It was one of the longest car rides Matt has ever taken. It only lasted for half an hour, but the road felt endless, almost like he spent the entire night in the backseat of a police car. The siren was jammed, they said, and they could not get it to stop wailing. People who were most on their way back home were made aware and turned heads to glimpse a Franco in police custody. A slice of pizza would have helped him endure all this, but he was not even allowed to bring one.

Once this is all over, if he even gets to go home, he will tell Morgan something he knows he will regret soon after. Morgan would be sure to throw it in his face. “You are right.” Going to the party that night was a big mistake. They should have stayed inside the mausoleum, entirely unaware of everything that had happened at school that night.

“There is very little to worry about,” police officer Keiron told him on the way. He had the pale face and handsome features of a Lauzon but none of Kira’s charm, making it difficult to take his word. Kira had always been kind and warm towards him, even if he always took extra steps to avoid her, but her uncle, Keiron, always had this icy demeanor towards Matt, even when he was trying to be nice. Keiron was never rude, but Matt always had the impression that he was not welcome around the officer.

Dusk had settled over the town by the time they arrived at the station. The silence accompanied by a creeping fog did not help Matt from shaking his nerves, but at least there were no reporters flocking to the precinct, ready to flash their cameras and take his photos. That would send him into a panic attack.

Lawton is a quiet and secluded town, but they say once in every generation, a great misfortune will break that silence and send everyone into frenzy. It was so terrible that everyone just wanted to forget about it, and now no one can remember what it was about. It must have been really bad since the one involving his parents is still gossip fodder to this day.

The hollow pit forming in his stomach grew larger with every step. He thought the absence of gawking reporters would help avoid this, but just the idea of going into the precinct escorted by two cops looking as if they are ready to tackle him to the ground if he even makes the wrong step is making him more unsettled. They sat him down in a dimly lit interrogation room with a large, one-way mirror. His hands were shaking, cold with sweat. They waited for a few more minutes before they were joined by another cop, just as grumpy as the one they left in the car.

Neither of them said a word, and Matt began to wonder if they were waiting for him to be the one to say something first, but then questions started pouring in after what must have been hours for Matt but only seconds for them. What was his full name? Where does he live? What did he eat for lunch? All were just the easy stuff, and Matt did not expect the next question to be a punch in the gut.

“Did you kill Sara Gutierrez?” It must not have been what was planned because even Keiron was caught off guard. “I’m not going to go easy on him just because you asked me to.”

“That’s not proper, and you know that, Keiron responded. “A little restraint, Officer Mariano.”

Matt shook his head fervently before he was able to say what he had been meaning to say for a while. A hard no. A yes and a no. Those are the only things he needs to say, and if possible, say nothing at all. That was what he was told to do when he was little.

“Kids from the party noted seeing you there a couple of minutes before the incident,” Officer Mariano continued, with no indication of making it easier for Matt. “It was the first time they ever saw you attend that party. You seem to be one of those who stay away from social events, according to them.”

“I don’t really enjoy going to places where I am about as welcomed as the plague,” Matt answered in a toned-down but still obvious sarcastic tone. “Those kids don’t like me.”

“Many saw you exiting the party just before the incident.”

“We’re just trying to establish a timeline of events here, Keiron added. Matt knew right away that they were playing the good cop, bad cop routine.

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“It has also been noted by many that your relationship with the victim can be considered antagonistic.”

“I don’t think there’s any other way to put it, so I’ll have to agree.” Matt only wanted to keep those in his thoughts, but as always, his tongue got ahead of him.

“We do not appreciate those kinds of responses,” Keiron said.

“It would not help you at all,” Officer Mariano added. “Where were you after you left the party?”

Matt retraced his steps that night, starting with walking in the thick fog alone and having an unsettling feeling of being watched, then witnessing a headless corpse, and finally dragging Morgan back to the tombs. If it weren’t for the girl who helped him carry Morgan back inside, they probably would have been mauled to death that night.

Wait? A girl helped him carry Morgan back to the crypts?

Matt could not have carried Morgan back to the tombs on his own with how out of touch he is with the concept of physical fitness, after all. A hazy memory is filling in some of the gaps. There was a girl, short in stature but with long hair and heels to make her appear taller. It was a miracle she could walk so effortlessly in those high pumps she was wearing, but she was strong enough to carry Morgan by herself as Matt slugged behind them.

“Mr. Franco, we asked a question.”

“I was at the tombs,” Matt answered slowly, putting more effort into recalling the memory while trying to remember what he and Morgan rehearsed as their official story. It was still hazy, and he could not remember everything, just bits and pieces. They reached the tombs and stumbled through the door. There was a flash of green light coming from the direction where the short girl appeared, and nothing after. “I dropped Morgan off at the party, stayed a little ‘cause I was curious, and headed back to the cemetery. We usually stay out for sleepovers, watching movies or playing games throughout the night. I prepared a slasher film marathon for that night.”

“At a cemetery?” Officer Mariano did not sound as intimidating with that remark. It either really piqued his curiosity or bothered him to the bone that he needed to collect himself before continuing. “We received a call from an anonymous person claiming that Ms. Gutierrez was at the Franco Mausoleum.”

There was a question there somewhere that they did not ask, but they were waiting for Matt to answer for them. It took so much effort for Matt to bite his tongue before he could say even a sarcastic response. He knows any answer he gives to the particular question could be easily misinterpreted and twisted. He looked at them quizzically instead.

“Do you know anything about it?”

Matt shook his head. “Doc said he received a call about the mausoleum. He didn’t tell me what it was about.” A little sigh, a furrowed eyebrow, and watery eyes would help sell a frustrated victim. “It’s not enough they vandalized my locker before summer started. Now they’re doing it at my family’s place too.”

“Can you think of anyone who would want to do that?”

“I can make you a list. Do you have all night? I’m not kidding,” he said when he saw their eyebrows curling. “You know how it is around here. You mention the Franco name, and people either coil in disgust or raise their pitchforks.”

Both sighed, and after a second, Officer Mariano pulled something out from below his side of the desk. Wrapped inside an evidence bag was a black jacket that Matt easily recognized.

“We believe this jacket belongs to you as per the name tag sewn on its underside.” Keiron lost any sense of friendliness in his voice and adapted the same accusing tone Officer Mariano had since the beginning. “This was left at the scene tucked away in a corner in a lazy attempt to dispose of it. It has your DNA, of course, but it was also strained with the victim’s blood.” Even if Matt wanted to say something, his sarcastic tongue is frozen.

“It’s not him,” Officer Mariano announced with a smile on his face for once.

“I know, I know,” Keiron responded. “Look at his face. So lost and clueless. Very much afraid.”

Matt was not sure if he should be relieved to hear their statements or if it was still part of their game. Officer Mariano was quick to stand up and exit the room to start working on the report, leaving the evidence bag for Matt to marvel at.

“The way we found it at the scene, it was obvious someone planted it there and wanted us to find it,” Keiron said. “The incident happened on the anniversary of the, uh, if you remember correctly.”

It was a quick stab that left Matt dumbfounded. He was so caught up with so many things going on that he did not connect the dots. The person who committed this crime wanted him to be the scapegoat. “That would have made for a very interesting sequel if that’s the case. Son of Lawton’s infamous follow in their footsteps.” The hollow pit growing in his stomach was slowly being filled by a raging monster, and the cold surprise he felt throughout his body was being burned away by anger.

Matt was allowed to leave, but not without Keiron’s warning that the person who did this is still out there and he should be careful. As if he needed a reminder. Almost the entire town already dislikes or avoids him. What’s murder to add to the list?