Fontaine Five

TEN

"DO ALL SUICIDES get investigated as thoroughly as this?"

I seem to have asked the one thing Carlisle didn't expect me to. She blinks twice. Inhales. Completely dodges the question - in fact, pretends never to have heard it. Amongst her pile of paper and pen she rifles around, until she finds a tape recorder. What happened to this isn't anything official? And a tape recorder seems a little dated for 'well-equipped'. Hell, the recorder on a phone would be better.

She presses Record.

"The time is 11:56am. I am Detective Carlisle, here with -" she gestures towards me. I hesitate.

"Rory - Aurora Clarksen."

"- and we're here today in lieu of the investigation into the death of Ellis Grey." She smiles at me. I feel myself grow colder. "Miss Clarksen, do you know this young man?"

Do I need a lawyer? I'm presented with a photo of Ellis; a cropped headshot from the annual swim team shoot. All grin and eyes you could fall into.

"Why am I being recorded? I thought this was something informal."

"It saves me from scribbling things down. You didn't sign anything when you got here, so you're well within your right to leave, if you want."

She may as well be calling me a sick coward. A guilty person with something to hide.

"Yes, I know him," I say instead, giving in. "That's Ellis Grey."

"How do you know each other?"

"Did."

"Yes. How did you know each other?"

These questions are useless. The cops already know this. She's warming me up for what she really wants to know.

"We were friends at school. He was my boyfriend."

"And how long were you together for?"

"A year and a half, maybe two." The lines are blurry. Ellis would probably have a different answer.

"How would you describe your relationship?"

Secretive, superficial. "Quite normal, I guess. Nice, normal." Easy, fun, sweet. Warm and cold in the best ways. "We were friends first."

"Were the two of you ever rocky? Did you ever argue?"

"No. Never seriously. Like I said, best friends." Maybe Ellis wanted to. Maybe he saved them all for the pages in his journal instead.

Carlisle tilts her head; leans back a little. "It's okay to argue sometimes. Even with those we love. We're all human." I say nothing. "But speaking of friends, you both hung out with the same group, correct?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"State their names for me, please."

"Blair Flores, Nathaniel Jude, Orlando Venturi."

"Thank you. Were you and Ellis equally as close to them, would you say? Were there any disagreements between the two of you and the three of them?"

"Yes, we were all close, even though Ellis, Jude, and Blair had known each other longer." Some of us closer than others. "Uh, sure, we disagreed sometimes. About small things. But like you said, so does everyone."

"Any head-butting personalities between the five of you?"

"Um, Blair and Lan, sometimes. And Blair and Jude, I guess. All of us. It depends. But it's banter. It's all jokes."