The Witness's
Chapter XXII

It has been almost 2 weeks Richard Hartono wearing an orange uniform with handcuffs on hand. I don't know what possessed Maddie until she wanted to visit the man. Now it looks much different. The black hair that used to be in neat scissors is now exhausted in the scissors. Maddie had been sitting on a bench waiting for Richard to be examined before being allowed to meet the 17-year-old girl.

Their meeting room was very quiet considering the Christmas song soon echoed in most of the city.3 long tables with 2 empty benches each. The drink and snack machine behind the entrance was full. Maddie was able to gather that few people came to visit the prisoners.

"I've guessed."

It was the first words that came out of Richard's chapped lips while sitting facing Madelline Blake.

"What?" Maddie raised one confused eyebrow.

"You're the first person to visit Om, Maddie."

There was no look of fear that Maddie showed. In addition to the 3 policemen in the room, the fact that Richard Hartono was arrested for murder does not scare Maddie, at least for now.

"I have a lot of questions."

Richard Hartono hugged his front two arms around his chest while smiling, "Om sure. Too bad we only have 30 minutes."

"30 minutes is more than enough." Maddie folded two hands on the table, staring at Richard Hartono flatly, "Why did Om kill them?"

"Fun." Richard Hartono replied briefly, without reaction.

"But Sophie's fiance Om."

"Much more interesting. Because he trusts Om 100%." Richard Hartono again replied in a flat tone.

"Did Om harass Denada?"

"No. He's not even on the victim's list." This time Richard Hartono suppressed his words. Hearing the word 'disrespecting' was very uncomfortable for her.

"Then why did Om kidnap Denada? Why did Om torture him?"

"Om alone should step in."

Maddie shook her head with tears that slowly drenched her beautiful face.

"He believes the same. He respects Om. He cares a lot about Om. Why would you torture Denada.." Now Maddie is blasting all the flavors she's holding. She won't cry in the hospital and won't cry in front of Will. In front of Richard he vented all his emotions.

"Have you ever been faced with 2 choices Maddie? Between you acting or seeing someone else acting?" Richard said not to give up his chocolate net on Chester and Olivia's daughter, "Listen Maddie. This will be our last meeting, so remember this conversation. Believe what you see. Forget what you already know."

Maddie only gave a puzzled look as she cleared her tears, "I don't understand."

"Remember all the suspicions you've ever inferred. I'm not the bad guy, Madelline. But I have to be one." Richard let out a slow breath, "Sometimes when we act as victims to have a reason to hate the culprit."

"I still don't understand."

Richard's mouth closed but before a word came out a police officer came and put the handcuffs on Richard's hands.

"Your time is up."

Richard stood up, checked back in before being led back into the cell as Maddie pulled the man back.

"What does Richard mean?" A policeman immediately restrains Maddie but before Richard disappears behind the door he takes the time to answer the girl's questions.

"Where's Leon?"

The thin smile Richard put on just before disappearing behind the door made Maddie's heart beat. He was frozen in place. The fear he felt again. The girl could not take her gaze off Richard's previous position. Is there anything he forgot?

Instantly all his suspicions re-emerge like a cassette tape spinning in the head. Leon suddenly appears at the Greenhouse as Maddie is about to grab something, blood on Leon's shirt on Halloween night, Leon who has gone out of nowhere when the dance is over at the halloween party, and the fact that Leon's mother died, I don't know what caused it. Did Leon lie when he said his mother died of illness?

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Maddie asks Mr. Yon as soon as possible to drive her home. He had to ask Chester and Olivia what caused Aunt Devi's death. Slowly he called Will and told him everything he had discussed with Richard Hartono.

"Will lo where?"

"At home."

"Who's keeping Denada?"

"Nothing. Aunt Mala was home taking a shower and I got a phone call from my mom at tell her to go home quickly, there's a sudden business."

Maddie's getting nervous. If it's true what Richard said, then his suspicions have been wrong all along.

"We're wrong Will. We've been played with all this time." Maddie says quietly not to be heard by Mr. Yon.

"What do you mean?"

"Om Richard wasn't the culprit. He admitted all the vile deeds because he did not want the original perpetrator arrested. Richard covered up the most important honesty." Maddie sighed rudely, "Got me. Gosh. bego bego bego."

"Leon. Not Richard, Will. We have to be careful. Leon already knows all my suspicions and there's a chance he'll come after us all."

"There's no way Mads, Leon loves Denada."

"That's why Om Richard kidnapped Denada because he's Leon's weakness is Denada."

Maddie recalled her conversation with Leon back at the hospital.

Flashbacks

"Is he. is.." Somehow Maddie's gonna ask this. This Blake guy wants to know, but he's afraid, "Did Richard?"

"Leon just smiled slanted while screeching, "It's best not to. Because if that man harasses the Inca, I'll kill him myself." Leon turned to Maddie, "Maybe you don't understand. I love the Inca. I wanna fuckin marry her, have children with her. I hope he can still accept after knowing everything."

"Gue call you again."

Maddie shuts down the one-sided connection and struggles with her thoughts.

"Leon has a disorder and hopes Denada can still accept it." Maddie mutters.

He continued to look out the window while thinking about what Leon was really hiding. Too many lies Maddie had accepted, it made her no longer that easy to trust people, even if that person was close.

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Arriving at Maddie's house runs in search of Chester and Olivia. He must find out the cause of Aunt Devi's death and their family's past. With a hurried breath, he met Olivia in the living room.

"Ma, where's Papa?"

"Lunch with the client. Why?"

Maddie throws her body at the floor and holds Olivia's hand tightly, "I want something. Significant. But please answer, okay? It's about Aunt Devi."

Olivia, who was looking at the princess' movements, focused her gaze on her, "Why do you have to know?"

"Inka was lying in the hospital weak because of Om Richard. And Leon still has a family relationship with the man. Leon's main cause Om Richard attacked the Inca, ma." Maddie wiped away the tears that were slowly coming down, "We think it was Aunt Devi's death that caused Richard's om kayak gini."

Olivia knows Maddie's position. But he himself wasn't sure what happened years ago, "Ask Leon. Mama doesn't deserve to talk about the case."

"That's the problem ma.. Leon is not. He said." Maddie hugs Olivia, "Please ma."

"This is the first and last time we'll talk about this, okay? Papa's pretty sensitive about this case."

"I promise."

Maddie took off her hug and sat looking at her mother.

"Papa, Aunt Devi and Jim are best friends. Papa and Jim have been together since Elementary School and 10 years later Jim suddenly moved the city, without news. Papa and Aunt Devi still tell each other until college. Up to 1x Devi brings an invitation to your papa. Wedding invitation. By then they had finished college. Mama who was just dating papa you, invited."

"Devi and Beren's wedding is pretty fancy. Beren's parents turned out to be entrepreneurs. Papa you're looking for Jim, hoping he's there too. But in fact it's not. And on that day we just found out that Devi has an older brother, Richard. They did not have the same name because of different fathers. When the bride's greetings, Devi says-"

"Devi apologized. She thought her marriage could bring the three of us together again. Did you know the three of us were always together, Madelline?"

Suddenly the baritone Chester's voice cuts through Olivia's story, leaving the woman instantly speechless.

"I'm sorry pa." Maddie apologizes while looking down.

"Our marriage is not breaking news to each other. When mom and dad got married, Devi didn't know where she was. So Papa didn't invite her. And a few years later the police said they had found a female corpse, her body was already.." "Jim split his entrails, cut his hair and left Devi naked in a tree, on a ring road."

"So Aunt Devi really died from being murdered.." Maddie murmured softly.

Olivia stroked her husband's shoulder, and hugged the man briefly, "Not long after that Richard moved here and Papa you helped him as much as possible."

"Why do you really want to know Maddie?"

Maddie knew right now she couldn't lie. But he thinks his parents don't need to know that he visited Richard in prison and said that Leon was the real culprit.

"Leon told us, Aunt Devi died of illness." Maddie flings and grabs her sling bag, "Maybe Leon himself doesn't know."

"Leon knows. Richard himself explained everything."

"Om Richard lied." Maddie's reply was quick. Of course now he knows Richard wasn't lying.

"No Maddie. We were there. Leon was in 1st grade, and Richard took us out to lunch, and he took Leon." Olivia and Chester were staring at each other in confusion.

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