You Don't Name Him

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I was sitting in the interrogation room for quite a while now. The reason probably was that it was another tactic used by the cops to get closer to a signed confession. It basically goes like, you bring in the suspect, give him a tiny peek into what you actually know and then scare him with all the possible legal consequences he can face if they prove him guilty. Most people breakdown quite there, at that moment itself but it didn't affect me. At all. In fact, I was pissed at them. I was damn sure that, at this moment there would probably be four set of eyes staring at me, observing me, my behavior, each of my movement. I acted as naturally as I could but on the inside, I was searching for a way out, a legal one. Lawyering up was the best option at disposal but then, the one thing I've known for a long time is that lawyering up always makes you look guilty, even if you're not. The logic is quite simple. If you have information that you do not want to disclose to the authorities, it means that it is either illegal or you're not too proud of it. The lawyer hence can guide you through you're rights. It saves you a lot of embarrassment and probably jail time. So that wasn't an option for me. The last thing I wanted them to think was of me being guilty.

So now, I was left with one choice. I had to somehow convince them that they had the wrong guy and the real murderer was still out there on the streets, possibly looking forward to killing his/her next victim. Now I had an upper hand, that being I hadn't done it but I wouldn't be getting out of there unless they believed me. I needed to get out and that too ASAP. The matter had as it is escalated way too much. My silence had made things only worse.

The best way to get a person on your side is to sympathize with him. That's what I had to do now. I needed to change the dynamics of the interrogation now. I needed myself to be the one asking questions. How hard can it be! I thought to myself, I have witnesses, a strong alibi and that's basically almost everything I need to convince them that I'm not their guy. But I had to convince them to listen to me in the first place.

So far, whichever options I had come up with required the first step to be taken and that too from the other side of the table. Not mine and it was definitely gonna be tough since my cockyness hadn't impressed them too much. I could make a deal with them. A deal which involved they getting their guy and me being released. That seemed like the best available option for me at that time. So now, I had to figure out the exact case. This included access to the evidence, the victim's body, the witnesses, etc. My police training was now kicking in. An unsolved crime and me getting involved in it directly? Someone was playing with me. I needed to get into the action. But why tempt fate, again? I thought to myself. This was the one thing I was unbeatable at. Yeah sure, I can start from somewhere.

I started wondering how did the cops find me, how did they know my name and most importantly why only me? Could someone know that I would be here today? This was an impulse decision for me, to get down here. Or was it imbibed into me? Was I psychologically influenced? Who would want me out? I thought to myself.

I smirked after the last question. It seemed to be an unnecessary question. Of course someone would've wanted me out. At my time of service, I had a success rate of 98.75%, the only officer in the history of the Force to have it. I had put in 199 criminals and destroyed 6 gangs. I quit after I failed to close in my 200th criminal. That was one toughie. Yeah, there was a huge possibility that someone from them was striking back. Someone with a high reach. Still, I kept on thinking about the other possibilities as well. Never keep your mind closed.