❧
Aper drove back to the station with a pain in his chest. He coughed from time to time and sneezed at the red light on the window of an old yellow car. The glass had boogers all over it, so Aper drove faster and reached the station earlier. It was almost 1 pm, the time for Nicholas Wade's interview.
Aper walked into the station with the book, bottle and key in a bag he found in his car. No one had to know about the book, for the protective case around it made Aper think of it as valuable or dangerous. The personnel gave weird glances at him but did not care much about his business. The man walked straight to his office, where a file about Sasha Shaw's case waited on his desk. He rummaged through it a bit before adding it to a briefcase that had "Purple Case" engraved on it. Aper took the case and walked straight to the interview room.
Kyle was already there. He stood behind the glass, looking at the man in front of him. He found the man familiar in a way. Nicholas's eyes had the same blue shade as Nique's, but the gaze was different, same broad shoulders, probably the same height. Nicholas had a calm and confident look, while Nique's was more friendly and mysterious.
"Hello," Aper's voice echoed through the room. He plastered himself in the doorway, crossing his arms at his chest. He was more massive than Kyle, which gave him the superior vibe.
"Hello. Glad you made it. I was starting to think you wouldn't get here in time," Kyle said, grabbing a thin file from the table. He walked past Aper, patting him on the shoulder with the papers, annoying him more. As Kyle went straight into the other room, where Nicholas was waiting, Aper had to suppress a sneeze. He regained his posture and followed after the other detective.
At the sight of Aper, Nicholas took a more serious pose. He was now intrigued as to why there were two detectives instead of one.
"Hello there, Nicholas. I am Kyle Hinkro, and he is Aper Koden. We will take your interview together."
"Ah yes, very well. I heard a lot about you, mister Koden; one of the best detectives this city has ever had. Too bad you went a bit off the road with the past cases."
Aper shot his eyes at him. "Similar voices too… and seems to know about the other two cases," he thought.
"Oh, don't give me that look. The entire city has heard about you. You have a lot of talent, but it is quite a shame that people recognized you for your incapability," he smiled. Nicholas Wade was making Aper lose his temper as he knew about the tower Koden had just looted - his tower.
Detective Koden, however, kept a confident gaze. He figured the man in front of him was not someone of a good caliber. First, that scar on his chin, all the way up to his eye, made him look macabre, and now the way Nicholas straight up attacked him confirmed his suspicion. "Skyleene was right; he does seem suspicious," he thought.
"Indeed. It is a shame how we are best known for our failures rather than our best performances. But that is not what we are going to talk about here. Our subject is Sasha Shaw. Your wife," Aper struck.
"Ah yes, my beautiful wife. Such a shame I haven't even gotten the chance to see her before - you know," Nicholas shifted in his seat. "How may I be of any assistance, gentlemen?" he sighed deeply.
"We would like to know what your wife was like," Kyle asked.
"She was an angel, a kind soul and a caring mother. I loved her deeply, and I still do. But she had to move on. I always got massages from the Dream Calls. She kept contacting me and couldn't understand that I was gone. She became a pain in the ass after I died, but she didn't deserve what happened to her. Say, what did happen to her exactly?" he leaned on the table.
"She was found dead. Her soul parted from the vessel and most probably lost at Sea. Some douchebag hated her so bad that she decided to torture her even after death," Aper explained.
"How do you know it is a she?" Nicholas laughed.
"Or he, if you prefer," Aper looked at him under his lashes. That stare gave Aper a mocking vibe, which helped in putting the naughty man in place.
"Now say. Do you know anyone who would hurt your wife?" Kyle asked.
"I have no idea. As I said: Sasha was a sweetheart. And she was hot. Why would anyone hurt a hot person?" he laughed bitterly.
"Huh," Kyle exclaimed. "You're right; she was hot."
"See! See! Even the detective agrees with me on this one!" Nicholas laughed.
"Knock it off, Nicholas. Tell me: where were you on October 18th?" Aper asked, pissed.
"I was at home."
❧
The two men tried to make Nicholas speak more, but nothing helpful ever came from his mouth, so they just let him go.
Not much information got gathered from that interview, aside from the fact that Nicholas was a fart and that Sasha only had good intentions. Aper wrote down some details, and after an hour of conversing, they agreed on letting Nicholas go. He knew that Nicholas had lied to them because Skyleene saw him at the Academy, but could not bring himself to shout that out loud.
The two detectives were in the hallway. Both of them seemed to be deep in thought.
"Say, did you notice that Nicholas Wade sounds similar to Nique Wollen?" Kyle laughed. "This is getting out of hand, Nique wouldn't do something like this," Aper thought.