A Quiet Walk

5

Hands clasped together on the table before him, confusion etched on his face and his mind running at a hundred miles, the voices he had previously drowned out gradually began to resurface.

“-anything but a murderer” exclaimed a voice beside him which he quickly placed as belonging to Armand. He turned to his left to see the brown-haired man seated beside him seething with anger. If this was a cartoon, there would be fumes emitting from his ears. The suited man at the other end of the table simply scoffed, walking out of the empty room save for the table and chairs. “This is absolute nonsense”. Armand raked his hands through his hair.

The door opened as a lady in black pants and a matching black tank top walked in, taking a seat where the suited man previously was.

“Sarah” Armand stared back at the lady he was engaged to 5 years ago before she called off the engagement and went MIA on him only to come back two years later as one of the town’s police officers. “Thank heavens it’s you” he breathed out in relief,

“Armand, it’s nice to meet you again. Well, not minding the circumstance” she looked around the empty room. “Forgive my partner” she sweetly smiled at them, switching to professional mode. “He’s always bent on pinning the crime on the first victim.”

“Well, that must make him a crappy officer” Armand spat, gaining a chuckle from her. “Look Sarah, Ryan is not a murderer.”

She stared back at him.

“You haven’t even presented any evidence linking him-”

“I believe you” she breathed out.

“Okay then why are we here” he creased his brows.

“I just need a statement, an oral statement from Mr. Ross, an alibi for his whereabouts on the 6th of May”

“He has one. Me. We were together at home all day. Or is my testament for him not enough?”

“We found his fingerprint all over the body” she calmly replied, in contrast to Armand’s tone.

“What?” he scoffed

“Let’s backtrack to what you told my partner. You said he left, fled the house on Friday the 7th and came back two days later, on Sunday the 9th.”

“Flee is not a word I would use” he mumbled with a little bitterness behind it. If anyone fled from him, it was her.

She sighed, guiltily avoiding his gaze as she caught on to the bitterness.

“We have this beach house he uses whenever he feels overwhelmed, goes there to clear his head”. he continued

“And how often does he go there?”

“Two to three times in two months. I thought you only needed his alibi for Thursday?”

“Just answer the questions” she spoke, darting her eyes at Ryan, who blankly stared back at her.

“We’ve had the house for about a year now. And I can assure you that whenever Ryan leaves the house without informing me he is definitely there” he replied,

“Pebble beach, right?”

“Yes” he nodded “I’m sorry I thought you said you believed me. Why? Why the interrogation still?”

“It would be unprofessional to let you go off a hunch; I need evidence to present that will let you off the hook”

“Okay fine” he breathed out, “whatever you need.”

“Thank you” she smiled back. “Mr. Pierce?”

“Yeah” he replied, actually looking at her, his attention now fully in the room.

“When did you first come in contact with Miss Berg?”

“Who?”

“Miss Elizabeth Handerson”

“I don’t know who that is” he stared at Armand for clarification if she was someone he was supposed to know.

Sarah simply pushed a picture to him. He looked down and immediately recognized her as the impossible lady from the beach “Z” he replied, eyes fixated on the picture. “What about her?” his mind immediately spun. Was she really a wanted criminal? Did they suspect he was now an accomplice? Is she a murderer? His mind kept spinning at thoughts.

“What now, what did you call her?”

“Z. That's her name, at least that’s what she told me” he pushed the picture back to the officer. “I barely knew her past a day”

“When did you first come in contact with Z?” she repeated.

“On Friday night or should I say Saturday early morning at about past midnight at the beah.”

“This doesn’t add up” mumbled the male officer.

“What are you – Sarah, what is he talking about?”

“Forensics says she died on Thursday, about midnight” she replied

“There” he exclaimed. “It means he obviously didn’t do it.”

“What part of 'we found his fingerprints all over her', don’t you understand?” said an intimidating looking Spencer.

“The part where he was nowhere around her when she died” Armand spat back at the male officer.

“Z is dead?” Ryan muttered to himself but loud enough for his boyfriend to hear, urging him to quickly hold Ryan’s hand, rubbing a soothing circle with his thumb “I didn’t do it”. He looked up at the officers with wide pleading brown eyes,

“No one is saying you did, Ryan” Sarah calmly assured him.

“If you want a statement, I can tell you what happened that day.”

“What?” Armand went wide-eyed at the same time Sarah asked ‘what day?’

“Oh, do tell,” Spencer coaxed with a smirk.

“Okay, so I met her at the beach like I told you, and we spent the whole day together. Well er- she was kinda half dead, drowned obviously because she was washed up on the shore. So I gave her CPR - ”

“I’m sorry, when was this again?” Sarah cut in.

“Saturday. Really early in the morning, about 3am” he replied with a sniff.

The officers exchanged a look

“So I took her back to my place and ran her a bath. I was going to drive her to a station when the sun came up because she said she had no idea how to get back. But I didn’t take her, I was gonna, I promise, but then we got distracted when she insisted on going on the Ferris wheel at the little carnival fair and, by that time - ”

“You were driving all the way to El Camino for a police station?” asked Spencer.

“No, it was the fair at Caramel.”

“Caramel?” Sarah asked bemused

Ryan nodded in confirmation.

“Oh my God,” Armand groaned.

The officers exchanged another look then turned their gaze to him. He frowned. Why were they looking at him like he was crazy, why was Armand looking at him like he was crazy?

“Did I say something?” he directed the question at his boyfriend.

“Ryan, you’re full of shi-” Spencer spat.

“I don’t -” he tried protesting, cutting off Spencer.

“Ryan, that fair has been out of use for at least three months now. The only thing left is for the rides to be demolished” said Sarah.

“No” he firmly protested. “It was all there, in use. Empty but there were attendants – I think” he mumbled the last part to himself.

“You know you have to teach your friend to lie better”. Spencer emitted a hoarse laughter

“My friend, really?” he shot the officer an unimpressed look. “look Sarah, I believe he’s telling the truth”. He turned to the woman.

“Let me guess, you two had your first kiss at the fair a month ago?” Spencer mocked.

“If you weren’t an officer, I swear to God” Armand muttered to himself.

“Spence, will you shut your mouth for once” she glared at him.

“He’s schizophrenic” Armand continued, then turned to his boyfriend “have you been taking your pills baby?”

“I’m sorry” he whimpered. “I thought I was getting better, so I stopped.”

“Ryan” Armand groaned, facepalming.

“Do they actually – do you think I killed Z?” his eyes immediately welled up with tears. “I didn’t do it Armand, believe me. I promise” he pleaded

“It’s okay Ry, I believe you” he held onto him, rubbing soothing circles on his back.

“Don’t let them take me. I didn’t do it” he cried out.

“You’re not going anywhere” Armand assured him while hugging him to let the younger mam bury his face on his chest

“I’ll take my medication. Please don’t be mad.”

“It’s okay, I’m not mad” he lulled, placing a soft kiss on his head as he shot Sarah a look.

The female officer held her partner by the arm as he led him out of the room as they stood by the one-way looking glass.