Chapter 3- forensic evidence

Emmett began pressing the button on the tape recorder and he interviewed me.

"So, Edward, for the purpose of the tape, please tell me exactly why you are here." He sighed with no compassion.

"I am here to report my families murder and who exactly did it" I said truthfully, knowing that he was listening carefully incase my story had changed. Why would it change anyway?

He continued "So who exactly did it?" he said angrily, hoping that I would confess.

"I don't know what there names are exactly, but it was the drug customers off that guy I had put away nearly one year ago now." I said hoping that he would begin to realise that I was innocent, I mean I know there are procedures but come on, why would I have killed my family when I was starting fresh?

"For the purpose of the tape I am showing Edward the DVD and letter he had showed me weeks ago… so, why does this handwriting match up with yours?" he shouted, almost as though he had thought he had cracked me.

"I honestly don't know…you do believe me don-" I broke off nearly in tears. He didn't give me the reply I had hoped for.

"Your wife, Bella tried to defend herself by attacking the killer with a pen, and he started to bleed. So tell me, how come it was your blood we found on her shirt if you said you never had seen first hand that she was killed?"

"I honestly don't know…. Could it have been planted there?" I asked confused but I seriously doubted it. I was really shocked that he had even found where my family had died. I was glad I wasn't there to help because I don't think I could of handled it.

"No there is no way of that…anyway so how come there is a cut in your arm? And why did the killer/s not come for you too?" he asked unsympathetically.

"I don't know …. I just don't know." I began to cry. I knew that if I didn't get my composure together then he would charge me there and then. "Maybe the killer/s decided that it would be more painful to let me watch from a distant knowing that I couldn't do anything to stop them?" By this time I was really upset with what he was asking me…it was all a blur and he knows that.

"Interview suspended 3:20pm." He said, glaring at me as he said it.

Just when I thought it was all over, he said to me the dreaded words "I'm arresting you on suspicions of murder" he said pleased, he finally thought I had indeed done it. But how could he? Surely he knew me better than that. He was not the same Emmett that I had known for twenty years; this one was much harder, cold and fiercer.

I was really bothered because I was the only person who knew about the truth about what happened and it was simply not enough. It was my word against theirs but they seemed to only care of my word, as if I was making this up. He sent me straight away to my cell, without letting me fill in my papers. He already knew all of my details so I guessed that I wouldn't be filling them in.

Disorientated, I slowly wandered down the hall. Half of the prisoners inside were who I had put away, so I imagine they are really pleased that I am sent away to this hell hole. I was stripped of my clothes, and my dignity, and I was placed in orange overalls. No-one seemed to listen to me no matter how hard I tried to tell them. I souse that is fair considering when I put some prisoners in jail, I would do the same. My roommate James was a portentous man who was very bonkers and was idolised by his own world. I was pleased that I had never sent him to prison (thank God) because life for me would have been worse.

A few days had passed and I had refused to eat anything. Today I was pleasantly surprised but it soon changed. I found that Emmett was standing there in front of me in my cell, watching my every move. Was there anything else that they wanted to talk to me about….more accusations perhaps? Anyway Emmett was obviously angry at something and it was probably me, but I just ignored that fact. He took me back to the interviewing room. He was colder than what he was before, which was hard to beat. It took several minutes before I asked what was going on.

A reluctant Emmett, spoke with such relief, that it bothered me. "Right, I'm afraid we have to send you across the country to Texas because there are no available spaces here in California for the death penalty prison."

I immediately shouted at the top of my voice "What! How many times do I have to tell you that I am not a murderer! I didn't kill anyone and you know my good reputation as a cop … why would I spoil that? And why are you sending me to the death penalty …you don't have enough evidence to do that" I said in frustration.

"You have to remember that you are no longer a cop, so you have to be treated the same as everyone else, and recently we have found a lot more evidence to pinpoint who exactly did it…you" He misunderstood greatly what I was trying to say.

"No you don't understand, I am innocent and I will make sure everyone knows that." I said automatically without even thinking. How did they get enough evidence…I wasn't even there when they died!

"Well I am afraid that there is nothing we can do for you now." He said sarcastically and I wasn't bothered by it. He had never been one of those people who occasionally spoke sarcastically- he does it all of the time so it's no wonder why I was his only friend. In fact, if he never spoke sarcastically, then I would still expect it since he thinks I am a good cop bad cop. My blood was boiling; I had never needed him for anything and I did a lot for him- more than he deserves. I had given him a home when he needed it, looked after his children when he was in hospital for months, supported him through his cancer and that's just off the top of my head. There are hundreds of things I had done for him and he just threw them out of the window. I was disgusted. We didn't bother speaking to each other for several minutes. Even when it was time to go back to my cell, he simply asked a different guard to take me back.

Emmett sent me back to my cell. He was ashamed and disgusted in me and he didn't seem to care about my feelings. On the slow walk down the corridor, the prisoner couldn't help but stare at me; some had puzzled faces, probably wondering what else I had done wrong, but some were fierce and angry at me, but they could not be as angry as Emmett was. I was completely alarmed by what the other prisoners were saying. They must have already heard what I had supposedly done and that I was going to be the next victim of the lethal injection. They all whispered the further I walked down the corridor. I was in an unstable state, I could feel it. The air began to taste bitter at the thought that criminals were talking about me. They could hardly judge, they had probably done far worse that what I was accused for. If it wasn't hard enough fitting in then it would become ten times harder now. Luckily a different guard had said that I would be leaving in a week or two so it I didn't have to put up with them for long.

As soon as I was settled in my cell, the lights turned off and I was in eternal darkness. The darkness was overpowering me and I couldn't stand it. Every second that had passed, I saw different images race through my mind. First there was an elegant butterfly and it soon changed into a roaring dragon. The dragon was a black silhouette but it stood out from the fire surrounding it in the background. Once the fire and the dragon had disappeared, I began to dream of my family. They had whispered my favourite song and it was very appropriate to the situation, almost too appropriate. I know this might sound strange to some people, but my favourite song is white flag by Dido. It might not seem strange to you but I always thought that it was meant to be a girly song. This song had very important memories for me as it was my wedding song.

However, they all sang the song but there was the one line which in particular which stuck out from the rest more than anything at the moment. "I will go down with this ship." As soon as I realised that they were all singing the line continuously, I thought long and hard about the message behind it, like it was a sign or something. My thoughts had stopped and I figured that this could mean two things- one: that I was imagining things and my mental state had plummeted, or two; that this was a way of God and my family trying to communicate to me by saying that I will be better in heaven, and that I might go down for someone else's mistake, but I will always have my family by my side in my thoughts and in spirit.