The Symbologist

Chapter 8

"Sir, I'll be staying late tonight," Sergeant Carla popped in DI Sugars' office to inform him.

"Don't see how I need to know that, but since we're sharing our plans for tonight, I most definitely will not be staying late at all," Sugars waved a hand dismissively, "Now shoo, I've got work to do."

"I see," Carla scrunched her nose like she'd smelled something awful, "I'll leave you to that then."

"Mmhm," she heard Sugars mumble as she left to do her own work.

Her interview with Mrs. Han had gone well, and Carla now had another suspect to check out: Jillian Han's former boyfriend, Hayden Lemming. According to Mrs. Han, Jillian was under a lot of pressure at school and less than a week before her death, had gone through a harsh breakup with Hayden. She recalled Jillian coming over for dinner one night with a slight limp and suspected the fight they had when they broke up had gotten physical, but Jillian kept changing the subject whenever Mrs. Han had brought it up.

Sergeant Carla checked the time. It wasn't too late. Grabbing her keys, she walked to her car and drove to Hayden Lemming's address, which Mrs. Han willingly provided.

Hayden lived in an average neighborhood, not run down but not high class either. Carla locked her car and knocked on Hayden's door before she realized there was a doorbell and rang it instead.

A tall, bulky figure answered the door, "Hello?"

"Hello, I am Sergeant Carla Lostin. Are you Hayden Lemming?" Carla asked.

"Yes," Hayden affirmed.

"Would you mind if I ask you some questions?" Carla asked, really hoping Hayden would invite her in and she wouldn't have to bring him in to the station for questioning.

Hayden hesitated for a second before stepping aside to let Carla in.

"Thank you," Carla said as she walked inside and took out her notepad and pen.

Hayden closed the door and followed her, offering her a seat on the couch. Carla took it and sat down on the couch across from Hayden.

"Should I call you Mr. Lemming or do you prefer Hayden?" Carla asked. The tactic often proved useful in getting interviewees to open up.

"Hayden is fine," he answered, looking anywhere but at Carla.

"Alright, Hayden, what type of relationship did you have with Jillian Han?" Carla started the interview.

"I'm sorry, I don't know anyone by the name of Jillian Han."

Carla started writing down what he had said and was about to ask her next question when Hayden's answer started to register in her brain, "I...see, I'm sorry for taking up your time, Hayden."

Interesting....Carla thought. It was Mrs. Han's word against Hayden's.

"Oh it's no problem," Hayden said quickly, offering a small smile.

Carla noted his shift in mood and nodded, getting up to leave. However, before she could, Hayden stepped in front of her and blocked the doorway. Carla's heartbeat picked up.

"Leaving so soon?" Hayden smiled smugly, "You're pretty, I'd love to take you out sometime. What do you say?"

Carla remained calm, she had been trained to remain calm. Although, she didn't remember this scenario ever being brought up during her police training.

"You're making yourself very suspicious right now," Carla said, not knowing why she had said it.

"Suspicious of what?" Hayden grinned, not the least bit fazed.

Carla suspected he was a psychopath, but she pushed the thought aside and took a deep breath. She was mad, mad for Jillian and the sake of all women who had ever come in contact with this person.

"Tell me, how many girls do you take out on "dates" on a regular day-to-day basis?" Carla accused loudly.

Hayden chuckled, then knitted his brows together, "Oh well that's not a crime, now is it?"

"No, it isn't, but it's not right," Carla said through gritted teeth.

Hayden simply looked amused, "Look at you miss mighty police officer-"

"Sergeant," Carla corrected.

"Of course," Hayden nodded slowly, "Look at you, trying to serve justice. How admirable."

"You're crazy," Carla blurted out. She immediately realized that was definitely the wrong thing to say.

That's when Hayden reached for her hand and Sergeant Carla Lostin realized she would have to fight her way out of this mess.