What We See, What We Forget

Part 5

The morning after, as was previously promised by Mdm. Evelina, all the girls were ready to be questioned. They all huddled before Mdm. Evelina before saying a cheerful chant as if they were to compete in a football match. Today, Husni had two other detectives helping him out with the questioning. All had three girls each to question. Husni got around to asking his first member, Kalika Ayunda, the group's youngest, who was only fourteen years of age. She entered the room with a faint smile, somewhat optimistic since this was her first time inside a police station. This was her first time talking directly to a detective in an interrogation room. Her faint smile turned to nervousness when she was asked to sit on the chair against Husni to begin the questioning. Husni asked about her knowledge of Shasfa's well-being before the tragedy struck. She responded that she always considered Shasfa an older sister figure because she is an only child and had never felt what it is like to have an older sibling, let alone any siblings.

"That's good, but that is not the answer I wanted, Lila; I want to know her well-being before she commits suicide." Reiterates Husni.

"She was always fine." Answered Lila with a murmured voice.

"I can't work with fine Lila. What was she like before the suicide? Was she depressed? Was she erratic?"

"I can tell you one thing: SHE'S NOT HERE WITH ME!" Lila shouted before eventually crying.

Then, three loud knocks can be heard on the interrogation room door, followed by Hendra instructing Husni to leave the room immediately. Once outside the room, Husni was greeted by a tempered Hendra.

"What the hell was that?" Angrily asked Hendra.

"Sir, I was questioning, and she looked to be holding on to answers."

"You are currently questioning a fourteen-year-old who has just lost a sister figure like she is a suspect in a murder! What is it with you?"

Hendra then entered the room to the crying Lila and sat beside her. She sobbingly looked above her to find a different detective.

"Lila, right?" Asked Hendra.

"Yes, Mr. Detective."

"Oh, I'm not Mr. Detective. I'm Kak Detective."

"Kak? You look old for a kak." Responded Lila, who is now interested in the conversation.

"Would an old man have this?" Hendra then showed her a photo card of a Korean boyband member.

"Woah, that's from my favorite unit in that group; how do you know him?"

With that, Hendra conversed a bit about the band, as mentioned earlier, until Lila was visibly not shaken from the ordeal that happened before he entered the room. From the questioning, Hendra obtained that Shasfa had never missed any of her practices despite being eight hundred kilometers away from the capital. Still, due to that, a policy was made so that she could practice once a month instead of every week, as other members of 33 Degrees must take. She also mentioned that she patiently waits for Shasfa's arrival every month and enjoys every moment spent with Shasfa even though she only got accepted into 33 Degrees six months ago.

Shasfa, on the other hand, had joined 33 Degrees when she was only in junior high school. One thing Hendra took note of is that even with the Shasfa's appearance on live events with 33 Degrees becoming lesser and lesser ever since she got into college, her numbers on the idol polls never seem to decrease, with her name always being the number one pick for "favorite oshi." Husni is then let inside the room again to be reintroduced to Lila, this time with Hendra's assistance. When Husni entered the room, Lila cowered behind Hendra, still scared of Husni.

"Hey, you don't have to be scared, my friend here; he just hasn't had his breakfast just now, haven't you?"

"Yes, yes, I haven't."

"Now that he already had, he'll be softer than whipped cream, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right."

After that show, Husni concluded the questioning by collecting similar information that Hendra already had gotten, but this time with a more impressionable view by Lila. After the questioning, Hendra instructed Husni to level it out with questioning, not to display the same attitudes, and to balance his assertiveness depending on the subject. Husni noted all that before questioning the following 33 Degrees member, Reissa Andini, the team's captain. Reinspecting the case file, he discovered that Reissa was twenty-two years old, the same age as him. The questioning started with the usual questions regarding her age, occupation, and education. She revealed that she studies communication at one of Jakarta's most expensive private colleges.

"You look young, detective. How old are you." Asked Reissa out of the blue.

A switch of manner occurred when Husni unveiled that he's also twenty-two. The questioning became more fluid and relaxed when they conversed when a professional border between them was removed. However, Husni is unable to uncover new information regarding Shasfa, receiving pretty much the same reactions and answers when it comes to Shasfa, nothing alluding once to her having suicidal tendencies. On the topic of stalking, each of the 33 Degrees members had experienced their fair share of stalking experiences, with all of them each having a unique story to tell about stalkers. Reissa admitted that a stalker ran along her car only to trip and fall into the sewers. Perhaps Shasfa's popularity had given her a sharper edge in stalking? Husni then concluded the questioning, but just before that, Reissa asked for his number in case she could help him with anything else regarding the case. Husni happily obliged and gave it to her.

After Husni questioned the last member, the other detectives, Zora and Ari, reported similar information being shared by the rest of the members. The group then soon gathered to set from Malang. Just before their departure, Mdm. Evelina gave Husni something that Liquid dug up from their archive of letters sent to them. An individual named Erwin Althari Gunawan is noted for not only leaving his full legal name on every letter he sent, but he is also infamous in the wota community for once attempting to climb onto the stage where 33 Degrees was performing. She gave Husni copies of the letters along with his picture; all the letters were addressed to a boarding house in Malang. Noting this, Husni thanked the Mdm. for his cooperation. Evelina and the group waved them goodbye before going on the hunt for this 'Erwin.'