A Psychotic Killer? How to Get Away!

CHAPTER 16

The following happened between 14:00 and 15:00

Kim slammed the boot. “I put the paintings there” She said, painting to the trunk of her car in which she had her accident.

She was in the garage of the police station reporting her complaint and checking her car. The front fender and radiator had been smashed, and they were streaked with the sap of the tree they hit.

“There were no paintings, ma” The mechanic said. “The boot was empty”.

Connor’s eyes watched her like a hawk.

To the lean mechanic, Kim said, “someone must have taken them”.

“No one has touched your car since we drove it from the site of your accident” Jasmine said.

Kim bit her finger. Am I confused? No, I’m not. The painting thief must have taken the paintings in her car, so that she would have no way to prove to the police that the paintings left in Richard’s gallery were fake and that whomever stole the real copies of the paintings and replaced them with the fake ones had to have killed Richard and was now after her life. Thinking fast, “What of the brake?” Kim said. “Has he checked the brake?”

Jasmine rolled her eyes like the question was stupid. “Mr Eze, please answer her”.

Mr Eze was a professional mechanic used by the police from time to time. He wiped his hands on a greasy cloth. “The brakes are in perfect condition, ma” Eze answered.

Kim shook her head. That’s impossible. “How can that be?”

“The brakes are working fine, ma. The accident didn’t harm…”

“That’s not possible!” Kim yelled “The brakes are not working!” she stressed each word. She almost died. Nearly lost her life. And this man was here, trying to make her look like a child who didn’t know or understand what she experienced. Fr. Mark held her hand. “Calm down, Kim” He said quietly.

Jasmine turned to Eze and said patronizingly, “Mrs. Harrison here believes that someone tampered with her brakes which led to her accident”.

Eze started shaking his head even before Jasmine finished talking. “No, Ma. That’s not possible”.

He walked to Kim’s car and pointed at parts of the vehicle as he talked, “there are only two way to damage the brakes on this jeep. Cut the brake links or loosen this nut and let the brake fluid run out” Eze said

“However, the link of Mrs Harrison’s car is solid and her brake drum is full” Eze added.

This man is confused. Kim thought.

“Excuse me” Fr. Mark said “Isn’t it possible that someone cut the links and replaced it after the accident or drained the brake fluid and refilled…”

“No other person has touched this car since the accident” Jasmine interrupted. Nonetheless, Fr. Mark’s eyes remained on the mechanic’s, waiting for him to reply “These links have never been cut” Eze said.

He pointed to the nut that held the brake fluid. “If anyone had loosened it, there would be fresh wrench marks on it. I can swear that no one has touched it in months” Eze added.

“The brakes are okay. You’ll see” Eze entered the jeep after hydraulic lift lowered it to the floor and started the car.

Kim’s heart began pounding. What if her car kills him? What if what happened to her happens to him? Will he die? Won’t she be responsible for his death? Then her car began racing towards her. Her eyes bulged. A car with brake problems.