White Criminal

3. Brooklyn Ann

Parking in front of a huge building, I looked over at Alyssa who was looking out of the window. She was silent which was unusual especially during cases. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing a black blazer. She had a white shirt that defined her outfit along with her blue jeans. She wore her black heels. She had her legs crossed as I shut off the car. I tries to indicate to her that she could get out but she seemed distracted. Her lip was being chewed on as she pretended to not care that we were about to have an interrogation.

Wearing black jeans, a long sleeve, button-up shirt, and black boots, I thought I looked appropriate. I stepped out of the car, hoping that Alyssa did as well. I shut my door and locked my agency car in order to secure it. Putting my keys inside my pocket, I took a glimpse at my partner who was already at the stairs, waiting for me. She smiled as she saw me catch up toward her.

"Gomez, are you sure that you will be concentrated for this interrogation? You seem to be pondering about something,"I stated my observations.

"I'm good,"she said with energy and stretched out her arms. Cracking her fingers, she ran up the steps and opened the door for me. I walked in, thanking her for her politeness. There was a security guard who asked us to remove any metal, things in our pocket, and our shoes. Alyssa sighed as she removed her fancy belt and then took everything out of her pockets. I cleared out my pocket. The only things my box had were shoes, keys, my badge, and wallet. The person assigned to do the checking gave us a worried look and smiled as if she hadn't known we belonged to FGA. After we went through a detector, she quickly gave us our stuff.

"Excuse me. What floor is the office of Mr. Austin Sawyer?"I asked a lady sitting behind the counter. She looked at us with a serious expression.

"I'm sorry but if you don't have an appointment, I am afraid he won't be available to see you." The way she talked was fast as if she knew everything. She acted completely defensive, and seemed as if she was ready for a comeback.

"We're from the FGA,"Alyssa said and showed the lady, Karina, as her name tag said, her badge before she continued, "and we do have an appointment." Her position stiffened and she logged into the system. She asked for our names. We gave them to her.

"Floor 10." I smiled, and nodded her way as Alyssa made her way to the elevator, pushing the number of the floor. I went in as well, waiting for the doors to close.

"Gomez, if you have something important to say, please say it. As long as you don't, let me do the talking." She nodded and crossed her arms, biting her lip. "Make sure to introduce yourself first. He did speak with you first."

"Got it,"she said and took a deep breath. The doors to the elevator opened, revealing the floor that we were going to walk through. As we made our way out, I noticed a lot of people going places, hurried. There were all in professional clothing except for a man that made his way to the right. I eyed him for a while and then walked to the biggest office I found, assuming that it was Sawyer's.

"Good afternoon, we are here to talk to Austin Sawyer,"Alyssa said and she smiled at the secretary. She nodded and looked for something in her computer.

"Sorry, I'm new. May I get your name?" Her voice was sweet and she smiled back.

"Alyssa Gomez,"she replied and the secretary nodded, calling her boss. She nodded, signaling we could go in. Before I entered, I said, "We might have some questions for you as well." She gave me a confused look but she looked away.

When I got a look at Sawyer's office, I was impressed. It was huge and well organized. He had books on his bookcase. All of them were sorted by alphabetical order and the last row was CDs of music, organized by year. On top of the bookcase, there were small building figures, one award, and a digital clock. He had big windows behind his desk. Most of them were closed with blinds. His floor was clean and white. Every time Alyssa took a step, it echoed. His room was bright in some areas and dim in others. He was sitting in his chair but when he saw us, he stood up and walked. He was wearing a black suit with a blue tie. His hair was parted using gel. His eyes looked more green than in the pictures. Alyssa formed a smile with her lips.

"Austin Sawyer,"he said and shook both of our hands.

"Agent Alyssa Gomez."

"Nice to meet you. You didn't tell me you were going to bring a guest." He smiled, showing off his white teeth.

"Agent Brooklyn Smith from the FGA. Nice to meet you,"I said, showing my badge. He nodded and led us to his seats. We sat down. "We have some questions for you about Clara Anderson."

"Is something wrong?"he asked, narrowing his eyes. I exchanged looks with Alyssa.

"How long do you know Clara?"

"About 5 or 6 years,"he replied.

"I have been told that Ms. Anderson has not been showing up to work?"

"Yeah, it's been a while,"he said and shifted his eyes to me. I studied his movements and his reactions. He seemed confused but he knew something had happened. It's like a puzzle was finally being solved in his head.

"How long exactly?"I asked and leaned forward.

"More than ten days,"he said. "I was starting to worry so I called her family but they didn't give me an answer. They said that they didn't know either. What happened?"

"Do you know of any relationships in work?"

"No." He said that too quickly for me. I narrowed my eyes, knowing he was lying.

"Any people that hated her or that she was competitive with?"I asked.

"Not that I know of. Everyone loved her,"he replied, sincerely. I looked at Alyssa who just looked around.

"Mr. Sawyer, one of your employees was murdered and it's our job to find out who this killer is,"I said and continued, "so if you have any valuable information that will contribute to our investigation, please tell us."

"Actually, I remember she said she had a boyfriend. He showed up one time and he seemed very upset about something. We needed security to escort him out."

"How long ago was this?"

"About three weeks ago,"he replied, unsure.

"Do you know his name?" He shook his head and his sight left me. "Any features that you remember?"

"He had dark brown eyes and his hair was dirty blonde. I also remember he was limping." He paused and then his face lit up. "Oscar! She was screaming Oscar." I nodded.

"Are you sure she didn't have a relationship in work? A sexual one?"

"I'm sure,"he lied. I noticed because every time he was telling me that truth he would lean forward. When he didn't, his body relaxed and leaned back. He made it seem natural but by the way movements, it wasn't.

"Perhaps you?"

"No,"he said and leaned back. "I have a wife and I do not have affairs." I gave him a stare, examining his face. I have a feeling that Alyssa noticed the same reaction when he was lying because she took this interrogation a step forward.

"We found this word written across Clara Anderson's clothing. Do you know what this word is?" She was intense. Her voice was fearless. She handed him the photo. He shrugged, having no idea of what was written. Alyssa gave him the answer when she noticed he was saying the truth. "Sawyer."

"I didn't kill her,"he said but he stood up before I captured his reaction. "I wouldn't kill her."

"You must've known something was happening because you replaced her already," I said

"I need a secretary and she was the next for that position. It was temporary,"he said. I rose an eyebrow.

"Please don't leave the city. You are a suspect of murder,"I said and walked out of his office. I glanced to the secretary and so did Alyssa.

"We do have some questions. We expect that you come to our office tomorrow,"Alyssa said and handed her a card. She nodded, quickly.

When we were at our car, Alyssa turned to me and said, "He's guilty." I tried to understand how she could make a conclusion without any specific evidence. There was nothing that we could have used that could accuse him of murder.

"How do you know so certainly?"

"I think I found the murder weapon. Ten inches in height, four in width and depth. It's pointy at the top,"she said.

"The building model at the top of the bookcase,"I said, remembering the figure. "We will need a warrant for that."

"This might not be that hard after all."