Chapter 7

Collins and his colleague had gone to Fred's mansion to question the maids. The mansion had eight maids in total and three of them were specifically for the kitchen. 

"Mrs… Mrs Fairstone?"

"Yes," the brunette who sat across from Collins answered. "Which part of the house do you work in?" He asked, placing the file he held on the coffee table in front of him.

"I'm in charge of the bedrooms upstairs"

"Where were you at the time Mrs Serena's meal was being prepared?"

"I was busy in one of the rooms. Earlier that day, the head maid had informed us that Mr Sullivan's wife would be arriving at the mansion. We were instructed to work extra hard. I wasn't done with my work even after Mrs Serena was found in her room like that".

The other investigator jolted down something in a book and glanced at her. "Then did you see someone? Or suspect someone"

She answered with a straight face," no".

Another maid came to sit where Mrs Fairstone had sat. She was quite short with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail. Collins already knew her name as he already had them investigated.

He asked which part of the mansion she worked.

"The corridors, I clean the floors and every furniture and portraits."

"Ah, the corridors. What were you doing at the time when Mrs Serena's food was being prepared?" 

She hesitated before answering," I was kind of in a situation you see … "

" You should tell us everything " Collins cut her short.

She sighed," I had a running stomach so I… I had to use the toilet quite a lot of times. It was that bad"

" Where did you go to do this? "

The maid looked at Collins, stunned " what do you mean where? Is that importan… '' she stopped when Collins gazed at her rudely.

"The 3rd room which is close to the balcony upstairs. I was working close by and I was really going to shit on myself so I had no choice, please don't let the head maid know about this" she said with a pleading face.

Collins completely ignored her plea," balcony? That's quite close to Mrs Serena's room isn't it?"

The maid's eyes widened," what? No.. I mean yes but I had nothing to do with her meal you see. I came out of the room after the meal was delivered " 

" I see," Collins answered.

" Then do you have a suspect? "

The maid was taken aback by the question and kept quiet for a while.

" Well, I did notice something "

Collins leaned forward, fully interested in what she had to say.

" That morning, before Mrs Serena arrived and even after, someone kept acting strange. She kept acting out of place so something didn't seem right about her"

" Who's this person? "

She leaned forward and whispered," June"

Collins glanced at the file he had picked up from the table earlier. " June Harrington?"

The maid nodded. "She works on this floor" 

"Thank you, you may leave now."

When she left, the other investigator turned to face Collins , "she didn't look like she was being honest though, do you believe her? "

" We'll have to see when we get to Mrs June's turn"

Another maid came in and sat down. She looked worried and tried not to show it but Collins could already see that she was anxious.

"Miss Rosita?" He asked while glancing at her.

"Yes" her voice was almost like a whisper.

"So it's you, the maid who prepared the meal"

Collins now understood why she was anxious. She was a prime suspect.

"Miss Rosita, you prepared Miss Serena's meal around 9am?"

"Yes, yes I did"

" I see, so did you induce poison into it?"

She answered immediately," I'd never do such a thing. I was asked to prepare this for Mr Sullivan's wife so I put all my effort into it. The head maid took it immediately and it was prepared to deliver. I had nothing to do with the poison ", she broke down at the end in tears.

It was quite obvious that this had been bothering her long before now. Her eye bags were signs of her sleepless nights, thinking and worrying about the situation she was in.

The other investigator quickly brought out a handkerchief and handed it to her. She wiped her tears and blew her nose, "I'm sorry, I couldn't just keep it in anymore"

"We understand" Collins answered 

"I'm a single mother and my child is really sick. This is the only job I have to feed him and provide his drugs. I've been working here for a while and things have quite been going well for me. My child's still sick but he's getting his treatment. I'm not saying this to get your sympathy really. I just want to let you know that there's no reason I'd do something like that. All I really want is for my child to continue getting his treatment, please believe me"

" I understand you Miss Rosita, but I can only believe you when there's enough evidence to clear your name. I hope you understand that. Do you have a suspect? "

" No I..I was busy in the kitchen, I didn't really notice anything strange before or after the meal was ready"

" Thank you for your time Miss Rosita ".

The next maid was rather an impatient one. She urged Collins to ask her what he wanted, saying she didn't have time for this.

" Whether or not you're in a hurry, you'll have to comply and answer our questions honestly and correctly Miss Manthas "

The maid rolled her eyes and adjusted to sit in a comfortable position.

" So? " She asked

" Which part of the mansion do you work in?" 

" I clean the floor and furnitures on this floor"

" Where were you at the time when Mrs Serena's food was being prepared? "

" Does that even matter? " She scoffed," you guys really think everyone's just going to answer your questions honestly? If the culprit was truly amongst us, I doubt they'd be honest you know "

" Well you sound like you know a lot, should we add you to our list of suspects then?" Collins said grimly. 

There was a little twitch on her face. " I'm just saying, for christ sake" 

" Answer the previous question Miss Manthas" the other invigilator urged. 

" I was in the living room right here, cleaning, that's all I did. I had a lot of work to finish since we were on a break for a while when Mrs Serena arrived. We were not supposed to meet or see her"

" Since you work on this floor, you should know Mrs June Harrington right? " Collins asked.

" Of course "

" Did you notice anything about her that day? "

Manthas, the maid , looked confused for a second before she answered," I think you're mistaken, June didn't come to work that day, she was on leave".