CHAPTER 7: INTERROGATION OF SUSPECTS
Jeremy was seated in front of Jonathan and Rachel looking confused. He was barely awake that morning when his mother told him that Jonathan and Rachel has come to arrest him for suspected murder, and he was dragged to the crime lab without even having a chance to eat the waffles his mother made for breakfast. Inside the air-conditioned room, the atmosphere was tense.
“Hey, what exactly am I doing here, officer?” Jeremy asked as he looked around him. “If you’re accusing me of murder, I think you got the wrong guy.”
“Oh? Are you sure?” Jonathan asked. “Evidence doesn’t lie like humans do, you know?”
So saying, he slid the plastic bag that contained the army knife in front of Jeremy and a picture of Cliff’s body in front of him. Jeremy let out a moan of disgust and horror at upon seeing the picture of his dead friend and looked away, unable to bear the sight of it. Rachel took the picture away but the knife remained.
“Now tell me, Jeremy,” Jonathan started his questioning. “Where were you exactly during the death of your friend Cliff Chang? Were you really in the toilet taking a leak like you claimed to be at when my co-worker questioned you?”
“I’ve told your co-worker, I went to the toilet in the middle of the concert. I only realized that Cliff has ditched us after the concert! I didn’t kill Cliff! He’s my best friend, how could I kill him?”
“Jeremy, is this your army knife?” Rachel asked as she pointed at the knife in the basket.
“So what if it is?” Jeremy replied.
“Yes or no, Jeremy. Is that your knife?” Jonathan asked.
“Yes, that’s my knife. How did that get here?”
“How would you say that this is your knife?”
“See this little marker highlighted there?” Jeremy said as he pointed at the knife handle. Sure enough, there was a diamond-shaped sign on the handle. It looked pretty old, but it was still there alright. “This is how I know that this knife is mine. I had to keep track of my own knife because there had been a lot of theft in my club. Oh, my club is…”
“We know,” Jonathan said. “I’ve checked your records. You are pretty much a studious person that a jock. You entered the Chess Club, the Literature Club and besides being in the basketball team, you’re also the only one among your gundam to be a member of the Scouts Club. What are you, a Brownie?”
“Somewhat,” Jeremy replied. “How did my knife get here? I’ve been looking for it everywhere.”
“That’s what we like to ask you, sonny boy. We found it under the Perodua Rusa which belonged to your friend Cliff. Now how did it get there? You tell me, Jeremy.”
“What?! Are you trying to tell me that I killed Cliff? That’s ridiculous! I lost that knife the day before the concert and I just simply can’t find it. And now it so happened to turn out in Cliff’s car and you’re suddenly accusing me of killing him?! I can sue you for false accusation! My uncle’s a lawyer and he’ll sue the socks off you!” Jeremy exclaimed in disbelief and anger, well a timid sort of anger, that is.
“Yes, yes, well, I’m sure he will,” Jonathan replied nonchalantly as his hand reached dangerously towards the gun hidden in his coat. “But I bet I’m going to win the case when the jury finds out that you killed Cliff out of revenge, you know, the prank they played on you during the end of PMR celebration.”
“Wha…?” Jeremy’s eyes widened as he seemed to remember that fateful day. He looked sideways awkwardly, “That…That was a long time ago…”
“Really? But not long enough to suppress the hate inside you, does it?” Jonathan asked, satisfied to see that he had caught Jeremy’s sensitive spot. “You hate them pulling the prank on you so much that you are willing to kill them for revenge, right? That’ll show them for leaving you in that dark storeroom for hours.”
“This is crazy! I wouldn’t kill anyone just because of a measly prank! We were young, and I don’t hold grudges like some people do!” Jeremy exclaimed. “And even if I did kill anyone, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to hide something so conspicuous like my own knife! And like you said, I’m afraid of the dark and that place is pretty dark. I wouldn’t go out there to kill him even if my life depends on it.”
“Then where were you really?” Rachel folded her arms across her chest. “I find it hard to believe that you have just left the place to take a leak. Judging by the ticket of your concert I got from my co-worker, your seats are quite far away, leaving you plenty of time to get out of there, commit the murder and squeeze through the crowd to come back to your seats.”
“Like I said, I went to the toilet. If you don’t believe me, you can call my old primary classmate Yong Chung Wee; we came across each other in the toilet and talked for a while before we left to find our seat. And if you still don’t believe me,” Jeremy banged his palm on the table, just to make his timid self look tough, “I’ll be seeing you in court.”
“Huh? Me? Murder? You gotta be shitting me!”
It was Gary being questioned at another room by Judith and Elaine and, as our CSI members expected, he went into a state of denial. Judith leaned towards Gary and said, “Are you sure? I’ve heard from your past that you were pretty cool in handling cars and you used to take a part-time job at your granduncle’s car repairs shop. Someone as smart as you could’ve easily know where to hide a murder weapon in the last place no one would even think of looking—right under the car at a very specific inconspicuous spot like the exhaust pipe.”
“So what if I knew the ins and outs of a car?” Gary said. “That doesn’t mean I’m a murderer!”
“Oh? But from what I heard, you have paid a visit to Jeremy’s house the day before the concert to borrow his homework because you didn’t finish yours,” Elaine said as she lit a cigarette and took a whiff of it. “He had come back from his scouting trip but hadn’t exactly had the time to put away all his scouting equipment and your busybody attitude ran through all his scouting stuff. You could’ve swiped away his army knife without him looking. After all, we did find the murder weapon under the car and it’s evident that the army knife belonged to Jeremy.”
“Besides,” Judith continued as she took the cigarette from Elaine’s mouth and took a whiff of it herself, “you told my friend here that you’ve ran off to buy neon lights for the gang, and the only way to get those neon lights was to go outside. What do you say to that?”
“Look, there were so many people who might have seen me buying the neon lights,” Gary said. “And the neon light seller was an old pal of mine. He’ll tell you that I’ve bought the lights from him. Besides, you got no prints on the knife that shows that it was me, didn’t you? And you got no prints on the car that has my name on it and no one saw me going to the spot where Cliff was making out. I only realized he was gone after the concert. If I have bought the lights before I killed Cliff, someone would’ve noticed me like a human neon walking with shining neon lights in my pockets and if I bought the lights after I killed Cliff, anyone would’ve seen me with blood all over my clothes. Now isn’t that a silly thing for me to do?”
“You were carrying a backpack with you,” Elaine pointed out. “Your friends saw you leaving the concert and coming back with the backpack all the time. You told me when I was sending you guys home that you used it to carry food supplies. You could’ve hidden something else in there, something that is a non-food item.”
“Maybe I was a little overprotective about my bag,” Gary waved her accusation away. “Who wouldn’t if it is the newest backpack in the century and also with only 1000 items sold worldwide? You would be protective about it too! Besides I’ve opened the backpack for you to see, haven’t I? It’s pretty much half-empty of its food.”
“You’re good,” Judith complemented, smirking as she folded her arms across her chest. “Considering the fact that you have been doing quite a time in the teenage correctional institute for mugging a shopkeeper and attempt to stab him so that he wouldn’t have a chance to call the police.”
“Hey, that was a long time ago and I don’t appreciate you bringing it up!” Gary growled, looking offended. “I’ve did my time and it wasn’t easy for me to start anew here! Besides, mystery movies have always been my second love. I watch it all the time. Now if you’ll excuse me, I got a date with my girlfriend Luciana in about 10 minutes…”
“Woah, wait!” Elaine stopped him short. “Did you say your girlfriend is Luciana Lo, the daughter of one of the most influential female politician and a child prodigy in music?”
“Yeah. She’s been pretty cool in her violin and piano and all, and filthy rich too,” Gary replied proudly. “It’s not easy for me to tackle her and if she ever finds out I’ve been in the institution and here being questioned by you cops, everything will down into the drains! I’ve already been embarrassed enough for being confiscated of the knife I brought for ERT class in front of her.”
“You’re in ERT? I thought you’re in Form 4 and KH isn’t supposed to be in your subject anymore,” Judith lit up.
“Yeah, well, in our school, no matter what grade are you in, KH is still part of the syllabus. And I took ERT just to be with Luciana. Lionel borrowed me a knife because we’re required to bring our own knife for that day and I don’t have one—my family doesn’t cook; we just eat microwave-heated food or fast food. So I was being a show-off, but the teacher didn’t have to confiscate it.”
“Tough school, tough life. It gets old,” Judith muttered.
“So can I go now?”
At another room, Rebecca and Justin were interrogating the fat and jolly Nicholas. Justin had not much work to do in his coroner business, so he’d like to try out the interrogation. So far, among the three people being questioned, Nicholas looked the most relaxed. It was as if none of this really bothered him.
“You look awfully jolly for some one who just lost his best friend in a gruesome murder,” Justin eyed at him suspiciously.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, officer,” Nicholas said. “I’m feeling very bad about all this, really, I do. But the problem is I was brought up to look at the bright side of life by my parents. So whenever something bad happens, I always keep a good mind in my head that at least it didn’t happen to me.”
“Of course it didn’t happen to you, and you’re glad of that,” Rebecca said. “That’s because you’re the one who committed the murder. Murders, if you include Lionel’s brothers and sister.”
“Me? Murder my friends? Now that’s simply impossible,” Nicholas laughed. “Why would I want to kill my friend? I have nothing against him, lest have anything against Lionel’s siblings. Or even Cliff for that matter.”
“Gee, I’m not so sure,” Rebecca said in a mock tone. “Maybe you can tell us, judging by the far away seat you and your friends got from the concert and enough time to sneak off to disembowel Cliff and come back just in time to meet your friends who came back from the toilet and from neon light-shopping respectively.”
“Look, all I can say is that I have nothing against them or have a grudge on anyone of them and I wouldn’t get so cracked up to kill them even if I do have a grudge on them. Like I said, I see things on the bright side. Even if they did do me wrong, I would always believe that they will get what they deserve and that it would hurt them more than it would hurt me later. Besides, even if I want to kill them, I couldn’t. Look at me,” Nicholas held out his hands and showed his large body to them. “I’m like a sumo player! I stand out like a sore thumb! The only reason that the coach chose me to be part of the basketball team is because I serve as the best human wall to block the opponents. I would’ve left evidence everywhere!”
“You got a point there,” Justin said. “The pressure on those wounds on the victims looked like they’ve done by someone who is of a medium-sized person trying to force it in.”
“Anyway, if they ever have anything against me,” Nicholas continued, “I know just the thing to counter them—I know loads of their secrets. Well, majority of it were Jeremy, Gary and Cliff, that is.”
“What secrets? Well, that is, if you don’t mind telling me,” Rebecca asked, loving a gossip or two.
“Well, don’t tell anyone, will you?” Nicholas said as he brought himself closer towards the two CSI officers. “We swore never to tell a soul and all. Our Cliff here, well, you officers know he had a habit of picking up girls just like he did that night. Like your boss said, he had been hanging with a girl too many, ‘coz there’s once he knocked up a girl so hard, he got her pregnant. Phew! I gotta tell you, that girl was so frustrated that she really took the liberty of finding his whereabouts and almost caused a riot. If it weren’t for Cliff having his own bank account and stored enough bucks for himself, his parents would’ve found out about that and he wouldn’t have the chance to persuade her to get rid of the baby.”
“Cliff paid the girl to abort the baby? That’s too cruel!” Justin exclaimed, speaking for Rebecca who also had the same idea herself.
“The girl was only too happy to do it. She came from a very strict family and keeping the baby was not an option,” Nicholas said nonchalantly. “Jeremy, on the other hand, besides having a serious fear of the dark, was always the victim of almost everyone in the basketball team.”
“I’m sure you guys know it already,” Rebecca noted.
“Oh, we know. But Lionel doesn’t know that. He only knows about Gary’s secret and Cliff’s. He also doesn’t even know that Jeremy was actually a part-time night tuition teacher and had helped his siblings with their studies, and he doesn’t know that they were giving him a hard time during lessons. They practically treat him like crap. That’s Jeremy’s dark secret.”
“How do you know all this?”
“He doesn’t talk much about it, that Jeremy,” Nicholas shrugged. “Lionel’s siblings told me about it in one of our sleepovers at Lionel’s house ‘coz they always like to convey things to the big, fat jolly guy. And about that basketball team bullying thing, well, let’s just say that after the prank, we found it easier for us to pick on Jeremy, so we’re sort of into it with the rest of the team.”
“He’s your best friend! How could you do this to him? That’s not fair!” It was Rebecca’s turn to exclaim.
“Hey, like I said, always look on the bright side. He’s getting it, not me. If he dares to even peep about it, we’ll have to expose that dark secret to Lionel.”
“Why didn’t he want Lionel to know about this?” Justin asked.
“Oh, some crap about not wanting to break up the friendship or something. I kinda think that Lionel favours Jeremy more than us, and that’s not too good for someone who had sworn in the beginning of high school that we’ll be equal in friendship forever. He was afraid that he would ruin our relationship if he ever knew that we’ve been bullying the geek, so.”
“You said Gary also had a secret. What is it?” Justin asked, and Nicholas told him immediately about Gary being in the correctional institute for stealing and attempted murder on the shopkeeper. Rebecca rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
“What about Lionel? Doesn’t he have a secret or something?”
“Only that he’s a slave for fashion and wouldn’t miss any kind of newest trend or something. Not that anyone in the whole school doesn’t know about it,” Nicholas waved his hands sarcastically.
“And what’s your dark secret?” Justin asked, bringing him back to reality. He could see that the jolly Nicholas immediately slowed down and was looking pretty nervous. Justin asked again in a different way, “What’s your dark secret, Nicholas? You’ve told everything to us about your friends, why can’t you tell us yours?”
Hesitantly, Nicholas leaned even closer to the officers and, with a lower voice, he whispered his secret to them. After he finished, Justin was the first to react.
“What were you thinking?? You could’ve gotten someone killed!”
“Hey, I was a kid! How was I supposed to know how it works?! My dad could but I had to find out about it after my brain was capable enough to understand it!” Nicholas said fearfully.
“Now that’s something we’ve never expect,” Rebecca muttered, turning off the tape recorder that was on the table recording their interrogation session all this while.
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