The Twelth Player

Chapter 16 - The Interrogation

I sat in the backseat of the police car like some criminal. Great. My mind kept spinning around Eli. What did that bastard do to her? How long had it been going on? Could I have stopped it?

"Can I see her?" I snapped at the cop in the passenger seat.

He didn't even blink. "No. You're going to the station. All three of you need questioning."

At the station, they shoved me into a small room. Just a table, two chairs, and a dim lamp barely lighting the place—like something out of a crime show.

Except this wasn't TV. This was real life.

A guy in his 40s with a hard face walked in and introduced himself as Lieutenant Geissler.

"Mr. Heiberg," he started, voice already pissing me off, "can you tell us what happened?"

"What happened?" I repeated sharply. "I heard that scumbag yelling at Eli about money. Then a loud thud—like he punched her. I didn't wait around. I kicked the door down. Eli was on the floor, black eye, busted glasses shattered on the ground. And that jerk was standing over her. So yeah, I hit him. Had to make him back off. Who knows what else he did before I got there."

Geissler scribbled notes, his face a blank slate. "So you're saying Mr. Koller assaulted Ms. Kalnina, and you intervened to protect her by attacking him?"

"Yeah," I shot back. "And I'd do it again."

"What's your relationship with Ms. Kalnina?" he asked calmly, unfazed. "Seems like you care about her a lot."

"She's my friend."

"And why were you at the orphanage tonight? Did you suspect something was going on?"

"She's been off lately—emotionless, tired, confused. And she's been taking extra jobs. I asked what was wrong, and she kept saying 'nothing.' Tonight I went to check on her again, but she had some meeting. Instead, I ran into the kids from her orphanage. They said Koller—the director—was threatening her over a car they accidentally damaged. I Googled the guy and realized he's the same jerk who body-checked her with a mop at the stadium. I knew something was up, so I went to find her. The rest you know."

Geissler looked up. "Mr. Koller claims Ms. Kalnina is emotionally unstable and provoked you, which led to you striking her. What do you say to that?"

"That's total nonsense!" I exploded. "Eli's the kindest person I know! I can't imagine why anyone would hurt her. But that bastard clearly found a reason."

"You've had issues with aggression in the past. How do you prove you didn't attack an innocent man this time?"

Unreal. They were trying to pin this on me because of my record. I had to stay calm—for Eli's sake and mine.

"I was an idiot seven years ago," I admitted, swallowing my anger. "I hit a driver after I crashed into him. But I've changed. I haven't hit anyone since—until today. I had no choice. If Eli were your daughter, would you just watch someone hurt her?"

Geissler went quiet, clearly thinking it over. Then he grilled me with more questions—how I knew Eli, what I knew about the orphanage, and so on. Finally, he nodded toward the door. "Wait in the hall. We'll need you again."

Out in the hallway, I spotted Erik.

"How'd it go?" I asked quietly.

"They asked about you, what happened, if I knew Eli or Koller," he said. "I told them Eli babysits Katie and that you were defending her."

"And him?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Not sure," Erik shrugged. "But I heard something about lawyers. This won't be easy. But the evidence should back us up."