The Murder of Presi Bavver

The Blauevmanc County Police Station was a horrible place for officers and criminals alike. The station had been built in 1932, and, to most everyone's sadness, had been one of the only buildings to hold up during the second world war. The station was built from old withering bricks, and the man who was in charge of keeping the ivy along the sides of the building contained was too busy hitting on women to actually get the job done.

The inside was even worse. The oak doors were creaky on their rusty hinges, and the musty concrete jail cells were cracking, due to the recent heat surge the Netherlands were experiencing. The small cubicles for officers were tight, and the air conditioning rarely worked. To make things worse, the computer system was terrible. Sometimes officers would sit for hours just to wait for a twelve page document to load. It didn't help that Blauevmanc was a city in the middle of the mountains, away from most metropolitan. Just getting into the next county took two hours.

The only good thing that had happened to the police station in the past month was that the exterminator had came. The rats were gone, and they wouldn't be back. But from where Evien Van Beek was sitting, she swore she saw a rat scurry past the Chief of Polices' office as she and Lucas Hoisk waited to be called in for questioning.

Evi tapped her feet on the wooden floors, anxiously looking around. The police station was crowded for a Sunday night. Some officers were packing up to leave for the night; others cursed as their computers failed to upload their files. It looked like one of the cops, Sergeant Shea, was having a small party. Evi leaned over her seat, watching some of the officers chat and shove forkfuls of red velvet cake into their mouths. Maybe a birthday?

Evi slouched back into her chair and sighed. Lucas bit his lip, staring curiously at the ceiling. Evi knew that look.

"Wat denk je wel net?" Evi asked, pushing a dark hair out of her face.

Lucas shot Evi and alarmed look. "Evi," he hissed. "Talk e het Engels."

Evi gave him a puzzled look. They were both studying English as a world language. They were almost fluent. But why practice for the upcoming test when they're in a police station about to get questioned as suspects of a murder?

Evi looked around before repeating her question. "What are you thiking about?"

Lucas rubbed his strawberry blonde hair. "They can't understand us if we talk in English," he said, his Dutch accent well enunciated. Lucas tilted his head to the side, indicating the officers eating cake behind him. Lucas continued, a worried look on his face. " I know the plan didn't exactly go....according to plan."

Evi shot Lucas a deadly glare. "Lucas, we killed...," Evi peered over her shoulder, making sure the officers weren't paying any attention to them. She lowered her voice. "Presi! We killed Presi! The mayor's son!"

"But they have no proof it is us! All they saw was the....the security tapes," Lucas stated, exasperated. "We were running. So what? That could mean we were running away from the murderer. "

Evi bit her lip. "We did it. We have to confess. If we don't and they find out it was us, there will be much bigger.. is it consequenches?"

Lucas shook his head. "Consequences, you mean. But what if they don't find out it was us? We could lie and be done with this!"

"And what if they do?" Evi hissed loudly, tears sparkling in her eyes. She tugged at the neckline of her purple shirt. "Either way, I do not want to end up in gevangenis."

Lucas frowned. "I'm afraid neither lying nor telling the truth will get your out of jail. At least we have a shot if we lie."

"But that is not the right thing to do!! We could get a worse sentence if they do find out it was us! Lucas, we killed someone!" Evi cried. Small tears began to flow from her blue eyes and stream down her face.

Lucas looked over at her helplessly, gritting his teeth. His knuckles were white as they gripped the seat of his chair. "They're going to call us in any minute," Lucas said softly. "So pick your poison."

Evi dried her tears, sighing sadly. She looked up and pointed to the Chief's door. "Lucas! The Chief!! Hij comt eraan!" Evi gasped.

Lucas suddenly looked very worried. But he put on a fierce face. As the chief turned the brass doorknob from the inside, Lucas took a deep breath and whispered, "Let's go, Evi."

Barvan De Vries was a tall man, with wispy black hair and piercing dark blue eyes. He wore his shiny gold badge proudly, and was never without a gun under his sweater. In the work area, he wore his gun on his utility belt. Much to the Chief's pleasure, the weapon seemed to intimidate the teenage suspects in front of him. The two, according to his files, were seemingly clean, but were the primary suspects for the murder of Presi Bavver. Evien Van Beek and Lucas Hoisk. Chief De Vries' lips curled. This would be fun.

The Chief put on a menacing face and looked from Lucas to Evi. The girl was fidgeting slightly, almost unsure of what to think. Lucas, however, seemed relatively calm. It was an odd combination of suspects, especially partners in crime. But then, many odd people had entered the Blauevmanc County Police Station; this pair would be no different from the rest. But, the Chief thought, odd combinations often have, shall we say, different stories.

Barvan tapped his door with his knuckles, his eyes trained on Evi. His first victim.

The Chief gestured to Evi, whose eyes widened. "Evien Van Beek?"

Evi bit her lip. It looked as if the girl was blinking back tears. "Ja," she answered. De Vries nodded approvingly.

"De tijd is hier. Komen, Evien," the chief said, clapping his hands.

Evi looked desperately at Lucas and then at the Chief. "Alsjeblieft, een moment?" she asked in a small voice. Lucas gave Evi and alarmed look as the Chief processed what the suspect had just said.

De Vries scowled, but gave in. "Prima," the Chief muttered, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Fine," Evi repeated in English, sighing. She turned to Lucas. "I'm telling the truth," she said sternly. "It's the right thing to do."

Lucas looked angry for a moment, but then softened. His cheeks were red. "Fine," he spat, "But if we get out of here with no mark on our permanent record, you can thank me."

"So you are still-" Evi stopped, eyes glancing toward Barvan. "At least I will have done something for the good of the world. I am, as they say, avenging his death. If that is right context." Evi lowered her voice. "We killed him. Jail time-nothing- will take that fact away."

Sergeant Patrick Shea stepped out from the open room his party was being held. He had been leaning on the door sill and listening to the pairs conversation since they had been seated.

Sergeant Shea nodded to the Chief. "Meneer De Vries," Shea addressed the Chief.

Barvan raised an eyebrow. "Ja?" he asked.

The sergeant gestured to the teens. Shea turned and gave Lucas and Evi a small smile. Then, in crisp English, he said, "These are our killers, sir. Evien Van Beek and Lucas Hoisk- convicted of the manslaughter of Presi Bavver."