Chapter 16 Adesua Ridley
Adesua Ridley
Adesua wanted nothing more than to escape.
After what had happened at the ballet, she was hiding from the world.
She was convinced that her every move was being intently followed, even more so now that the depiction that she was a murderer, of all things, was painted on her beloved art.
In the garden that used to be her safe haven, it had started to feel like there was a public execution waiting to happen.
Omar was insistent that all the siblings gather there this morning.
She had tried her best to avoid the garden and maze altogether since Dale’s death.
Adesua was the first there. It was far too early, and she knew Kavita would be slinking in last. She reached her hand out to the roses filled with morning dew.
“Hard to believe this is where it all happened,” a deep voice said from behind her, startling her.
Adesua whipped her head around so quickly that it caused a kink in her shoulder. Wei stood with both hands in his pockets, giving off the ever-so-cool demeanor that he was the one who’d come up with the idea of meeting here.
“Why are you here and not Omar?” she asked.
Wei shrugged before sitting on the bench and lighting up a cigarette.
“Omar, the genius that he is, suggested we should stagger our arrivals instead of us all coming at once. You know how nosy the maids and especially Mrs. Darla are. She would report back to Mother and Father as quickly as we could speak to one another.”
Amelia and Omar arrived at the same time, which wasn’t unusual, to say the least, as they always either went on a morning walk with their horses or took a quick swim in the pool.
Adesua’s lips curved downward with a slight thoughtful pout as she put it all together.
She quickly understood how they were showing up.
Something ate at her, though, and she wondered why she had to show up alone, and how Wei always knew they’d come together.
The two rascals of her younger siblings, Henrik and Kavita, showed up, with Diego trailing behind them, stuffing his face with a cherry–cream cheese croissant.
Adesua let out a small laugh at the ridiculousness of them all being there at this godforsaken hour.
Her smile disappeared as Omar threw a stack of newspapers to the ground.
This startled her, as Omar was the calm diplomat of the seven.
His fists tightened as he put his arms across his chest. Wei rolled his eyes while taking a long drag from his cigarette.
Adesua could tell by the movement in Omar’s mouth that he wasn’t ready to say whatever uncomfortable truth he was about to speak.
Omar mustered up the courage to suggest an idea.
“We can pretend like nothing is going on, but someone knows something—or better yet, everything,” he said, his calm voice ever-so-slightly raised.
Adesua kept finding all this rather comical. Omar was the last to have the file. It was the old elephant in the room. He could cause a fit throwing papers, but she knew the truth and so did everyone else.
“Adesua, you were supposed to get it from me when I was supposed to leave. What happened?”
Adesua knew it was coming, but still it shocked her that he was accusing her of being the one responsible.
“First of all, Omar, it is not my fault that you didn’t properly hand me the file in the first place. I have no idea where it went,” she snapped back.
Omar furrowed his eyebrows, bringing his head back as if someone had punched him in the face. “‘Properly’? What, are you pretending to talk British like Henrik now? No, I placed it in a safe place on the bench so it wouldn’t get wet.”
“Exactly!” she exclaimed. “That’s why I went to go get a towel for Amelia and Henrik, who were dripping wet, hoping it wouldn’t mess up any papers. You are all very welcome!”
Wei flicked his cigarette and stubbed it out. “You all need to calm down. A lot happened in a short period of time. Pointing fingers isn’t going to do anything.”
Diego whipped his head toward Wei, whispering, “You’re a fine one to be talking about being calm.”
Wei, now breaking his cool, glared at Diego. “What the hell was that, you little—”
Kavita was the queen of discourse, and Adesua adamantly shook her head no, telling her sister not to instigate any further.
“The real question is, what haven’t we done? Which I know we have all done something crazy for Dale to act the way he did. Why is it not in the papers right now?”
Adesua was shocked that Kavita, for once, had something of use to say instead of antagonizing the situation.
She was right. Why hadn’t anything been revealed?
It was all still speculation at this point.
Henrik had told Adesua he saw that Kavita had burned a red letter, and she wondered whether its contents had something to do with Dale’s murder.
Was she hiding something that would cause her downfall?
Seeing Kavita this calm made her second-guess herself, as the younger sister she once knew was now intrigued by what was happening.
Henrik stepped into the center of the garden and sat on the edge of the fountain.
“I, for one, think one of us has the file. Because why wouldn’t someone else take the chance of revealing all of our secrets if they had the opportunity?”
While the youngest, Henrik was as bright as Omar and Wei combined.
Adesua looked at each of her siblings, noticing most had their heads down, some exchanging eye contact and knowing glances.
It was a silent revelation, they all seemed to think.
No one was brave enough to say the words.
Except her little baby brother Henrik. Adesua felt heat rise in her body.
If one of them had the file, then one of them was the murderer.
“My word, Henrik, we just went through a whole interrogation. Do not add to this,” she said sternly.
Amelia stood up, shaking her head and throwing her hands in the air. “Everyone, enough! You all have my head spinning,” she yelled. “We all need a break from the estate. Let’s take a moment to clear our heads so we can properly think of what and where the file might possibly be.”
The idea itself wasn’t bad, Adesua thought. She did have a fear of the public placing a target on their heads. She had her siblings by her side to protect her, even if one of them was secretly Judas.