He lowered the knife he was holding and glanced in my direction. He had that confused look. I frowned. “Don’t act like you don’t get my point. You don’t have to be modest now that I know you’re rich like me.” He raised an eyebrow, so I smirked and half-smiled at him. “Well… you’re wealthier than me.”
He sighed and turned fully towards me. “Did you do something to the Clasisos?”
The smile faded from my lips in an instant. “What do you mean?”
“You killed Anthony Clasiso.”
“W-What?” I coughed lightly at his accusation. “You’re talking nonsense. I don’t know who killed Anthony!”
I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth. I quickly left the kitchen and went to the living room. I stood a few meters away from the door and took several deep breaths.
What had gotten into Robert’s head to accuse me, no, of killing Anthony?
Suddenly, I heard a knock from outside the door. I looked up and stepped towards the door. There, I saw a man who looked like Robert at the gate. He was looking down, hands stuffed into both pockets of his pants, and walking towards the door – where I stood with wide eyes in surprise. Confusion was clearly written on my face.
Robert glanced up and our eyes met. He stopped in front of me and gave me a puzzled look. “Miss Azora,” he greeted, his voice devoid of emotion.
I blinked several times. “R-Robert?” I asked, unsure if the man standing in front of me was really him.
“Why?” he asked.
A cold sensation surged through me. I quickly blinked my eyes and looked at the man standing in front of me. “W-Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the kitchen?”
“The kitchen?” He furrowed his brow. “I was taking care of something outside. I just got home now.”
“B-But… but…” I faltered, unable to find the words, and stared at Robert.
If he was outside all this time, then who was the man cooking in the kitchen?!
I quickly grabbed Robert’s wrist and pulled him outside towards the patio not far from the small fishpond. There were no light posts in that area, and the faint light from the large lamp inside the house illuminated that part.
I stopped on the patio with Robert. My shoulders moved up and down quickly and I couldn’t help but to shake remembering the face of the man who had previously been in the kitchen.
“Tell m-me…” My voice trailed off as my eyes scanned the dark surroundings. I turned towards him. I searched his face in the dim light and took a deep breath. “Are you really… Robert?”
I couldn’t discern his expression well, but I sensed impatience in his tone. “Did you let someone else into the house?”
I nodded reluctantly. I was afraid of his reaction. He had always warned me never to let anyone step inside his house except for him and me, yet I disobeyed his rule. I was nervous about how things had unfolded and hoped Robert wouldn’t hand me over to Clasiso by tomorrow night.
Minutes of silence passed between us, then he sighed in defeat. “Do you know who you let in?”
“I don’t know!” I exclaimed nervously. I took another deep breath to calm my racing heart. “He’s… he’s like you! I mean, he looks like you. I-I thought he was you, so I let him in to do things in the kitchen.”
Robert fell silent again, and my heart pounded in anxiety. Then he asked, “What was the first thing he said when he saw you?”
“He asked me who I was waiting for,” I answered with narrowed eyes. “I didn’t notice anything strange about him.”
“Think carefully.”
“Oh. I don’t really know. He just asked me. Uh, he was breathing heavily but trying to suppress it. Then he had donuts with him and told me to eat them before he went to the kitchen. I guess, to cook what he bought from the supermarket.”
Robert was silent for a few seconds. Then his eyes narrowed at me. “Didn’t you suspect anything when you saw that he bought the same things you did this morning?”
My eyes blinked rapidly. My mind flashed back to the encounter with that strange man earlier at the supermarket. Yes, I did buy groceries, so why would Robert buy them again that evening?
I saw Robert’s reaction in front of me. He crossed his arms, clearly disappointed in me. I sighed and lowered my head in defeat.
“Sorry,” I muttered under my breath. “I know I was wrong. But…” I trailed off, looking up at his shadowed face. “… look. Now’s not the time to blame me. We need to catch him right now!”
“And you just carelessly let him do what he did.”
I bit my lip and wrinkled my nose. “I admitted I was wrong, okay? But it’s urgent! Save your insults until after we catch that impostor!”
Then I pulled him back to the main door of the house. We hurried inside and stopped in the living room. I looked at the center table where the impostor had placed the small box of donuts, but it wasn’t there anymore. The only things left on the table were the rectangular flower vase with fresh flowers and a thick book. I gasped. I distinctly remembered not finishing all the donuts, so the box should have been right there on the center table!
My hand shook as I pointed at the center table. “There… t-there… I put the donut box he gave me there. But now it’s gone!” I glanced nervously at Robert, whose brows furrowed in deep thought. “He must know that I noticed.”
My breathing was shallow and quick as I looked towards the kitchen doorway. There was no sound coming from there. That made me even more nervous, and my teeth chattered slightly. The impostor might be hiding somewhere, ready to attack one of us.
Robert took hold of my hand. I looked at him, but he wasn’t looking at me. “Kitchen,” he said casually.
I quickly pulled my hand away from him. I stared at him wide-eyed. “We need to call the cops now. What if he’s hiding in there? Ready to ambush us when we least expect it?” I asked in a strained voice.
Robert glanced at me. There was a certain coldness and detachment in his eyes. “We’ll find out.”
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the kitchen. I held my breath as I scanned the surroundings, afraid that I might come face to face with the impostor. But there was nothing. No one was there in the kitchen.
The countertops were clean and shiny, indicating no recent activity. The utensils were neatly arranged, hanging in their proper places. It was as if no one had tried to cook anything in the kitchen for hours.
And that was strange. I had seen with my own eyes how the impostor had prepared food. I glanced at the stove and hurried over to it. I touched the stove, and it was clearly cold, affected by the cool air from the nearby air cooler. No, it hadn’t been used in the past few hours.
I stood still in my place, rooted to the spot. Then I slowly turned around and came face to face with Robert, who was looking at me with a mixture of confusion and amusement in his eyes.
He cleared his throat. “The book is still in the same position on the center table as I left it this morning.” A smile played at the corner of his lips, holding back a laugh. I scoffed. “No one dared to cook earlier. Miss Azora,” he said with sarcasm in his voice. “Looks like you need to learn how to cook so you don’t go hungry.”
Robert walked towards the refrigerator next to me, stepping closer. My fists clenched. He stood in front of me and smirked. “A person goes crazy when they skip their meal.”