Chapter Four

     The heavy rain pat on her window, the constant barking of her neighbor’s dog and the terrific rumbling of thunder, all contributed to Theresa's splitting headache that morning. She had awoken feeling light headed and at the same time, the pain of what seemed like the inside of her head being pulled apart. She had spent the better part of the night explaining why she hadn't made it to their dinner date the night before, to William. No sooner did the conversation change to Robert Johnson and her job as a journalist in his agency. Haven wondered why he'd been so techy since she got this job, she finally confronted him about it. He hadn't given any rational explanation to anything so, she resigned to leave him to his paranoia and went to bed.

        She rampaged the first aid kit for aspirins or any other analgesic drug but with little success as the only thing closest to a pain reliever had expired. Exhausted and with an even worse throb in her head, she went into the living room to ask William if he had any aspirin.

     "Good morning," she greeted, grabbing a bottle of water from the kitchen counter. 

       He was sitting on the couch with the remote in his hand, switching through channels. "Morning," he muttered inaudibly and she fought the urge to roll her eyes, dreading that she had to ask him for something now.

      "Do you have any aspirins?"

      He looked at her through the corner of his eyes whilst still switching channels. "Why?" 

     She rolled her eyes. "I want to stuff it down the sink. What do you think?" she replied sarcastically which only irate him.

     "Unfortunately, I do not have a prescription for that."

      Theresa scoffed, regretting why she had asked in the first place. "You know what? Forget it." She hissed, going back into the bedroom.

      She had taken her shower and had prepared to go to the pharmacy down the block and help herself. Probably do a little grocery shopping as well when she found out William had left. With the way her head was throbbing at the moment, she allowed herself not to think about what his problem might be or her head might finally come apart. As usual, she spread peanut butter all over the last loaves of brown bread in her fridge and had it for breakfast while watching the channel William had settled for before bolting. 

          Shock consumed her when she saw the breaking news that came on just as she was about to switch off the television and head out. 'Mary Johnson found dead in her bedroom'. Her first thought was 'another Mary Johnson' but surely the picture of woman she had just seen the evening before allayed every doubt. The reporter went ahead to reveal that the housekeeper, Margaret, had found her on the floor, just beside her bed at about 6:45 that morning. She'd immediately called an ambulance who pronounced Mary dead on their arrival. Somehow, word got out and the press were swirling around Robert Johnson's abode.

       Theresa could see Robert standing in front of the seven inch steel gate as his wife was wheeled off in a black sack. Her mouth dropped open in both confusion and shock. The suddenty that the healthy looking woman she had just seen yesterday has somehow ended up dead doubled the pain in head and she just switched off the TV, to the pharmacy before anymore news tears her head apart.

        The next morning started off in the same way as yesterday's only that her head wasn't throbbing. This time, she was awoken by the knock on her front door. She huffed, turning to see if William was going to get the door but the knock didn't seem to have woken him. Theresa practically jumped out of bed and rushed to the door, ready to lash out at whoever interrupted her blissful sleep that early.

      "It had better not be that woman asking me to look after that lousy dog," she muttered to herself when she reached for the knob. On opening the door, all the things she had planned to say left her head. The cops were at her house. She knew that because of the gun harness the man was wearing and the police jacket the woman had on. 

      "Officers may I help you?" William peered from behind her, rubbing his eyes.

      "Miss Theresa Gray?" The man with the gun harness asked, flashing the badge on his wallet. "I'm Detective Richard Stones and this is my partner Veronica Hade," he pointed to the woman in the police jacket.

       Theresa nodded as she stared blankly at them, waiting for them to state their purpose. What would the police be doing in her apartment so early in the morning?

     "May we come in?" the woman asked and Theresa stepped away from the door, giving them just enough space to brush past her.

     "We are investigating the death of Mary Johnson and we would like to get your statement." Detective Stones spoke out when he had taken his seat in the couch.

    "Would you like coffee? I'm sure it must have been really cold out there," William asked going into the kitchen and Vera eyed him skeptically.

    "That wouldn't be necessary — " Detective Stones began to say when the woman interrupted him.

     "I'd like that." 

        Soon, William came out with two cups of coffee, one for the woman and the other for himself. 

      "We would like to get your statement as well Miss Gray." Stones said, bringing out a small book and a pen.

      "Do they know how she died? Mary Johnson I mean." William inquired and Theresa turned to glare at him. Sure she'd like to know, but he was asking the wrong people.

     Veronica shot him a stare before replying. "She was poisoned." And, she earned a glare from her partner. That clearly wasn't information they were supposed to let out.

     "Poisoned?" the words just escaped her mouth. Which means she was murdered. Mary was always so nice to everyone. She would sometimes box up cup cakes for her and her colleagues whenever she came visiting Robert in the agency. For as long as Theresa had known her, she was mostly cheerful, except for that evening at Oakleys.

      "Apparently someone put two milligrams of Tetrodotoxin in her coffee," Veronica articulated detailedly, looking keenly at Theresa. Stones glared harshly at her and she immediately threw her head down.

      What was she thinking? Theresa thought. 

     "We spoke to Margaret, the housekeeper," Stones continued. "And she said Mary came out to see you that evening." 

     William stared at Theresa in surprise which left her wondering the cause for that look now. She paid no attention to his eyes on her and answered the detective. "We met at Oakleys that evening." 

      "And did she order anything?"

       She shook her head. "For as long as I was there, she didn't have anything."

      "So you're saying you left the diner before her?"

       "Yes."

       He scribbled something in the book and looked up again. "What did you talk about?"

       "Mostly about Robert Johnson. Although I didn't understand where she was coming from with the questions she asked."

       William's expression changed to a smoldering one as he sat there in silence drinking his coffee.

      "What questions exactly?"

      "Questions about his biography. I'd prefer not to talk about that." As a writer, she wasn't supposed to give 'previews' of a book that hadn't even gone half way.

      Stones nodded and scribbled something in the book again.

      "What time did you leave?" 

      Theresa thought for a while before answering. "About 6:30 I guess."

     He wrote something down again before jamming the book close and getting up from the seat. "That'll be all for now Miss Gray. Thank you for your cooperation." They shook hands and the detectives made their way to the door.

        "And please, do not leave the city," Richard advised before stepping out into the hallway. 

        Theresa could hear the distant argument between the detectives as she closed the door. She heaved a sigh of relief and turned to see William glaring at her. She just rolled her eyes and began to head back to bed, determined to avoid any further drama from him at the moment.

      "Don't you walk away from this." He called to Theresa who stopped in her tracks.

       "From what? Because all I see is you about to make a fuss over nothing again."

      He moved over to where she stood. "So you ditched our date because you had to meet with Mary Johnson to talk about her husband?"

     She threw her head back in frustration. "My goodness! Not this morning William. Please."

    "So when? Inappropriate that I had to find out from the detectives because all you told me was 'something came up'."

     "Yes, something did come up. The woman was troubled and needed to see me. I couldn't just say no to her."

      He scoffed, running a hand through his hair. "Theresa what has come over you?”

     "No, William. What has come over you!?" she whisper yelled. "You've been acting strangely since the weekend you dropped me off at the Johnson's house and I can't even begin to place why."

      He didn't say anything more and went into the bedroom. Few seconds later, came out, all dressed and without saying a word, left the house. Theresa flinged her hands in the air. "Great," she let out in exasperation.