Unveiling

Glancing at her father right now,Harmony could tell that there's more to this case than what meets the eye. A message she received this morning doubled the seed of doubt she already had. "Honey I suggest that you distance yourself from this case.For your own peace of mind. Go home and mourn your mother in peace." He then looked down,picking his nose. Under normal circumstances, Harmony would be disgusted but right now she couldn't manage to waste even a nanosecond of her time. "We wouldn't want the court calling psychologists for you, accusing you of suffering from Stockholm syndrome now,do we?"

"Are you indirectly insinuating that I'm incapable of representing you dad?"

"All I'm saying is,I have been arrested before for assaulting your mother. Everyone in the neighbourhood knew how our marriage was. I wouldn't be surprised if they also think I was ill-treating you as well. It will seem......absurd,for you to be standing by my side,representing me,a murder who supposedly kidnapped then later killed your mother. By defending me you'll be digging your own grave! Don't you think the prosecutor will assume we 'worked' together?"

"Is that the only reason why you're trying so hard to push me away? Yes,I agree.All the evidence points to you. Every neighbour thinks they know how your marriage was like but only you know the truth. That's what I need to know, the truth. It won't be long till they decide that these holding cells are too nice for a person like you to live in. For me to help you, you need to help me."

"I do not need your help or anybody's. Just stay away!"

"Or what huh? You'll kill me too?"

"I'm not a killer!" He banged the table so hard that he almost scattered Harmony's files. This got Harmony smiling secretly.

She knew that the more he becomes agitated is the more he talks what she needs to hear. He started cracking his knuckles. It was clear to her that he was having an inner-conflict. She now knew which are the right buttons to press. "So dad,you're really willing to rot in jail for something that you know you didn't do. What is so difficult about telling the truth? In this case,it will literally set you free."

Garry sat there defeated. He carefully studied his only daughter sitting across him. Deep inside, he had a number of things to tell her but his mind wasn't having it. It's the third day now since he has been held here and she's been coming to talk to him since then. "Look honey I think.... I wish....I think that you.." He paused, failing miserably to locate the right words. "Just tell me the truth." Her voice was demanding.

"The clock is ticking dad. I'm a lawyer so this alone should tell you how precious time is to me. Yes, it's clear that you don't care about your life anymore. This goes to show how selfish you really are! First you kill my mother. Now you're willing to spend the rest of your life in prison! What about me? Have you yet sat there on your uncomfortable small stinky bed and wondered about your daughter? Do you know how all of this is affecting me? You know what, I'm done! I'm dome caring for people who should be caring about me but instead, they don't. I am now going to stand up, turn my back on you then walk out of this cell and never look back. Goodbye Garry."

She quickly took her files to leave.

"She wanted to leave me!" He said.

"And that's why you killed her?"

"I told you I'm not a killer okay! Think about this. She tells me she's leaving. She packs her bags and leaves. Next thing, she's found dead. I had already signed the divorce papers and submitted them to court by then. Why then would I kill her?"

"You tell me! If only you could tell me the full version of the story. That's the only way I can understand and come up with a strong defence. Hold on a second, so you guys divorced without letting me know?"

"Jessica asked to be the one to tell you." He said. Harmony remained quite. "What gives you the confidence that I did not murder her? If I was someone else I wouldn't believe Garry."

"My insticts have never been wrong."She said.

"Please sit down honey. I'm deeply sorry for wasting your precious time. I care so much for you more than you think. I loved and still love your mother. I just didn't have a nice way of showing it and I'm sorry."

"Damn it Garry! If only you could stop apologising and tell me what I need to know. Your sorries are pointless at this moment."

"Don't forget who's the child between us Harmony! Restrain from shouting at me like that. This isn't easy for me as well. How does a father tell his daughter that her mother was a disrespectful hoe! She lived to test me. She lived to push me to my worst. She....she wasn't a saint."

"If she was so toxic to you then why didn't you let her go?"

"I couldn't just kick her out or leave her. The pain of being without her was worse than the pain she caused me daily."

"Do you know the man she was leaving you for?"

"So you believe me? Just like that?"

"Yes." She said. "Now please cooperate. I asked you a question."

Garry's heart was now beating way too fast as rage filled him. He thought back to the nights his brother came to visit. His own wife would sneak out in the middle of the night to go sleep with him. Under his roof. He so badly wanted to tell his daughter the whole truth. How her favourite uncle broke their happy home. He wanted to be free both literally and emotionally but he wondered if his freedom was worth breaking his daughter's heart further.

"Promise me that once you know the truth, you'll never seek revenge. It's not your battle to fight. You shouldn't get involved at all costs."

"I promise. The hearing is tomorrow. I have always known that you're a good man dad but the world doesn't know that. We'll proove it in court at all costs."

"I.... I don't know the man she was having an affair with."

"Is it? Look at this." She pushed her cellphone towards him. A text read 'he didn't do it' starred back at Garry.

"I concluded that the 'he' must be you. When I checked, this number is registered under uncle Ben's name. Did you confide in him about your marriage situation? And in this four word message, he sounds so sure. Why is he so sure? What does he know?"

At this point, Garry wished that his daughter's accusation was true- that he didn't care about her. Then it would be easy to just say 'honey your mother was having an affair with your favourite uncle Ben'. He knows the truth won't help that much but destoy his daughter further. He alone suspected that Ben's wife might be responsible for his wife's murder. His theory is that Ben's wife found out about the affair but kept quiet. When Ben divorced her,she knew why, so she retaliated. That's why she skipped the country, making it seem like she wants to start afresh away from Ben. But he knew he could be wrong.

"I confided in him. We're from the same womb. We grew up together so he must be following his insticts just like you're doing." At this point, he couldn't maintain eye contact anymore.

"If that is the case, why then does he contact me anonymously? We are close or atleast I thought so. He knows I'm a lawyer, everything he tells me will be useful. Why does it seem like he's playing hide and seek?"

"You know how hectic murder cases can be, maybe he just doesn't want to be dragged in all of this."

"I think he killed mom. Or atleast he knows who did."

"I really don't know honey."

"I will find the truth. Soon. I'm so close to it I can smell it."

THE END