December 18 – 11:15 PM.
C.I.D. Precinct 9, Interview Room #3
“Miss Tessa Roads. What is your relationship with the victim?”
“H...he’s just my boss.”
Detective Merlin and Constable Sally occupied the interview room for themselves to speak with their suspect alone. The place in question specially designed with custom made sound-proof foam pads. The type normally found in music recording studios or voice acting booths. It could absorb even the tiniest of sound to make the room free of any ambient noises.
Designers say it was a psychological tactic, to throw off potential suspects from keeping up with their ‘innocent’ games. It also helped to cut them off from the hallways outside, so no mixed messages or even the sound of footsteps could give them a chance to come up with a new strategy to deflect suspicion.
It was effective as it made Tessa Road shiver all over...that, or she was just cold.
She so wanted to just curl up and hug her bare knees, as if she was back home on her couch watching drama. But even given how vulnerable she was, she didn’t want to be seen as unsightly or without manners. So she forced herself to sit as poised as she could, fighting off the cold nibbling at her bare legs and arms.
That was when she felt a thick coat wrap around her shoulders.
“Take it,” Detective Merlin nodded, “You need it more than me.”
“...Th...thank you detective, I—UURK!...Why does it smell like wet dog!?”
“You’re welcome by the way.”
Constable Sally face palmed, as if she knew this would happen. She tried to change the subject, or atmosphere for that matter, by tapping her hand on the table.
Tessa Roads was surprised when the surface of the table ‘dipped’, as if a sheet of ice sinking into a pond. It was then replaced by a series of colourful symbols and images that look familiar, like something on a computer start up.
W-wait this table was a huge touch screen platform!?
Knowing her way around the machine, Constable Sally would tap on an app and it automatically started to project a ‘recording’ device’ to log the interview.
“Miss Roads,” the constable began. She started off with bringing up an evidence bag from a bin sitting on the floor next to her leg. She pushed it across the touchscreen table to show it to the one she addressed, “Is this skirt yours?”
Tessa Roads stared at it, wiping her nose with her shaking fingers.
“I ask again, is this yours?”
“Y-yes! Yes. Sorry I...it’s mine.”
“And these?” Sally then placed two more evidence bags onto the table. “This shoe and this purse?”
“...All...all mine.” Tessa Roads nodded with a shiver.
“We found all of these in the crime scene. Liam Ferguson's Hotel Room 777 at Diamond Hotel. Care to explain why your belongings were found next to a dead man?”
Tessa Roads started to bite her lips. “C...could I not?”
Constable Sally slapped the table, making the suspect jumped. “Is it because you’re the murderer!?”
“N-no! I-it’s not that! It’s......embarrassing.”
Detective Merlin leaned back in his seat, arms folded. He gave the suspect a look over before gesturing a hand. “We have time. Go on.”
“But.” Tessa Roads glanced at the constable, who glared at her, and detective, who pursed his lips at her. After thinking it over and accepting her fate, she broke down with defeat lining her voice. “L...Liam, my boss, he tried...he tried to do indecent things me.”
The investigators exchanged glances. Confusion in their eyes. Constable Sally then asked. “What exactly happened in that room?”
Tessa held up her hands in innocence. “L-Liam invited me of this hotel room that night. He wanted to c-coach me, to prepare my pitch f-for a new client at work. S-so I went to his place, s-strictly to practice, nothing else...one thing led to another—”
“I see. You tried to seduce him.”
“NOOOOO! NOOO! NOOO! NOOOOO! Th-that’s not what I did! He tried to come on to me! I-I tried to signal him, th-that I wasn’t into it. I-I said no – like they taught in school! Many times no, but he insisted with his advances and he...” Tessa trailed off, before covering her mouth to fight back the urge to cry. “H-he pinned me down and tore off my skirt...and...and I clubbed him on the head...”
“With this?” Detective Merlin pulled up a new piece of evidence onto the table letting it land on the table with a thunk.
Inside was a crystal ash tray. Large, as big as a dinner plate. A thick body with many diamond like edges all over. The interior bowl had stains of cigarette powder melted into the center.
The base was smeared in blood, staining the interior of the bag.
The detective gestured at the ash tray. “We found this lying under the bed, near the body of your employer. Forensics confirmed, they have two sets of finger marks. One set belongs to Liam Ferguson. The other set...well.” Detective Merlin gestured a hand to Tessa Roads’ direction. “And you just confessed in physically assaulting the victim so—”
“WAIT! NO! I-I DIDN’T KILL HIM! N-NEITHER DID I PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED HIM! I-I just clubbed him on the head, to escape! Nothing more! H-he was still alive and yelling when I ran away!”
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“Miss Roads, please be careful with your wording.”
“Wh-what do you mean, m-my wording?”
Detective Merlin sat up to start counting off his fingers. “There are five types of physical assault: slash, club, stab, punch, and pinch. Clubbing someone is considered the second most lethal means to kill someone.”
Tessa Road’s eyes bulged in their sockets. “Wait! Detectives, I-I didn’t club him! I-I bonked him on the head, very lightly! I-it was in self-defence! I swear!”
“Ma’am. Bonking still falls in the purview of clubbing.”
“Ah. Wu. I....D-Detective Marvin? Merlin? Wh-what is considered t-to be the weakest, or least lethal descriptor?”
It took Detective Merlin to process that question, “Ah. Right. Within slash, club, stab, punch, and pinch – pinch is obviously the weakest means of physical assault.”
The suspect slapped her hand on the table in victory. “Yes! That! D-detectives! I-I just grabbed whatever I could touch with my hands a-and pinched Liam on the head! H-he kept pinning me down, f-forcefully kissing my neck an-and touching me all over. I-I wanted to run away! S-so a pinch! Just a single pinch! Enough to distract hi-him and run away!”
Constable Sally gave the detective a look with an ‘are you freaking kidding me’ gaze, then she wiped a hand over her face to compose herself to ask, “Is your relationship really just employer and employee?”
Tessa Roads nod vigorously, “Y-yes, that’s it! That simple!”
“Care to elaborate on this ‘that simple’.”
“Uh. Well. L-Liam and I work for the same insurance company you see. I-its called Precious Life. I-I would give you my business c-card but i-it’s in my handbag...in your evidence bag uh... H-he’s our top insurance agent. I-I work under him, s-so he really is my boss at this point.”
Constable Sally went on to ask, “Do you have any romantic or sexual relationships with your boss?”
“Noooo! Nooo! Nothing like that! Strictly professional! Honest! I-I’m not the type of person who starts up romantic fires in the office, o-or cause drama! N-no, I just work for him, I do my job, and I communicate between him and clients!”
Detective Merlin rubbed his chin as he chipped in. “So no love, no sex, not even fatal attraction?”
Tessa Roads crossed her arms in a big X in response. “N-not even a crush, sir!”
“Then why?” Detective Merlin asked with an open hand, waiting for answers. “Why did you go to his hotel tonight? Hmm? One man, one woman, in a hotel – it can only mean one thing.” He then started to shake his shoulders around as if doing a dance. “Boom-cha-cha. Boom-cha-cha. You get?”
Tessa Road’s face exploded red. “Yo-you won’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me Beyonce.”
“Tessa. Tessa Roads.”
“Th-that’s not what I—” Detective Merlin avoided eye contact with his constable when she shot him a mocking smirk. He cleared his throat, “Tell us. Every little detail. No kink shame.”
“D-don’t say it like that!” Tessa Roads squeaked. She wanted to cry, but it would look even worse on her. Plus, they don’t have any Kleenex in the interview room of all things! Then she answered.
“Liam lives in the hotel. It’s legit his home address.”
“...Seriously?”
“Y-yes! Everyone knows where he lives, envy him even! His place is fancier than a condo o-or apartment! And room service at his beck and call! F-furthermore, I am not the first person to go to his hotel room for work. He often invites colleagues, male and female, to drop by paperwork, do some signing, or-or whatever. The man is a workaholic!”
Detective Merlin scratched at his shaggy hair, “And you felt comfortable to approach him, at his hotel? If this was Japan, hotels have a totally different meaning than ‘I live here’.”
Tessa Roads flapped her hands like a scared dove, “Of course I know the connotations, I was nervous myself when he suddenly decided to invite me to his hotel room, to ‘review’ my pitch. I asked my colleagues who have been to his place, especially the female ones – they all say he was very honest, kept his hands to himself, very professional. Like it was his home office. The reviews of their visits were impeccable! S-so of course I couldn’t help but let my guard down!”
“Are you sure, the ladies you asked didn’t set you up?”
“I-I hope not! I mean, they all have a thing for Liam. I heard some of them confessed to him, but he would politely turn them down in such a gentle manner. I-I don’t know if anyone tricked me, but at the time it felt like it was safe to-to meet him... I just...I never expected him to do this sort of thing to me!”
“Not even a little suspicion?”
“Well...I did. A little. I meaaaaan.” Tessa Road pulled at her sleeves to hide her cold hands. “It was just a tiny worry, Liam had a good track record. H-he’s always proven himself trustworthy at work... I-it’s like that experiment we learned in school, Schrodinger's Cat, you know right!? Is the cat dead, or alive, you don’t know until you open the box. Liam’s offer could have been a trap, otherwise a great opportunity for a promotion! I-I would be a fool of the century if I miss out on the latter!”
“Hmmmm.”
“S-still. I was a little concerned. I-I’ve never been to a boy’s house, like ever. I-I tried to arrange a meeting elsewhere, even at the coffee shop in his hotel – but I was told they don’t open in the evenings so... So just in case the worst case scenario DID happened, I was prepared.”
Tessa rose to her feet. Both detectives followed to make sure she didn’t run away. Instead she opened up the coat, to show her short spats. “In case things went side ways, I wouldn’t be running out into the streets in my panties if it came to it! Y-you get me?”
Constable Sally glanced at her up and down, then gave an approving nod. “Clever girl. You can have a seat Miss Roads. Now, after you clubbed the victim—”
“Pinched! Pinched!”
“...Pinch the victim. What happened next?”
“What else!?” Tessa Roads threw her hands up over her shoulders. “I ran! He was on the floor reeling in pain! It was my chance to escape! A-and I never ran so fast in my life! I didn’t even knew I was missing a shoe!”
Tessa then waved a hand to the side, her fingers twitching. “L-Liam was still shouting ‘YOU’RE FIRED, I’LL RUIN YOU’ even as I bolted out the door! He was still alive while I left! I-I had no idea he died until I came back and...”
Tessa Road gave an anxious glance at Detective Merlin, who popped an innocent smile and a V-sign with his one hand. She gritted her teeth, but dropped her hackles. “Detectives. Please, believe me. I-I didn’t kill him. I-I can’t even lift the jug to replace the water cooler without tipping over!”
Detective Merlin took a moment of scratch at the side of his nose. Then he folded his hands together to whisper. “Miss Roads. You were in – no doubt – a fight or flight response right?”
“Yes! Yes!!”
“You had no control over what you do, so long as you survived right?”
“Right! Right!”
“And you happened to grab an ashtray – which is rather hefty. A single blow--”
“PINCH!”
“Y-yes. A single ‘small’ pinch to the head, right?”
“Correct! Correct!”
Detective touched his chin, choosing his words carefully. “Now. Could there be any slight possibility that...you pinched Liam so hard, he died from a critical concussion?”
“PEOPLE CAN DIE FROM A TINY PINCH!? OH MY GOD, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WORLD!?”