Malice

Chapter 4: The Interview

Creeaak. A man with glasses and a white coat entered Alice's small domain. Without so much a glance, he pulled up a chair in front of her cell and continued to read some papers held by a clipboard.

The bandage around his neck was stained red. The girl wrinkled her nose in disgust, in remembering, at the salty smell. Blood.

The man straightened from his slouched position and revealed his name tag. Peter B. Lands, PHD., SOC., PSY. it read in bold letters.

A shrink, she thought, semi amused.

Looking up finally, he addressed her name, "Miss Alice Liddell." There was a moment of silence, like he wanted her to say something. His brown eyes watched her closely.

Alice simply stared back, her eyes black in the white light.

The doctor finally broke the awkward pause. "Can you tell me what you remember that night?"

Her nose twitched.

'The moon is very bright tonight.' A smile, just a silver sliver like the moon. Like a slice of cake. Yes, a wedge of cake and a cup of tea. 'Maybe you would like a cup of tea, a slice of cake?'

A faint shake of her head. No, not cake. Cake is not shaped like the-

A tea party.

"What?" There was a small worry crease between the man's eyebrows.

Alice punched herself internally for saying that outloud, but kept a poker face, moving on quickly. "Nevermind." Then, "You will think I am crazy." She paused thoughtfully then gave him a thin smile. "Although, it will not be the first time in my life."

Shifting uncomfortably in his chair, the young man furrowed his brows as if he were in pain." There is no need to worry about that." He cleared his throat and pursed his lips in discomfort. "Just tell me what you know and we will worry about questions and clarification after you are done."

Blood. Again. He reeked of it. It was on his breath. Nausea swirled in Alice's stomach and she briefly let her eyes flutter shut to gather herself.

The man rubbed his five O'clock shadow, watching her carefully.

"I did not murder anyone." She gauged his reaction, but there was no difference in his heart beat, no movement from him at all. "If anything, I was a victim. If you do not understand that, then there is no point in telling you the rest." She stood from her thin bed and pressed her face between two bars of the cell.

The doctor crossed his legs. "Miss Liddell, I am only here to help you. If you did not kill anyone then that is what I will believe."

Her beady eyes bore into him. "I hope you mean that."

"Why would I lie to you?"

"It's not that, you could not lie to me if you wanted to, it is only that this will be sort of a rabbit hole for you."

"Rabbit hole?"

"Yes." There was no elaboration.

He studied her.

"Many have lied to me during my stay here and it is exhausting. Lying is easy to detect, you know, it has a physical toll on you after a while." Alice paused and that thin smile returned. "If you think for a moment, lying does not get answers, it breaks trust. Do it right the first time and you may have more success in the long run."

"Sure, but that does not have to do with what I asked you, does it?"

Pushing off the bars, she laughed. "You have no idea, do you?"