When we were downstairs, Aniyah and Derenik had changed seats. They had moved to another room of couches and chairs; I assume this was the family room. The two of them sat on a different couch. Aniyah was no longer crying. The simple sat there in silence, laying on Derenik’s chest. They seemed awfully close for just being neighbors.

“Thank you for being so patience I know you have been going through a lot.” Kalina said. She pulled out a notepad and pen from her blazer hip pocket. Opening it, she jotted something down. “Okay, first off can I see some Id? we want to make sure you are who you say you are before we begin.

Aniyah got up, but Derenik stopped her. “No let me, you’re going through a lot.” Derenik said as he stood up and walked over to the foyer. The plant sat on top of a little table, he reaches and opened the drawer and grab a pink brooch. Kalina’s eyes narrowed. Derenik opened the wallet and gave Kalina a Aniyah’s driver license. Then he reached in the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out his wallet, then gave Kalina his license.

“Thank you very much.” Kalina said, handing back the Ids. “So, I guess my first question is where you were this morning. Emergency dispatch received a call from Aniyah’s cell at 11 and our guys said the time of death occurred sometime last night. That’s a big gap that you are unaccounted for.”

“I was spending a week with some of my friends and then I didn’t get home until 11 this morning.” Aniyah said.

“Can we have the names of the people you were with to confirm your story?” Kalina said. Aniyah nodded and Kalina jotted down the names and phone numbers of Aniyah’s friends. “Thank you, and where were you, Derenik?”

"I'm a pharmacist, so I was reading some new drug regulations that came out from the FDA before going into work." Derenik said walking back over to the couch and rejoined his seat next to Aniyah "Everything seemed pretty normal. I even saw Ronald yesterday morning."

Kalina didn’t jot a single thing down as they explained their story. “So you didn’t hear any noises or see anyone come in or leave the house?”

“Unfortunately, no, I was out at the office all day and didn’t get home until very late last night. I assumed he had already gone to bed since all the lights were off and his car was in the driveway.”

“Fair enough, thank you.” Kalina looked back to Aniyah. “Now Aniyah, did Ronald have any enemies, someone that wished he were dead?”

“Oh, heavens no, everyone loved Ronald! He was such a kind man. Ronald treated everyone with sincere kindness and didn’t stray from helping anyone in need. He was very well loved throughout the neighborhood and at the hospital he worked at.” Aniyah said, now sitting up straight. Her eyes were a little less puffy.

“Even I couldn’t imagine anyone hate Ronald.” Derenik said. He noticed Aniyah’s boogers on his jacket, making a face as he pulled out a tissue and wiped them off. He should really bill her for the dry cleaning. It will not be cheap to remove all that snot. “I’m fairly new to the neighborhood and everyone talks so highly of Ronald. This is my first time owning a house, before I was just owning a condo. So, I did not know how to take care of the lawn or how to clean the gutters of my home. But Ronald was super helpful, and he showed me how to do it.”

Before Kalina could ask her next question, one of the crime scene technicians walked in with a clipboard. “Hey detectives, you are going to want to see this.” As he said, it seemed there was a bit of worry across Derenik and Aniyah’s face.