"Do you want to know why she killed him?" The girl stared intently at Lester, not a trace of fear in her eyes. Anyone would have thought that a teenager who had been caught by a top secret agency and had been handcuffed to a table in an interrogation room would have even a smallest hint of nerves; but no. This kid was completely unfazed.
"Why who killed whom?" Lester said coolly, though all the members of the team knew this was a façade - the mention of Helen Cutter would rattle every team member to their core.
The teenager sighed, rolled her eyes and smiled. "You know exactly who I'm talking about. But if you want me to spell it out for you, I will. I know why Helen Cutter killed Nick Cutter."
The smile vanished from her face and was replaced with a stone cold glare.
Lester could no longer hide his concern - his uncaring manner quickly changed to that of worry. "How do you know about Nick and Helen Cutter?"
The girl seemed so familiar, especially that smile that flashed whenever she knew she had the upper hand. She enjoyed playing with him, and she wasn't afraid to show it. "Hmm, one could say that I wouldn't be alive without their … involvement. They have saved my life on many occasion. I know quite a lot about them, and through them, the ARC."
Lester flashed a look behind him at the one way mirror, on the other side of which stood Abby, Connor, Becker and Matt. All had carried stern looks and tense postures.
"Do you want to know why Helen shot Nick or would you rather I kept my secrets?"
"What makes you think we are ever going to believe you?" Lester tried to sound bored but his eyes gave him away. He was scared, and he hoped his hunch about her was wrong.
"I don't care one way or another if you believe me, James. But I won't lie to you. Here in this room, I won't tell you anything I don't believe to be true." The playfulness in her face was gone and in its place was wide-eyed sincerity. If she was being deceitful, she was good at hiding it.
"Fine. Go ahead. Why do you believe Helen Cutter killed the professor?" Lester asked, a hint of intrigue softening his voice.
The girl's face turned somber as she stared Lester in the eyes, speaking solemnly. "She killed him because of me."
The door to the interrogation room swung open and an angry Connor shoved his way in, bulldozing past Captain Becker who failed in his attempts to hold the man back.
The girl's expression snapped to that of a smile as she recognised the young man's face. "Connor Temple." She greeted with a smile and a nod, which only increased Connor's fury.
"You're the reason Cutter's dead?" Connor's entire face was crimson. His eyebrows cut deep lines in his forehead and his tearing eyes shot broken knives at her.
The girl struck back with an icy glare; her lower jaw trembling as she tensed. She swallowed. "One of them. Your actions led to the death of the other, if I'm not mistaken. You, Abigail Maitland and Danny Quinn." She spat, her voice trembling ever so slightly.
"After all Helen's done, it won't weigh on my conscience." Connor growled back. Connor let loose his previously held back tears, his eyes burning with hatred of this girl, who quickly removed her eyes from his, and instead stared at her hands, not changing intensity.
She stayed quiet for a moment, pondering on the right words to help explain herself. "I spent a lot of time with Helen. Most of my life, in fact. We may not have always gotten along but I did come to love and respect her, so do excuse me if your callousness at her death doesn't exactly make me jump for joy." She returned her sharp gaze to Connor for a couple of seconds before she continued to look at her hands, her expression softening once more.
Lester stood, having had enough of the hard memories the discussion was bringing up. "Well if she was around Helen for that long, she must be at least a little crazy." He muttered loud enough for her to hear, but even if it affected her, she didn't react. Then to Captain Becker, he added, "We can't trust her. Keep two armed guards stationed outside at all times," and with that he moved for the door.
"Why did Helen kill him? Why was it your fault?" Connor asked. His face had paled slightly, but he was still tomato-like.
The girl's face soured and she looked up at him again, sincerity in her eyes once more. "I got too close. She told me who he was, what they were like and what they had been, what she still wanted them to be. I had to meet him. See him. Talk to him. He was everything I expected and more. But he told me his side of the story. Of the insanity, the irrationality, the cheating and the lies and the games Helen played. It took me a while to accept it but … I knew he was right.
And she knew that I knew. So before I could tell him who I was, before I could help him, before I could stop any of this … she killed him. And she made sure that there was nothing I could do about it." The girl went quiet, tears leaking from her eyes which she quickly brushed away on her sleeve.
"And who are you, then?" Lester asked, clearly not believing a word of what she had said.
The girl looked up, the solemn sincerity back in her eyes. "I'm the Cutters' daughter."