"I imagine I am being suspected of killing the homeless man," came her confident voice. The scorn was evident and it further solidified my theory. She knew the inner workings of the law system and she had been questioned before, if not several times. I leaned forward, interested.
"Good. Please retell the events that led to you finding the body."Dammit, that boy couldn't even ask sharp questions. Was he looking for a sob story from the person being interrogated? How would he pinpoint the fallacies in the narrative if he didn't press her to reveal the facts and minute details that she may have missed out?
She went on to mention every little detail of what had happened. Cold and calculated, like she had practiced every word and had said it out in her head over and over again to have made the perfect decisive reply. I looked at the declarations made by the other youngsters who were found on the scene with her and they went well with each other. Though I knew the girl was definitely not the killer, her answers were concise and interesting, something that had not happened to me in a long time. She was beyond my expectations.
There was still a little leeway to question and I prayed that the intern would get it right. I had tried to train him for the past few weeks and been gravely disappointed by his failure to achieve what was expected of a student his age.
"You realized he was dead without checking for a pulse, huh?"
'Okay, good. Not the question I would ask, but definitely not too stupid.'
"When I reached him, I was sure he was close to dying. There was no fogging from his breathing and he wasn't using the cardboard as a makeshift bed. I figured I would have to perform CPR but when I saw his face, I knew he had been dead for some time." Her movements provided me with no suspicions that she was lying. I gave her a pass and commended her on her quick thinking and presence of mind to have figured out something was wrong. It seemed that she had a keen sense of understanding of human culture and psychology, something which was cherished in my field of study.
Quickly, my mind turned to compare the two people who shared the room. One had been my student and the other was someone else who needed to be interrogated and the one I had not trained was definitely at an advantage. I didn't feel any pride for my student, but I definitely wasn't embarrassed by his performance. This girl was truly marvellous.
And then Jameson did the most stupid thing he had done to date. He pulled out the crime scene photos and threw them down in front of her as if apprehending a criminal. It seemed that his need to win against this commoner had ruined his composure and made him unable to see for himself how ridiculous he looked. He was affected by her, I could tell that. The confrontational mode he was in was not just because he felt threatened… it was something else.
It took me time to realize what it was.
Lust.
He liked how she looked.
I looked at her curiously, trying to see what was appealing about her features. Apart from her brilliance, there was not much noteworthy about her face. I suppose one could call her beautiful, but I had never been one to appreciate someone on their outward appearance.
"What do you see?" he asked, his face filled with smugness. I made sure that the recorder was on and he would see for himself how he had looked with that silly look on his face.
"Is this your first time trying to crack a case?" I guffawed. The operator beside me looked at me in alarm, not understanding why I had such a big reaction. Indeed, the girl was either observant or she guessed very well. I bet on the former. It was indeed his first time questioning, and I was almost sad that I hadn't been the one to confront her in this meeting. It would have been a lot more interesting to face her head on and grill her until I figured out what exactly she was made out of.
"Ah, I was right," she sounded smug, but I had to give it to her, she was naturally good at it. She deserved to act smug. "You lack insight and jump to conclusions." Point. "Did you expect me to react horribly? Gasping and gagging at the sight of the body? Or did you think that you could peg my indifference to the scene s proof of my guilt?" Interesting choice of words.
"Are you admitting to your crime?" Though I hated to admit it, it was a good catch. If I was keeping points, this would be a major hit. He could peg it down as equivocation and play around this the narrative. Serious miss on the girl's part for bringing up hypothetical situations. Not ideal when you are been questioned. Cops can put just about anything on you ang call you a criminal if it made their life a little easier. Jameson was one of those kinds of people, it was easy to tell.
"No, I am educating you." Her punch line made me cluck my tongue. She really had a sharp mouth and no sense of self-preservation. She should know not to provoke those in power.
"First of all, never show pictures… All you've done is made me look at you like an incompetent fool."
He was an incompetent fool.
"And how did you know this much?"As the question was asked, I saw the calculative look in her eye. She manoeuvred around the question brilliantly. It got me interested. I was invested in this girl.
"Maybe I get the knowledge from the same place you do, Jameson."At that moment I had decided that there was no need dragging the conversation on between these two; it would only make me more delighted at the plight of Jameson.
I would personally check her alibi and her ID.
Fascinating.
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