I didn’t!

“How many times do I need to tell you? I didn’t kill her!”

“Can you please remain calm Mrs Buck. You are a witness and a suspect in the case. All I am asking for is your cooperation. Can you describe what Mia was like?”

“Well, Mia was such a wonderful child. She was pretty, she was smart, she was everything a parent would want. It was her nineteenth birthday yesterday. Her father, my husband, died two years ago and she hadn’t celebrated her birthday ever since. I advised her to throw a party this time. Her father used to throw such splendid parties for her. She had barely been alive in the past two years- I am sorry, can I have a tissue?”

“Yes, sure.”

“I just… wanted to see Mia happy. I thought celebrating her birthday with her friends would cheer her up. She was an energetic child before. She used to play a lot and was very talkative. You know, she had been seeing a psychologist for the past ten months. It was probably difficult for her when her mother died. I mean, she was only eight. Ever since then she was overly attached to her father. And then after Matt died, she was completely shattered. She started locking herself in her room and wouldn’t come out for hours.”

“And how was your relationship with her?”

“I married her dad when she was eleven. She resented me in the beginning because she thought I had taken her mother’s place, but she warmed up to me later. I didn’t have any children and I always considered her as my daughter. We would play together, I also helped her in her studies. She always kept some distance and I absolutely understood that.”

“ Okay, so as far as I am informed all of Mr Buck’s property was under his daughter’s name—”

“You can not possibly think in that direction. After Matt died all I had left was Mia. We leaned on each other for support. How could you even?”

“That's not what I meant. Can you describe what happened yesterday at the party?”

“As I said, it was Mia’s birthday. All of her friends, five in total I guess, had arrived by around 8:20 pm. They talked for a while and then she cut the cake, there was some dance and music. At around 9:10 she went upstairs with Trudy, her friend. She returned after five minutes and then went upstairs again, this time alone. When she didn’t return after twenty minutes I went to check on her. Her door was locked and there was a puddle of blood flowing from inside the room— Oh my poor Mia!”

“Here take some tissues.”

“ I tried my best but still failed. She had been very impulsive after Matt died.”

“Thank you for your statement Mrs Buck. We will get back to you later.”

—— ——

So um, my name is Trudy Williams, and I um, I’m sorry, I am really nervous.”

“There is no need to be. I am just going to ask you some questions and you have to answer them truthfully. So how did you and Mia Buck meet?”

“Well, we shared a psychologist. I went to her for my anxiety problems and Mia had lost her father so… My session ended at five and hers started at that time and so um, we eventually became friends. So yeah, I have known her since the last nine months.

“She was a really nice girl, she always wore dark, full sleeved clothes. She was really talkative.”

“But Mrs Buck stated that ever since her father passed away she didn’t really talk a lot.”

“Is that so? I don’t know, she used to talk a lot. Maybe because we shared a psychologist….. that’s a lame reason, I’m sorry. She actually used to talk about her stepmother a lot. They seemed pretty close from her conversations, though she always referred to her as Mrs Jennifer.”

“Can you describe what happened at the party?”

“ I went to her house at around 7:50 pm. It was my first time so I went a little early. They have a huge house! I guess her father was pretty rich. The interior seemed very classy. I’m so sorry I’m horrible at describing things.”

“It’s okay, please continue.”

“So um, the vases, the chandelier, the lighting, the furniture, everything screamed money. After her other friends arrived, I think there were four more people, everyone just conversed for a while. Then Mrs Jennifer brought the cake. The cake was huge! I think there were like six layers. After she cut the cake everyone started dancing and I just sat in a corner. Around 9:00 I wanted to go to the washroom so I asked Mia and she guided me towards her room. Her room was full of pictures of her mom and dad. I think her washroom was bigger than my entire room. Anyways we both went downstairs and just a minute later she went back to her room saying she had something to do. I had no idea she would…..kill herself.”

“Thanks for your cooperation Miss Williams. You may leave We’ll call you later if necessary.”

“Both of Mia’s parents died in suspicious car accidents nine years apart. Due to lack of evidence both cases were closed as accidents. Were they really accidents?”

———  ———

“Miss Katie Rivers, can you describe your relationship with Mia Buck?”

“Oh that shameless- we had been friends since we were five. We were inseparable. The entire school knew of our friendship. But she obviously had to ruin everything. You wouldn’t believe what she did. I got to know two months ago that she slept with my boyfriend, not once, not twice, but several times! I don’t even know how long they have been—”

“I would appreciate it if you don’t slam the table every five seconds.”

“Oh come on. How would you react if your best friend betrays you in the most disgusting way possible. I know she had depression after losing her father but that doesn’t give her the right to-”

“Your hands are going to be very sore.”

“Whatever. As soon as I got to know what Mia did, I confronted her and guess what she did? She started crying! Like she was the one who chose to do that. I just couldn’t believe her. I broke our friendship and obviously, dumped that idiot. We didn’t talk to each other after that. Then out of the blue, three days before her birthday Mrs Buck called me and invited me to her party. I refused. I mean if you were in my shoes you would’ve done the same. But she pleaded, asked for forgiveness on Mia’s behalf and said that it was the first time in two years that she had seen Mia showing any emotions at all. I was furious at her but decided to go for some time.”

“And what happened at the party?”

“ I arrived at around 8:20 pm and was the last one to arrive. Mia cut her cake, then everyone started dancing. At around 9:00, I decided to go back home. I searched for Mrs Buck to tell her the same so I went to the kitchen but she wasn't there. I searched for her for like fifteen minutes but I couldn’t find her. Their house is pretty big. Then a heard Mrs Buck scream her lungs out. I followed the sound and reached outside Mia’s room which had been broken by then. Mia was on the floor, dead in a pool of blood.”

“You seem to describe the events rather calmly, Miss Rivers.”

“What do you mean? Out of everyone I had known Mia for the longest time. I was mad at her and even broke our friendship but a part of me still loved her and couldn’t accept what she had done. Everyone has different ways of coping. Besides, Mia used to harm herself before. If you see her arm you will see several cuts.Just because I seem calm doesn’t mean I killed her or that I am not shocked by her death.”

“Okay Miss Rivers you may leave. We will call you later if necessary.”

—— ———

“Sir, we just got the psychologist’s statement and she said that Mia Buck was in good relations with her stepmother according to what Mia talked about during her sessions. She also said that it was unlikely that Trudy Williams killed her. Also there were several cuts discovered in both of Mia’s arms.

“This is a hard nut to crack. How is it possible that all the three family members died in ways where there is no possible evidence?”

—— ——

After a few days of investigation the case was closed as a suicide due to lack of evidence.

“I can’t believe they suspected me of murdering her. I thought of her as my daughter.” “The police are dumb Mrs Jennifer. Why in the world would I kill her! I had barely known her for nine months.”

“And me Trudy? Yes she betrayed our friendship but we knew each other ever since we were five.”

“Let’s just forget what happened. So Trudy, Katie, how should we divide the money?”