Inspector David knew for sure that Esther was keeping some things from him. Nevertheless, he was satisfied with his latest discoveries; he now knew that the drinks were taken to the hotel room on the day of the hotel, even though he had doubts that Esther was alone in the room that day. The wrong address given to David by Jannice appeared conspicuous, while Josephine’s meeting with Esther that day seemed like she was trying to cover her tracks.

David left Esther’s place with a gratifying sense of accomplishment as he now had a stronger lead to chase. He set out to pay Jannice a visit, but first, he took a detour.

Later in the evening, David arrived at the Johnsons’ where he met Jannice as well as a middle-aged woman whose elegant appearance made her look like she was in her mid-thirties. As David made his entrance into the living room, both women hugged each other passionately, like they were celebrating something.

As David strolled across the passageway, he could hear the other woman whimper, “Oh my God! Oh my God! This is just…just too good.” She said as she held Jannice by the neck and kissed her all over the face while a few drop of tears escaped her eyes.
“Good evening ladies.” David greeted.

“Hello Inspector. How are you doing today?” Jannice asked, but before David could respond, she added, “Pardon my oversight. Please meet Joyce, Samson’s mum and my mother-in-law.”

After exchanging pleasantries, David stated his intent of wanting to have a word with Jannice about the case. Jannice was going to usher David to a private room when Joyce insisted that she would like to know the latest developments in the investigation since she hadn’t been involved so far.
“Firstly, is your sister at home? I’d like to ask her a couple of questions.” David asked.

“No she’s not. She’s been out all day. That girl…she only got back to the country last night, and she’s roamed around half of it already” Jannice trifled while David chuckled wryly.

“So, I was told that Josephine wasn’t around for the wedding. When exactly did she travel?” David asked.

“She traveled the day before the wedding. Why? What is the matter?” Jannice asked, looking concerned.

“Just putting things into perspective ma’am.” he assured.

David was going to tell Jannice about the discovery of the second cup and ask whether she drank from it or not, but he didn’t want to sound too specific and give her the opportunity to fib, so he asked her a more open question instead.

“Ma’am, please I need you to recount when and how your late husband drank from the juice that eventually killed him on your wedding night.” David demanded.

“Oh my God! Poisoned? My son was poisoned? By who?” Joyce asked in succession as she wailed as though Samson had died all over again.
David wondered why Jannice hadn’t told Joyce about the cause of her son’s death, but since it wasn’t in his place to question her on the matter, he got it off his mind.

“Yes ma’am, your son was poisoned, and my mission to find out who poisoned him will be greatly aided by Jannice’s answer to the question I asked.” David remarked as he observed Jannice who seemed like she wasn’t present with them in the room.

After a few seconds of silence, Jannice spoke: “It was after he had an allergy attack.” she began. “He told me that his throat was getting dry, and demanded for a drink, so I poured him a cup of his favourite juice. The drink did soothe him, and he felt a lot better afterwards. We fooled around and talked for a bit before we both slept off. And in the morning…in the morning” Jannice repeated as she broke down in tears. Joyce drew nearer and tried to comfort her in her embrace, while David watched on, rather apathetically, waiting to fire on with his questions.

As soon as he noticed that the whimpers had subsided, David asked: “Did you at any point drink from the juice?”

“No.” Jannice replied.

“Well, we found a second cup in the room, but you failed to mention it in your account.” David noted.

“Yes, there was a second cup. David poured me some of the juice after he felt relieved. He wanted me to have a taste, but I wasn’t in the mood for it, so he ended up drinking it by himself.” Jannice explained.

David didn’t seem convinced, so he asked; “But why did he have to get another cup just for you just to have a taste when he could have easily used the one he was drinking from?”

“I don’t know. Samson liked to do things his own way. All I know is that if I had taken the drink that night, I wouldn’t be seated here, and be tortured by having to answer questions that make it seem like I had killed my husband.” Jannice fired, as Josephine stepped inside the house.

“Apologies if I had unsettled you ma’am. I’ll take my leave now.” David said as he got up.

As Josephine stepped into the room, she walked past Inspector David and inquired why the ladies were looking so gloomy. She was about to make another remark when Inspector David greeted; “Hello Miss Johnson”. “Hello”, Josephine replied without turning to look at the inspector.
Joyce was asking Josephine if she had heard the good news when David cuts in.

“Miss Johnson, you are under arrest for the murder of Samson Coker.” David declared.

To be continued…