Planted Blood

I'm scared.

Of course I am but I'm cold too.

Five minutes ago, when an officer came in to ask me if I wanted some water or coffee or anything, I declined, my teeth chattering and body shaking. I'm sure he noticed, but he didn't say anything and neither did I.

"What you say can and will be used against you in the court of law." I hadn't been arrested, but I'd seen a number of movies enough to know that the same principle would apply here.

The door opens and the same woman who brought me in enters. She's wearing a blazer, probably a padded one: I notice she doesn't shiver.

She makes brief eye contact with me and then sits down, placing a manila folder on the small table in between us. She doesn't speak for a moment, letting the folder grow in size as I look at it.

Straightening her back, she opens the folder and turns it toward herself. I want to bend over the table to look at it but don't want to seem suspicious. I don't know why I'm here.

"Anni," she says, pushing up her glasses. The tone she uses reminds me of a substitute teacher, desperate to be liked but taken seriously at the same time. "Anni Malhotra. That's your name, right?"

I nod numbly.

"And how old are you?" she asks.

"28." I stutter, not sure I say it right, but she nods, scribbling it onto a notepad.

"And you were born in...?"

"December 12th, 1993."

She nods again. More scribbles.

"And you're working?"

"Yes, I clean houses."

"I see." She writes something else and looks up at me. "Do you know anyone under the name of Jonas Gupta?"

I nod, furrowing my brows. "Um, yes? Why?"

Her hand twitches but doesn't move.

"He's my- was my boyfriend," I tell her.

"I see. And who broke it off?"

"Me."

"Why?"

He was... it's complicated."

At this, she makes a note but continues to stare at me. "How?"

"He was too needy. He needed all of my time and didn't like it when I was busy. Kept accusing me of cheating on him."

"I see." She makes another note.

I clear my throat. "I'm sorry, uh. Officer...?"

"Menon."

"Officer Menon." I nod, grasping onto her name. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"We'll get to that in a bit," she says. "What was your relationship with Mr. Gupta like?"

"I told you. He was needy, never let me go anywhere without him or make friends he didn't approve of. He suffocated me."

"Literally or figuratively?"

"Figuratively," I confirm.

"And how long did this relationship last?"

"About three, four years?"

"If it was suffocating, why did you stay for so long?"

A flare of irritation rises in my chest. "He threatened to kill himself if I ever left."

"But you eventually broke it off." She doesn't say it like a question but looks toward me for confirmation anyway.

I nod.

"What made you finally decide to leave?"

"I'd just- I'd had enough."

"And how did he take that?"

"Hard. He called me for weeks afterward, threatening to kill himself and then me. Other times he'd just cry and tell me he couldn't live without me."

"Did you ever respond to these threats?"

I shake my head. "No. But there was this one time he showed up at my job, demanding to see me. He was drunk. My manager wanted me to calm him down and get him to leave. He was banned after that."

"Was he ever violent towards you?"

"No. Never."

"When's the last time he contacted you?"

I shrug. "I don't know. A few months ago?"

Officer Menon pushes the notepad aside, interlocking her fingers and looking at me over the top of her glasses. "This is very important, Anni. If you could try to recall-"

"I told you. I don't know."

"Okay," she nods. "So you'd say it's been quite a while since you two had any contact?"

I nod.

"Months specifically?" she confirms.

I nod again and she pulls the folder toward her. She opens it slowly, scanning the contents within it with a scowl.

"Well. I don't know how to tell you this, Ms. Malhotra." Suddenly she sounds very wary. "Jonas Gupta was reported missing last week."

I say nothing.

Officer Menon studies me through narrowed eyes but I barely register her words. They're so bizarre that I don't understand. When the words finally break through, my first reaction is confusion.

"Missing?" I ask, repeating her words.

"Yes, for a week."

I realize that she expects me to say something. Know something.

"Um. Well, he drank a lot sometimes. Maybe he's just on a binge."

"Ms. Malhotra, it's been a week."

"He's done it before."

"We suspect foul play."

I don't know why but this amuses me. "Foul play? Like, what, kidnapping?"

Officer Menon clearly doesn't find this as amusing.

"Sorry," I say, clearing my throat. "I just- why would anyone kidnap him?"

"There was blood found in his apartment."

Not an answer, but it stills me.

"B-blood? Like, an in blood?"

"Yes, Ms. Malhotra, blood as in blood."

I pause, my mind completely blank.

Missing. With blood in his apartment.

"A-and you guys think I did it?" My voice rises towards the end, nearing hysteria.

"I never said any such thing."

"But it's why you brought me in, right?"

"No. We brought you in to see if you know anything."

"I don't. I don't know anything. I didn't even know he was missing until now. This is... oh, my God. This is messed up." I rest my face in my hands, rubbing my eyes vigorously. "He's been missing for a week?"

"Yes." She's stopped taking notes and it scares me. "Do you have any idea of what might have triggered this?"

"Him being kidnapped? No," I snap.

"We still can't rule out that he's run away."

"With his blood in his apartment?"

"It's not confirmed to be his blood yet."

I look her in the eye. "Y-you think he's running away?"

She doesn't say anything.

"Jonas may be an asshole but like I said, he's not violent. Whose ever blood it is in that apartment probably deserved it, Jonas would never hit anyone unless it's in self-defense and even then, he'd probably hurt himself more."

"So, you're saying it's more likely his blood?"

I hate the tone she uses.

"I never said anything of the sort! And if I'm being honest, I don't see what any of this has to do with me."

"Ms. Malhotra, do you recognize this number?" She pulls a page out from the folder and points to a phone number.

The sudden change in topic has me feeling dizzy.

I look at the number closely, reading over it multiple before I'm utterly confident in saying, "No."

"You should know that we have warrants to search your premises and access your records. If you lie to us, you can and will be charged with obstruction of justice."

"I told you, I don't know that number!"

"Yet it made a call to your phone 5 days ago. You don't remember that?"

My breath leaves my body in a violent whoosh. "No. I don't even know whose number that is."

"It's Jonas's."

I frown. "No, it's not. I know his number, that's not it."

"It's from a burner."

"Then how would I know that it's his?"

"You both had a 27-second-long conversation."

"27 seconds? That's hardly a conversation. What if he was posing as a telemarketer?"

"I don't know about you but when I hear a telemarketer's voice, I hang up within the second."

"Well, that's you. I like to hear people out. Are we done here?"

"Do you know anyone who'd like to hurt Mr. Gupta?"

Yes. Many. He was an asshole and a coward, nobody likes either."

"Can you tell us who these people are?"

"He pissed everyone off he came into contact with. Look into his ex-coworkers, ex-friends, family members, all that."

"You don't consider yourself someone who'd like to hurt him?"

"Not enough to make him go missing."

"What about enough to kill him?"

"What? No. I would never-!" I stand up aggressively, my chair making a scraping sound as it backs up. "This is ridiculous, I'm leaving."

"I'd request that you stay in this town until further development."

"And I request that the next time we talk, I have a lawyer."

"That's completely up to you," she nods at me, saying it so calmly it infuriates me.

I march out of the interrogation room, completely aware of the fact that she's silently following me. I want to scream but pretend not to notice her, my head held high as I exit the building. I look behind me but realize she's stayed inside.

It takes me twenty minutes to get home and when I do, my brother is lounging on my couch, watching something loud on his phone. He looks up at me when I enter, sitting up to watch me violently shrug off my coat with amusement.

"What took you so long?" He asks - undoubtedly hungry and waiting for me to make dinner. He should've just ordered take-out.

"I got questioned by the police."

He lies back down on my couch, completely unbothered. "I told you to stop working at that house. Did you see something bad? Let me guess, you saw their drug trafficking ring. Are you in danger now?"

I want to hit him. "No. Remember Jonas?"

"Ah. Jonas, the love of your life?" he deadpans. "Who could I ever forget him?"

"Apparently, he's been missing for a week."

He laughs. "Right. Like anyone would miss him. Just check the bars or something."

"That's what I said. Then they told me they found blood in his apartment."

"It's probably just his period."

I glare at him. "That's not funny." He shrugs and I snatch away his phone. "And just how much longer are you going to be staying here? Go back home."

"I can't."

He reaches for the TV remote and I take that too. "It's been months, just tell Dad you got fired, he'll calm down eventually."

He snorts. "It's been like two weeks. Stop exaggerating."

"Go. Home."

He stands up and snatches his phone right back, "no." Staccato. He's making a stand.

I sigh, going to the bathroom to wash my hands so I can start cooking.

Another day, more shit, and no breaks.