Murder at the Club of Hearts

The murderer is in this very room. Four suspects are in front of me, and one has done it. You may be thinking, Janet, you are in the room as well.  
 
I’ve already deduced that I am clear. For my part in this case, other than to solve it. I was on the other side.  
 
of the room, having a glass of wine and ogling the drummer in the jazz band.  
 
There is a dead body lying in the center of the floor, with a white sheet covering it. There is a boyfriend who is bereaved in the death of the woman. There is the best friend who seems to be pissed off that she is being held for questioning. There is the owner who needs this to be wrapped up as neatly as possible. And there is the sister who seems to be acting peculiarly, seeing that this is the death of a family member.  
 
Please sit back, and let’s figure out who killed Yulia Yuliani.  
 
Club of Hearts
 
The club was filled with modern jazz enthusiasts. I was told this would be the perfect place to let my hair down and not be, well, me. Janet S. Constant.  
 
Tonight, I am a woman enjoying peace, white wine, and the eye candy of a drummer to the band that is playing on stage.  
 
One can’t help but notice how attractive he is.  He looks to be in his mid-forties, fit but not too fit. He had a little weight on him that suited me just fine. His hair was still full and grazing his shoulders, and when he saw I was looking, he flashed a smile that reminded me that I was clearly a woman who had neglected her needs.  
 
I broke eye contact and took another sip of wine. I looked around the club and watched who was dancing to the music. I love to people-watch.  A group of young people who looked extremely happy at the moment were sitting at a table across the dance floor, but still in my view.  
 
I was too far away to catch what the excitement was about, but I can surmise it could be either a promotion, an engagement, or a farewell get-together. One woman caught my eye out of the bunch: a brunette with a look of indifference who resembled another woman at the table.  
 
“Excuse me? Would you like a refresher?”  
 
Breaking my thoughts on the people at the table, I looked at the waitress standing before me, smiling and in laid-back attire.  
 
“Yes, please. Can I ask you the name of the band that is playing?”  
 
She smiled and said, “The Fusions. They sound good even though the drummer, Billy, is a last-minute stand-in.”  
 
“Is he not with the band?” I asked because they sounded like they had been playing together for a while.  
 
“No. He owns the music store in Lexington. His cousin, the bass guitarist, asked him to help tonight. The normal drummer’s wife went into labor, and they did not want to cancel this gig.”  
 
I smiled at the information she gave me and glanced at the drummer.  
 
“I’ll be right back with your white wine,” she said, going straight to the bar.  
 
“Aaaa, Oh my god. Help, someone help.” A woman’s voice called out.  
 
My attention was diverted to the direction of the scream. The music stopped, and all eyes were directed to the table where a woman was lying on the floor with her eyes open and clearly not responsive.  
 
I stood and walked over to the young woman, and I saw that whatever had happened had happened suddenly. All the phones were out, and people were either calling for help or making videos of the situation.  
 
“For all of you who are taking pictures and video of this, please be advised that they will be subjected to police scrutiny for tampering with this and are liable to be charged for releasing evidence.”  
 
I knew I was fabricating a lie to have them erase the footage, but not everything needs to be released the second it happens.  
 
Twenty Minutes Later
 
“Lieutenant Nash, we have gathered everyone and received their statements. We cannot hold this many people any longer.” The officer stated while glancing around and finally saw me sitting and watching everything unfold.  
 
“The coroner’s will be here as soon as he can. What should we do with that one over there?” The officer asked.  
 
The lieutenant glanced at my way and closed his eyes, probably to do a Hail Mary, realizing that I was there.  
 
“I will take care of it. Let them go and inform them that if this is leaked to the media, they will be charged in this investigation.”  
 
The officer nodded and informed the crowd that they were free to go but with a stipulation.  
 
The lieutenant, on the other hand, walked my way.”  
 
“Should I ask why you are here?”  
 
“Of course, it is your job. I am here to relax and enjoy the music.”  
 
He sighed and continued.  
 
“Did you see anything?” The lieutenant asked.  
 
“No. Can I go as well?” I responded  
 
Again closing his eyes and breathing.  
 
“You saw nothing, Constant? You are a private investigator who has solved so many crimes in the past. Seen NOTHING?”  
 
I noted the stress level Nash was putting off and decided that I should take another tack.  
 
“Why are you this stressed, Nash?”  
 
“Do you know who she is?” he asks, knowing I do not have the answer.  
 
“No”  
 
“She is the daughter of Rochelle Newent and Jan Yuliani. The multibillionaire Yuliani. Who’s money is keeping quite a few businesses in the green? Yuliani.”  
 
“Please stop saying the name. I know who he is. So you are in charge of this case?”  
 
He gave a curt nod and looked at the dead woman.  
 
“I could use your help.” He whispered.  
 
“I am on vacation.”  
 
His voice went several octaves lower.  
 
“Please, do it for me.”  
 
He gave me a look that always killed me. Lieutenant Sam Nash was an old flame that seemed to ignite when we were in the same vicinity as each other. But that flame was doused when I caught him with Eliza. She was my best friend and now my arch-rival in all things.  
 
“What will Eliza think?”  
 
“To hell with Eliza. We are not together, and that has no bearing on this situation. Will you help me or not?”  
 
“Sam, take that tone down. I will help, but nothing changes between us. You fucked up royally.”  
 
He looked down at the floor and then gathered himself together.  
 
“The case.” He said  
 
“Who are those people who were with her?” I asked  
 
Rising from my table, I walk with Lieutenant Nash to where the suspects are . Mind you, whether they are family friends or whatever, they are suspects.  
 
“I cannot believe this is happening in my club.” That came from a well-dressed young man of about 30. He looked to have Asian heritage, though there was no accent to place him.  
 
“I understand this is a difficult time for everyone,” Nash said, looking at them.  
 
“Difficult time? You did not say it was a difficult time. My fiancée of about 25 minutes just died.”  
 
That comes from a tear-stained young gentleman around 25-27 years old, give or take. He is wearing very relaxed clothing but is still stylish.  
 
“Please excuse me. I am trying to figure out what happened to Miss Yuliani.” Nash was cut off by a young woman who seemed very, very angry.  
 
“Who is this? She’s not one of you.”  
 
“Yes, this is Miss Janet Constant. She is a special investigator. She has been called on several cases to solve unexplainable crimes.”  
 
“Crime? You’re saying that this is a crime that happened inside my club?”  
 
Everyone except one person said nothing, and I need to know why.  
 
“Excuse me, out of everyone who is speaking, you are silent?”  
 
The young woman looked at me as if this were an everyday occurrence and said,” I feel everyone else is showing the correct amount of emotions at this moment, and adding to it would not help in the least.”  
 
What she said was correct, but it was the way she said it that put me off. Her voice was very flat, with no inflection, and monotone. Very robotic.  
 
“Please forgive Elena; she has an issue.” That was from the cry of the tear-stained fiance sitting down with his head in his hands.  
 
I looked at the woman with a blank stare and pegged her for her early 20s.  
 
“So, you’ll try to solve this in one night?” The young, angry woman said, glaring at me.  
 
I smiled at her and looked at her directly in her eyes before I answered,” it is usually my experience that the person who has been killed has been killed by someone that they know. Since you are all together, it’s feasible that one of you has done it.”  
 
“This is ridiculous. I must go upstairs and see how much money I have lost from everyone leaving the club early.”  
 
I took a deep breath before I uttered these words clearly and loudly, so there would be no mistaking my meaning.  
 
“No one is leaving here until I have questioned all of you.”  
 
The statement alone garnered so many emotions on these young people’s faces aimed at me and made me believe I was correct in my assumptions.  
 
“Excuse me, what is your name, please?” I asked the club owner.  
 
“Thomas Chen.”  
 
“Mr. Chen, would I be able to use your office as a place of privacy as I conduct my interview?”  
 
“Yes, of course, as long as this can be solved and put to rest,” he said, looking a bit agitated and annoyed at the same time.  
 
“I would like to talk to you first if you don’t mind?”  
 
He looked at me, shocked as if he hadn’t expected to be questioned when I had just announced that everyone here would be questioned. He gave a curt nod and walked towards the stairs near the stage where the band had been playing.
 
Once inside his office, the door was closed, and I sat behind his desk and motioned for him to sit in front. Usually, he would be behind the desk, but I needed to get him out of his comfort zone.  
 
“Mr. Chen, can you tell me what happened today?”  
 
“Excuse me?”  
 
“Can you tell me what has occurred today? To be more exact, what has occurred from the time the club opened to the time that you came down to be with that group of people? And how do you know them?”  
 
He took a deep breath and looked at his desk. He needed his security blanket, and I just ripped it away.  
 
“The people downstairs are like family. I grew up with Elena, Yulia, and Vanessa. Eduardo is a recent member of the group, and like he said, they were just engaged tonight.”  
 
While telling me this, he folded and unfolded his hands several times.”  
 
“It does not look like you agree on this engagement.”  
 
“Of course I do. I want her to be happy. Wanted her to be happy.”  
 
After stating this, he took a big sigh and leaned back in the chair.  
 
“Eduardo told me last week he was going to propose today. I told him once he proposed to bring her to the club, and we would have an engagement party with just us. I told him I would pay for it all because there is nothing I would not do for our girl.”  
 
Our girl, he said. It must be a Freudian slip, but I’ll keep that in my mental rolodex.  
 
“Is there anything else that you did today to prepare for this engagement part?”  
 
“Well, once I told the others that this was an engagement party, we decided to chip in and buy her an engagement gift from all of us. We put it all in the bag to give her as a gift.”  
 
“And your gift was?”  
 
“She loved makeup, so I bought her favorite items.” He sat with his voice trembling a bit. His cool demeanor was starting to break, and I knew it was because he felt a little out of control and did not like being at the other side of his desk.  
 
“Thank you, Mr. Chen. Can you please send up Vanessa? I think you said her name was Vanessa.”  
 
“Yes, Vanessa Nelson, um. Was that all?”  
 
“Yes. Is there something else you want to let me know? Yes, I do apologize. What time do you open the club?”  
 
“Normally it would be six.”  
 
“Thank you, that is all.”  
 
He stood up straight in his clothes and walked towards the door without giving me a second glance. Five minutes later, the angry friend walked through the door.  
 
“Well, let’s get on with it.”  
 
“Why are you so angry?”  
 
I knew that people process grief differently, but this anger was more than just grief.”  
 
“What do my emotions have anything to do with this case?”  
 
I sat there quietly and waited. The quieter I was, the more agitated she became.  
 
“Are you not going to ask me any questions?”  
 
Again, I did not answer her and just watched.  
 
“She was my best friend. My best friend and she did not give me one hint that she and Eduardo were thinking of getting married. No, I had to hear it from Thomas—the little shit.  
 
Thomas, who has been clinging on to us for God knows how long. Thomas, who does not want to admit that he—”  
 
She paused and looked around as if she shouldn’t say what would slip out of her mouth.  
 
“Go on. That he-“  
 
“But he has or had a little thing for her since we were young.”  
 
With her finally saying that I could see a little steam deflate from her demeanor, but there was something more to this that she was hiding.  
 
“Miss Nelson, did you have a little thing for the deceased as well?”  
 
She sat there uncomfortable, looking at the floor, and I heard,’ yes”. Whispered.  
 
“Mr. Chen said that you all chipped in to get her an engagement bag of items.”  
 
She looked up, and finally, I could see the Trail of Tears.  
 
“Yes, I bought her this little negligee thing that we joked about when we saw it online. When she took it out of the bag, we both could not stop laughing. Now she’s gone.”  
 
I stood up and handed her a Kleenex that was at the edge of the desk.  
 
“Thank you. Can you please send an Eduardo?”  
 
She took the tissue and looked at me questioningly, but she never verbally expressed what was running through her mind. She turned and walked towards the door, and once she pulled it open, she said something I did not expect.  
 
“Eduardo would have been good for her, but he would not have been the best.”  
 
Then she walked out.  
 
The grief-stricken fiancée walked through the door with the weight of his loss on his shoulders.  
 
“Please have a seat, and my condolences.”  
 
He went to the chair. Before he sat down, he saw the box of tissues, and he grabbed a few.  
 
“Can you tell me what happened before you came to the club and during,” I said  
 
He took a deep breath and nodded.  
 
“We were at the apartment, and I made her favorite dish, Paia. It’s seafood in a rice mixture. I learned how to make it from my mother, and she just loved it. During the meal, I told her I had something to ask her, and she honestly did not know that tonight was going to be the night that I asked her to marry me.  
 
I got down on one knee and asked her, and immediately, she said yes. I knew that my world would never be the same.”  
 
He dabbed at his eyes because the tears would not stop falling, and his sorrow was genuine.  
 
“I told her everyone knew, and we were supposed to meet them at the club. Once we got here, we met with Thomas first, and he hugged us and then the others. Her sister came with Vanessa since they were out at their parent’s place.”  
 
“Excuse me, whose parents’ place?”  
 
“Oh, sorry. Um, Elena and Julia’s parents’ place. The evening went great. Thomas arranged for the band to play the songs that she loved. Even though her favorite drummer was not on tonight, the replacement did justice to the music.”  
 
Ah yes, Billy, I thought to myself.  
 
“Please go on.”  
 
“Well, we all went to the table, and Julia said she needed to use the restroom. She got up and went, and maybe a couple of minutes later, Thomas said she would love to put on some of the makeup he had gotten her tonight.”  
 
Uh, crush is running to say his last-ditch effort of his affection for her.  
 
“When they came out, I thought something happened, but she  just said she didn’t feel well.  She wanted to have a time.”  
 
“She didn’t tell you what occurred in the restroom then?”  
 
He shook his head no. We continued to have a good time and drinks. We were already full, so of course, we didn’t eat, but everything was going fine, and the next thing you knew, she was saying that she couldn’t breathe. She suffers from anxiety, so I didn’t take it as anything other than an anxiety attack. We all move to give her some air and some space, but instead of the normal reaction, she fell to the floor, grabbed her chest, and said she couldn’t breathe.”  
 
I looked at him as he replayed the whole situation, trying to figure out what he had missed and what was going on.  
 
“Thank you. Can you please send in her sister Elena?”  
 
He rose from his seat and gave me a questioning look, which I am accustomed to, and tonight they all are going to continue doing this until I solve who killed her.  
 
The sister entered the room as methodically as earlier with her speech. She went to the seat and sat down.  
 
“First, I would like to express my condolences. Can you please tell me what happened from your point of view?”  
 
No deep breaths, fluttering eyes, and one hint of emotion other than indifference.  
 
“Vanessa and I came to the club, waiting for Eduardo and my sister to arrive. I ordered a strawberry daiquiri, and Vanessa got her usual tequila. Thomas came to the table with the gifts and placed them in the center, letting us know they were coming. Vanessa gave him a death glare, and I just continued listening to the band and drinking my drink.”  
 
“So, nothing out of the ordinary in your eyes happened before they came or during?”  
 
She sat there as if she was analyzing what had gone on.  
 
“It seemed like what we always did when we came to Thomas’s club. Eduardo and my sister came in, and they had champagne to celebrate. They danced, and then my sister said she had to go to the restroom.”  
 
I find it odd that nobody said anything about the items in the bag other than Thomas.”  
 
“What was in the bag as a gift from you?”  
 
“I gave her a porcelain doll. My sister loves porcelain dolls, and this particular one was in a wedding gown. It was to add to her collection.”  
 
“A porcelain doll? Is she not too old for those items?”  
 
“No, you see, this particular porcelain doll was her favorite perfume bottle. I had it made for her and would give it to her on her birthday, but since she got engaged, I decided to give it to her as an engagement gift instead.”  
 
I watched her as she told me this, and still nothing. “Please continue.”  
 
“Yulia said her stomach hurt and she had to go to the restroom. Thomas followed right behind her. Then they both came out, smiling.”  
 
“Smiling?”  
 
“Yes.”  
 
“I have to ask this, and please do not take any offense. What is the health issue that causes you not to have or rather show any emotion?”  
 
She looked at me in a dead stare and said,” It is called Alexithymia.”  
 
“I have never heard of this. Can you please explain it to me briefly?”  
 
“I have difficulty experiencing emotions, expressing them, and sometimes articulating my feelings. I have been diagnosed since I was five years old.”  
 
I just nodded and took note of the information. It is hard to tell if someone is lying if they don’t show one iota of emotion.  
 
“Thank you. You can leave, but please send Lieutenant Nash upstairs.”  
 
She rose and went to the door, and as Thomas, she did not give a backward glance.  
 
After considering all the information these people have given me and reading their body language, I have a theory. It’s a thin theory, but it’s a theory, nonetheless.  
 
The door opened, and Nash stepped in.  
 
“Do you know who’s done it Constant?”  
 
“Would you be able to ask one of the officers to bring the items from the engagement bag given as a gift.”  
 
He looked at me and took out his walkie-talkie and called the officer to bring the item.  
 
Once the officer came with the item, I looked inside and pulled out all its contents.  
 
Everything is as they said, but one item was used, and I have a funny feeling it is a weapon.  
 
“Sam, I need you to follow along with what I do downstairs. Do not ask questions; follow my lead.”  
 
Sam nodded, knowing that when I’m in this type of mode, I have the answer; I just need the culprit to incriminate themselves.  
 
I went downstairs with Nash on my heels and went in front of the three bereaved people.  
 
“I know who killed Miss Yulina Yuliani.”  
 
All eyes were on me, waiting for me to save the name.  
 
“It is Miss Vanessa Nelson.”  
 
She stood up with a start and looked ready to kill me.  
 
“Me? You’re accusing me of killing my best friend?”  
 
“You have a motive. You are not happy about this engagement, correct?”  
 
“No, I was not happy, but I would not have killed my best friend.”  
 
“I beg to differ. Everyone here has an alibi. Why would anybody else want to kill her but you?”  
 
She stood there as if she was ready to leap and rip my throat out, and that is when things got interesting.  
 
“Alibi? Thomas has been Fucking Eduardo since the day they met, and you say everyone here has an alibi. I know for a fact Edwardo called off whatever they had a few days before announcing that he was going to ask Yulia to marry him.”  
 
So the story changes, and so does the love interest.  
 
“That is a lie, Vanessa,” Eduardo said in a panic  
 
“I would never do anything to---”  
 
“Eduardo, be quiet. You know I have evidence of the two of you.”  
 
Thomas lurched forward to grab Vanessa by the throat and started to strangle her. Nash stepped in and pulled him off of her.  
 
“Do not dare talk to him like that. Vanessa, you’re a piece of trash. We knew you were in love with Yulia.”  
 
“I may have been in love with Yulia, but I would never have killed her.”  
 
“That is correct. Vanessa did not kill Yulia. It was you, Thomas, wasn’t it?”  
 
Thomas looked at me and looked at it, Eduardo.  
 
“Thomas, did you do that?” Edwardo asked.  
 
“Of course I did. You don’t belong with her. You belong with me. I told you that.”  
 
Vanessa looked at me with suspicion.  
 
”How did you know, and what did he use to do it?”  
 
“You all came into the office and answered my questions, but you three said something that he did not: going to the restroom. She went to the restroom, and Thomas followed with the gift he got for her. I looked at the items, and the only thing I saw used was lip gloss. I believe the poison was put in the lip gloss and took effect when she drank champagne.”  
 
Nash motioned for the officer to come over and take him away. At that exact moment, the coroner came to collect the body.  
 
“Lieutenant Nash, can I remove the body?”  
 
“Yes, of course, Keith. When you do the autopsy, look for poison. I need to know what was used.”  
 
He nodded and went to work. The other three were released, and Nash had to go, but before he did, he could not help to ask.  
 
“Janet, are you ever going to forgive me?”  
 
I looked at him and said, “After I have music lessons. I feel like banging on some drums.”  
 
He stormed off, knowing they would eventually makeup, but she would make him suffer first.