Chapter 4 BOOK ONE: CHAPTER FOUR

"Okay Mom.....where is your purse?" Gloria asked.

"It's on the table in the living room." Helen replied.

Gloria went to the parlor accompanied by her sisters. She collected some money from her mother's purse, then they left the house. They could have sent the gateman but it would take him a million years to return.

Going themselves was the best option. They headed straight to the nearest shop, conscious of their environment. It was dark outside, no street lights were on and they had no intention of staying out for long. When they got to the nearest shop, no one was there.

"I guess our neighborhood is improving..." Maria mocked, ".... people now leave their shops open at night without worry."

"Let's just go." Gloria said, "we shouldn't stay out here for long"

The three sisters turned to leave when the owner of the shop returned. She apologized for making them wait. Then sold what they wanted to them and they left.

When they got home, something was amiss. The gate was open and the gateman was not there. Perhaps their mother had instructed him to do so. Each of the girls thought as though they were connected by the same instinct. They decided to not be bothered by it. They entered the house and Gloria locked the door.

"I'm feeling uneasy." Stella said.

"Me too" Maria agreed and turned to Gloria, "You're feeling it too..... right?"

Gloria laughed, "you both are getting worried for no reason. Don't worry, when we get inside, we are going to see Mom and all your doubts will be clarified." She assured them.

"Honestly, I don't think Mom ordered the gateman to do this," Stella said, unconvinced.

"We'll find out when we get inside," Maria said.

"And I'll be the boss who leads the way," Gloria said, smiling as walked ahead of her sisters. Then, she ran towards the kitchen to meet her mom.

Meanwhile, Stella and Maria walked casually. Then, they stopped simultaneously.

"Something is burning" Stella sniffed.

"It's smelling like burnt beans" Maria agreed and before they could do anything else, they heard Gloria screaming in the kitchen.

Immediately, Maria and Stella ran to the kitchen to find out what was going on. Eventually, they got to the kitchen and were shocked at the sight they saw.

Their mother, Helen was lying on the floor of the kitchen soaking in blood, dead. She had been shot.

Gloria could not move, she could not recover from the shock. Maria turned off the gas cylinder while Stella rushed to her father's room to check on him.

"No!" Stella screamed as tried to fight back tears, "it can't be."

Maria and Gloria joined Stella in their father's room only to find him dead as well.

Gloria couldn't take it any longer, she fainted. Her sisters rushed to her.

"Wake up Gloria" Maria cried as she slowly carried her with Stella's help to the living room. They laid her on the sofa.

"I think she'll be fine, call the police!" Stella told Maria and nodded as she reached out for the telephone on the table.

Stella kept quiet to do some serious thinking. How could this happen? She pondered. Suddenly, she remembered her cat. She wondered whether Miuky was part of the mishap. She went to the garden and was astonished to see Miuky dead. Like her parents, Miuky was shot. But how was that possible?

Miuky had been her secret pet. Only her parents, her sisters and the gateman were aware of Miuky's existence. The gateman! Where did the gateman disappear to? She went to the gateman's little house, close to the gate to see if he was there but she found it empty. Was the gateman responsible for her parents death?

But why would he do that? Her parents had treated him well and besides,what would he gain from it? But aside from him, who else could be the suspect? No one....... except Pete!

Stella recalled that Pete had seen her cat. Exactly! Both Pete and David were aware of her cat's existence.

Apart from the gateman, Pete was also a suspect. But Pete was their family friend - her father's trusted friend. It can't be possible, Stella thought. But in some movies, the villain always turned out to be close to the protagonist. She must not trust anyone. She told herself.

Then she decided to think of what Pete could possibly gain from her parents death.

She could think of nothing. Then, she remembered the company. Was Pete trying to hijack the company? Perhaps that was what they were talking about earlier that day.

But why was the gateman nowhere to be found? If he was innocent, he could have been killed by the murderers. Stella just calm down, she told herself and went back into the house.

She saw Gloria lying on the sofa. Then, she went to the kitchen to look for Maria but she was not there. She went to her father's room and found her sobbing.

"Who could have this?" Maria asked when she noticed Stella's presence.

Stella moved closer, "it's alright Maria" she consoled, "the police will be here soon and they will arrest the murderer."

"And how will they do that.....I mean who could possibly kill our parents? I have no single idea. Where would the police start from?" Maria asked, still sobbing, "our parents are just going to die like that while the murderers go scot-free."

"No! That won't happen...." Stella paused and started debating on whether to tell Maria her suspicions or not.

Maria noticed that Stella was lost in thoughts. "Stella....do you know who did this to our parents?" She asked with much curiosity.

"Well.....I..."

"Stella, please don't lie to me! I want you to tell me everything you know."

"Alright Maria, I will but it's only my suspicions.....my suspicions" she emphasized, "I could be wrong"

"I'm listening"

Stella told her of everything that had transpired between her, Miuky, Pete and David that morning. Then she told her of her suspicions.

"I can't believe this!" Maria exclaimed. "How could uncle Pete do this to us?"

"Calm down Maria, it's just my suspicion. When the police get here, we'll tell them about it and they'll investigate it for us"

"Yes, you're right"

"By the way, which inspector did you call?"

"Don't worry, I called inspector James. He's Dad's childhood friend. I'm certain he'll help us out"

"That's good then. I wonder what's taking them so long."

A noise coming from the parlor was heard and the sisters went to check what it was. Maria wasn't glad to see Gloria moving towards them.

"I told you to remain here" Maria frowned.

"I'm scared. I think some people are coming...... I'm so scared!" Gloria cried.

"I think it's the police," Stella informed them.

"Don't be scared" Maria said as she hugged her, "the police are on our side, they'll help us arrest the murderer" she assured her.

Soon the police arrived. Stella was relieved to see Inspector James and his police force. Stella explained everything that happened - the moment her and her sisters went out to the moment they returned. She planned to tell Inspector James of her suspicions in private.

"Where are the bodies?" A man in his early thirties asked. He seemed to be the second in authority among all the policemen that were there.

"This is Mr George" James introduced, "he is a police investigator, he'll help us track down the criminal"

Stella nodded and gestured to them to follow her. She took them to the kitchen. She saw the remaining men taking pictures and looking at things that could possibly give them a clue.

"Where are the remaining bodies?" George asked.

"Come with me sir" Stella said and took them to her father's room.

Just like what they did in the kitchen, they took pictures and checked for anything that could help.

"Is this all?" George asked.

"Yes sir," Stella replied.

George turned to look at James. "I thought you said that there were six people living in this house."

"Yes, I did," James said. "Stella, where is the gateman's body?"

"We could not find his body sir. When we returned, he was nowhere to be found." Stella explained.

"Is there any CCTV camera in this house?" George asked.

CCTV? Goodness Stella! Why didn't you think of that? Her father had implanted CCTV cameras in almost every part of the house.

"Yes sir," Stella replied.

"Where is the laptop it is connected to?" George asked, eagerly.

"In his wardrobe sir" Stella said as she moved towards the wardrobe, "my Dad always keeps his lap..........no way!" Stella exclaimed as she opened the wardrobe.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"The laptop is gone!" She responded.

George ordered the rest of the men to search the house for the gateman's body.

Meanwhile, Stella was tense. It would be difficult for the police to track the criminal without any clue. She used her eyes to scan the room. Then her eyes spotted a card on the floor, close to James' left shoe. She looked at it more closely and noticed that it looked familiar.

Then she remembered. It was Pete's ID card. She recalled that David had taken it when it fell down from Pete's pocket earlier that day. That was a big evidence! With that, Pete would become a huge suspect. Perhaps, her suspicions were correct. She was about to tell James about it when she saw that he noticed it too.

She was glad, but it did not last long when she noticed that he began to act strangely. Instead of picking it up to inform others, he looked around with caution. Stella acted as though she did not see him. Then when he stopped looking, Stella returned her gaze to him. She saw him picked the card and hid it in his pocket.