I waved at Tibby, so he knew I needed him. As I walked towards Tibby, I heard a "ding" at the elevator. I didn't pay any attention to it, since people come and go at all times of the day. But that all changed when I heard a voice call out to me.
"Yuri? Is that you?!" The voice exclaimed, clearly filled with surprise and excitement. It belonged to a female, and it was loud but soothing.
The owner of the voice might have been excited, but I wasn't. Chills went down my spine, and my blood went cold. Shit. It can't be her, right? God, if you do exist, now's the time to prove it. Make her go away! I turned around and hoped for the best.
I locked eyes with a young lady walking towards my desk. Her elegant presence alone silenced the office as everyone watched her stride through the precinct. She was about 5'6 "in height, and her deep, blue eyes were like an ocean, drowning anyone who dared to look into them. Her licorice-black hair contrasted with her eyes, highlighting them. She was smiling, with her glossy lips making her seem like she was shining as bright as a star.
"Oh," I answered as indifferently as possible. "It's you."
Renee Racer was the daughter of my Dad's best friend. She was only one year older than me, so we were the closest family friends. We also happened to live two houses away from each other, so we often walked to school together. This caused way too many misunderstandings among our classmates. It irritated me a lot, but she didn't seem to mind.
"What are you doing here?" Renee exclaimed. "I haven't seen you since I graduated!"
"I work here. The real question should be what are YOU doing here?"
"I'm the new DA. Which also means…" She threw me a cheeky smile.
Fuck. She's going to be my boss. This is the "daughter" of my dad's friend? He could've just told me it would be her. I hate people like her. Renee's the type that always laughs and socializes, even about pointless things. Once I remember her rant to me about how much she hated the last season of Game of Thrones. I was still on season five, so she spoiled a ton for me.
Out of nowhere, Tibby chimed in. "Do you two… know each other?"
I could see the cunning grin grow on her face. Oh no.
"Huh? Yuri, you never told your friends that you used to have a stunning girlfriend?" She pointed at her face, clearly trying to imply she was talking about herself. She was teasing me.
This bitch.
Tibby looked at me as if I was some kind of alien he didn't understand. He surely thought that I, a person that more often than not kept to myself, wouldn't be able to attract the stunning idol who was standing in front of me.
"We never dated," I explained hurriedly. "And I wouldn't tell anyone about my past relationships." I sat down in a chair near where I was standing. I didn't notice earlier due to my surprise, but it seemed like Renee had a guard or secretary with her.
"Don't be like that." Renee smiled, sat down in the seat beside me, and pinched my cheek. I made no effort to stop her. "Well, I guess it wasn't dating, since you were two-timing with Karin-"
I put my hands over her mouth. Her breath was warm and humid. She looked at me and we made eye contact. Her blue, icy eyes pierced me like a lightsaber. I noticed that she cut her hair since high school. It was shoulder length. She could've been a model, with her build and face. I quickly looked away and blushed.
"Oh? Nervous now after taking a better look?" She snickered playfully. She looked at Tibby and smiled mischievously. "What's your name, kid?"
"T-Tibby Tetchela," He replied. No doubt was he seduced by her charms. This witty woman.
"Don't get too attached, Tib. She's like a snake. One wrong move and she'll consume you without a second thought."
Renee turned back and looked at me with her sad, puppy eyes. "I thought we were friends. Why are you so mean to me?"
"Shut up. Why are you even here? I thought you went in for medical sciences?" I asked in a disapproving tone, trying to show my displeasure.
"That was for my undergrad. Truthfully speaking, I didn't like it, so I just went to law school to follow in my father's footsteps. I got appointed as the DA a week ago. Isn't that exciting?"
As much as I hated that she would be my future boss, I needed to acknowledge her intelligence. She always placed first in school for academics, averaging 99% throughout all the subjects. Renee was smart, beautiful, and kind. She was also one hell of a chef. Nobody made risotto as good as she did. Nobody. Anyone would've considered her the "perfect" woman. Hell, even I had a little crush on her in the tenth grade.
"Oh," I replied with as little energy as possible. "Congrats."
"Thanks!"
She gave me a wink, and although I tried to be as unaffected as possible when her pretty face gave me all her attention, it made my heart skip a beat. I cleared my throat.
"A-hem. Alright, let's get to work," I said tiredly. Renee was the last person I expected to meet today, and if she continues to mess with me, I might seriously start catching feelings. Just kidding.
Renee's face became serious as she stood up, grabbing a blue binder from her secretary and handing it to me. I flipped through the contents of the binder. There were pages upon pages of mugshots and profiles of various people.
I closed the binder and Renee looked at me. "We have twenty-eight suspects for the murder of Jill Young. We want to narrow the list down. Your dad told us that you were a profiling and interrogation specialist."
"Hmm… alright. But I was just told of the case a few minutes ago. Can you give me more details?"
Renee took out a laptop and opened it.
"On the night that Jill Young was declared missing, there were plans for a dinner between her and her mother-in-law. The mother arrived at the agreed time but noticed that the front door was wide open, with a broken window in the back of the house. Many signs of struggle were found, such as the master bed being all crumpled, and the railings of the stairs being broken."
"How long have the couple lived in the house?" I asked
"Nine years and seven months."
"Anything found after she contacted the police?"
Renee nodded. "There were tire marks from a vehicle, most likely an SUV or a truck. Some witnesses near the area mentioned that there was a rusty truck driving slowly near Swan Lake. There were also boot prints, which were analyzed. The suspect is probably male, around 180 centimetres tall and 55 kilos in weight."
"So the suspect was underweight?" asked Tibby. "Also, why is the husband on the suspect list?"
Renee looked over at her secretary. The secretary sighed and started explaining.
"We weren't able to confirm the husband's alibi."
"It's fine," I interjected "He's not the one who killed her, so it doesn't matter."
"Pardon?" The secretary asked. Renee and Tibby both looked at me, clearly wanting an explanation. I sighed.
"Well, the husband's mom was going to have a one-on-one dinner with the wife right? This means that they most likely have a good relationship."
Renee stared at me with a look of surprise. I stared at her back and gave her my best attempt at a cute wink. She grimaced.
"A-anyways," I continued. "There would also be no need for the husband to break the window since he would've had a key into the house. Plus, he would've built a habit of closing the front doors to the house since he had resided there for almost ten years. This murder was very poorly planned, the murderer clearly acted on impulse, so it couldn't have been the husband."
"That sounds logical," Renee started. "But even if we exclude the husband, we still have another twenty-seven suspects on the list. I look forward to working with you over the next few weeks, Yuri~"
She blew me a kiss, but I didn't react. Why? Because I knew she was wrong. I smirked.
"Well, I don't think it'll even take a week. In fact…" I looked at Tibby and he smiled at me. He knew. "...It'll only take today to solve it."
Renee and her secretary looked at me as if I had grown another head.
"What do you mean?" Renee asked curiously.
I pointed at a suspect on the list.
"Bring him in," I demanded
A skeptical Renee looked at me, then to where I pointed, and sighed.
"Okay. But why him?" She asked.
"Detective's intuition."
***
As I anticipated, the suspect I wanted to speak to was at home and agreed to talk to me. In an hour or so, he showed up, and Tibby escorted him to the interrogation room.
The man in the room looked exactly like how he did in his mugshot. Sunken eyes, pale skin, and skinny. He was wearing a black hood, grey sweatpants, and black boots. He looked nervous as he was looking around and fidgeting.
"Tibby?" I called out.
"Yes, Sarge?" He responded eagarly.
"Make sure to record this."
"Yes, Sarge."
As I walked towards the room, I glanced at Renee and her secretary. It looked like they were still confused. I guess I can't blame them.
I arrived in front of the door and took a deep breath. I stepped into the interrogation room, my jacket slung over my shoulder and my gun left on the table by the door—visible but out of reach. I wanted him to know it was there, but I wasn't going to use it. Not unless I had to.
Ryan Oakland sat across the table, his fingers twitching against the surface. His pale face glistened with sweat despite the cool, sterile air of the room. He wasn't looking at me. Good.
I slipped into a warm smile, and tried to focus on copying his mannerisms and movement, to make him as comfortable as possible. If he was comfortable, he would talk.
And if he talks, then I have already won.
"Hello," I greeted. I smiled at him warmly. "I'm Detective Yuri Yuren. Sorry for calling you in so suddenly."
An apology. A classic technique. Apologizing gave the illusion that I was pushed down to his level, which would make him more comfortable to talk to me.
"Before we begin, I would like to inform you that I'm just an interrogator and I will only be asking you some questions, nothing else. If you don't wish to be questioned further, let me know and an aide will guide you out."
"A-alright," He replied, with a hint of relief in his voice.
"Alright let's start easy," I said as I took a seat on the opposite side of the table. "What's your name?"
"Ryan O-Oakland."
"Mr. Oakland, then?" I repeated back to him. By repeating what he said I could remove the feeling of intimidation. It also made the interrogation slower, and easier to keep up with for him. He would feel more in control. "Where do you live?"
"In Markham."
I whistled. "In Markham, huh? That's pretty far. Did you drive here or use public transport?"
"I-I drove here."
"So you own a car? Can you tell me what type of car it is, I love cars."
"U-uh, yeah, sure. It's a 2009 F-150."
A truck huh?
"Lucky, I wished I had a car." I looked down at my notebook and back at him. I have a car, of course, but I wanted him to feel like he had something that I didn't. I wanted him to feel superior. "Well, you must be a busy man. What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a programmer," Oakland said. His eyes flickered up to meet mine before returning to the metal table. "I work from home."
An opening.
"I see… do you work from home because you feel uncomfortable around others?"
Oakland looked at me in shock.
"Sorry, I thought that you and I acted pretty similar," I said empathetically. "I was a loner for most of my life. Still am, in a way. I couldn't find anyone I could relate to and be myself with, other than one person in high school…"
I paused for a moment. "...But now even that person's gone from my life. But hey, I'm doing fine, aren't I?" I smiled.
I took the initiative to start talking to relieve the stress that he was going through. And I knew it worked since I heard him softly laugh. The ends of his lips curled into a smile, probably meaning he was getting comfortable around me.
This was the best moment to ask more specific questions.
I leaned in and asked him softly, "Did you know Jill Young personally?"
His eyes widened, and I could sense his discomfort, but he answered regardless.
"She was a friend of mine since high school. So was her husband. We were a trio."
"I'm sorry about your loss. Are you alright? It seems like you guys were close."
"I'm fine," he said. But the clenching of his fists stated otherwise.
I took out the blue binder Renee gave me and laid it on the table. I started going through it, making sure that Ryan was able to see the sheets and images we were using.
"As you can see," I started, making my tone more serious. "We have a ton of suspects on the list, so what can you provide me for me to mark you off?"
The wording was key here. Telling Ryan that I wanted to "mark him off" made him assume that I didn't suspect him, which relieved some of his stress.
"What would you need?"
"Oh, uh…" I trailed off, pretending to look for the words to devalue what I wanted from him. Lowering his guard. "Fingerprint and blood samples maybe?"
"Sure, I can do that. Is that all?"
"Uh, lemme think. Oh, some footwear impressions should also help."
He quickly glanced at his shoe and back at me.
He didn't know he could've called a lawyer right now. In his mind, I gave him two choices. Walk away without clearing his name, or risk giving me the information and potentially clearing his name. He didn't know what evidence I had against him.
"Uh, sure. I can do that too."
Checkmate.
"Well, unfortunately, Ryan, more things seem to be pointing at you now," I stated as I took off my facade.
"W-what do you mean?"
I grabbed a picture of the footwear at the crime scene and showed it to Ryan.
"This bootprint was found outside Jill's house. According to this, the perp is someone around 180 centimetres tall, with a shoe size of 28.5 cm, probably in boots. Probably like the ones you have right now. And if I'm not mistaken, you're… 178.5 centimetres tall?"
The blood drained from his face as I kept going.
"As someone who doesn't go out much, I know that we're unlikely to change shoes every day. Hell, I doubt we'd even buy new pairs if the previous pair weren't worn down and fell apart. You work from home, so you don't wear your shoes often. I bet you wore those boots on the night of the murder too."
Ryan Oakland was frozen stiff. His eyes were pulsing with an aura of emotion. Fear. He realized I had cornered him. He didn't even consider his options.
He spilled.
I returned to the meeting room with a sense of pleasure. When I opened the door, three heads turned towards me. Tibby gave me a slight nod and smiled, indicating that the whole interrogation was recorded. We could give the video to Renee to use as evidence in court. Speaking of which…
"Yuri! That was so impressive!" She said as she walked towards me. "You were a whole 'nother person in there! I was so shocked!"
"Thanks, I guess." I love being praised by her, but I can't tell her that.
"You had him wrapped around your hands! It was like a puppeteer and his puppet! But…" Renee looked at me questioningly, with curious eyes. Stop looking at me like that, I'll blush. "How did you know it was him?"
"His picture."
I started explaining to Renee. "Ryan Oakland looked like an anti-social loner in his mugshot. Pale skin, strained eyes, sunken cheek muscle, etc. He also worked from home, which solidified his loner status."
"The truck he owned further assured me that he was the perpetrator. The witness statements said there was rust on the truck indicating it was old. Loners have no reason to buy new cars, due to the price and hassle, so I was confident that he was the murderer."
But a loner with friends? He must've had some strong ties to them.
"If his relationship was broken apart by the two becoming a couple, he must've had no way to cope with the emotional distress. Again, it was all my intuition, but it worked out, didn't it?"
I sat down and put my head against the headrest. Ahh. This is nice.
Renee looked at me in awe. "I knew you were perceptive, but this… this is just crazy. I can see why you became a sergeant in just half a year."
"How did you know about that?" I asked.
"I read your file before the interrogation."
I sighed. "It's not that impressive, really."
"It's super impressive! You're amazing!" Renee exclaimed.
"Right?" agreed Tibby. "Sarge is awesome! He could be on so many other cases but the other detectives don't ask for his help since he's ex-military - OW!"
I punched him in the stomach.
"That's enough!" I snapped.
"Military?" Renee muttered.
***
A while has passed since the interrogation. It was the day of the trial. I had a habit of attending all the trials of the cases I worked on. I liked seeing how it proceeded, and how my interrogation might've helped.
Today was no different. Well, other than the fact that the DA's face was easier on the eyes, I guess…
I watched as Renee began to prosecute Ryan Oakland. She wasted no time after her opening statements to display the evidence: the state of the house, the boot marks, the tied marks, and the state of Jill Young's body.
Ryan was best friends with Jill and her husband, Gerald. But it turns out Ryan had a crush - no, an obsession with Jill. He didn't want to confess to her, to not jeopardize their friendship. But it didn't seem like the other two shared the same worries.
The other two confessed and started dating, which devastated Ryan.
As the years passed, Ryan visited and watched the two. He was often invited to dinners and holidays, as he was one of their "closest" friends. This only fueled his anger. He never wanted things to change, yet they did. It was like she was playing with his emotions and he wanted her out of his head. Permanently.
Maybe, just maybe, killing her would make it all go away?
The final clip shown to the jury was Ryan Oakland confessing to the murder of Jill Young.
Renee broke through the wall of defence in minutes, burning away all the flimsy and circumstantial evidence the other party brought. Obviously, the jury declared Ryan Oakland to be guilty of 1st-degree murder, and he was looking at around 25 years in prison.
When the trial ended, I followed the crowd out the door. As I was walking out, I got a hard slap on the back. I turned around and was face to face with a smiling Renee. I shivered. This was a trap, wasn't it?
"Want to grab a coffee, Yuri?" She invited me loudly and clearly. I felt the stares shot by the other lawyers and bureaucrats, fueled with jealousy. She definitely knew what she was starting.
This bitch.
With all these people around, I couldn't exactly say no to her, the district attorney. Plus, it wasn't like I was trying to avoid her.
"Fine," I sighed.
Renee's heels clicked purposefully as she closed the gap, her hand looping through my arm with the precision of someone staking a claim. "It's a date then!" she declared, her eyes sparkling mischievously.
This bitch.
Chatter erupted behind us, as pieces of how the district attorney and daughter of the founder of the most prestigious law firm in the nation was having a relationship with an average law enforcer of all things. Renee took it all, pretending not to notice the chaos she created.
We ended up in a small café by the name Le Petit Haricot, chosen by Renee as she had driven us. After our orders were given, Renee wasted no time asking me questions.
"So… when did you become a detective?"
"I joined two years ago. Had to go through detective training for one of those years though. Why did you decide to move back to Toronto? Didn't you go to The States for school? I could've sworn I heard my dad say you committed to Yale."
"I moved back since my dad wanted me to practice law here," she explained. "He planned on making me a senior partner, but I told him I didn't want to be. He convinced me to stay in case I changed my mind."
"Oh, alright."
"Is there something else you wanted to ask? You've been looking at me kind of weirdly."
There was something I wanted to ask her. But she would laugh. I feel like a student who wants to ask their teacher something simple. The teacher might think I'm stupid.
I asked anyway. "Do… do you have a boyfriend?"
Renee widened her eyes and looked at me. Then she started laughing.
"HAHAHAHAHA! THAT'S WHAT YOU WANTED TO ASK?"
"Yes! Shut up! I have a reason for asking, asshole!"
"Oh? And what might the reason be?"
"W-well, I noticed you started dressing more conservatively, and you started using a more mature perfume."
She looked at me, trying to hold back her laughter.
"Yuri, you're creepy as hell, you know that?"
"I shouldn't have fucking asked…"
"No, no, I'll answer. Yeah, I have a boyfriend now. He works at a car repair shop. We met after my car broke down."
"Oh, I see, " I nodded. "You'll have to introduce me sometime."
"Visit us when you have a day off, we live together."
"My condolences to your boyfriend," I joked.
Our drinks arrived and we started catching up. Turns out, Renee had a pet cat now. I love cats, but Brooke is allergic. Maybe visiting them would be a good idea.
"You're different now," Renee said, out of the blue.
"Really?"
"Yeah… I thought you hated liars and people who put on facades?"
"I still do."
"But in the interrogation room-"
"That was for work," I interrupted.
It became silent after that. Renee didn't push it any further.
"You know… I have Karina's contact," she revealed. "If you still remember her, of course."
I want to say that I choked on my drink after she told me that. But in reality, I finished my drink like a normal person. I tried my best to answer in a bored tone.
"Who?"
Why'd I say that?
"You know… your ex?" she replied to me, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, Karina Kana? I barely remember her."
Why'd I lie?
"Oh. I see. Do you want her contact at least? So you could catch up or something?"
I did want it. I've been thinking of Karina Kana since I dreamt about her that day. Maybe if I had her number, I could tell her that I missed her. I could tell her I cared about her.
"No, I'm good."
I'm not.
Renee paused and looked at the time. She gestured for me to follow her, so we paid the bill and left. When we got outside, it was still bright. I guess 4 PM isn't that late, to be fair. We made our way to her car.
"Do you need a ride home?" she asked.
I did need a ride home. I just didn't want to deal with sitting with Renee awkwardly, so I decided that I would just walk back to the court. My car was there anyway.
"Nah, I can walk," I replied. "I need the cardio anyway."
"Okay, suit yourself."
For some reason, she sounded less energetic than usual. She didn't even bother facing me when she talked. Then, Renee turned towards me, with the saddest smile I've ever seen her wear.
"You're a terrible liar, Yuri."
I watched as she got into her Maybach and drove off into the distance.
Why did I lie to her? How could I possibly forget Karina Kana? She's the only person that made me find out what love was.
But now that she's gone, I guess I'll need to keep searching.