“Oh!” Tanya said. “It’s you. Would you like to come in?”
“Yes, thank you.” I gave her a grateful smile, one that I had practised beforehand. “Were you expecting someone?”
“Uh… no,” Tanya said. “I’m glad you’re here. It gets tedious being home alone with only your thoughts for company.”
“You could visit around town,” I pointed out.
“I used to… but with the whole issue with my husband and the dead body…” She drew in a shaky, deep breath. I had a feeling she was holding in tears. “I could put myself in danger by going out there.”
I nodded my understanding. “I can drop by more often if you’d like.” And I meant it because she had information, and I wanted information.
“Thank you,” She gave me a small smile. “Take a seat.” Gesturing for me to take a seat, she did the same herself and sighed. “How’s your day been so far?”
I studied her for a second. Her reaction to what I said next would tell me something significant about her character. It would tell me what kind of person she was. Her reaction would be a breakthrough for me; it was all I needed.
“Oh, you now… found out they arrested Philip,” I said and watched her reaction to this, and it was exactly what I expected. She gasped, her eyes widened, and she set her lips in a hard line.
“Oh! When did that happen?” She asked in a flat voice.
“This morning, I talked to the detective.”
“What did he say?”
“I talked to him, doesn’t mean he talked to me, see? He ignored me and told me to leave him alone.” I said and watched her smile a little; she was an attractive woman. Attractive but not good looking. She had prominent features that didn’t quite fit well together, but she was attractive.
“Looks like the person to do that,” she chuckled. “Are you looking more into the case?”
“No. My aunt would never let me, I’m interested in it, so I’ll keep up with the news.” I lied through my teeth. She tilted her head and studied me for a few seconds before nodding and asking if I needed something to drink. I said yes, and she left me to make some tea for the both of us. Before she left, I asked for the bathroom. Her house’s layout was exactly like my Aunt’s place was.
In the bathroom, I stood for a while before flushing. Then opened the tap and let the water run while I rummaged around her cabinets and drawers. Nothing seemed off when I gave it a quick sweep with my eyes. But something on the floor beside the toilet bin caught my attention. I bent down to investigate it; it was a piece of folded paper. I picked it up; it was a note. After reading it, it found its way into my pocket, then I washed my hands and dried them.
Tanya’s tea was great; made me feel awake. “Do you like it?” She asked. “I didn’t know what you liked or how you liked it.”
“Oh, no. It’s… It might be the best tea I’ve had since I was I don’t know… ten?” We both laughed at that.
“Remind me again, why did your husband leave town?” I asked after a while of small talk. She didn’t miss a beat before repeating what she’d told me;
“His father passed away, and he needed to leave.” She said in a bored voice. She didn’t inject any emotion into the statement at all. That led me to believe she either hated the man or she was lying. I placed my bet on the latter.
“Oh yes, I remember now.” I gave a sweet and grateful smile. She must have believed my lie because she said;
“No problem.” And reading my mind, she went on; “His father and I didn’t get along. We were like… pineapple and mushrooms. He was the pineapple, he needed to find his ham or pepperoni, and I was the mushroom.”
“So you weren’t great together.” I laughed; liking her analogy. She nodded and laughed along with me.
“Yeah, he didn’t like me much. So, I can’t say I’m sad he’s dead; I’m…” She paused, “It’s not like I care.” I understood, she wasn’t sad that he was dead, she felt bad for her husband.
We talked about myself for the next twenty minutes. She didn’t ask about my sister, which was brilliant of her as at that moment, I didn’t want to talk about her. We talked about my mother and my life back at home, which wasn’t much, but she seemed interested in what I had to say. We had been talking for roughly fifteen minutes when I asked her when she and her husband had moved into town;
“Oh, over eight years ago now.” She said. “We needed a vacation, and we dropped here, we loved it, and now we live here.”
“Oh… Do you have children?” The realization that I know exactly nothing about this woman hit me like a bullet. I was now annoyed with myself. How did I expect to get information when I didn’t even know the people I was talking to?
Tanya’s eyes fell and welled up in tears. “I don’t have children. I’m… my mother had me sterilised when I was a teenager.”
“Oh? Why?” I felt terrible for asking, but it piqued my curiosity; I needed to know.
“Because all my friends slept around and most had been pregnant before. Most had babies, some had abortions at least twice, then some were pretty much infertile.”
“So she was afraid you’d tread the same pathway? Did you consent?”
“Honestly, if she’d cared to ask me or tell me before I was thirty that I was sterile; then I could have said something about it.” Tanya said, her voice bitter. I could feel how much she resented and loathed her mother for the sterilisation. “I found out by accident. So, I could never have kids.”
She looked up at me and her eyes told me this conversation had ended long ago. “Had you met the victim before?” I asked. This abrupt change of subject startled her, and she had to speak.
“No!” The word burst out of her mouth before she could stop herself. “Well, yes, she was a well-known businesswoman. It surprised me you didn’t immediately recognise her.” She said, now calmer. “I wear her perfumes sometimes.”
“Ah. I didn’t recognise her, unfortunately. Why didn’t you tell the detective that you knew her? That would have helped the investigation, wouldn’t it?.”
“I couldn’t.” She stood up and said; “I need to tend to a few things.” My brilliant mind translated the phrase accurately to mean ‘leave, I’m tired of you’.
“Sure.” I smiled. I seemed to be too obliging today, but oh well, I needed information. On my way out, I thought of something; she hadn’t told me where exactly her husband had gone, and she wouldn’t. So, if I asked what he took to the pace, which was likely that he flew; then I could get help to help find out where he went. “By the way, do you have a car?”
“No.” She was quick with her answer and spoke in a clipped voice. I was positive she was hiding something.
“How did your husband…?” I let my sentence trail off to give the impression that I was thinking about this situation.
“He flew.” Oh.
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