Shadow Play

21

“We appreciate you coming down Miss Peterson, I'll just have a few questions for you.” “Not a problem, I'm glad I can help.” As I spoke, my eyes were drawn to a woman approaching the desk. She was relatively short and incredibly shapely, with ample hips and chest and curly dark brown hair. My hair had wave, but this woman's hair had a life of its own. A contrast to her dark hair, she had smooth, porcelain skin and striking blue eyes. She offered a smile as she came to stand next to the desk, placing her hand on Quinn's shoulder in an authoritative manner. “Quinn, I happened to notice this incident report and I'd like to handle the interview myself, if you don't mind?” Though the words were a question, it was clear that it was more of a command than a request. “Of course, Detective, here's the paperwork from last night.” Flustered, he shuffled through his papers before handing the incident report over and smiling broadly in her direction. I hate to say he was a suckup, but he couldn't have kissed her ass more if he had been down on his knees and puckered up. “Miss Peterson, please come this way to my office where we can talk a bit more privately.” Definitely one of the higher-ups in the station, she led me to one of the few enclosed offices and closed the door behind us. “My name's Detective Maura O'Brien. How are you feeling after the altercation last night?” she asked with genuine concern on her face as she sat behind her desk. “I'm okay, I'll feel better once I get a chance to go see my friend at the hospital.” “Definitely, I'm sorry to keep you but as you know, it's important to get the facts as early as we can so that we can hopefully find the person who did this and keep them from hurting anyone else. How about you tell me what happened.” “Well, Ashley and I had been at the Huntsman club for a number of hours and had decided to head home. There weren’t many cabs in front of the club and we could see that just down the road on Victoria Street we would have better luck, so we started off in that direction. When we went to cross the front of an alley further down the block, I was grabbed and pulled into the alley. I don't think he had a weapon, but he wanted our money and was threatening us while he held my arm.” I touched my arm to indicate where the creature had grabbed me. “Ash was trying to protect me by jumping between us, but that made him angry and he shoved her hard against the wall and she passed out onto the ground. Before he could hurt me, a man we had met at the club, his name is Lochlan, came into the alley and scared the attacker away. That's all there is to tell, the entire incident only lasted a couple of minutes.” She sat quietly a moment, absorbing what I had said. “Can you give me a description of what the attacker?” “Um, it was really dark in the alley, so it was hard to see. He was short and stocky with dark hair, no facial hair. There really wasn't anything special about him to describe, just a generic white guy.” Her head c****d to the side a bit and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “And can you tell me about this man that helped, Lochlan … ?” I had a friend in high school who used to have panic attacks and she would describe the onset as an electrical current that started at the top of her head and buzzed down to her hands, making her heart hammer in her chest and her hands sweat. I had always been pretty laid back and was never able to truly relate to what she described but in that moment her words came back to me as that precise feeling shot through my body. “We had just met him that night at the club, I don't even know his last name.” I adjusted in my seat, trying to settle my nerves. Realizing the movement made me appear guilty, I chastised myself and did my best to sit still. “Did the attacker take anything?” “No, he didn't get a chance.” Leaning back a bit farther in her chair she asked, “Did you not have a purse with you?” “We both had small clutches.” I realized my mistake, but it was already too late. “He was robbing you but didn't just grab your handbag and run?” Her head now c****d to the other side and I could tell she saw straight through the inconsistencies in my story. “I guess not.” “It's also mighty unusual that he was able to shove your friend with such force to injure her as badly as he did. Are you sure there wasn't more than one of them?” Her eyebrows rose, daring me to contradict my own story. I couldn't fathom why she was interrogating me like a suspect—I was the victim here! Feeling defensive, I pursed my lips but tried my best not to sound ruffled. “Maybe he was a weight lifter or something, I don't know how he did it.” We held eye contact for longer than I was comfortable with before she spoke again. “Are you sure there wasn't anything else about the evening worth mentioning, anything unusual?” she said the word like it was code for something and while I wondered if she knew about the monsters, I certainly wasn't going to broach the subject with her. Yes, officer, I hadn't wanted to say but it was actually a little gremlin man that attacked us and a couple days ago I saw a little elf on my table and a vampire walking down the street. Of course you did, my dear, and do you see the leprechauns too? Oh yeah, I'm sure that would go over great. Instead, I did my best to look and sound sincere. “I wish there was more I could offer but I'm afraid with it being dark and as scared as I was, there's nothing more that I remember.” Her lips turned down at the corners and she gave a slight nod of her head. “I understand. That's all the questions I have for now but if anything should surface later, here's my card, you can call me anytime.” She handed me a standard issue white business card with the PSNI logo in the top left corner and I slid it into my purse. “Thank you for your help, I'll definitely give you a call if I remember anything.” I wished it was that easy and I could just turn this over to the police and let them sort it out for me, but that wasn't the case. I was somehow wrapped up in this and for my own safety, I was going to have to start getting some answers, soon.