Near Miss

Chapter Three: Suspicion

For a reason that Rhiannon couldn't seem to place, there were only two chairs in the student lounge. Both were small folding chairs, hardly capable of comfort. Although several weeks ago there had been a set of armchairs near the window, both of those had mysteriously disappeared; Rhiannon hoped they were in the process of being replaced rather than removed.

When Eirie had come in, Zeke had been the first to spring up, so he was the one who lost his seat. Rhiannon and Eirie had moved the chairs away from the puzzle in order to have more room to talk; not wanting to seem insensitive, Zeke hovered awkwardly around them, hoping he could somehow help.

"What do you mean, you're under suspicion?" Rhiannon was saying. "What for?"

"I-" Eirie stammered. "He- th- they think I lied to them. The police do."

Zeke, who had already been confused enough, couldn't help himself. "What?" he said incredulously. "What's going on?"

Eirie visibly swallowed. "Rhiannon, weren't you- they thought you killed someone, didn't they? Earlier this year? I thought-"

"Yes," Rhiannon sighed, "yes, they did. I didn't kill him-"

"I know," Eirie nodded, her voice clipped and sharp. "I just thought maybe you could help me out, that you'd know how to deal with the police..."

Rhiannon's eyes met Eirie's with growing confidence. She leaned back in her chair. "I can do more than that."

"What do you mean?" Zeke cut in.

"Zeke, could you go get some tea?"

He tilted his head, not understanding. "I have some already."

"I'll pay you afterwards," Rhiannon said meaningfully.

Zeke seemed to take the hint.

"Okay, then. Why do they think you lied?"

"I don't know," Eirie said mournfully. "They were acting really suspicious of me... I think something must have conflicted with what they've already heard. Someone else must have lied, I just don't know who."

"But why were they questioning you in the first place?" Rhiannon said, rather impatiently.

"I have no idea," Eirie moaned. "They wanted to know about my coworker, they asked all these questions about what he was doing last night."

"Okay, that's a good start." Rhiannon sighed. "What did they ask about?"

"They wanted to know if he was acting strange, or if he told me anything. They asked about whether anything unusual happened in the last little while- the same question, about five different ways... and they wanted to know when his shifts were, and if he ever left early or late, and everything."

"Is he a criminal or something?" Rhiannon wondered.

Eirie shrugged. "I barely know him, we just worked together. It's not like I would know if he was." She frowned. "I don't think so, though."

"And was he acting strange or anything?"

"That's the thing, they seemed to think I was lying about something, but I don't know why they would be expecting him to act strange... maybe he told them he talked to me, or something. It doesn't make any sense."

Rhiannon leaned forward. "You know they think you lied," she summarized. "But you don't know why."

"Well, I don't entirely know..." Eirie said miserably. "It might just be that obnoxious police detective... I could never tell what he meant..."

"You shouldn't doubt yourself," Rhiannon said. "You're probably right. If they were acting suspicious of you, that's odd, they'd have no reason to."

"I just can't figure it out," Eirie lamented. "Did they know he was acting strange? Did they ask someone else who said something different? That must have been it."