It took all Johan's strength to be able to leave the migraine that was almost exploding in his head in the background and concentrate on the policeman's words, while he felt strong hands pulling his body out from under the silk sheets of that bed.
After falling face-first onto the floor and being forcefully lifted up by the policemen, Johan finally caught a glimpse of what had been next to him on the bed a few moments earlier.
The white sheets were drenched in a bloody, hideous red, and...
There was someone else in bed with him, but Johan couldn't make out exactly who it was.
The only thing he could make out in all the confusion was that the person was dead.
Several stab wounds made the sheet and the woman's body look like a patchwork quilt painted red.
Suddenly, thanks to the adrenaline that had started flowing through Johan's veins like lava, he was able to wake up and pay attention to every detail of the scene, which could only have come out of a horror movie.
Blood.
Blood everywhere, and the smell...
The smell of death mixed with something sweet.
Sickening...
Johan tried to get up, but the hands pressing down on his shoulders were too strong.
The noise around him seemed muffled, as if he were a child with his head wrapped up in the covers so as not to hear a particularly loud and aggressive argument between his parents.
But of course this analogy didn't fit Johan.
Johan had no father and no mother.
At that moment, however, Erick didn't have a mother either.
And the policeman pressing Johan's body against the marble floor dictated Johan's rights, as if he were the criminal.
As if he was to blame for that horror movie scene.
But it couldn't be possible, right?
Johan had spent all his time with his guests in the dining hall, until...
'Claudius...'
The thought came as quickly, fleetingly, and at the same time as destructively as a bolt of lightning.
"It wasn't me..." Johan stammered, trying to find the correct functioning of the muscles in his mouth, his vocal cords. "It wasn't... I..."
That's when he managed to raise his head, after being turned towards the door.
Johan saw Claudius' face amidst the small crowd that had gathered outside the room.
And the look on young Clifford's face was one of victory.
It was almost as if Erick's best friend was celebrating what was happening there.
'Bastard...' "DISGRACEFUL! IT WAS YOU, CLIFFORD! YOU SET ME UP! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Johan tried to get up, using all the strength he had regained during the adrenaline rush, doing everything in his power to advance against his new sworn enemy.
But to no avail.
The force of the policeman holding him was too great.
The frustration in Johan's heart also played its part in wrenching him limb from limb.
Claudius' expression changed completely the moment Johan shouted, furious.
Young Clifford's eyes went wide, his mouth opened in a silent scream, and the handsome young blond man's arms wrapped around his own body in a forced attempt to protect himself from the Erick in front of him.
"HOLD HIM! DON'T LET HIM NEAR ME! HE'S CRAZY, PLEASE..."
"Bastard... Bastard... It wasn't me... Bastard..." They were the only words Johan managed to utter as he was dragged away under the astonished and frightened gazes of all the servants and onlookers who had gathered there.
***
Outside, Johan had already given up trying to free himself, and just followed silently as the officer guided him to the patrol car.
'That's it, then...? That's what I came here for...? To be... Holy shit...'
Johan's eyes widened as the thought formed in his mind.
So simple, so obvious, and yet so difficult to accept...
"Ha... Ha... Ha..." Johan got into the patrol car laughing nervously, holding back the tears that were forcing their way out.
"Shut up, you murdering piece of shit!" The police officer ordered in a harsh tone of voice. "Or I'll make you live up to your right to remain silent, and break every tooth in that filthy mouth of yours! It wasn't me... My ass!"
The officer started the car, and the vehicle began to move towards the police station.
Already some distance away, Claudius, watching the patrol car disappear into the distance, disappearing from view towards the entrance to the sumptuous villa, cracked a smile that was hard to contain.
A wide, murderous, cold smile.
"Things are about to change... Goodbye, Erick Vaughn."
***
After the screening, Johan was thrown into a single cell, to wait for whatever was going to happen to him.
A few minutes later, however, one of the guards approached the cell, calling out to him.
"Mr. Vaughn...?"
Johan took a moment to raise his head, forgetting for a moment that he was still playing a role.
"Yes...?" Johan replied.
"You are entitled to a call, although your secretary has already contacted your lawyers. Would you like to use the call you're still entitled to?"
Johan couldn't think straight.
Whatever Claudius had put in his drink was strong enough to put an elephant to sleep.
So much so that Johan still had trouble putting one foot in front of the other to walk.
"Yes... I think I want to use that link, yes..."
The guard nodded positively, and gestured for Johan to get up, and guided him to the end of that corridor, near the reception desk, where there was a payphone.
"I want to apologize for Officer Burkes' behavior, Mr. Vaughn." The guard said, in an apologetic tone. "Despite his relatively high rank, he's still a rookie, he's only recently moved to this side of the country, so he... He doesn't know how things work. But I'm sure things will be sorted out before the sun goes down."
Bowing slightly, the guard moved away, giving Johan some privacy to make the call.
The young man pressed one key, then another, and another, thanking God for his photographic memory.
He had memorized that guy's number as soon as his eyes saw the sequence of digits on the screen of his smartphone, which now lay in the hands of the police officers at the station.
The number rang once, twice, three times...
On the fourth time, however, Erick Vaughn's jovial voice answered from the other end of the line.
"Johan Reed, who is this?"
"You knew..." Johan replied. "You knew this was going to happen... You set me up..."
"You're already under arrest? Damn..." Erick replied, his voice slightly bored. Johan noticed a strange song playing in the background of the call. "... I could have sworn it would take Claudius a few more days to betray me..."