Me After You ✔

027

Late night. The police officers, the youths who were being interrogated – each and every single one of them was exhausted to the bone. It was a competition; and everyone was fighting tooth and nail in order to emerge victorious in this competition of perseverance and grit.

Two youths – both had extremely frail and fragile outer appearances, and yet, they were filled with bones and nerves of steel.

Rubbing his red rimmed eyes, Senior Prem suggested to Knott, "In order to prove that your conjecture is correct, we have no choice but to use this one last method."

"Which method?"

"The Prisoner's Dilemma."

The Prisoner's Dilemma is a theory which theorizes that, where there are two or more persons who had jointly committed an offence and are unable to communicate with each other, each person would be more inclined to tell the truth or "betray" each other by exposing the other person's involvement in the crime (out of self-interest) as they are unable to trust the other person, and/or under circumstances where they have been informed that the other person had already confessed.

Nobody would be able to emerge unscathed and remain steadfast under such psychological stress.

The interrogations swiftly commenced.

Arthit sat in his solitary interrogation room, his entire being seemingly pale and white-washed. The crimson red string on his wrist stood out boldly, as though he had suffered a bloodied cut.

The police officers filed into the interrogation room expressionlessly. Before Arthit had time to reconfigure the expression on his face into his default expression of blankness, Senior Prem slammed a pile of documents onto the table in front of him. Staring at him severely, Senior Prem announced, "Kongpob has confessed."

Arthit looked at Senior Prem silently, waiting patiently for Senior Prem to complete his sentence. Not even a single flicker of fear, surprise or anxiety flashed across his face.

"Arthit, Kongpob has confessed." Senior Prem repeated. "He has confirmed that both of you are joint criminals."

Arthit shook his head slowly, "That's not true."

"The day Jay disappeared – although it seems as though Jay had only gone to the hill behind the school compound for the sole purpose of meeting John, that's not true. In actuality, he had only requested to meet John as he happened to be in the area – to meet you. There was also no need for Jay to reach you via your mobile number, as he had already informed you one day prior to meet him there. As the time for the meeting coincided with the timing of your Physical Education class, it was extremely convenient for you to head to the hill behind the school compound, meet Jay, and injure him there. Subsequently, once you have managed to stab Jay, you returned to class and innocuously commented on the difficulty of obtaining tickets for Titanic. Having overhead your comment, Phana asked you out to watch the movie, to which you readily agreed. You then requested for Kongpob to dispose of the incriminating evidence during your time at the movie, thereby creating a perfect alibi for yourself."

"That's not true." Arthit shook his head. The harsh light from the ceiling lamp in the interrogation room beat down on him, casting dark shadows beneath his eyelashes.

"We have simply reiterated Kongpob's confession, word for word. He has already confessed to us your involvement in Jay's murder. Arthit, if you still refuse to co-operate with us, you will be penalized and will receive a more severe sentence in the future."

Stay strong. You must remember to stay strong.

Arthit raised his head, and fixed his icy gaze at the police officers seated in front of him. After having pondered for some time, Arthit asked, "Are you guys, trying to help me reduce my punishment?"