Story of a Girl

Interrogation

          All I wanted right now was to go back in time, to spend more time with Toby. I wanted to be with Ariel right now at school, making fun of Sarah. I had already missed about a week of school and right now, I would give anything to listen to Mr. Beatty’s lecture. That’s how you know it’s bad.

          The cool air from the AC inside the building hit my face, causing me to blink rapidly to keep my eyes from drying out. There were a few police officers inside, all in a deep conversation. They barely looked up when we walked inside.

          Scooter led us to the back of the building, opening a small door which led to a decent sized room. A large desk sat in the corner, stacks and stacks of files stuffed full of papers covered the top. An older man that well represented Santa Claus minus the beard, with white hair, big round glasses and a round stomach, sat behind the desk, hands folded together in his lap. He offered us a suggestive smile when we walked in and motioned us to sit down. There were only two chairs, so Scooter insisted I take the chair next to Alex while he stood behind us.

          “Hello, you must be Sapphire.” The man said to me, “I’m George. I called you here because some test results came back which showed that this young man’s fingerprints were on the gun used in the murder of a Mr. Toby Michael Hale.”

          I shuddered at the sound of Toby’s full name.

          “Now Scooter, was in really necessary for you to handcuff this boy?” George asked my uncle, eyes narrowed.

          Scooter shrugged. “Want me to take them off then?”

          “Please.”

          He reached into his pocket and fished out the key to unlock the handcuffs. Once they were off, Alex rubbed his slightly red wrists and muttered a, “Thanks.”

          “Alex,” George started, “I’m going to be very straight to the point here. I don’t want to waste my time nor yours so just answer the questions and we’ll blow right through this, okay?”

          “Yes sir.” Alex nodded.

          George cleared his throat before speaking, “Did you in any way, harm Toby?”

          “No.”

          “Did you have any contact with him?”

          “No, I never got the privilege of meeting him.” Alex said sadly.

          George raised his eyebrows. “Really? Then how to you explain the fingerprints on the weapon?”

          Alex shrugged and shook his head, totally at loss for words.

          “Did you have any way of getting the gun?” George asked.

          Alex thought for a moment before opening his mouth. “My mom gave me one before she left. She’s out of town visiting my aunt and it’s just me and my brother. She told me it was in case anyone broke in and I needed to use it.”

          “Didn’t you say someone broke into your house a few days ago?” I spoke up, scrunching my eyebrows together.

          “Yeah, actually they did! I don’t know who though, I was out at the time and so was my brother. The door to my house was open and a few things were knocked over and broken but I didn’t notice anything missing so I didn’t call the police. Although now I wish I should’ve.”

          “That probably would’ve been the smart thing to do,” George agreed.

          “Was their anyone else’s fingerprints on the gun?” I choked out the last word.

          George looked at me over his glasses before letting out a sigh. “There were another set of fingerprints, yes. These were on the trigger, while Alex’s were just on the handle. But they were unidentifiable.”

          I was about to open my mouth to defend Alex again when I heard shouting in the hallway. The shouting was still somewhat far away but it was gradually getting closer and becoming clearer. Protests were bouncing off the walls and I cowered in my seat, for the fear of a masked murderer breaking in entered my mind.

          The yelling was right outside the door now and Scooter stormed over to the door and ripped it open to yell at them to stop making so much noise when something stopped him. I stretched my neck this way and that to try to see what happened outside when I saw the last person I expected to see standing on the other side. Someone I knew that was involved in the killing of my brother.