Interrogations
1407 Words
Sajdaa Taha
"Tell them what you told me Ethan," pressed Officer Cole.
Malik and I were sitting behind the glass that separated Ethan and us. We were overhearing parts of the interrogation. Malik believed it was necessary for me to be present, so he brought me with him.
Officer Nathan stood at the corner of the room, besides Officer Cole. There was a long metal table between the officers and Ethan. He sat in an orange jumpsuit with a heavy frown on his face. The stubble on his chin grew longer. It was untamed.
Ethan growled. "No."
Officer Cole kept the stern look on his face, his voice surprisingly calm. "Now Ethan, you are being recorded so even if you don't tell me I can always rewind it and use this moment as evidence against you in court for not cooperating."
Ethan grunted in response.
Cole leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. A slow smile was playing on his lips. "I'd suggest you repeat what we went over then."
Ethan looked away. Visible traces of sweat lined the sides of his face, slowly dripping down. He twiddled with his fingers, flinching at Officer Cole's clipped tone.
"Ethan, I'm waiting."
I turned to Malik, who was eagerly watching the interrogation before him. "Cole knows how to scare the crap out of people," I said.
Malik chuckled. "That's why I told him to do the interrogation."
We turned our attention back to the interrogation. Officer Cole tapped his pen against the table. Officer Nathan's face was blank. He was giving Ethan the cold look he gave me when we first met.
I guess if one was a police officer, they'd have to perfect controlling their real emotions. Officer Nathan was glaring down at Ethan with his cold blue eyes, in fact he seemed like a completely different person. If looks could kill, Ethan would be dead.
Exhaling a sigh, Ethan mumbled incoherently.
"Speak up," demanded Officer Cole.
"I know who a possible suspect could be."
Malik and I were silent as we leaned closer to the glass, wondering if we heard him right. Officer Cole gestured for him to continue.
"A man came up to me a couple days before the first murder. I was stoned out of my mind, but I remember that I sold a heavy drug to him," he recalled.
"What was the drug?" asked Officer Cole.
Ethan scratched his partially bald head, trying to remember. "I don't know."
"Bullshit," spat out Officer Nathan. "Tell the truth."
Ethan's eyes narrowed. "I am telling the truth, you bastards. I was f*****g high out of my mind, I don't remember."
Officer Nathan chuckled, bitterly.
"Nathan," warned Officer Cole. "You're disrupting the interrogation. Shut up."
"I actually have some useful information," said Officer Nathan. His blue eyes were trained on Ethan, who was wiping the sweat off his forehead. Ethan had dark bags under his eyes and as he looked at Officer Nathan, they seemed to get worse.
"Enlighten us, Nathan."
Officer Nathan pulled out a folder, He placed it on the table, allowing Officer Cole to look through it. He flipped through the stack of papers before his hand stopped. Jaw clenching, Officer Cole pulled out the paper. It was a fingerprint analysis from Dylan's crime scene. I couldn't read the contents, but I saw two fingerprints on the page, both bold and clear.
Officer Nathan glared at Ethan. "Why does your fingerprint match the ones on the crime scene?"
Ethan's eyes widened, he quickly averted his gaze. "No clue," he mumbled.
"Ethan, I want the truth," emphasized Officer Cole. He held up the paper. "Why do your fingerprints match? What were you doing there?"
Ethan stayed silent.
"At the time of death, there were no fingerprints left behind. Only a footprint was found, which isn't your shoe size. However, when the officers and forensics team came back to the scene your fingerprints were all over the car," stated Officer Nathan.
"So why were you there?" asked Officer Cole.
Ethan sighed. "I went back to get money back."
"Great this is an episode of Criminal Minds," I face palmed.
Malik shushed me as he continued listening.
"I sold this man date rape drugs. I know it was either ketamine or ecstasy. I think I sold both to him. Anyway the man owed me money, so I texted him. He gave me the coordinates of his location, which was the boy's car. I was confused but searched through the car, looking for the money he was supposed to leave behind," Ethan confessed. "I swear I didn't know the drugs I gave him were going to be used for murder. I was just trying to get me some cash."
Malik walked away from the glass screen that separated Ethan and us. He went towards the interrogation door, opening it as he stepped in. Both officers turned to look at the intruder. Malik's lips pressed into a thin line as he examined Ethan, who squirmed under his harsh gaze.
"What did the man look like?" asked Malik.
"He was wearing a black hoodie at all times. He was extremely tall with blue or gray eyes. That's all I could see since he only came to me during the night. He never took his hoodie off his head."
"How tall?" questioned Officer Cole, writing down the previous confession on lined paper.
"Six feet or close to it."
Malik turned to Officer Nathan. "Did the other victims have any traces of ketamine and ecstasy when they died?" he asked.
Officer Nathan nodded.
Turning back to Ethan, he asked, "Did you screw with the coordinates you gave us?"
Ethan shook his head. "No that was the honest result I got. It was an attempt to get Sajdaa to work for me."
I made gagging noises, which Officer Nathan saw. He fought back a smile.
"Watch it," growled Malik.
Ethan was really afraid of Cole. Malik opened his mouth to say more, but his phone rang.
He quickly picked up. "Hello?" he answered.
As the person on the other line talked, Malik's frown deepened. He gazed at me through the glass, his hazel eyes staring intensely at me. After a couple of brief responses, he hung up, pocketing his phone. The other officers looked speculatively at him.
"We gotta go. They found a body at the coordinates."
* * * *
The rotten stench of blood touched my nostrils. I had to fight back the urge to vomit my lunch out. I stood besides Malik, who was kneeling down at the dead body. I stared horrified at the harsh cuts across the girl's face.
Her blonde hair was stained red from the crack on her skull. Blood had poured from her nose, trailing down her cheeks. The corners of her mouth were cut, giving her an eerie smile.
I shivered. Who would do such a thing?
Her clothes were torn, blood seeping from her neck wound. She'd been dead for a while. That much was obvious. Whoever killed her left her here and ran. I tore my eyes away from the painful scene. I saw a rock besides her broken limbs. A white paper was beneath it. I exchanged glances with Malik.
"Another note?" I asked him.
He reached over and removed the small rock, grabbing the paper. His eyes scanned the contents hurriedly. Eyes widening and hands shaking, Malik crumpled the paper. Anger was flaring through his eyes as he threw the paper beside the girl. I picked it up.
"Sajdaa, don't-"
Oh Sajdaa,
Have you been secretly lusting after an officer? You should know better, you naughty girl. This girl did the exact same thing, you might recognize her from your school. Her screams were breathtaking. I loved every second of this one.
"I told you not to read it!" exclaimed Malik.
I blinked. "We have to do something!"
"Hey hey, relax, look at me." I made eye contact with him. His eyes softened at my distress. "Ethan gave us some good information. It's going to be alright," he softly told me.
I shook my head. "Malik, the killer is targeting a kid from all my classes. He doesn't want to kill me. He wants to torture me with them before coming for me."
With a determined look, he said, "Then we'll just have to torture him back."
"What?"
Malik grinned as if a light bulb went off in his head.
- Writer
