Part 3:
The interrogation of Alexander Harris
I was about to leave. It was 6 pm and, as I said before, my stomach was demanding attention. But as I left the office and headed in the lobby, who did I see? The Summers sisters heading for the exit, accompanied by a young man. Tall, well built, goofy face. He had a somewhat happy walk, and he seemed somehow less affected by the world than the two girls. And as strange as it may sound, the word ÔnormalÕ came to my mind. They were talking, the man laughed at some point.
"Hey!" I yelled, and my voice echoed in the empty hallway.
The three stopped abruptly and turned their heads towards me. The look in their eyes told me they had expected someone else. Buffy Summers shook her head and whispered:
"It's just the detective,"
Ha! Just the detective? What did she mean by that?
"Oh hi, Mr. Thrump," the other Summers girl, saluted me in a friendly way.
"God, what does he want now?" I heard the older one whisper.
She thought I didn't hear her, but I did. I have good ears, you know.
"Sorry for interrupting you," I said, politely. "But are you by any chance, Alexander Harris?"
I had a hunch. The man looked cautiously over at Buffy Summers, who held his gaze for a moment before making a gesture with her hand that was probably some sort of secret code.
"Yeah, that'd be me," the man said, his voice a little nervous.
"I thought so..."
I was right!
"Would you mind stepping into my office for a moment?"
"Uhm...yeah, sure."
He was obviously not feeling very comfortable talking to me. A-ha! Finally, a witness that would surely crack! I struggled to hide my inner glee.
"We'll wait for you out here." Buffy Summers told him before he followed me into the office.
Had there been some sort of threat in her words? A threat that reminded this Harris that when we left my office they would be there? Free to do whatever they wished with him? Maybe even dispose of him as they had disposed of Skittles? Was Alexander Harris an unwilling accomplice to their plot? And if so, would he let the truth triumph?
As he sat down in the chair, where only minutes ago the two Summers sisters had sat, I analyzed him again. He really didn't seem the murderous type, more like your prankster than your killer. I could tell at first glance, this was a funny guy. So how did he manage to get himself in the middle of all of this intrigue? Had a woman driven him to crime? Some feeling for one of the Summers sisters that was unreciprocated? Or even...what if he and Skittles knew each other from a long time ago? Two pranksters. Had Alexander Harris tried to pull a prank on Skittles and it backfired? But no, it had to be the Summers sisters. They had the motive, they had the opportunity, and they could have pulled together the perfect crime. A crime into which they had also dragged this poor man that sat in front of me.
"So..."
He cleared his throat, when he noticed my stare.
"I'm sorry, I was just thinking about something else."
I apologized for my sudden blank.
"Tell me, Mr Harris, have you known the Summers sisters for a long time?"
"Yeah. About 6 years and please don't call Mr Harris. Makes me think of my Dad, makes my skin crawl. Just call me Xander."
"And in these six years did you perchance....have a relationship with one of them?" I asked while I relaxed in my chair.
My hunger had to wait. I had a murder to solve, and Xander Harris would provide my answers.
"I used to have a crush on Buffy, way back in the early days of highschool, but that's over with. And as for Dawn....Ó
he grimaced,
Ò ÔEwwwwÕ does not even begin to cover my thoughts."
Obviously the idea of a relationship with someone as young as Dawn Summers did not appeal to Xander Harris. Maybe some kind of repressed love, because of the whole age thing...that would definitely drive a man to murder.
"So...where were you yesterday night between eight and twelve pm?"
I went back to the initial theory, before I started rebuilding it from scratch.
"I think I was still at Buffy's at eight. We had to clean. You...er...know how messy teens get!"
He looked around the room with a nervous glare.
"And after?"
I could see the hesitation in his eyes.
"Er...Buffy walked me home. We talked. I told her to patch things up with Dawnie so she wouldn't be all gloomy on her big day, so Buffy went to the Bronze and I went home."
"You mean Buffy didn't come all the way home with you? And she left before you got there? Maybe around eleven?"
Confessions, at last! Everything was going to tie together now!
"No...no! It was more like 11.30." he said, but it was obvious he had just improvised the answer.
"Did you stay at home after that? Or did you go somewhere?"
It was pointless to insist on the time. He would lie, but I knew the truth!
"Yes...er...no. I went out to get a sandwich."
A sandwich after midnight? Now this was suspicious. Where would he get a sandwich after midnight? Maybe the Summers' house, there must have been some left over sandwiches from the party...did this mean he never left the Summers house? That the walk home was all just a big lie? But why would Buffy Summers need an alibi before midnight and not after? There was something I didn't know. Then suddenly it hit me!
"That wouldn't happen to have been a sandwich...with olives, was it?" I asked calmly, trying not to raise any suspicion.
"Sorry...I don't remember."
He wasn't lying this time. So where had the olive come from? If it had been intentional, Xander Harris would have known his sandwich had olives, but he didn't seem to have any clue about it. Could he be such a good liar?
"Okay. What was your reaction when you saw the clown at the party? People, as I remember, considered your reaction rather odd."
I pondered on whether the man in front of me was really a liar, or just a poor accomplice that had been forced into this conspiracy.
"Honestly? I was freaked. It scared the daylights outta me."
"And why would a clown scare you?" I was surprised.
"Long story. Sixth birthday. Clown. Childhood trauma," he said simply, ruling out the fact that Skittles and he had known each other before.
"Are you sure you didn't know Skittles?" I asked hoping.
"Oh, believe me, clowns are not the sort of people I want to get to know. I only ever knew one in my life...and he just haunts my nightmares these days."
His strange confession suddenly sparked another theory. What if, in his ultimate moment of horror, Xander Harris had faced his fear and killed the one thing that frightened him, a clown? But this would mean the death was a crime of passion, a fatal accident, not something planned.
"Would you be capable of maybe facing a clown to get rid of your fears?"
I wanted to know anyway.
"Nah. Whenever I see a clown I just scream like a girl and hide behind the first skirt I find. I like to call it Clownophobia so I don't feel like my masculinity is somehow threatened."
He was being honest. I liked that. For the first time that evening I felt as if someone was finally speaking some truth.
"And how did Dawn Summers react to the appearance of the clown?"
I wondered if Alexander Harris wasn't just a nice guy trying to help the two sisters reconcile. Maybe instead his good intentions had turned, in the hands of the two twisted minds into a demonic vengeance plan.
"Like any other teen would have. She freaked!"
He wasn't afraid to admit it.
"It was pretty silly of Buffy to forget...but with all the stuff she had to take care of I'm not really surprised."
"Do you think Dawn Summers would be capable of killing her sister?"
It was a question worth asking. Someone who had been around the Summers household for six years must probably know what each person was capable of. He shook his head.
"Never. You know how siblings get, they pick fights and argue a lot, but deep down...they're best buds. Sure, Buffy made a huge mistake, but it's already water under the bridge."
He was right there. He chuckled.
"Believe me if they'd still be mad at each other, Dawn'd still be shut up in her room and Buffy would be out dus...du-dancing her nerves out at the Bronze."
What did he really want to say? What was it Buffy would be doing?
"So you think they've reconciled already?"
I looked at him, trying to see if he twitched.
"Yeah, of course! As I said, they're not the kind of people who hold onto a grudge."
Xander looked me in the eye. His words had meant something. He wanted me to believe that they had reconciled and that they would never be capable of murder. But was this just a trick? Or was he trying to cover for them? Or hide his own guilt behind this amusing fa
The interrogation of Alexander Harris
I was about to leave. It was 6 pm and, as I said before, my stomach was demanding attention. But as I left the office and headed in the lobby, who did I see? The Summers sisters heading for the exit, accompanied by a young man. Tall, well built, goofy face. He had a somewhat happy walk, and he seemed somehow less affected by the world than the two girls. And as strange as it may sound, the word ÔnormalÕ came to my mind. They were talking, the man laughed at some point.
"Hey!" I yelled, and my voice echoed in the empty hallway.
The three stopped abruptly and turned their heads towards me. The look in their eyes told me they had expected someone else. Buffy Summers shook her head and whispered:
"It's just the detective,"
Ha! Just the detective? What did she mean by that?
"Oh hi, Mr. Thrump," the other Summers girl, saluted me in a friendly way.
"God, what does he want now?" I heard the older one whisper.
She thought I didn't hear her, but I did. I have good ears, you know.
"Sorry for interrupting you," I said, politely. "But are you by any chance, Alexander Harris?"
I had a hunch. The man looked cautiously over at Buffy Summers, who held his gaze for a moment before making a gesture with her hand that was probably some sort of secret code.
"Yeah, that'd be me," the man said, his voice a little nervous.
"I thought so..."
I was right!
"Would you mind stepping into my office for a moment?"
"Uhm...yeah, sure."
He was obviously not feeling very comfortable talking to me. A-ha! Finally, a witness that would surely crack! I struggled to hide my inner glee.
"We'll wait for you out here." Buffy Summers told him before he followed me into the office.
Had there been some sort of threat in her words? A threat that reminded this Harris that when we left my office they would be there? Free to do whatever they wished with him? Maybe even dispose of him as they had disposed of Skittles? Was Alexander Harris an unwilling accomplice to their plot? And if so, would he let the truth triumph?
As he sat down in the chair, where only minutes ago the two Summers sisters had sat, I analyzed him again. He really didn't seem the murderous type, more like your prankster than your killer. I could tell at first glance, this was a funny guy. So how did he manage to get himself in the middle of all of this intrigue? Had a woman driven him to crime? Some feeling for one of the Summers sisters that was unreciprocated? Or even...what if he and Skittles knew each other from a long time ago? Two pranksters. Had Alexander Harris tried to pull a prank on Skittles and it backfired? But no, it had to be the Summers sisters. They had the motive, they had the opportunity, and they could have pulled together the perfect crime. A crime into which they had also dragged this poor man that sat in front of me.
"So..."
He cleared his throat, when he noticed my stare.
"I'm sorry, I was just thinking about something else."
I apologized for my sudden blank.
"Tell me, Mr Harris, have you known the Summers sisters for a long time?"
"Yeah. About 6 years and please don't call Mr Harris. Makes me think of my Dad, makes my skin crawl. Just call me Xander."
"And in these six years did you perchance....have a relationship with one of them?" I asked while I relaxed in my chair.
My hunger had to wait. I had a murder to solve, and Xander Harris would provide my answers.
"I used to have a crush on Buffy, way back in the early days of highschool, but that's over with. And as for Dawn....Ó
he grimaced,
Ò ÔEwwwwÕ does not even begin to cover my thoughts."
Obviously the idea of a relationship with someone as young as Dawn Summers did not appeal to Xander Harris. Maybe some kind of repressed love, because of the whole age thing...that would definitely drive a man to murder.
"So...where were you yesterday night between eight and twelve pm?"
I went back to the initial theory, before I started rebuilding it from scratch.
"I think I was still at Buffy's at eight. We had to clean. You...er...know how messy teens get!"
He looked around the room with a nervous glare.
"And after?"
I could see the hesitation in his eyes.
"Er...Buffy walked me home. We talked. I told her to patch things up with Dawnie so she wouldn't be all gloomy on her big day, so Buffy went to the Bronze and I went home."
"You mean Buffy didn't come all the way home with you? And she left before you got there? Maybe around eleven?"
Confessions, at last! Everything was going to tie together now!
"No...no! It was more like 11.30." he said, but it was obvious he had just improvised the answer.
"Did you stay at home after that? Or did you go somewhere?"
It was pointless to insist on the time. He would lie, but I knew the truth!
"Yes...er...no. I went out to get a sandwich."
A sandwich after midnight? Now this was suspicious. Where would he get a sandwich after midnight? Maybe the Summers' house, there must have been some left over sandwiches from the party...did this mean he never left the Summers house? That the walk home was all just a big lie? But why would Buffy Summers need an alibi before midnight and not after? There was something I didn't know. Then suddenly it hit me!
"That wouldn't happen to have been a sandwich...with olives, was it?" I asked calmly, trying not to raise any suspicion.
"Sorry...I don't remember."
He wasn't lying this time. So where had the olive come from? If it had been intentional, Xander Harris would have known his sandwich had olives, but he didn't seem to have any clue about it. Could he be such a good liar?
"Okay. What was your reaction when you saw the clown at the party? People, as I remember, considered your reaction rather odd."
I pondered on whether the man in front of me was really a liar, or just a poor accomplice that had been forced into this conspiracy.
"Honestly? I was freaked. It scared the daylights outta me."
"And why would a clown scare you?" I was surprised.
"Long story. Sixth birthday. Clown. Childhood trauma," he said simply, ruling out the fact that Skittles and he had known each other before.
"Are you sure you didn't know Skittles?" I asked hoping.
"Oh, believe me, clowns are not the sort of people I want to get to know. I only ever knew one in my life...and he just haunts my nightmares these days."
His strange confession suddenly sparked another theory. What if, in his ultimate moment of horror, Xander Harris had faced his fear and killed the one thing that frightened him, a clown? But this would mean the death was a crime of passion, a fatal accident, not something planned.
"Would you be capable of maybe facing a clown to get rid of your fears?"
I wanted to know anyway.
"Nah. Whenever I see a clown I just scream like a girl and hide behind the first skirt I find. I like to call it Clownophobia so I don't feel like my masculinity is somehow threatened."
He was being honest. I liked that. For the first time that evening I felt as if someone was finally speaking some truth.
"And how did Dawn Summers react to the appearance of the clown?"
I wondered if Alexander Harris wasn't just a nice guy trying to help the two sisters reconcile. Maybe instead his good intentions had turned, in the hands of the two twisted minds into a demonic vengeance plan.
"Like any other teen would have. She freaked!"
He wasn't afraid to admit it.
"It was pretty silly of Buffy to forget...but with all the stuff she had to take care of I'm not really surprised."
"Do you think Dawn Summers would be capable of killing her sister?"
It was a question worth asking. Someone who had been around the Summers household for six years must probably know what each person was capable of. He shook his head.
"Never. You know how siblings get, they pick fights and argue a lot, but deep down...they're best buds. Sure, Buffy made a huge mistake, but it's already water under the bridge."
He was right there. He chuckled.
"Believe me if they'd still be mad at each other, Dawn'd still be shut up in her room and Buffy would be out dus...du-dancing her nerves out at the Bronze."
What did he really want to say? What was it Buffy would be doing?
"So you think they've reconciled already?"
I looked at him, trying to see if he twitched.
"Yeah, of course! As I said, they're not the kind of people who hold onto a grudge."
Xander looked me in the eye. His words had meant something. He wanted me to believe that they had reconciled and that they would never be capable of murder. But was this just a trick? Or was he trying to cover for them? Or hide his own guilt behind this amusing fa