100 Ways to Solve a Murder-Chapter 125: The Artist XIII

Interrogation Room, CID

"His death will benefit his sister; he didn’t have much to live for anyway," Diana claimed, her voice filled with conviction. There was no trace of regret even on her face, she believed it, Levi could tell.

Levi clenched his jaw, "I see." he said, then he turned towards the cameras in the room, "Did we get all that?" he asked, dropping his facade altogether. Diana furrowed her brows in confusion, she turned to look at the far corner of the room where Levi was staring at.

After hearing confirmation from his earpiece, he turned to Diana, his signature smug grin back on his face. Levi removed the earpiece and held it in his hand for a moment, Diana watching him in sheer confusion.

"You seemed surprised," Levi said, amused at the woman’s expression. The slicked blond slowly strutted around the room, circling the woman grinning wildly. A confession was so powerful in court, and all the little details she shared that only the killer would have known would put so much weight onto charging her.

Moments later, the door swung open revealing Davies. The middle-aged detective approached the brown-haired woman, telling her of her Rights as he cuffed her arms behind her back.

"We knew all along it was you, Diana," Levi said, dropping the formality altogether. It had been annoying having to act so professionally and ’pleasant,’ he scoffed at the word, towards her.

"We knew you visited the hospital a week ago with abdominal complaints; I knew it was most likely from getting exposed to the lead acetate you used to poison Michael," Levi said, pocketing his hand.

"We also know that the ring around Charmaine’s finger that you passed down belonged to Michael’s mother. A family heirloom passed down to the woman of the house." he continued.

"We also know that you had a meeting with a real estate agent, two months before Michael’s death. And that all your visits to his apartment coincided with each of his hospitalizations. Thank you for the tip on the online purchase of lead oxide; by the way, CID’s computer analyst would be searching the hard drive of your computer for that, and it will be presented as one of the key pieces of evidence in your trial." Levi shared.

The slicked blond groaned in disappointment, he shook his head. All these were due to both luck and misfortune on their part. Luck they have vital evidence and misfortune with Marco’s fate. "And even though you were smart enough to dispose of the lead acetate you used. You were dumb enough to have not done it sooner."

"If you knew all that, why go through all these?" Diana asked, puzzled. Davies mentally agreed with her statement, but if he was honest he enjoyed Levi’s theatrics, but he’d never say that outloud.

"A lot of things weren’t clear and I don’t fancy being left in the dark; number 1 was I found the motive questionable. But now, after you shared the little detail that you are dying, it makes perfect sense!" Levi said, Davies, flinched at his insensitivity. "Second, Dr. Gray insisted on getting as much evidence to ensure your conviction," he added.

Levi turned towards the covered two-way mirror; he sent Davies a look. And the detective inspector reached for the remote and pressed a button. The blinds started to ascend slowly, Levi looked down at Diana, the deviousness in his eyes and lips were clear as day. "But most importantly, this is for her," he said, gesturing to the two-way mirror. Diana turned to look; as the blinds climbed entirely, and standing right in front of the glass was Charmaine. Tears streamed down her eyes, gritting her teeth as she looked upon her reflection in the mirror.

She had heard everything; the whole conversation was played live to her on the other side of the room. She recognized her mother’s voice, and she knew her well enough to know when she was telling a lie. And she did not lie.

Levi reached for the switch on the two-way mirror’s right side, and he turned it off, and the mirror turned to see-through glass.

Charmaine looked at her mother in both anger and disbelief. Not only did she lose her brother, but her mother also died with him, she realized.

Levi slowly made her way towards Diana, who had frozen in shock as her daughter looked at her, filled with fury and hurt. He leaned towards her ear, "You didn’t have much to live for anyway," he said. Diana looked at him in sheer horror, and Levi shot her an even bigger grin.

Davies instructed an officer to usher out Mrs. Scott; the case was finally closed; he sighed in relief. But he still had some questions in mind; he turned to Levi, who was fixing his necktie facing the mirror.

"How did you know? She’s sick, as she said, so it couldn’t just have been from her obvious Anemia. So why?" the detective asked, earning Levi’s attention. The slicked blond turned to him, buttoning his suit jacket.

"She called him Michael," Levi stated, smoothening his suit before he headed out. His work was done, after all. Davies shot him an annoyed look, "Well, that’s his name." he retorted. Levi rolled his eyes; he knew that.

"You have a child Davies, don’t you? What’s her name again? Margaret?" Levi said, almost making small talk. Davies nodded, "what do you call her?" the psychologist asked.

"Maggie?" he added in question, and Levi saw the realization in Davies’ eyes. "A son she raised for many years, but she addresses him as a stranger would. If she had an ounce of affection towards him, she would have called him Mike. Like a real parent would"

"He could have preferred being called Michael." Davies challenged, that could be a possibility.

"I thought of that too, but Charmaine calls him Mike, making that argument poppycock," Levi said before turning away and heading to the door. Davies followed behind, "I expect my payment by the end of the week, Davies. Good day!" the slicked blond said as he turned a corner.

....

Sam stood outside the waiting room of Criminal Investigation Department, a long black coat wrapped around her as she waited for Levi.

Her green eyes rested on Charmaine sitting inside the room, a box of tissues on her lap; she was only in her pajamas, and a jacket belonging to one of the officers was wrapped over her shoulders.

Charmaine’s eyes were red, nose stuffed, and puffy. She had been crying for the past 15 minutes since her mother’s little revelation, okay, huge revelation.

Sam sighed; she knew it must be difficult what she was going through. Not only did she just recently lost her brother, but the knowledge that it was her mother who killed him was something so much worse. She couldn’t wrap her head around it. She knew the two didn’t exactly have a mother-child relationship. But, she never saw animosity towards each other, especially one that is enough to kill.

Charmaine turned to look towards the door when she heard it swung open, and entered was a familiar looking redhead. She couldn’t forget that face, and they met just yesterday afternoon. And her face wasn’t the sort people could easily forget.

"Charmaine, I’m sorry." was the only thing Sam could say. She wasn’t good at comforting people; it wasn’t her forte. The young brunette shook her head; she didn’t know what to say. She had several questions running in her head, but where to start, she couldn’t decide.

Sam pulled an empty chair and placed it across the young woman, and she sat.

Charmaine looked up at her, tears still flowing out of her eyes, "I don’t understand," she confessed, "I don’t understand how she could do something like that."

Sam nodded; neither could she fully understand it too, but something was certain. Diana would do anything to ensure her daughter lived a comfortable life. Sam took her hand and held it, giving her a sense of comfort. She was just 21, after all, still a kid in Sam’s eyes.

It was 10 minutes later when an officer came in to inform them that he’ll be taking her to a hotel, seeing as the forensic team was still investigating their house.

Charmaine stood up and followed behind the uniformed officer. She paused halfway to the door and turned to look back at Sam. "I have one more question, Dr. Gray."

"Ask," Sam replied, hands in her coat pocket.

"Mike," her voice cracked, "Why did he send me that painting?" she asked, confused.

Sam smiled at her sadly, "I believe he never wanted anyone to know, especially you. He decided to take it to his grave, but it was something that needed to be said but he had no one to say it to. I think it was his way of saying that even though he had things he could never say to you. He trusted you the most..and that he’d die for you."