t see any document that was related to her. Could it be on his laptop? She shook her head.

Connor was a big fan of paper and pen. She stood up and looked around the office. The receptionist had thought Connor was in his office so, she let her in. On the wall of the room was a wooden stand of books. She went to it, pulled the wooden stand and right behind it was a safe.

Connor was good with his hands, she wouldn’t be surprised if he erected this himself.  

What could the code of his safe be? She thought. This was invasion of privacy but this, was important to her. She could not keep waiting for Connor to arrive.

She typed his birthday date. Incorrect.
She typed his late father’s death anniversary. Incorrect.

She pondered for a while, what could it be? The third time had to be correct else an alarm might go off. What can Connor use as his code?

She typed her birthday.

Connor used her birthday date in the past. Would it still be one of his habits? Interestingly, it was actually a few days to her birthday.

The safe unlocked.

I got it.

But, what will I find?

Her heart pounded as her hands touched the first file in the safe.

******
She pulled out the file. And the first words she saw were:

STEPHANIE DIKEH

Connor’s sister. Kim thought.

Connor never liked to talk about her. And she only knew her name from few times Connor mumbled her name in his sleep. She challenged him about calling her another woman’s name, and that was when he reluctantly and painfully told her about his dead sister. Stephanie has been dead for more than ten years now yet, she knew Connor mourned her loss more than anything or anyone he had ever lost.

She opened the file.

Lots of papers were in it. She started flipping through. Stephanie Dikeh was not murdered. She committed suicide by slicing her left wrist open with a blade and so, died at the tender age of fifteen.

Kim closed her eyes and shut the file. She could almost see Stephanie in her head as she cut herself and bled to death. Why? Why did she do it? Kim thought and put the file away. She didn’t want to finish reading the remaining hurting lines in Stephanie’s file.

She pulled out the only other document left in the safe.

She gasped.

And believed she would pass out.
What…what…The right words could not form in her brain. What… was Richard’s investigative report doing here? Wasn’t it stolen from Richard’s bedroom? Why was it here?

Without an iota of doubt in her mind, she knew it was the Richard’s file that she read weeks ago.

TO: MR RICHARD HARRISON
CONFIDENTIAL
NO COPIES

Did Connor steal this document? She shook her head. What reason would he have to do that? Unless…Could he be Richard’s murderer? She would’ve liked to delude herself that Connor killed Richard in order to have her, however, in Connor’s eyes she could still see that Connor hated her and had not forgiven her. So, why could he have the envelope? Unless…her brain cells sped. Why? Why? Why? He stole from Richard. Stole his paintings.

Her heart, beating faster. Why? Why would he take the paintings? To ruin Richard.

Why? Her eyes flew back to Stephanie Dikeh’s file. She had been reading something on the reason many of Stephanie’s friends felt she killed herself. She dumped Richard’s file.

Her hands and mind began racing. She scurried to the page where she was reading seconds ago. Ninety percent of Stephanie Dikeh’s classmates who were interrogated believed she committed suicide for the reason that her ex-boyfriend, Richard Harrison broke up with her a week before her death.

Also, from the autopsy report, it was discovered that Stephanie was pregnant. None of her friends knew about that and Richard Harrison also denied any knowledge of the foetus as he claimed that they had sex only twice in the months they dated.

Revenge.

That was what Connor was after. He stole Richard’s paintings to run him out of business. And then, when Richard discovered, instead of being charged with theft, he killed him and arranged everything to look as if she murdered him, so that she could also pay for hurting him eight years ago.

More so, he has been the one trying to kill her - in the elevator crash and via her car accident. Connor was in the hospital when the elevator crashed. He had also been in her home hours before she drove her jeep. Hence, he must have had a chance to sneak around and mess with the brakes of her car.

Her head went on spinning. Connor is a killer. Trying to pin Richard’s death on her. He wanted her dead so that any investigation into the murder of Richard would be close since the prime suspect was dead.

Tears ran down her cheeks.

Why did he have to treat her this way?

She loved him. Why? Why! The papers from Stephanie’s file fell from her hands.

Angel.

She had to get she and Angel away from here because the Connor she knew was not one to relent. He would keep making sure that the police kept coming after her.

I have to leave here. She thought. I’m in danger. My life is in jeopardy.
She snatched her car key and the document on Stephanie.

Minutes later, she slammed her car door as her car raced to find safety, for her and her child.