Silvia sat at the dining table, watching Kim help Nicole with her assignment.
“If A is for apple and D for dog, what is X for?” Kim asked.
Nicole pulled her hair, squeezed her lips, waited for a few seconds and said, “X is for snake”.
“X not S” Kim said and added, “S is for snake, Q is for queen, X is for what?”
Nicole put her pencil in her mouth, chewed it for a while and suddenly stood up. She ran from the side of the living room where she and Kim were seated to the other end of the room. Kim stood up and went after her.
“You cannot catch me!” Nicole screamed with gusto, grabbed her toy airplane and began fleeing towards her dad’s bedroom. Nicole was a boisterous child who preferred playing to reading or anything that was academic-related.
“Come back here, Nicole” Kim said “we are almost through” Kim added.
Nicole turned around, “No!” she shouted at Kim and continued running and laughing. At that second, she slipped and fell “Hah!”
Kim ran to her side, “Nico…”
Without warning, Silvia appeared near them. Gave Kim a resounding slap. And that stopped Kim’s words.
“You also want to kill my daughter?”
Silvia yelled, lifting Nicole into her arms. “If you want to murder one more person, go and kill your child!” Silvia thundered.
******
“Who bought the painting?” Connor asked.
He was seated in the home of the famous musician, David Legend, where Richard saw the original painting of the Peowark in a picture he and his wife took in their home.
“I” Lola said. She was the wife of David legend.
“Was it the real painting?” Connor asked.
Lola paused. “I’m not an art expert. But, I’ve heard about the painting. That was why I bought it” she said.
Connor nodded. “Can I see the painting?” He asked.
Lola winked at him and pouted her lips. “I can let you see something else, Inspector” she said. “You’re good looking” she stressed the word.
“Thanks, ma” Connor replied. “So, can I see the painting?” he asked and stood up.
“It’s not here anymore” Lola said “ I sent it to my sister in the US” she said and also stoop up. Walked closer to Connor, with her curves singing and dancing in her figure-hugging dress.
She touched Connor’s face “my husband travelled out” she said.
Connor nodded. “Ma, can you describe the person who sold the painting to you?” He asked and removed her hands from his face.
She smiled “Anything for you, sweetie” she said and added “The seller was…”
******
Connor walked into the room of the brothel. He had been dialling Osas’s number yet the guy refused to pick up. Osas was the art expert he was working with to check the location of the paintings Kim gave him. He wanted to confirm if the paintings were real or were just another fake copy since the real ones were stolen from Richard’s gallery.
Connor pulled Osas by the back of his collar, not minding that Osas was in the middle of a sexual activity.
“Have you examined it?” Connor asked.
“Yes, man!” Osas shouted.
“Were those the real paintings of Vasla, Otha and…?”
“They were real” Osas said “As real as my dick in this cunt”.