Death at Knight.

2| The Accused / Pick Your Poison

"Look do you see how bad this looks? You've got a motive. You've got no alibi-"

"But I do-"

"A believable alibi. He also died in the exact same way you would have killed him."

"I would have used a stronger chemical. I think sodium chloride would've been a good one. Burns your insides out. Just like that." Sally clicked her fingers.

"Let's pretend I didn't hear that" Winston sighed. "When the police find you that will be it. They'll execute you."

"But I didn't kill him." Sally said. "You were there at the debate. Our party was there and so was Knight's too. Anyone one of those people is a suspect. Yes I hate President Knight but I'm not a murderer."

Sally's right hand continued to tremble uncontrollably and she shut her eyes to picture that fateful day. The screams, the shouting and the loud bang. 

He's dead. Dead. Dead.

A awkward moment of silence fell.

"So if it wasn't you then who was it?" Winston asked.

 Sally quickly ripped a piece of paper from the office and began plotting the layout of the Debate House. The Debate House was a large mansion transformed into a huge debating area with an even larger dining area which could fit an average of 250 people. This was the home of critiquing the other party's policies and nitpicking everything deemed a mistake. Not to mention every second was televised. 

The live broadcasted debates appeared to be more of a loud football match rather than an actual debate at times. After the usual heated debate, members of both parties would go to the dining room away from the public eye. This was also where Mr Knight was last seen before he was plastered on the news the very next morning.

"Here", Sally gestured at the box coloured lightly in blue, "This is where Knight sat," She pointed. "And this is where Hannah sat. She's the closest according to my calculations. So it must be her."

Winston raised his left eyebrow. "What correlation does the seating plan have with who killed President Knight if he died after dinner?"

Sally took a short pause before continuing. "You see, Hannah could have quickly added poison on his food as she was the closest. And we don't know how he died, all we know is that Knight is dead. Dead as his idiotic policies."

Winston chuckled, "The Blue Party is an actual joke."

Sally pushed her glasses which were slipping from her nose. Of course she knew Hannah wasn't that intelligent to carry out an assassination through poisoning. Only scientists knew that type of information. She only said that to Winston to convince him to eventually defend her should the courts make up an elaborate story on how Sally was the murderer. "Of course I'm not the murderer. I'm not crazy."

"Hannah did it. She's the Vice President; of course she wanted to murder him. The Blue Party are a bunch of weirdos so of course they'd never allow a woman to be the leader. Mr Knight being murdered is the only way to be Party Leader - let alone the President. That is quite a strong motive."

Winston nodded in agreement as Sally's trembling hand stopped.

Sally sat down in her office chair feeling rather pleased with herself. She was sure the murderer was none other than the Vice President Hannah. Winston, on the other hand, was skeptical Sally's conclusion. Something didn't add up. 

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Sally jumped out of her chair. "I'll get it."

"Hello?"

In a flash of a moment, Sally's office door fell with the hinges dispersed everywhere. Sally sat trembling her fingers. Her heart rate skyrocketed. Behind the now broken door stood a large group of men covered in padded armour and large shields. 

"Police."

                                                                                       ********

Pick Your Poison.

Click.

The sound of handcuffs wrapped around Sally's arm echoed through her ears, as the SWAT team dragged her into the van mercilessly. Sally tried to move out of the team's reach but she was forcefully thrown into the van, hitting her head on the door handle in the process.

"Listen to us. You're lucky to be alive right now."

"No.. please stop!" Sally cried and her high - pitched voice pierced through everyone's ears.

Just before the team were able to lock her inside the van, Sally managed to kick one of the members in the face and knocked him off his balance.

"Winston! Tell them I didn't do it. Tell them I didn't kill Knight. Tell them I- "

The rest of the team picked her up and managed to throw her inside again.

She remained helpless.

All Winston could do was watch. Watch as his own leader was dragged inside a van. Could Sally as be innocent as she claimed? Of course - he thought - he knew her since the last election. When she wasn't giving speeches on Knight's classism she was in the lab doing experiments. They'd range from reacting water with salt to causing mass explosions so Sally was no stranger in knowing killer combinations with chemicals. Sally always talked about winning the election one day but after Knight being predicted yet another win her dream seemed further and further out of reach.

Assassinating the President? Was Sally willing to go that far?

He then casted his memory back to earlier this morning where Sally hypothesised Hannah poisoned Knight's dinner. Sally seemed so sure of herself. But her comment on chemical poisoning seemed less of a joke and more of a murder confession. 

Meaning there was a possibility Sally could've murdered Knight.

But he and the rest of the party was with her that very night. Surely if she did -  he thought - everyone would've seen her in the act. The screams, the shouting and the blast. Was Sally really capable of this? 

Things weren't adding up.

After the van drove east towards the police station, Winston returned back to the Blue House feeling defeated. He turned on the television in pure misery before he realised he was watching the news reporting on Knight's funeral.

"Today is the day of our Former President's funeral. Due to the nature of this situation only his party and close family members are able to attend. This is a sad time for humanity."

Winston hissed at the television and turned it off. Humanity should be glad he's gone.

An unexpected ringtone could be heard in the kitchen so Winston stumbled towards his mobile phone. He took a deep breath before finally answering.

"What do you want?"

A woman replied. "Hey. I heard about Sally but we need to go Knight's funeral now."

Winston laughed. "Only his party members and close family are allowed", he continued. "Did you not watch the news?"

"The news? Yeah that crap is full of lies anyway. Me and the rest of us are coming to the Red House right now. We've got a plan to free Sally."

Winston raised an eyebrow at his fellow party member's comment.

"Fine."