Truth Lies Milady

Special Chapter: Michael's POV

I wrapped my right hand with gauze after cleaning the wound and dabbing some ointment on them. This was the fruit of my scrupulous journey to interrogate the vice-mayor Olive.

As much as possible, I always wanted to do things by the book but during exigent circumstances like this, there was always Sinclair who took it to the extremes. So, other than during interrogations, I never felt compelled to be furtive ever since she came along.

It was three hours ago, when we were finally able to escort the esteemed vice-mayor to the station, a lot of nosy busybodies, and some local newscasters tailed our vehicles.

I knew Timothy Olive Sr. held a certain amount of influence as an experienced, shrewd and silver-tongued bureaucrat. He didn’t appear the slightest bit concerned nor fraught while he sat inside the interrogation room. Looking through the two-way mirror, he was isolated inside the plain-looking room yet still composed, confined in a small space yet appearing like everything’s in his complete control.

There were Beatrice, Justin and Daniel in the room with me, watching the suspect through the mirror.

Knowing that Sinclair and I were at an impasse, I had called them over as my most trusted and dependable colleagues. They were my batch mates from the crime division, whom I’ve worked with on several occasions before. 

“He looks like he’s got a strong mentality.” Beatrice was preparing the lie detector for polygraph tests, when she looked up at the ever calm suspect with a grim expression. “I don’t think psychological coercion would easily crack this man.”

Daniel was rubbing his chin in thought, his sharp almond eyes narrowing through his silver-rimmed glasses. He hummed in agreement before scribbling an expensive calligraphy pen against his clipboard.

“I’ll play the good cop this time, Mike!” Justin’s grinning face was reflected under the fluorescent light. The laugh lines around his curved mouth and his rich tanned skin made him look like a pleasant character, fooling others to overlook his hulking figure and rippling muscles underneath his v-neck shirt.

I’ve seen Justin throw another full-grown man against the ceiling before, so I knew that underneath that smiling face, he could be as brutal as a Viking on a rampage.

“Naturally,” I concurred, grabbing my mug of black coffee as the two of us headed to the interrogation room.

Up close, Olive Sr. looked like the typical stallion predator. He was oozing with charisma and sex appeal despite having white hair. His appearance was rugged and calm, almost cocky. It was no wonder that I kept catching wind of his office and extracurricular affairs as if it were the town’s official open secret.

Justin did his part, playing good cop and introduced himself with a flurry of excitement, exchanging pleasantries with the big white wolf.

When it was my cue to speak, I went directly to business. “Do you know why you’re here?”

“Why am I here?” he threw back.

Instead of giving a straight answer, I began to tell him the leads we found. “On the 9th of  October at approximately ten in the morning, we found a dead body in your private property by the south side of Sylvan. I believe you have an idea which property I’m speaking of, am I correct?”

“Naturally,” he conceded in a lofty manner, his bearded chin raised confidently. “I only have one property in the south of town. So, you discovered this body only yesterday? You sure move fast.”

Ignoring his rhetorical question, I continued, “The body is estimated to be dead for more than two or three weeks now and is decomposing. What were you doing during that time period? The places you frequent to, and the people you spend time with…”