My palms were sweaty under the scratchy hospital blankets that covered from the waist down. The room still smelled of an old person's house, the tv was outdated and the smell was less than pleasant. All my senses are heightened under the speculation and observation of others, something about being under the watchful eye of authorities unnerved me.
Most likely it was because I had done something bad. I had witnessed the unspeakable, something no one should have to comprehend or process.
"Mrs. Styles we won't keep you too long we just have a few questions," A detective spoke sitting in a chair next to my bed. Her vanilla body mist brushes against my nose as she flips her ponytail off her shoulder, her partner eyes me from the doorway with an unreadable expression.
"Of course anything to help get this solved," I answer trying to keep my mind and its memories contained. I was going to have to lie partly, I couldn't tell them I had been a first-hand witness to the murder of John and Elizabeth. I couldn't tell them it was H or better known to everyone else Harry that did this.
This wasn't Harry's fault.
"Alright so let's get started, how did you end up at the Jones' house?" The female detective asked me. Her deeper skin tone glows under the poor lighting as her glossy ponytail trickles strand by strand over her shoulder she waits for my answer.
Snippets of memories cloud my brain and cause distress in my bones but I try my best not to let the deep-rooted anxiety show through my transparent emotions.
"My husband and I had just finished showering together and I ummm..." I make sure to remember H's story he had coached me through. I needed to make sure all my details were the same as his we couldn't afford to have any discrepancies.
"For thirty minutes I heard a baby screaming. I went over to make sure everything was okay because.. I've never heard a baby scream like that before..." I can tell from the lump in my throat my voice was about to falter. The last thing I wanted was to relieve any of this, I wished heavily I could push this all way but since this was a crime that wasn't going to happen.
"I knocked... banged on the door but I got nothing so I walked in. That's when I saw John, there was so much blood I... it was like a scene straight out of a horror movie," I swallow hard and wipe away a stray tear that made it to my cheek.
"Was John breathing at all?" The detective followed up with another question.
"I didn't go and check but as far as I know he wasn't breathing," I answer her taking a deep breath.
"So then you proceed to the nursery where you found Elizabeth and the baby correct?" I glance over at the other detective to see her staring me down as if I were doing something wrong. Did she know something I didn't? Why was she eyeing me so heavily, any twitch of my hand she observed like a hawk.
"That's correct, that's when I called 911," I offered wiping at yet another tear sniffling to clear my nose.
"I have a question for you," I say through a quiet voice that is small and afraid. The detective looks at me and encourages me to continue with her head tilt gesture.
"Do you know what happened to them?"
"We can't say a lot about the case but we are looking into a murder-suicide," The woman speaks putting me at some ease. H had the authorities right where he wanted them, he leads them to believe exactly what he wanted.
"Elizabeth and John were always so put together, the definition of a cookie cutter family," I say trying to give an image of the couple. I thought I would play dumb but show interest in helping and making conversation. I didn't want any sneaking suspensions to cloud my character.
