A/N: Special Thanks to DualSelf for Reviewing this Chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Persona. I own Charles Waldo.

Chapter 12
"Interrogation, Part 2"
April 17, 2011

Inaba Police Department

"You still contend that you have no further knowledge of the Midnight Channel?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Charles was glowering at Naoto Shirogane. He had asked Charles about Charles's knowledge of the Midnight Channel.

Charles had just seen Yukiko's…"program" on there. She had been dressed as a princess and stated that, in a Bachelorette manner, she was going to "Score a hot stud." Then she had gone into a castle.

Charles had laughed that off because, well…

It was absurd.

Yukiko was nothing like that.

Naoto eyed him coldly. "I gave you 2 chances, Charles. Please reap the whirlwind." Naoto pressed play again, having stopped it before.

"Good Evening, Inaba. It's Midnight and we are LIVE. I'm Charles Waldo, and I want to welcome you to our Saturday night program, 'I Wanna Confess.' I'm the guy they tell ALL the juicy secrets to. Their loves, their hates, their lusts. Everything is on the table, and nothing is out of bounds. You know how they say confession's good for the soul? Well, tonight, your humble host is going to confess something so shocking, so game-changing, so earth-shattering… It'll knock your socks, or anything else you may be wearing, off."

Charles was stunned to see himself wearing a brown leather jacket, dress shirt, tie, and sunglasses. He was also stunned to see himself hosting a simulcast radio call-in program.

The worst part was the cigarettes. He never smoked in his life.

"But I can't tell you now. I've got other confessions to hear. But if you really want to hear this, well, I'm inviting Yu to the studio to hear it. Oh, and spoiler alert, it involves a girl."

"So now the question has become, what is it that you are willing to confess so badly?" Naoto's eyes held no mercy.

I've been set up. There's no other logical way. I've been set up. By the first 2 detectives. By that Deputy Chief.

By Ryo-san? Could it be he knew? How could he betray me?

Charles put his face in his hands and then after a moment, he looked at Naoto and said, "Detective, that's not me."

"Please do not lie further," Naoto said.

"I mean, personality-wise. I'm not the type of guy who goes out looking for confessions. I figure that's more your job," Charles said with a lopsided grin.

"Please do not be cute. You have had an interest in law enforcement, I hear," Naoto said.

"Is there anything about me you don't know…Like my sign of the Zodiac?" Charles said.

"It's Cancer the Crab…But I do not see…" Naoto said.

"What I'm saying is I must have been drugged by whoever kidnapped me," Charles said.

Naoto thought it over. "That is plausible, but unconvincing at this time. Perhaps I should discuss why I believe that you and Amagi are involved in the 'Hanged Man' Murders," He said.

"As if you weren't boring enough already…Go ahead…Wow me!" Charles snidely remarked.

"The police, or at least some of them, believe Amagi murdered Ms. Yamano or at least, she was involved with the death. This would have come about because Ms. Yamano had treated Amagi Mariko, Amagi Yukiko's mother, poorly. Indeed there was a confrontation between the two, with the end result of this being that Ms. Yamano slapped the elder Amagi. Add to this, the stress of the busy April season caused the elder Amagi to collapse. Amagi Yukiko, having a daughter's love, decided to eliminate Ms. Yamano, to help restore her mother's honor."

Charles stared at him. "That-That's an interesting theory, but…"

"My contribution to this is that you were made accomplice after the fact. When either you or she discovered that Konishi Saki was a witness, you 2 conspired to eliminate her."

Charles snorted derisively. "The Scottish Play, now. Tch, how the mighty have fallen."

Shirogane ignored the barb. "Furthermore, you have made statements that indicate an infatuation with Ms. Amagi."

Charles sarcastically clapped. "Congratulations, you get to have at least ONE case solved today."

Naoto continued, though he was glowering at Charles. "Using that to her advantage, she had convinced you to hang Konishi's body. Then she had you help secret her away from the Inn by faking a kidnapping and by you sending the text 'warning her' and the 110 call. This would make the kidnapping seem most convincing. Then you, having heard of the Midnight Channel, found some way to broadcast on it and are now using it as some sort of insanity defense to get you 2 off scot free for murder, as you knew no one would take what they saw seriously, and now you are here your 'convenient' 'reappearance', is supposed to sell that 'kidnapping' scenario."

Charles said nothing.

"Your house of cards is falling, Charles. I would like the truth, and I would like it now. What is your confession?" Naoto demanded

With a snarl, Charles replied, "You're a son of a bitch!"

Naoto wasn't expecting that. "I beg your pardon?"

"You can beg all you like. This is total head-up-the-ass BULLSHIT!" Charles was angry, now. Absolutely livid, in fact. "I remember 2 things before I blacked out. One was that I was chloroformed by a man taller than me, because his arm angled down, but the forearm was angled straight to the left."

"I don't think you understand the position you're in. The facts…" Naoto said, ignoring what Charles just said.

"To hell with the facts! All you have are pieces that plausibly fit together. But you know as well as I do, you don't have enough evidence to convince a prosecutor to charge me, much less Yukiko. So you need me to 'confess' so you can close this case quicker." Charles was breathing hard now, anger emanating from every pore. He was shaking.

"I'm interested in the truth…"

"You wanna a confession. Here's your damned confession…" Charles then picked up the remote and queued up Yukiko's "program."

"Good EEEv…" Charles paused it. "I love that girl."

Naoto said nothing.

"I. LOVE. HER." He said this more forcefully, more passionately than anything else he had said in his entire life. "That good enough of a confession for you? I love her, more than anything in this world. I don't know how. I don't even know why after only 6 days. But my heart is hers whenever she wants it. Because she's a good person. This…," he said pointing to the screen, "This is not her. Your hypothetical Yuki is not her."

Naoto still said nothing…But he seemed to not want to meet Charles's eyes.

"What I wanna know is if you shoot up cocaine, Detective, like your inspiration Sherlock Holmes?"

"I tire of your…" Naoto said.

"I. DON'T. CARE. It's my fault the girl I love is in danger, it's my fault. But what really bothers me, what really PISSES me off the most is that because you're not a man, you don't seem to care," Charles said.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'BECAUSE I'M NOT A MAN'?!" Naoto screamed in a higher pitched voice.

…pitched high enough to be…

SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!

She's a GIRL!

The guess I mode on Shirogane's age was right the first time. She IS 15.

…But Shirogane's a GIRL!

It makes sense. Japan's more rural police departments keep a "Good ol' Boy" standard. In fact, there were probably 2 police women I saw for the whole department out there. I wouldn't have known about this, if it hadn't been a lament of Ry…Dojima-san's Thursday night. Thank God he's progressive.

She's a Wunderkind, and she has to hide her sex. She looks as if they barely tolerate a BOY solving cases. If it came out that it was a GIRL…

She'd be humiliated.

An absolute laughing stock. Closing 24 cases, 16 of them cold…meaningless.

Sigh. The worst part is…

I think she's a nice person too. But somewhere along the way, some trauma made her an imperious ass. She stated she learned from her grandfather. Did she lose her parents at a young age? Or maybe it wasn't trauma, maybe it was her successes that have made her arrogant.

Either way, she's looking like I deduced her secret.

I'm not going to ruin her, despite the way she treated me today.

After all, I care about people. And I don't like to hurt them, Siobhan taught me that… Charles thought.

"Well…?" Naoto said, trying to return the timbre of her voice to its previous "huskiness."

"My…apologies, Detective. I meant to say that because you're not of an age closer to manhood than I am, you didn't appear to have the same empathies a person my age does."

"I see…" Naoto blushed.

"Detective, I'm sorry, but I have just 2 things to say. One, I believe I was drugged as well as Yukiko, and the scum-sucking rat bastard isn't done with her yet. I have no involvement in either death or Yukiko's kidnapping beyond 'co-victim' status."

"You may say that, but…" Naoto said.

"Second…" Charles said as if Naoto hadn't spoken…

"This interview is over!/This interview is over!"

Naoto was startled. Unless Charles had learned to speak Japanese and English at the same time and use ventriloquism, she should not have heard both languages.

She turned around and saw Dojima and his partner, Adachi in the room. "Dojima-san, you were removed from questioning him due to the conflict of interest."

"Yes, Shirogane, but with his father's permission, I have procured his medical records."

"I didn't want Shirogane to know," Charles said.

"It helps you, doesn't it?" Adachi said kindly. Great, Adachi's seen it too. Although, he IS Dojima-san's partner. And I DO owe him for this morning, Charles thought.

"I just don't want to be embarrassed," Charles said.

"No choice," Dojima said.

Naoto looked at Charles in confusion, taking the file. She opened it, and looked at it. She didn't say the words out loud, but she was murmuring what she was reading.

Charles looked away.

Naoto closed the file. "My apologies, Waldo-san, but these records do exculpate you as Adachi-san suggested."

"Then you have no more questions of him. Especially that fairy tale crap regarding the 'Midnight Channel'?" Dojima asked.

"I believe that it is no fairy tale, despite Amagi's appearance. In addition, I believe that the hangings are ritualistic due to the temporal proximity to the fog."

"Huh?" Adachi said, not getting it..

"Fog-obsessed nut did it," Charles replied.

Adachi then muttered, "Well, it's not like Amagi'll find a stud in there."

"Adachi!" Dojima said, slapping him upside the head.

"Ow! What'd I do now?!"

"You're muttering again, dumbass."

"To answer your question, he is free to go if he answers one last question of mine," Naoto said.

"What is it?" Charles said tiredly. He should have been happy, but he wasn't.

"You said when you lost consciousness you had 2 thoughts. The description of your assailant was one, what was the other?"

Charles said with his anguish obvious "Please don't let her die, God."

"I see." Naoto looked down for a moment, and then said, "I hope your prayer comes true."

"Domo?" Charles said. Naoto smiled slightly and left. At least her walk doesn't give her away, Charles thought

"Don't worry, Charles-san! Dojima-san and I are on the case!" Adachi said which earned him another slap.

"Don't half-ass it, dumbass. Now get me some coffee."

"First, he blabs about the stupid Amagi theory, and then lies about it. Then he's muttering stuff. Add to that, my nephew and his friend…"

"And now I've made your day complete?" Charles said archly.

"Shit! No, you've done nothing wrong. You might have been a big help."

"'Not a suspect', huh?" Charles said.

Dojima winced. "I didn't set you up and neither did the Deputy Chief, if that's what you're thinking."

"The thought HAD crossed my mind," Charles said coldly.

Instead of rebuking Charles, Ryotaro looked pained. "I'm sorry, but the Chief of D's is a hardass and really wanted you to confess by the end of the day, even though I threatened to quit."

"What?!"

"I owe your father a debt of honor for years ago, that's why I agreed to take you in. I cannot begin to repay him, and if I left you twisting in the wind, I'd be dishonoring 3 people."

"So why are you still employed?" Charles asked.

"Yu would have to work 3 jobs." Dojima then laughed and so did Charles. "The Chief appealed to my logic and my ego, because he knew that a detective has to ask the question, even if they don't like it." He paused for a moment. "About your records…"

"*Sigh* It's fine, but please keep it on a need-to-know-basis, please?" Charles said.

"Your father's already requested that," Ryotaro replied.

"How much does he know?" Charles wondered. Given his Dad's job…

"Just that you had been missing, and then found. Fortunately you showed up quickly enough so I could tell him both things."

Charles yawned. The clock said, 10:53. "That's the time?"

Dojima looked confused. "Yes, why?"

"All that felt longer than 2 hours," Charles said.

"Look, go home and get some sleep," Ryotaro said.

"I would prefer to go look for Yukiko," Charles said.

"No, let us handle it," Ryotaro said with a shake of his head.

"I only trust you," Charles said.

Dojima sighed and grumbled, "I won't object to it…IF you get some sleep, that's my only reason for having said no."

"I will. Mata ne," Charles said as he was going through the front doors.

"Charles…?" Dojima said.

"Yes, Ryo-san?" Charles asked.

Ryotaro paused for a moment. "…I'm glad you're safe…"

Charles was touched. "Arigato…"

Thankfully, the doors shut before Charles started crying. He cares about me. He was true to his word that he'd worry about me.

Charles was walking towards home when he heard familiar voices, "… does a radio show for true confessions on TV, a sort of simulcast thing, and he's apparently going to confess something big," he heard Yu explain.

"What?" Chie asked.

"We don't know what it means, other than it involves a girl," Yosuke said.

"That's odd," Chie had concluded.

"But still," Chie said, "They're in there, right?"

"Yes," Yu said.

"We gotta rescue them," Chie said.

"Don't strain yourselves on my account," Charles said. The look of shock on their face was evident.

"What the HELL?" Yosuke said.

"What are you guys doing here?" Charles said.

"Right back at ya." Chie said.

Charles didn't seem to want to answer. "I'm tired and had a bad day, so my question comes first."

"WAIT! If you're here, where's Yukiko?" Chie asked.

Charles looked away in shame. "Still in Mayonaka," he said.

Chie was livid. "YOU LEFT HER THERE?! YOU SON OF A-"

When Charles looked at Chie, she shivered. Charles's face had turned dark and he snarled, "DO YOU REALLY THINK I WANTED TO, SATONAKA?! DO YOU?! DON'T YOU THINK I WOULD HAVE RESCUED HER IF I HAD THE CHANCE? TED TOLD ME THERE WERE A BUNCH OF SHADOWS THAT WOULD HURT ME AND HIM IF I TRIED!" Chie was stunned, she hadn't seen Charles this angry before. She hadn't even seen the video of Charles "rescuing" Yukiko from the Media.

To see him like this, was to say the least, shocking.

"IF THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU, THEN BEAT ME UP! JUST…" He dropped to his knees and cried hysterically. "Please just make my guilt go away."

Then Chie looked on in horror as the truth dawned on her. "Oh God… You're in love with her, aren't you?" Charles didn't answer Chie's question. He didn't have to. She knelt by him and stroked his back in a friendly manner "I'm sorry, Charles. It's okay. It'll be okay."

"It's all my fault. I tried to warn her. I tried to protect her…I'm a failure… It's all my fault."

"You're alive. She's still alive. That's what matters," Yu said. He and Yosuke really didn't know what to say after all that.

"I guess you didn't tell her plan B?" Chie asked.

Charles choked a sob. "Never got a chance. Fate was being a bitch."

Chie smiled and kissed him on the forehead. "We'll rescue her."

"How?" Yosuke said. "We have no weapons, no plan, and what the hell is 'plan B' anyway?"

Chie stood up to give Charles a little time to recover. He just nodded.

"I know where we can get weapons," Chie said.

Author's Notes: Even though we got one confession. We still have one to go. But, first, next Chapter... Chie finally gets her Persona.

As to Naoto showing up in April...Even though the game has her show up in May, I would actually think that in cases like these, calling in a Shirogane in the "world" of Persona would be akin to calling in the FBI in the states. Which most likely would have happened after Saki's death. Furthermore, we don't really know if Naoto WASN'T in Inaba in April.