When they arrived at the local station the police seemed surprised to see them there, but a few conversations left them to one of the detectives working on the case.
"Oh, him? We just found who did it. He confessed."
"You found the murderer?" said Olivia.
"Yes. He was a host. We were a bit frightened of putting him into custody, but he acquiesced and we had his Revenant removed."
"Excuse me, you arrested him?" said Iris. "You realize he could've pulled your guts out your asshole?"
"Well, he didn't, so what's the issue?"
Iris just stared at him, but she realized that many people were idiotic enough to think like this. She did not want to deal with it, so she mostly just gestured to Olivia.
"Okay, but we still need to speak to him and see if there's any other hosts in the area."
"Certainly. We'll bring him into interrogation for you."
Iris & Olivia went to the interrogation room, sat down, and Iris sighed. "Stupid, stupid people."
"Probably more comforting than believing that there's superhumans who can kill you in two seconds."
"I know, but why would he confess?"
Iris glanced up as the door opened: two detectives brought in a young white man. She glanced to Olivia. "You can leave him here with us."
The detectives left him there, and immediately he began speaking: "Oh, s-shit, I didn't know it would be two chicks. You gotta help me, I don't know what they told you about what I did, but-"
"Did you kill those girls?" said Olivia.
"Okay, here's how it happened. I know that y'all think I did it, but I'm gonna tell you how it really went down. I don't know anything about those four girls that got murdered, even though I know I was like, close to her when they said that the body got dumped or whatever, and I guess I must've taken a piss into that river, because that's what the cops said that people saw me doing. I don't think I did, but maybe I did, so ok."
Iris realized he thought they were his lawyer(s), which would make Olivia her paralegal. She imagined it for a few moments.
"We can't help you unless we know whether you did it." said Olivia.
"Well, I-"
The door opened and in entered a well-dressed man: if Iris had to describe his appearance in one word it would be 'exhausted'.
Olivia spoke. "Hi, who-"
"Roy Kaplan. Good to see you. Now, I just came off the phone with this young man's mother, and she attests to the strength of his character, so allow me to begin by asking YOU something: just what the hell do you think you are doing questioning him without his lawyer present? I know very well how skilled you are at convincing even the educated to give up their rights, and this man is far below even that."
"Wait, what?" said the young man. "Oh. Oh, I heard that name, yeah. Roy. My mom was gonna call you, but I got everything straightened out. They said we can fight it out in court, so we're cool."
"We didn't convince him to give up anything. He already confessed to killing those girls." said Olivia.
"Hey, wait-"
"Quiet, Thomas. Now, bring me this supposed confession, if it does indeed exist; or perhaps I should add harassment to the list of charges to file against your department, in addition to violating this man's Constitutional rights?"
Iris laughed. "The Constitution means nothing to us. Your supposed client confessed to it."
"Prove it, then. Bring me the written testimony or audio recording of his confession; within five minutes, of course, so you don't think to simply doctor one up. How convenient it is that you find your culprit just as the media clamors about how your entire department has bungled the investigation. Better to be swift than correct, eh? And I would not be so fast and loose with the Constitution; police may rarely see the inside of a jail cell, but stranger things have certainly happened."
"I can be fast and loose with any rights because I'm legally immune."
"*Qualified* immunity, not legal immunity -- but I would not expect a-..." He frowned. "…oh. You're Urasaria students, not police."
"Yes." said Iris plainly.
"Well, damnit, I don't know what the hell you want with my client. Lay a Revenant finger upon him and your academy's president will hear of it -- and from what I hear, she's quite the strict one, so don't think she won't rip you apart from the inside and leave your broken husk hobbling-"
"We weren't looking to hurt him." frowned Iris. Despite the humor, it discomforted her to be viewed in this manner; she despised the police and even moreso as a student. "I was asking why he confessed to a crime he says he didn't commit. That's what the police told us. We wanted to ask him why, so we could find out if we should go back to Urasaria or not."
"It seems I have some speaking to do with my client, then. If you aren't looking to hurt him, then get out until I come ask for you, and don't let those animals in here."
Iris nodded and left the room, as did Olivia. The detectives from earlier approached them, then motioned them aside to try to enter.
"He's with his lawyer." said Olivia.
"He's been with his lawyer for twenty minutes. He's had enough time."
"Seemed more like five minutes to me."
"Twenty minutes goes by fast these days."
"Two minutes, forty seconds, two hundred & thirty-five milliseconds, three thousand and twenty-one microseconds, six nanoseconds." said Iris. "You'll find I've got perfect intuition when it comes to time."
This beget more argument from the civilians, but there was little to be done against two hosts.
It was 15 minutes before Roy called Iris back in. Little energy animated his eyes despite his words. "The young man claims his confession was coerced, and that he did not murder anyone."
"You're telling us he's not a host?" said Iris. "They already tested him."
"Bring me the test, then. What evidence do you have of his guilt?"
Iris sighed. She realized that like her own, his combativeness was habit. She couldn't be angry at him for it, not in the main. "…we don't. But they told us he confessed. I don't understand why he would confess to a crime he didn't commit."
"I just-"
"Thomas, do not speak unless I tell you to." he said. "That is my advice, and what we went over."
"But I just wanna explain-"
"Shut UP, Thomas! Your mouth has put you into trouble once; see that it does not again."
"What's your explanation for that?" said Iris.
"Because I was-"
"THOMAS!"
"Sorry."
"Now, consider this, Ms. Kronos, though I do not know whether you have ever been a civilian. You are raised in a culture where the police are considered trustworthy, and many fictionalized depictions of them obscure the actual process of their work; they are considered, at-wide, heroic and above criticism.
As a young, naive adult, you have been arrested and are brought to an interrogation room: you do not know what you are accused of. You are spoken to by a trained detective, one who is skilled at making even the most educated waive their right to a lawyer; he calmly asserts that certain evidence has led the police to consider you a suspect in an ongoing criminal investigation. What you do not know, as a civilian, is that this evidence does not need to exist for him to have made such a statement. You do not know that it is legal for the police to intentionally lie, and illegal for you to unintentionally lie.
He tells you that if you do not talk, more evidence will be forthcoming, and matters will not be quite so easy for you then. He sets a timer to a conclusion that does not exist. He may give you a picture array where a witness has circled you, and while you worry, he begins slowly to give you a series of psychological outs. He asks if you committed this crime in the spur of the moment, or was it pre-meditated? The former offers a psychological excuse. To answer either is to admit guilt. He claims that so long as you answer him honestly, he shall do what is within his power to make the resulting process far easier on you; he may tell you that your answers will not be recorded, and that they are merely narrowing suspects. He tells you he is helping you, but will later claim to a judge that he is helping you by ensuring you will go to prison.
Maintaining your innocence becomes difficult. You have been kept in this room for hours. You may be jailed for up to three days without formal charges. You are stressed, tired, and they tell you that they will let you go if you simply affirm you were there at the time, and fight out the rest in court. A small lie, not unlike ones you have said in many uncomfortable situations before, shall grant you twenty years in prison. To cry or show strong emotion is seen as confirmation of guilt; to fidget is evidence of lying.
They say they understand that you likely didn't know what you were doing is a crime, and that they will soften the charges if prosecution is needed. But, go against them and the charges will be far worse than you. They state that you have a right to remain silent, yet every year, hundreds of innocent people are sent to prison by juries who believe that those who are innocent have no reason to be silent.
And once a confession has been coerced under these circumstances, well-meaning young women like yourselves find the notion that one could confess to a crime that they had not committed ridiculous, and you send young men like Thomas to prison on that basis, while his interrogator is praised as a hero. That is, briefly, the method of interrogation that is taught to every police officer in America, and it is considered exemplary police work to follow it."
Iris just sat there for a while.
Olivia spoke up: "Then you don't think he's guilty."
"It would be my duty to represent him even if he were, but my personal feeling on the matter is he is not. It's possible that he was hosting a Revenant, though I have yet to receive any documentation or test given to him. If that were true, it would be easily verifiable and guilty with a potential sentence of 10-20 years. But to murder with a Revenant is an entirely different charge, and one that students should know the punishment of."
"Execution." Olivia frowned. "Well, we're still supposed to see if the case is closed before we go back. Kronos and I can help you. She's good with investigation."
"You'll excuse my suspicion towards that offer, given students typically work with the police and not against them."
"We only work with the police when we have to. They screwed us over last month. Besides, we kept them out, didn't we?"
"If it's a false confession, that means the other host is still out there." muttered Iris. "Civilian investigation or not, that falls to us."
"You may be a skilled investigator as a student, but you are not trained as an investigator for the odd legal area in which this case resides. Your legal immunity does not prepare you for civilian procedure." He mused a while. "…however, there is an investigator I usually work alongside, and he is not a host... and to do without one would introduce undue risk and danger… A student is not dissimilar to a private investigator, I suppose. It's likely acceptable, if unusual. But, if you are to investigate on mine and this young man's behalf, I will draft out a broad listing of what you are and are not allowed to do; what will cause evidence to become inadmissible. The judge may be more lenient, given your inexperience in this field, but he will certainly expect me to have taught you."
"Will it be difficult?" said Iris.
"Fortunately, I'm aware that your academy has taught you some familiarity with the relevant laws. In particular, I would review Chapter 439 and the Revenant-related statutes."
Iris blinked.
Olivia blinked.
Iris blinked.
Olivia blinked.
"Chapter 439?" said Olivia.
"I didn't even know books could go that high." said Iris.
"That's because you've never read a book without pictures." muttered Olivia.
Iris elbowed her and she giggled.
He laughed. "Ah, the student sense of humor. Do you really expect me to believe that students have no knowledge of the law, merely murder? What else would they teach in your classes, exactly?"
"They don't teach the law." said Olivia.
"They teach us Revenant counters." said Iris, then muttered: "…mostly I just sit in the back. Whispering with Amelie or giggling at Eva's ideas for pranks. Elizabeth, too, if she isn't off having a neurotic breakdown, or..."
He was mortified. "Oh... oh my God." He quickly recomposed. "…I will make note of this in taking into account what information you require. But, for now... we'll exchange contact information, and I will update you with more by tomorrow. Do not speak to the police or let them in on what we have decided to do. I shall handle all relevant procedures. Do not attempt investigation yourselves until I have asked you to."