Interrogations

by phoenixandtiger

'Who are we getting again? Some redhead?' a deep voice said, its owner leaning against the wall.

'Johnny McGregor, spiky dark red hair, blue headband, average build and height. And I really wish you'd stop smoking so much, it's bad for your health.'

Bryan shrugged, breathing in a drag just to piss Max off. 'Like you care. When does his flight come in?'

'In 'bout an hour. We have a long wait ahead of us.'

'Oh, shut up. Who was it that got here first?'

'I give.'

He snickered as he blew out a puff of air.

'If it wasn't because of the fact that you saved my goddammed life, I would kill you, painfully.'

'Didn't I tell you already? We're even for that.' At the other's blue-eyed glare, he raised his hands in a 'calm down' gesture. 'Okay, fine, owe me whatever.'

...

'Oh, is that the flight?'

'Yeah, guess so.'

They left the shadow of the wall, the taller of them reaching behind him to feel the gun tucked into his jeans, covered by his jacket.

'And, and, it's best to not scare this guy. Salima told me he might have bodyguards and/or weapons on him.'

'Don't worry your blonde little head about it, I got this. Is that guy him?'

'Which one...right. Yeah, the one in the black hoodie. So how exactly are you going to do this - hey, don't just go running off!' he shouted, but the other didn't hear, already less than halfway from the redhead.

The blonde raced to catch up to his partner, already dreading the amount of paperwork he would have to fill out...or he could just dump it on Hiro - after all, it was a favor, as Mariah called it.

By the time he got to them, the other's mouth was twisted into a cocky smirk and the redhead was saying, 'Think I can do the same now?'

'Nope. And Max, you might want to Mirandize him or something, I forgot most of it.'

'You are so lucky the boss doesn't know that. Johnny McGregor, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult with an attorney and have him present during questioning, and if you don't have one, one will be provided for you at no cost to represent you. Do you understand all that?'

He rolled his eyes and jerked his arms when the handcuffs were placed onto his wrists. 'Yes, I understand all of that – I've had those read to me for nearly my entire lif - Oh shit.'

'I distinctly remember reading that he never had a criminal record - what the heck was he talking about back there?' Max whispered to the other as they shoved McGregor into the back seat of the cruiser.

'He paid off a guy to erase it,' he replied, strangely tight-lipped.

Max gave him a look as he slid behind the wheel, but was mute as he went on the freeway. Next to him, the other lit up a smoke again, rolling down the window just a tiny bit.

X

'...Do you understand your rights as they have been said to you?'

The meek, green-haired boy only jabbered away in French, a frightened look on his face and his fingers twitching, for what though, Brooklyn was uncertain of. But he'll figure it out. He always does.

Salima gave him a panicked look as she tried to calm the painter down, mouthing, 'Anyone speak French here?'

'I think Hiro's brother is fluent,' Brooklyn whispered. 'I'll go ask.'

She nodded, offering the painter a timid smile.

He left and got out his phone to call their leader. 'What's up?'

'Oliver Polinski only speaks French.'

'Shit.'

'Yep. I understand that you don't like asking your little brother for favors, but this time it's necessary, unless you know someone else who speaks French.'

Hiro sighed, a noise that became raspy as it went through the speaker. 'Sure there's no one else?'

'Yeah.'

'Fine, I'll go call him - he should be at the room in ten minutes. Room 1, right?'

'Right then, we'll be expecting him... Thanks, Hiro, I know how hard this must be for you.'

'All in the name of justice, eh?'

X

'I have to ask - what did you mean, he paid off some guy to erase it?' Max demanded, facing his partner head-on.

Dead grey eyes stared back, a cigarette in the corner of his mouth. 'Nothing. Leave it, alright? It wasn't important.'

'Tell me. If you know him, you have to let Hiro know. It could risk - '

'I get it, it'll risk the outcome, blah blah blah, you're not supposed to have any relations with suspects, I learned my lesson last time with that other perp.'

His blue eyes steeled. 'Don't play with me.'

The other spat out the cigarette into the garbage can, walking to the door. 'I did it, happy now? I erased all traces of his fucking criminal record because he paid me off.'

'But - Bryan, why?'

He looked back to see Max's eyes watering. 'Balkov made me hack into the system and change it - he and Johnny were pulling off a huge drug dealing or something like that,' he muttered, and left, the door swinging shut after him.

The blonde only shook his head - he knew all about Bryan's 'dark period' (or 'what he did before he joined the force', but that was too long of a title for it), as him and others called it. But sometimes, he just wished the other would talk to someone about it, instead of keeping it all bottled up.

X

The door clicked open and Brooklyn and Salima looked up to see Hiro's cocky little brother stride in, a shit-eating grin on his face. Salima sighed and led him to Interrogation Room 1, hissing, 'Don't get too excited - the suspect's name is Oliver Polinski and we've yet to Mirandize him in a language he understands.'

'Mm-hm. Got it. So you want me to Mirandize him and basically translate everything.'

'Bingo.' She pushed open the door and gestured him in, exchanging a look of exasperation with Brooklyn before walking in herself.

'Hi Oliver, my name is Tyson and I will be your translator today,' he said, sticking out a hand for a shake, but Oliver only said something else while shaking his head. 'He says he didn't do anything wrong - he needed the money for his family because his mother's sick and in the hospital and he didn't have any other way to pay off the debtors.'

'Mirandize him first, Granger, we're starting the interrogation.'

'Oliver, this is necessary - you have the right to remain silent, and anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, and if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand this?'

He nodded, and Salima sat down, shuffling some papers in her hands. 'All right - Oliver, we want you to answer a few questions, can you do that for us?'

Tyson translated it for him, and he cautiously said, 'Oui.'

'Okay. Oliver, do you know this man?' She took out a picture of Johnny McGregor and pointed at him.

X

'People, stop chatting!' he shouted into the room. The five already in the stuffy room paused and looked at him. Hiro gave a tired huff and asked, 'Brooklyn, Salima, anything new?'

'It depends, really. Polinski's mother is in the hospital. He has a sister who was working for Jurgen, but when his mother fell to stroke, she quit and began to pick up odd jobs so she could have more time to take care of her.'

'He also said he doesn't know McGregor, but that might be a lie - I'm pretty sure Jurgen didn't contact Polinski himself,' Brooklyn added, standing next to the window. 'And your brother - do you think if I killed him after this case, will I be prosecuted?'

'Ha. Ha. Salima, did you get to McGregor yet?'

'Not yet, sorry. We'll do it tomorrow - right now he's in a holding cell.'

'That's fine. Mariah?'

'Right. So, I looked over the body twice - the tests were taking too long, and I was getting bored just sitting there - but anyways. I found a marking between Jurgen's clavicles - really really faint, so I didn't see it the first time, but I blew it up as big as it could go with blurring and here is a picture of it.' She handed him a sheet of paper, and he glanced at it before putting it with the rest of the files. 'Could mean something special - X marks the spot or something like that? Or a calling card?'

She paused for a bit before continuing, 'I also looked up old records of autopsies, and you won't believe this - this exact pattern of killing was present in another case, almost six years back. The ME for that retired already, but forget about him - the body was burned, exactly like this, and there was a X on the spot between the vic's collarbones, really faint, but it was still there.'

Hiro blinked. 'Well, that throws a wrench into everything. Kai?'

He shook his head wordlessly. 'Not yet.'

'Well, do whatever you can right now, yeah? Anyone else have something to add? And no, Brooklyn, you cannot kill Tyson. Maybe in fifty years and we're all old cronies and no one will suspect us of anything because we can't walk without a cane.'

X

The flames flickered in the room as he watched from the balcony, a crazed look in his eyes.

It licked at edges of papers, at curtains, at bedsheets, at flesh and bones and hair, at everything, and he couldn't be happier.

TBC

This chapter was written by phoenixandtiger for the Beyblade Community Project.

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