The Marked Coffin

THE INTERVIEW

The police officers and a journalist arrived at the scene. I had been sitting on the bench outside of the office building. In contrast, the police officers and private investigators had gone inside. I am a detective, of course, but what I saw there was damn near paranormal. It wasn't like Ace was suicidal, was he. Two police officers, a detective, and a journalist came out of the building. The journalist had walked out and passed out right on the floor. I looked over and snickered. The paramedics had carried the journalist The police officers and the private detective came over to me.

~

"Ash Miller? I am Officer Jones, David Jones." The cop said firmly. He was your typical cop ideal with a pretty good physique, and all the ladies would fond over, but he was just an asshole in my book. I looked up and began to speak, "Hello, I know you. We have worked together previously." I said. "Well, your work is very well known, but we may have to pin you as a suspect because you were the only other person with him before he died." He said. Officer Jones gestured for me to get up, and I sat there for a moment before moving. I hated when people would tell me what to incredibly arrogant fools like him. I stood up and looked over his shoulder; there stood a figure hovering around the cops. He gave me a sly smile and turned around and scoffed. The guy seemed like your regular lousy boy type of person, which I didn't enjoy much. His smile made me want to punch him but apologize afterward. I got in the car as the detective followed behind me. I rolled my eyes and shut the door.

~

The car ride was silent until a little pretend bad boy wanted to speak to me. "So you killed him, huh?" He said sternly. I turned my eyes from the window to meet his eyes. I gave my most menacing face ever before answering. "How the hell could you even think that?" I calmly implied. His face dropped, and then he smiled. He read me like a book, but the thing is, I could do the same thing. "Well, then you were the only other person there with him-" I replied before he could finish the statement. "I was sent out of the room because he was on the call with a client before. I fell asleep outside the door, and when I tried to open the door, it was locked from the inside." I said, irritated. The officers were either listening to our conversation or taking notes. Overall, they were in shock by the clash of wits that was going on. He laughed it off and turned to the window. I could not stop thinking about that idiot's face and that smug smile. I utterly despised him and couldn't spend another moment in this car with him. After a couple more minutes of silence, we made it to the police officer.

~

The two officers escorted me to an interrogation room. I went through the door and sat in a metal chair. It was one of those interrogation rooms that you would see in crime shows. I never thought that I would be the one. At least for killing my boss, well, not yet, but I couldn't tell them that. One officer walked in, his face stern and severe. He was one of those people who got straight down to business. I knew he would try and break me the best he could to get me to confess to something I didn't do. We had a staredown before the officer violated the ice. "Now, Mr. Miller, what happened when you left the room?" He said firmly. His voice was calm but boomed because of our small area. He was intimidating; this was bone-chilling but in a good way. I had to process what I was going to say because if I said something that was possibly suspicious, I would get thrown in the slammer. "I was waiting outside for him to finish the phone call. After a while, I fell asleep, and when I woke up. The door had been locked from the inside." I said sternly. I had to keep my guard up. One false move, and that could be the end of my career. His intense glare kept me on my toes.

~

One question after the other, I would answer with the same tone and look, not letting up. The detective grabbed his book and jacket from the chair and escorted me to the door. I was pretty sure that I was good. On our way to the chief's office, the other detective walked beside me. I rolled my eyes as he gave off that sly smirk again. I hated that smirk. "So I am guessing they will let you off with a murder, huh? Wow, you broke a professional detective." He whispered to me. I clenched my fist tightly. "For your information, I did not commit the murder, and that detective is a stone wall," I said, sneering. If anything, that detective had broken me. He smiled and let off a slight chuckle. I stared at him, confused. "We are here." The detective said sternly. "I wonder if he had ever heard of a smile before." The pretend bad boy said, giving me a nudge. I hated that his statement made me want to laugh because it was true. We walked into the room and stood in front of the chief.

~

"Well, well, well... Isn't little man." Said the chief. I sneered. I looked over to see both detectives smirking at that. At least I know he laughs... "Chief Gordon, I see your humor is just as fun as you are," I responded. His smile slowly came back to a frown. "I think you committed the crime, and unless you have stone-cold evidence, you are going to jail, little man." He said. His voice was calm but echoed in the almost chilling room. I stood there in shock. Before I could utter another word, the "bad boy" detective said something. "If we solve this case, then you can't arrest him. You can give him jail time if we don't solve the case." He said firmly. I never thought "he" would be the one to try and save me. What was his motive here? "Hmm, I will give you some time to solve the case." I let out a massive sigh of relief. "But! You have until October 31st to complete the task, or little man here will be locked up for life." He said, roaring.

~

I nodded as he shooed us away. I looked at the detective and turned away. The professional detective looked at us and laughed. "Two amateur detectives on this case. You should be taken jail time cause this case has been unsolved for years." He said, laughing. "It has been unsolved then; why did you say I was the main culprit in this murder?" I said, pissed. He stopped laughing and got serious. "Because who wouldn't suspect the person who was at the murder scene at the time of the murder." He said, walking toward me. It was a staredown before he threw something at my chest. "Go watch that. It may help your case." He said, walking away.

~

I unraveled the package as if it was tape. The tape was from the camera at the office during the time of the murder. I grabbed my so-called "partner" and ran out the door. "We have to get back to the detective's office. I think I found the first clue." I said, eager.