Taken By Surprise
Page 35
***
I’m taken to 1200 Travis, which is where Houston Police Department is housed. I have never stepped foot in the building before now. I’m placed in a room with a large desk; opposite my chair sits the two police officers who had come to get me. A large mirror is placed on one wall and nothing on the other. The whole room is a stark white and the light above is blinding. I don’t feel like this is just a friendly chat. I feel like I’m about to be interrogated, as though I’m a suspect. Am I a suspect?
“Tell me what happened, son.” I don’t like how the police officer speaks. It’s like he is asking if I had a nice holiday. It sounds fake and it sounds like a trap.
“I don’t know what happened. I was on a date, everything was going fine and then Nora fainted. I took her to the hospital.”
“You say the date was going fine, are you sure about that? You sure it wasn’t turning into a disaster and you felt things spiraling out of control?”
“What?”
“Did she remind you of someone you hate? Had you planned this all along? Or did she personally upset you?”
“Wait, what?” I feel even more lost by this questioning.
“When did you poison her food?”
“Poison?” I gasp. I sold her on having the streak and it’d been poisoned?
“Did you get off seeing her eat it, knowing what would happen only a couple hours later?”
“Her food was poisoned?” I can’t believe it. I had commented about how great the steak was and it had been poisoned! Would she still have had it if I hadn’t said anything? Why did I say that? Why did I recommend it to her? Is this my fault?
“Why do it, son? You’ll feel better once it’s out in the open.”
“Was everyone who ate the steak sick?” I ask them, wondering if I’m the only one in here being interrogated. Was it just Nora who died? Am I being questioned about a lot of people dying? Why suspect me? Did they have other suspects?
“Are you saying you poisoned more people last night?”
“What? No!”
“Because that’s what it sounds like to me.”
“I didn’t hurt Nora.” My breathing speeds up and my hands turn to fists. I feel panic starting up and I try to calm down. It doesn’t work. Seconds later, the light flickers out and, by the sounds outside the room, it wasn’t only this room that was affected.
“Shit.” Sounds like the overweight cop speaking.
The interrogation room door is opened and I see the silhouette of the fat cop leaning out into the hallway.
“Jerry, did you overload the system again?” I hear rustling outside the room, and then several voices speaking at once.
“Open the curtains.”
“Get some light in here.”
“The whole street is out apparently.”
“Someone must have hit a line in the ground nearby.”
“Get on the phone and find out what the problem is.”
“Why didn’t the backup generator work?”
“Charlie?” The last voice I do recognize, it’s Dad.
“Dad?” I call back. I see a shadow appear in the doorway. There is no window in this room to shed any light, but there is light from somewhere down the hall that shows an outline of him and someone next to him.
“Charlie, this is Trevor; your lawyer.”
The other man steps in and he looks around, however apart from that, I can’t tell anything about him.
“I hope you are not questioning my client without his council present.” He speaks with precision and just from his voice you would be able to guess he is a lawyer.
“The kid isn’t under arrest, yet.”
“Then I assume he is free to go whenever he pleases.”
One of the cops grunts, I can’t tell which. I feel strange sitting here in the dark.
“Good. If you wish to speak to my client further, then ring my secretary and I’m sure she will be able to fit a time in somewhere.” He places something on the table in front of me, maybe a business card. “Come on, Mr. Nichols.”
I stand, but don’t move. Having a lawyer makes me look guilty.
“I didn’t poison her. I didn’t even really know her.”
“Charlie.” Dad’s arm reaches out and grabs mine, pulling me outside.