Later that day, sometime in the mid-afternoon, Cleo finds herself in an interview room inside the local police station. Two detectives sit across from her on the other side of the table in between them, with one of the detectives scribbling down notes on their notepad.
"So, Cleo, when was the last time that you heard from Lewis?" One of the detectives named Ian Jenkins asks, folding his hands together in front of him and leaning forwards on the table.
"It was probably around 5 pm yesterday. I called him and I told him that I was being held back at work, so I would be late for our date last night. On the phone, Lewis said that he was fine with that and had no problems waiting a little longer for me. If anything, it gave him more time to set everything up the way he wanted, anyway." Cleo responds, looking between the two detectives anxiously.
"Where were you guys going for your date?" Detective Jenkins asks curiously, whilst his colleague, Detective Nicholas Anderson, glances up from his notepad and looks over to Cleo for a moment. Cleo shifts in her seat nervously, not sure of the best way to answer Jenkins' question. If they want any chance of finding Lewis, of course, Cleo should tell the detectives the truth about the location where they were supposed to have their date. However, that of course comes with major risks. She knows that she can't risk exposing the secrets of the moon pool or her friends to the police, and Cleo is certain that Lewis wouldn't want her to risk that possibility either.
"Miss Sertori?" Detective Anderson asks, a worried frown beginning to form and stressed wrinkles quickly appear on his forehead.
"Oh! Um, yeah, sorry. Spaced out for a moment," Cleo stammers out as she tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear, feeling her face heat up slightly in embarrassment.
"Where were you and Lewis planning on going for your date?" Jenkins asks once again. Cleo bites her lip for a couple of seconds as she contemplates what to do, her heart feeling like it is going to explode out of her chest at any moment. After a few more seconds, Cleo eventually decides to try and tell as much of the truth as possible. It is unlikely that the police would ever actually look too much into the moon pool specifically and discover what it can do. Besides, Lewis is more important than the slight risk of the police investigating the moon pool. His life could be on the line!
"Um, well, we had planned to go on a trip out to Mako. Lewis had organised a picnic and everything. By the time I got to Mako Island, Lewis was nowhere to be found. I looked everywhere but only found the picnic supplies. I knew something had to be wrong." Cleo eventually answers, trying not to think about how Emma and Rikki will kill her for revealing even this tiniest amount of information to the police.
"Mako Island?" Anderson comments in surprise, his eyebrows rising significantly.
"That's an odd place for a date. Especially at night. How did you even see anything out there last night?" Jenkins frowns suspiciously.
"We, er, had torches? Plus, we've been to Mako quite a few times together in the past, so we both know the Island well. It's not like it was our first time there or anything. We just wanted to do something different, I guess. Something a bit more meaningful than just seeing a movie," Cleo explains, hoping that the detectives will just drop it and leave it at that. There is an awkward pause between the three people in the room for a moment or two, where Jenkins continues to gaze at Cleo, trying to decide on whether or not to believe her.
"So, what makes you so sure that someone was there with Lewis last night?" Jenkins continues while Anderson goes back to writing notes in his notebook.
"I don't know, a part of it is just a gut feeling. But I also saw footprints in the sand. There were definitely more footprints than just one person could ever leave behind in a small area." Cleo replies honestly.
"Okay. Where about on the island were you and Lewis going to meet up?" Jenkins asks, determined to be able to solve this case. Something tells him that there might be more to Lewis' disappearance than what first meets the eye.
"Um..." Cleo hesitates, her heart pounding in her chest. The mermaid feels her stomach flip over and over inside of her as Cleo's nerves and fear come to a boil. Cleo tries to take a deep breath, reminding herself not to panic, even though she is somewhat leading the police closer and closer to the biggest secret of Cleo and her friends' lives. How much further can Cleo continue to tell the truth without risking the exposure of merpeople? She is afraid that she may have already crossed that line.
"Miss Sertori. I understand that all of this must be very difficult for you, but we want to find Lewis just as much as you do. But to do that, you need to tell us the whole truth. Otherwise, we may never be able to figure out what happened to him. You are the last known person to have heard from Lewis. Whatever information that you have of last night could be very valuable to this case. Please don't withhold anything from us." Jenkins states sternly, growing more suspicious of Cleo's continuing reluctance to answer his questions. The girl is definitely hiding something.
"I understand, Detective. I'm sorry. This is just... really hard for me to talk about. I just really want Lewis to be okay. I hate to think that something terrible has happened to him..." Cleo apologises truthfully. This entire interview has been extremely distressing and Cleo wants nothing more than to be done with it. She doesn't want to keep reliving the last moments of contact she had with Lewis, or recounting the exact time that she had realised Lewis was missing. It just makes it all too real for Cleo, and she isn't sure if she's ready to handle the worrying reality of any of this yet. In some ways, the mermaid is still in denial about Lewis' disappearance. A part of her still thinks and hopes that maybe he just got caught up in one of his science experiments and was too distracted to answer his phone.
"We understand, Miss. We're here to help. It's kind of our jobs, after all," Anderson offers with a supporting smile, which Cleo appreciates and smiles back at him in return. The teenage mermaid lets out a small, resigned sigh before she continues talking.
"Okay... um, so there's this kind of cave area, sort of underground. It's a bit of a trek to get to, and the entrance to the caves isn't exactly an easy or pleasant experience. But once you're inside, you'll realise how amazing it is. The cave tunnels eventually lead into the inside of the dormant volcano, with a pool of water leading out to the ocean in the middle of the cavern. It's kind of been our secret spot for a couple of years. Only Lewis and I knew about this secret place. We didn't want anyone else to find out about it in case they tried to ruin it, you know?" Cleo explains, trying to keep the nerves out of her voice. She really hopes that she doesn't end up regretting telling the police this. The moon pool is the key that could expose merpeople, not to mention humans just tend to ruin nature anyway. However, Cleo reminds herself that this is all in a desperate attempt to find Lewis. He could be in real danger, so Cleo decides that telling the police some of the truth is a risk that is worth taking. If it was the other way around, Cleo is sure that Lewis would try and do the same for her.
"Wow. Sounds like you guys know some great hang out spots. Although, I don't know if I'd ever feel comfortable in a volcano myself, even if it is dormant," Anderson chuckles lightly.
"We will definitely have to check out this place for any sort of clues that could help us find Lewis. Maybe even find evidence of a sign of struggle." Jenkins says thoughtfully, the gears turning in his head as he begins to formulate a strategy on how to move forward with the investigation.
"I don't know if you'll find anything that interesting out there... I mean, as I said before, the only thing I could find was the sets of footprints." Cleo says hastily, her palms beginning to become sweaty as panic sets in.
"Footprints can be very useful pieces of evidence for a case like this, Cleo. Our forensics team will be able to figure out things such as what shoes made the footprints and begin tracking down where they might have come from. It's fascinating work." Jenkins replies, once again suspicious of Cleo's reactions. Clearly, there's something on Mako Island that she doesn't want to talk about, but why? Is it possible that Cleo could actually be at least somewhat part of the reason behind Lewis McCartney's disappearance? It is certainly a scenario that Jenkins has to investigate further.
"I guess..." Cleo mumbles, not liking the sound of where this is going. Even though she knows it's unlikely that the police will discover anything magical about Mako Island, it still doesn't make her feel very comfortable knowing that the police force will be poking around Mako for a while. Mako is a second home to Cleo; she doesn't want to see it be destroyed or truly be discovered by anyone else. If it makes herself angry, Cleo is nervous about how Rikki and Emma would react to police snooping around the island.
"Okay, I think we have all that we need from you, today. This has been a good starting point. Plus, we still have to talk to all of Lewis' brothers. Thank you for your cooperation. We will be in touch, Miss Sertori. I am sure that we will have more questions to ask you in the days to come." Detective Jenkins says as he stands up, with Detective Anderson and Cleo following suit.
"I'm just glad that I can help," Cleo replies with a forced smile.
"Are you insane?! How could you tell them about the moon pool?!" Rikki yells once the three mermaids have made their way back to Cleo's house, where thankfully Don and Kim have gone out for the day.
"What choice did I have, Rikki? We have to find Lewis!" Cleo exclaims exasperatedly as the trio walk into the living room. Emma and Cleo sit down on the couch while Rikki remains standing, looking down at her two best friends with a furious expression on her face.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe not telling the police about the moon pool? That is our place! What happens if they discover that there's something strange about Mako Island and the moon pool, huh? What then? How long will it take them to come hunting after mermaids?!" Rikki continues to shout, unable to contain her fury.
"Rikki, calm down. Let's just think about this for a moment. The police are only going to be looking for evidence of Lewis and anyone else that might have been there last night. It is highly unlikely that they'll be there long enough to realise that the moon pool is more important than they think." Emma speaks up, trying to remain calm and rational about all of this. She can see both sides of the argument and hopes that she can get her friends to come to some sort of middle ground. It's not common for Emma to be the voice of reason in arguments. That job usually belongs to Cleo and it's almost always Emma and Rikki fighting, so this situation is a little strange for Emma.
"Ha! That's a huge gamble to take! They could easily discover the truth about merfolk and the magic of the moon pool, now that Cleo stupidly gave them information on Mako Island and the pool in the first place!" Rikki snarls, her eyes narrowing as she looks between her two friends angrily.
"The risk of the police figuring out the mystery of Mako Island is very small, especially since they are focusing on a missing person case. Besides, Lewis is worth that gamble! His life could be in danger, Rikki! Do you get that?" Cleo shouts back, feeling her face start to go hot with anger, her hands starting to clench into fists.
"Oh, come on, Cleo! That's bullshit! The police aren't going to find Lewis, okay? But hey, at least they might find three fish freaks that could make them a hell of a fortune, right?" Rikki laughs sarcastically.
"So, what are you saying? That we should just give up on trying to find Lewis?!" Cleo screeches as she jumps to her feet, walking over to Rikki angrily, her entire body shaking with fury.
"Our lives are not worth being put in danger just because of some boy that probably just forgot to come home after going on a stupid fishing trip," Rikki states firmly.
"How can you say that? What if Lewis is injured? What if… what if he's already dead?" Cleo asks in a shaky voice, her vision starting to blur from the tears welling up in her eyes.
"Well, if that's the case, there's not much that we can do for Lewis, is there? It's not worth giving up our secret or freedom. I will not end up in a fish tank for the rest of my life for the geek." Rikki snaps back coldly.
Without thinking, Cleo raises her hand and quickly slaps it across Rikki's face, leaving a large red hand mark across the left side of it. All three girls stare in shock down at Cleo's hand as she pulls it back in towards herself. Rikki and Emma's mouths drop open in disbelief while Cleo's eyes widen in horror, at a loss for words. Cleo had always seen herself as the calm one. The brunette usually hates confrontation and arguments, but Rikki's careless and dismissive attitude about Lewis' disappearance is really rubbing Cleo the wrong way. How could her friend be so nonchalant about Lewis potentially being in mortal danger? Although, slapping Rikki was probably an overreaction on Cleo's part.
"Okay, I think we all just need to calm down for a moment..." Emma says tentatively as she gets up from the couch and walks over to her friends, getting in between them before things escalate further.
"Are you kidding me?! After that shit?!" Rikki exclaims in disbelief, gesturing towards Cleo, while her face still stings from the slap.
"Stop treating Lewis' life as completely unimportant! We can't just give up on him, Rikki! He could die! How dare you suggest something like that!" Cleo retaliates angrily.
"I'm not saying that his life is unimportant, Cleo! But we can't put ourselves in danger to try and find him! Lewis would not want that either!"
"How the hell would you know what Lewis would want?!"
"Guys! Cool it! This arguing isn't helping anyone, including Lewis!" Emma finally yells in frustration, causing Cleo and Rikki to go silent and look towards Emma expectantly, who sighs before continuing to speak.
"Look… what's done is done. We can't change what has happened. Besides, I don't know if Cleo could have done anything else in that situation with those detectives, anyway. If she hadn't told the police the truth, they might have gotten suspicious of her having something to do with his disappearance, which would have been another huge problem all on its own," Emma says, trying to get Rikki to see some reason.
"All we gotta do is lay low for a while and stay well away from Mako. Just until the investigation taking place there is over. It's not going to be that hard. And hopefully, either the police manage to find Lewis, or he comes back by himself. It is still possible that Lewis isn't in danger," Emma continues while she glares between her two friends.
"Um? And what about my face?!" Rikki raises her eyebrows as she points to the red mark on her cheek.
"Look, I'm sorry that I hit you, Rikki. That was wrong, and I don't know what came over me. But try and think about all of this from my perspective, okay?" Cleo says, trying to keep her tone as calm as possible.
"God, do you even hear yourself? It's like you're completely forgetting that we're mermaids! People would exploit that if they knew about us, just as Denman was trying to do. Are you trying to become someone's experiment and be poked and prodded at forever? I know I certainly don't want that to happen to me, and I am intending on keeping it that way! Stop telling the police about Mako Island. It's that simple. If Lewis really was in some sort of danger, he probably wouldn't be found by police anyway. Don't you know how many people go missing and are never seen again, their disappearances always remaining unsolved? You could be risking our lives for nothing, Cleo. That's not fair." Rikki argues back, narrowing her eyes at the brunette.
"You're still not thinking about Lewis in any of this! That's what's not fair! I know that he wouldn't stop looking for any of us if we were missing! He would risk everything for us!" Cleo exclaims, running a hand over her face in frustration for a moment. She pauses for a second or two to try and collect herself as her voice catches in her throat; Cleo feels like she is about to burst out into uncontrollable crying at any moment.
"Do you… do you even care about Lewis?" Cleo asks as she eventually moves her hand away from her face while tears start to trickle down her cheeks.
"Of course I care about Lewis, goddamnit! But I know that he wouldn't want us to end up in an aquarium exhibit as a result of us trying to help find him. There is no guarantee of our sacrifice ever paying off in that scenario, by the way! But clearly, your heart is bigger than your head and you'll just end up getting all of us captured if we had it your way." Rikki replies, shaking her head in disappointment. Rikki sighs and heads towards the front door. As she opens the door to leave, Rikki turns around and glances back over towards her two friends.
"You have a terrible slap, by the way. You should really work on that." Rikki states matter of factly, and without waiting for any sort of protest from either girl, Rikki turns on her heels and walks out of the house, loudly slamming the door shut behind her.