Justin's Interrogation

The room was cold and clinical. The table he was sitting at was metal and shone under the fluorescent lights that illuminated his face. His leg shook as he looked around the room and tried to figure out who was on the other side of the clearly two-way mirror. The skin on his thumb was numb from being worried between his teeth and his mouth was dryer than it had ever been, even after a good smoke.

The doors finally groaned open and Justin sat up straighter in the chair. Two detectives entered one after the other. It was the same detectives who had come to his work, his boss told him this was going to happen. He searched their faces, trying to get a read on the situation he was in.

The first was a tall, dark-skinned man of reasonable build. His dark eyes scanned Justin almost as if he could read all the wrong deeds written on his skin.

The second detective was a young lady. She only came up to the other man’s shoulder. Her brown hair was swept up in a tight bun that pulled at the skin around her eyes. She moved over to the other end of the table and put down a thick manilla folder.

“I can explain.” He put his hands on the table. “It’s not what it looks like, man, I promise.”

Neither of them said anything. The female detective opened the folder and started to flip through the documents contained within it. Every now and then he saw a flash of a picture, the images were not pleasant, he hoped that maybe she would realize she grabbed the wrong folder.

“For the record, my name is Detective Chase, and this is my partner Detective Ross. Justin, do you know why you’re here?” The brunette asked him.

His eyes flicked between the two of them. “I’m starting to think it’s not the reason I originally thought it was.”

“And what did you think it was?” Detective Chase closed the folder and crossed her arms. “Because I got to say, so far, you tick the most boxes for this crime. I want to hear your excuse though, so go on.”

“This isn’t about being caught smoking behind the building by my boss the other day, is it?”

The detectives exchanged a look and the taller one finally sat down next to his partner. “Smoking isn’t a crime that we’d arrest you for. A ticket or a warning maybe but not arrest.”

“So, you’re telling me my boss was wrong? Cause he said that you’d arrest me for smoking. Said something about it being illegal or whatnot.”

They exchanged another look and then Detective Chase leaned forward, “What were you smoking, Justin?”

“Weed, obviously.” He leaned back in his chair, trying to put some distance between them. He could really go for a hit about now, this was so stressful. Justin’s fingers started tapping on the table as he thought about the joint in his front pocket.

His other hand reached down and danced over the outline of it. They hadn’t searched him when he came in, maybe they were waiting to take it during the interrogation.

“No, Justin, that one is illegal.” Detective Ross let out a deep sigh. “Be glad we didn’t arrest you for smoking weed. Instead, it’s for something much worse.”

Detective Chase reached into the folder and pulled out the photos he’d seen earlier. They were gruesome scenes of young ladies. They were barely recognizable and yet, Justin felt he knew one of them.

The first photo placed in front of him was a young lady laid out on a bed with burn and stab marks covering her. A large gaping wound took over her chest, drawing his eyes away from the strange objects surrounding the body.

The second wasn’t nearly as violent. She appeared to have been stabbed repeatedly and an apple placed in her mouth. She also had a large gaping wound on her chest and was surrounded by flowers. The lady’s clothes were torn in multiple places and the look in her empty eyes was haunting.

Justin felt his lunch move within his stomach and he leaned even further back in his chair. He tried to move his eyes away from the sight only for them to be drawn back in like a moth to the flame.

“Do you know who this is?” Detective Chase pointed to the photo of the second lady.

Justin shook his head and finally managed to move his eyes up to the detective.

“What about this lady?” She placed a photo overtop of the crime scene.

“That’s Cynthia, my girlfriend. What does she have to do with all this?”

“Tell me, Justin, how did it feel to find out that the woman you were sleeping with was married?” Detective Chase clicked open her pen and waited for an answer.

“Wait, Cynthia was married!” Justin leaned forward in his chair, as shock ran through him. It felt like his heart was breaking. “That witch! She told me those pictures were of her brother!” He remembers asking her the one time she left her phone open on her photo albums.

“Can you tell me where you were two Fridays ago between two and four pm?” Detective Ross, looking down at his paper.

Justin looked around the room, his eyes were drawn back to the picture of Cynthia laid out on the table. The gruesome image was still underneath it, and it clicked in his head. The dead body was Cynthia.

A stinging sensation started up behind his eyes and Justin resisted the urge to reach up and wipe at them.

“Um…let me think… I was at work I think, I’m not entirely sure, but there should be a record and I’m fairly certain that I had work that day. My boss should be able to back me up.” He scratched the back of his right elbow as he stared at the pictures. How could this be possible? He could remember talking to her just the other day.

“Believe me, we will be checking that.” Detective Chase’s eyebrows briefly went up and then down as she wrote something in her notebook.

“Wait, you don’t think I did this do you?” Justin’s hand came down on the tabletop, causing it to ring out and echo around the room.

“Let’s just say that you were sleeping with one of the victims and I have difficulty believing that you didn’t know she was married. I am betting that you found out and became jealous, you decided that if you couldn’t have her then no one could so you went to her house and killed her just because she lied to you.” Detective Ross put his hands on the table and stood to loom over it.

“No! I would never!” Justin shouted. He attempted to stand only for Detective Ross to move around the table before he could and force him back into his seat.

“Sit down.”

“I promise you.” Justin pleaded, “I didn’t kill her. I love her.”

“Clearly she did not feel the same.” Detective Chase’s voice was oddly calm and it set Justin’s nerves on edge.

“She loved me!” He shouted. “I know she did!” 

The detective hummed and flipped through her notebook. “Whether you thought she loved you or not is irrelevant. What matters is that you are the only one who had the motive and opportunity to kill Cynthia Moldova. So, what I want to know is-”

“I didn’t kill her!” Justin interrupted her.

“Yes, so you’ve said.” Detective Ross said. “However, as my partner just mentioned, you are the only one who could have done it. So, tell us again what you were doing two Friday’s ago between two and four pm? And it better be something that has an alibi, otherwise, we are holding you for suspicion of murder.”

“I told you, I think I was at work and my boss should be able to back me up.”

He watched as Detective Chase gave her partner a look and the other man stood and walked to the door.

The room fell into silence as they waited on him to get back and either confirm or deny Justin’s alibi.

A knock echoed through the room, and Detective Chase let out a deep sigh and went over to open it. Justin leaned back in his chair and released the breath he had been holding. He wiped his palms on his jeans and once more traced over the outline of the joint in his pocket.

“Well, Justin.” Detective Ross said as he walked back into the room, past Detective Chase. “It seems like your boss was able to back up your claim.”

“Devon.” Detective Chase closed the door and gained her partner’s attention. “We have another body, they said David puts time of death at earlier this morning.”

“It’s your lucky day, Justin. You are cleared for this murder, however, I honestly still believe that you could have a hand in this, so, don’t go far.”

Justin stood swaying slightly and stumbled out of the room.