Is This True?

Chapter 9

Their faces were full of shock more than surprise.

"How did you do that?" Harper asked, her mouth gaping open a smidgen before closing.
"It took me nearly a half-hour to talk to him and still, nothing came out of him."

"Maybe, he just needed a different approach."

"Or maybe, she's just a better smooth talker than you." Agent Davis piped up before turning back to me, "maybe you could convince Andrea to talk next-- "

"Not quite yet," Mr. Woods intervened, "Andrea isn't quite stable at the moment. Who knows what she'd do if she learns after what Charlie confessed."

"Crazy question, but you're not going to press charges against an accidental act that a seven-year-old boy committed, are you?" I brave the question.

"Of course not. That is if the jury rules it as accidental."

"But of course it is, that boy is perfectly genuine."

"Yes, because we all know that him accidentally murdering his dad was your idea, right?"
Harper brought up, tilting her head at me.

Again, I didn't say anything, but she did have a point.

"Harper, Davis, once she enters the room, go talk to her. See what you can find out." Mr. Woods spoke to us not even hearing our dispute but walked over towards the glass window to watch the lawyer help Charlie out of the room. Andrea, on the other hand, had refused to see a lawyer, declaring she was innocent and didn't need one.

"Where have you been?" Harper asked, circling the table once she and Davis were questioning Andrea. "These past three days?"

Andrea's stringy raven-haired head lifted, her dark eyes glaring at the pair of agents.
"What does it matter to you?"

"It does matter, so just answer the question."
Davis pulled up a chair in front of the table, its legs scratching across the floor's surface.
"Or, maybe you can tell us where Charlie has been these past few days too."

"Who?"

"Charlie? Your son?"

"Oh, yes. Yes! Charlie! How is he?"

Davis raised an eyebrow, "You don't know? You were the one who was with him when we found him lying unconscious in an enclosed baseball field. What were you doing there?"

"And why were you holding a baseball bat?" Harper intervened as she leaned her elbows on the desk.

Shrugging, Andrea looked at them both. "I don't know, I just felt like I was led there."

"That baseball field was the same one your husband took Charlie to play, right? What can you tell us about Charles?"

Andrea's expression suddenly stiffened. "I don't want to talk about him."

"And why not?"

"Because--he was murdered."

Davis shuffled in his seat before asking, And what makes you say that?"

"Because I've been trying to find out why had to die. An accidental overdose? A stroke? Impossible. He was too young. It was him this whole time."

"Charlie?"

"Yes, Charlie. "

"And why do you suspect that?"

"Because I was never meant to be happy. Ever. But I finally was until Charlie ruined it for me! That small, evil, careless boy!"

"He isn't evil, Andrea." Davis tried to reason with her calmly, "he was young and afraid. He didn't know what he was doing. He was just trying to help."