Paint the town red

Chapter XLVIII

I was already used to the fact that it became difficult for me to wake up in the morning, and I wasn't at all surprised that today I woke up only thanks to the persistent alarm clock, which is clearly not ringing for the first time. As soon as I opened my eyes, I immediately looked at the date on the phone screen – the interrogation will be today. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I hoped that I had confused the dates and today wasn't the Wednesday when the first interrogation would be held, but ... but the reality is, it's time for me to get dressed and go to an interrogation, which, for me, is not just a working matter, but a real execution.

Reluctantly, I got out of bed and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower before a hard day. The hot water flowed pleasantly down my body, and I seemed to feel a small charge of energy, but I know perfectly well that it will evaporate the moment I cross the threshold of the interrogation room. I'm worried, I'm scared, I'm gonna be disgusted to be in this few square meters with Max, even though I know perfectly well it's not just the two of us. But what if Liam was right yesterday and he really won't talk to anyone but me? Then I'll have to be an active participant in the interrogation, and not just an observer from the outside. Today scares me like nothing else in my life.

After the shower, I put on jeans and a hoodie – what I'd be most comfortable in. I grabbed my glasses and a couple of things from my desk – a notebook, a phone and a blister with pills from Esteban, and then left the room. When I was passing by the kitchen, I was detained by Yuki, who had been awake for a long time, and that's strange. He shoved a lunch box into my hands, because "you haven't been eating anything lately." He's treating me like a caring mom, even though he's not at the most pleasant stage of his life right now. Of course, at first I refused and didn't want to take lunch to work, but he insisted and said that otherwise he'd come to the station and wouldn't leave until I had a proper lunch. So I had to give up almost without a fight.

Thanking Yuki, I put the box with my backpack, then got dressed and left the house. It was an autumn morning, so it was still dark outside and there were lanterns on the sides of the roads. There weren't many people on the street, because most now prefer to travel by car – it's cold, it often rains here, so this is the most comfortable way to travel. I prefer to walk, so I have more time for reflection, and it's never superfluous to clear my head. And now I'm walking along a familiar road and thinking about how today's interrogation will go. It seems to me that the more I think about it, the more it screws my mind up, but what if everything may not go as badly as I imagined? Well, in any case, I have yet to find out.

When I came to the station, I immediately went to my office to leave my things there and take a pill while no one was looking. Moreover, Mick will come to me when the interrogation room is ready.

I looked at Max's desk, and suddenly realized that I had never touched his things. Although, for sure, all his belongings had long been seized by other officers while we searched his house. It's still hard for me to accept the fact that Max was our mysterious killer. How could he kill my loved ones and then show such sincere sympathy and care? Why was he doing this? That's what I'm going to find out. Maybe not today, but I'll definitely do that.

Opening one of the drawers of my desktop to hide a blister with pills there, I noticed one of Max's stickers - the one with the sloppy heart. I don't know why, but I carefully put all his stickers in a drawer and I have accumulated a decent pile. I looked at them and smiled bitterly, then crumpled them all up and threw them in the trash. Max did about the same thing to me: he crushed me mentally and threw me into the trash can, from which I am now trying to get out.

While I was thinking about my own, there was a knock on my door and then Mick came in. He said the interrogation room is ready, so we can start. I nodded and got up from my seat, but first I left my personal belongings in the office just in case. Everything except the mobile phone.