Smoke & Mirrors

Chapter 9: Interrogation

Elliot followed the officers into the station and was escorted into a small room, where he was quickly joined by two officers and the Sheriff. The room was cold and unwelcoming and the look of their faces said the same thing. The first officer to speak was a plump angry looking man, whose stubble hid his double chin. He stated his name was Officer Ruiz and introduced the second officer as Detective Martin. Detective Martin was clean cut and well dressed, he lacked the uniform that both Officer Ruiz and the Sheriff wore.

"Hello detective. I am Elliot Chambers." Elliot's voice was smooth.

"I understand that the photos found at the office today were addressed to you?" Det. Martin asked.

"There was no address on the envelop, but it was placed on my desk for me to find." Elliot corrected.

"The photos in the envelope, do you know the people in them?" he asked as pulled out a pad of paper and made himself comfortable in the chair directly across from Elliot.

"Yes, I do. The girl in the big photo is a girl named Melanie. She worked at the coffee shop close to the office. I don't know much about her, but we go there every day to pick up coffee." Elliot explained.

"We?" Det. Martin picked up on the word use.

"Yes, we, my girlfriend and I would go to that coffee shop most mornings. Sometimes in the afternoon too." Elliot shifted in his seat as he wondered how Allison was now.

"And the girl in the other two photos, the polaroid's?" Det. Martin pressed.

"The one that I saw was my girlfriend, Allison Delphine." Elliot said as his chest tightened with panic.

"Can you explain the photos you saw to me please? Det. Martin's jaw tightened.

"Seriously, can't you just go look at them!" Elliot exploded. "Allison is sitting in the hospital, probably alone, and you want to ask me questions that you could easily figure out on your own!" He didn't mean to get so upset but the thought of having to think about any of the photos he had seen this morning made his stomach turn.

"Look, the sooner we get through this, the sooner you can get to Allison. So, let's make it easy on both of us." The detective was not fazed by Elliot's outburst.

"I'm sorry." Elliot sighed, "The biggest photo was of Melanie's body, she had bruises on her neck and the first polaroid was as Allison asleep at her desk, it was close to her face, it was taken minutes before I got there." He said, his voice full of guilt. "There was a message on the back of the photo with today's date and 9:40am."

"What time did you arrive at the office, Mr. Chambers?" He glanced through the notes he had already written.

"No later than 9:45." Elliot was sure in his answer.

"And the third photo. What was that one?" Det. Martin continued.

"I don't know, I didn't see that one. It was still flipped over on the desk when I was taken here." Elliot thought about the message on the back of that photo. "There was a date on the back of that one to too. January 3, 2022, which was the day someone broke into Allison's house." His voice thickened as the memory of her from that day replayed in his mind.

"How do you remember the date so easily?" Det. Martin raised his eyebrow.

"It's the same day we started dating." Elliot stated.

"Well, that seems convenient, doesn't it? She gets attacked and goes running to you." He accused.

"Nothing about that was convenient! She was destroyed and terrified. It took he a week to even be able to talk to me about it." Elliot yelled at the detective and Officer Ruiz stood up in case Elliot left his chair. "I'm not going to move." Elliot said, "It's just you should be out there looking for the person who did this, I love Allison I would never do anything that would hurt her."

"Okay, but you didn't hurt her. There was a picture of a dead girl and two pictures of your girlfriend sleeping. She wasn't harmed, maybe you wanted to scare her? How are things in your relationship these days? Detective Martin asked before asking Ruiz and the Scheriff to leave the room.

"Things are good." Elliot said.

"Would she say the same, no recent fights?" He asked without looking up from his pad of paper.

"Yes! Well, we had a minor disagreement this morning but nothing serious." Elliot's voice full of sadness. "I thought she should stay home after this body was found; she didn't want too. That was it."

"And then this envelope shows up?" He looked up and could see the worry on Elliot's face. Either he is a good actor, or he is telling the truth he thought.

"Yes!" The exasperation in Elliot's voice was not lost on the detective.

"Okay, so you didn't see the third photo, did you touch any of the photos?

"I turned over the photo of Melanie, and the other two photos may have touched my hand as they fell out of the envelope. I am not sure." Elliot answered honestly.

"Did you feel them touch your hand?" Det. Martin pushed.

"I don't know." Elliot repeated as Det. Martin asked this question over and over again. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know."

"Come on Elliot you remember the day your girlfriends house got broken into, but you can't remember something that happened a couple hours ago! I am not buying it!" He pressed Elliot until rage filled Elliots chest. "Here's what I think, I don't think you killed that girl, but I do think you had access to the photo, maybe through your boss and maybe you just wanted to scare Allison so she wouldn't want to be at work or maybe you are one of those controlling mother fuckers, that can't stand it when your girl gives you a little lip."

"You are wrong." Elliot said, "And if you were smart you would be looking for the person that did kill that girl, and maybe Allison's his next target but you are too stupid pointing fingers at me!" Elliot spoke calmly, "If something happens to her because you refuse to do your job, you are going to wish you'd never taken this case because I have the money to defend myself and I will make sure you never..." Elliot straightened his jacket and ran his sweaty palms over his jeans. "I will have lawyers all over this place and they aren't going to stop until none of you have jobs." Elliot threatened.