Sweet Dreams

        “We have to be careful,” Mr. Wilson whispered into Kayleigh’s ear, as he was pushing her against the wall in the high school’s storage room. She could feel his warm, heavy breath on her neck, as he gently put his arm on her hip. Their eyes met, and Mr. Wilson leaned in for a kiss. She could feel the soft pressure of his kisses on her lips, as she let her fingers go through Mr. Wilson’s soft, curly, black hair. Entangled in their kiss, they didn’t notice how the door slowly opened. “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry,” Louise uttered in complete shock and bewilderment. She immediately rushed out of the storage room to take a deep breath and ran through the hallway. All Kayleigh could hear were Louise’s quick footsteps, as she tried to process the entire situation. They had been busted. After three months of hiding their relationship, Kayleigh and Mr. Wilson had been caught. A cool breeze of reality overcame her body, as the realization that their fates were now completely doomed set in. Kayleigh’s chest became tighter, as she gasped for air. Her entire body was shaking, and her hands were sweating. “Kayleigh, calm down. It will be okay. Trust me! I will take care of this,” Mr. Wilson said with a cool demeanor. “How can you be so calm? We were caught! We are going to go to jail!” she exclaimed. “This will all just be a silly rumor. There are tons of rumors going around at this school. Just don’t let these accusations get to you. Do you understand? We’ll get through this. I promise you,” Mr. Wilson gave her a hug reassuringly. 

                 Mr. Wilson went home to his wife and children who had no clue about his affair and his double life. “Honey, I’m home,” he called, as Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” was playing in the background in the living room. His wife came downstairs to give him a kiss. “How was your day? You seem upset,” she noticed. “It was a long day. One of my students hasn’t submitted any of her assignments. She’s practically failing all of her classes. She used to be such a bright student, but now she’s just throwing away her life… These things get to me, you know,” he sighed. “You’re such a caring person! I love that about you,” she smiled and gave him another kiss. “Dad!” his three-year old son screamed and gave him a hug. “Hey there, big man!” Mr. Wilson smiled. “I have to go make a phone call,” he said to his wife and went to his office to call Kayleigh. He loved his wife and his small family, but there was just something missing in his life — something that only Kayleigh was able to give him.

                 The next day, Kayleigh had calmed herself down for the most part and got ready for school. Mr. Wilson had called her on her burner phone after school to make sure that they were on the same page. They were going to laugh all accusations off. Louise had no proof. She was just jealous of Kayleigh’s high grades. It was just going to be a rumor spread by a jealous classmate. Nothing more. 

                 As Kayleigh headed into the high school’s main building, she noticed her classmates’ distressed and dismayed expressions. “What’s going on?” she asked Tyler who happened to stand right next to her. “Haven’t you heard? Louise’s dead body was found dumped in a river this morning”. “WHAT!?” Kayleigh exclaimed in shock and startlement. This was too much for her. She started getting another panic attack. Was this Mr. Wilson’s doing? Is he the reason for Louise’s death? Is that what he meant by taking care of it? Did he kill Louise? Kayleigh felt nauseous and rushed to bathroom to throw up. Cold sweat was running over her pale face, as she dropped down on the cold bathroom floor tiles. 

               “We have a new case, Sir”, Gordon Cooper informed Detective John Williams. “Louise Walters. Her dead body was found in the Brunswick River this morning. According to the autopsy, she had been poisoned.” He handed the case file to Detective Williams who wrinkled his forehead.  “And there’s somebody waiting outside to speak with you, Sir: the victim’s boyfriend — well, ex-boyfriend now,” Gordon sighed. Detective Williams looked up from his case file in surprise. “This fast?” he remarked. 

              “Hello, Detective Williams,” a tall young man entered his office. “My name is Logan Sanders, and I am — wasLouise Walter’s boyfriend.” He cleared his throat, “There is something I think you should know about. Yesterday, right after school, Louise called me. She was under complete shock, and I could hear her voice shaking. She told me that she had just seen her English teacher, Jonathan Wilson, kissing one of his students, Kayleigh McGregor. She couldn’t talk for long because she was about to go to cheer practice, but this was the last time I spoke with her,” Logan said.

           As soon as Logan left, Detective Williams said to Gordon Cooper, “We need to interrogate both Jonathan Wilson and his student, Kayleigh McGregor.” “Do you think it could be Mr. Wilson attempting to cover up his relationship?” Gordon suggested. “It sure seems this way, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Something doesn’t seem right here. I need to talk to Mr. Wilson to get a clearer picture of the situation,” Detective Williams replied.

           “Mr. Wilson. Hello. Please take a seat,” Detective Williams said, as Mr. Wilson entered the interrogation room. “Do you know why you’re here?”

“I’m assuming it’s because of my student’s, Louise Walters, death.”

“Yes, exactly. Did you notice anything unusual about her these past days?”

“No, I’m afraid not. She was a very reserved student and mostly kept to herself.”

“Do you know if Kayleigh McGregor was one of Louise’s friends?”

“Uhm, I don’t know,” Mr. Wilson gulped and avoided eye contact.  

“Okay, let’s cut the crap. You and I both know that you have been seeing one of your students. Now, the extent of your criminal charges will depend on how cooperative you are.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mr. Wilson remarked. He wiped the sweat from his forehead in agitation. As Detective Williams left the interrogation room, he quietly said to Gordon, “Try to press some information out of him while I’ll question Kayleigh.”

            As Detective Williams entered the dark interrogation room, a young teenage girl who seemed anxious and uneasy was sitting right across from him. She was tapping her left foot while scratching her frizzy hair with her pale right hand. 

“Can you please tell us a bit about your relationship with Louise Walter?” Detective Williams carefully asked.

“We used to be very close friends. But this school year, we kind of drifted apart,” Kayleigh was holding back the tears in her eyes. 

Yet, Louise’s death still seemed to upset her extremely. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were red. She had been crying the entire day. Dark circles under her eyes were visible; she appeared tired and exhausted. 

“Can you tell us a bit about your relationship with your English teacher, Mr. Wilson?” Detective Williams asked calmly. 

Kayleigh couldn’t contain herself anymore and burst into tears. “I didn’t mean for any of this,” she squeaked. “Kayleigh, it’s okay. No one is blaming you for anything. If you tell me the truth, I’ll make sure no charges will be pressed against you. Can you tell me what exactly happened?” Detective Williams gently asked. He handed Kayleigh a tissue who was now sobbing uncontrollably. 

“She, she … caught us,” Kayleigh stuttered. 

“Who caught you?”

“Louise. She caught me and Mr. Wilson.”

“And then what happened?” 

Kayleigh looked up at Detective Williams. “What do you mean?” she asked baffled. “The next morning, I find out that Louise is dead,” she wiped a tear away.

“So you believe that Mr. Wilson murdered her?”

“I don’t see how there could be any other explanation,” she said in tears and started becoming nauseous.

         “So, did you get anything out of Mr. Wilson,” Detective Williams asked Gordon. “He didn’t confess to anything, but we have new evidence showing a phone call between Kayleigh and Mr. Wilson at 3:30 pm for 15 minutes, which is about 3 hours before the estimated time of death. It’s enough to keep him here for now, but this isn’t looking good,” Gordon frowned. “Do you think it was Mr. Wilson?” he asked the detective. “All the evidence points towards him. He also appeared very tense and edgy. But how far would he go to cover up his affair with a student? I don’t know…,” Detective Williams sighed, “Kayleigh admitted having an affair with Mr. Wilson though. But the way Kayleigh was behaving also seemed peculiar. She was anxious and nauseous, symptoms of having a guilty conscience…”

         Detective Williams went back to interrogate Mr. Wilson. “Your student, Kayleigh McGregor has now admitted to being in a romantic relationship with you. We also have evidence of a phone call between the two of you yesterday, and we’ll find plenty more. It’s best if you tell us the truth now. If you cooperate, I’ll make sure the court mitigates your final sentence,” Detective Williams said firmly. Mr. Wilson ignored his remarks and didn’t say anything, so Detective Williams kept pushing, “Louise caught you and Kayleigh in the storage room. You were so afraid of losing your job, of going to jail that you poisoned Louise right after the incident. You didn’t have much time to dispose of the body, so you just dumped her in the river, hoping the current would take her to the sea, where she would have never been found. But the weather didn’t play along. She was washed up on the bank.” “For God’s sake, I didn’t murder Louise!” Mr. Wilson exclaimed, “Yes, I had an affair with one of my students, but I would never kill anyone,” he said. 

           “Mr. Wilson seems very suspicious to me,” Gordon noticed, as Detective Williams left the interrogation room dissatisfied. “He does. He does,” the detective sighed, “But I just feel like there’s a piece of the puzzle that’s missing. We need to check out Louise’s home.” “Your assistants, Mark and Cameron, have already been to her house and questioned her parents. They found nothing out of the ordinary,” Gordon said. “I just want to take a look at her room. Maybe, they missed something,” Detective Williams replied, feeling a bit hopeful.

         When they arrived at the Walters’ house, they were greeted by Mr. Walter who said, “We have already answered all of your colleagues’ questions. My wife is extremely tired and upset. She needs some rest.” “We’re sorry for your loss and the interruption, but we just need to take a quick look at Louise’s room. It won’t take long,” Detective Williams assured him. 

          The house was spacious and elegant. It was nicely decorated with modern paintings and family pictures. Louise’s room seemed cozy and vibrant. Above her bed, the saying “Sweet Dreams” was spelled out on a pastel pink wall. There were pictures of her family, boyfriend, and cheerleading team on her white dresser. It was the room of a normal teenage girl — a girl who had a bright future ahead of her, a girl whose life was taken much too early. Detective Williams took some pictures and left the house frustrated and disappointed. He hadn’t found what he was looking for. 

       The young detective had never felt so confused about one of his cases before. So, as he was walking home, he reexamined the entire case in his mind. Mr. Wilson and Kayleigh seemed like obvious suspects, but what about Louise’s family? What about her boyfriend, Logan Sanders? Something about him just seemed off. He appeared to be so calm and unconcerned, not displaying any sign of grief or despair. Shouldn’t he be devastated? His girlfriend was just murdered. Yet, he immediately put the blame on someone else, as if he was distracting from himself...

        "Thanks for coming again, Logan. We have some more questions for you,” the detective said as Logan took a seat across from him. 

Logan observed the interrogation room skeptically. Why was he being interrogated? Hadn’t he been of great help? 

“How do you feel?” Detective Williams wanted to know. 

“I’m miserable. I’m angry. I mean, I just lost my girlfriend. How do you think that makes me feel? I’m trying to cope, trying to find the person who did this to her,” he said. 

“Yet the first thing you did was make us aware of another potential suspect without expressing any emotions.” 

“I was numb. I didn’t process everything, and I just felt like I had to do something about it. I wasn’t just going to sit around while my girlfriend’s murderer was still walking around.”

“You were pretty quick at finding a potential suspect. You were very eager to blame it all on Mr. Wilson. Why?”

“Are you … are you saying that I … that I just tried to make Mr. Wilson look guilty — use him as a scapegoat? That I’m the one who killed my girlfriend?” Logan’s face was burning with rage, “I can’t believe you’re accusing me of her murder instead of doing your fricking job and finding the real murderer!?” 

“Calm down. No one has accused you of anything,” Detective Williams said calmly, as he received a phone call. “Sir, there is something you need to know. Kayleigh’s friends told us that Kayleigh’s parents didn’t approve of her relationship with Logan, and she was about to break up with him. They had been fighting for the past few weeks,” Gordon informed him. “Thanks, Gordon! Try to get the court to issue a search warrant for his parents’ house and personal belongings,” Detective Williams said.

The detective turned his attention to Logan again and said, “You knew that your relationship with Louise was going to end very soon. You knew that she was going to leave you, but your ego and pride couldn’t handle this.”

Logan laughed in disbelief and said, “What? So you think I killed her? Because we had some minor arguments? Because her parents didn’t want me to be in her life? We wanted to start over, not break up. She wanted to stand up to her parents, not give in to their threats. You have no idea what you’re talking about! You just choose to believe the information that fits your narrative!” 

Detective Williams had almost started believing him until he received another phone call from Gordon. “Sir, we haven’t been able to search his house yet, but we found something in his school locker — the substance that Louise has been poisoned with,” Gordon carefully said.

“Logan Sanders, you are under arrest for the murder of Louise Walters. Everything you say can and will be used against you,” Detective Williams said, as he handcuffed Logan. 

“What!? You have no evidence!”

“We just found the poison in your locker.”

“What? Someone is trying to blame me!”

“Like you tried to blame Mr. Wilson?”

“Why would I be so stupid to hide the poison in my locker?”

“Because you did not expect us to search your locker.”

“This is absurd!” he screamed, as he was being escorted to prison. 

       “So, I guess, our case is finally finished,” Gordon said with relief. “I’m not so sure about that yet,” Detective Williams noted doubtfully, “What Logan said was right. Who would be so stupid to leave a murder weapon in his high school locker? What information do we have on who has last seen Louise?” “The last time she was seen was during cheer practice, but we interviewed all her teammates, and nobody witnessed anything unusual… I have the list of her team players if you want to take a look at it,” he said and handed the document to Detective Williams who briefly looked over the names when one particular name caught his attention. “Hold on,” he said, “Her cheer coach was Adrianna Wilson. Is that Mr. Wilson’s wife?” How could he have missed something as important as this?

         As Detective Williams was getting ready to interrogate Mrs. Wilson, he went over his tactic again. “Mrs. Wilson, you were the last person to see Louise Walter. We found footage on the school’s security cameras that explicitly shows how you put the poison into Logan Sanders’ locker. So, it’s best if you tell us the truth since it’ll only be a matter of time until we find further evidence connecting you to the crime. Trust me, a confession would be the best choice now,” he said.

Mrs. Wilson started to realize that she had screwed up. “My husband has been cheating on me for years now…” she started crying, “I… I wanted to make him pay for what he made me … our family go through. I was sick of pretending to be an ignorant and happy wife. So, when I heard him talk with one of his affairs over the phone about how he got caught by one of my cheerleaders, I immediately acted by poisoning Louise’s water bottle during practice. It was the perfect plan to incriminate him … to put him into a hopeless situation, just like he had always put me in one… I didn’t mean to kill an innocent girl. I was just driven by anger and hatred. When I finally realized what I had done, I just hid the poison in Logan’s locker. I thought that if there were two potential suspects that no one would get arrested. It was a terrible mistake.” By the end of her confession, tears were streaming all over her face.

          Detective Williams had never seen any footage from the security cameras. He simply bluffed to make Mrs. Williams confess. It was a risky move, but his intuition told him it had to be done to find out the truth, and his intuition was correct.