Okay, this is how it breaks down: the detectives, the victim, plot, and all the obscure references to the people you've never heard of-mine; regular characters, the city, and all that other crap-not mine. All that crap belongs to the company...or something like that. So, let's get going.
Garza
stood in a corner, waiting for Conroy to return with their first
suspect. It was time to begin questioning them. The door squeaked
open and Conroy led him in. Mustang was Conroy's first pick (big
surprise). Garza sighed. He knew the thought process behind this
choice. If Conroy could get Mustang to confess, there would be no
need to question the other six, and they could go home early. Garza
knew it would be more difficult than that, but let the kid have his
delusions. Mustang sat in the metal chair set for him and waited for
the detectives to begin. Conroy took the only other chair in the
room, and Garza continued to stand. And so it begins, Garza
thought.
"Can you tell us, in your own words please, just what
happened the night of June 4?"
"I already told you," Mustang
said calmly.
"For the record, please," Conroy said.
As
Mustang started to speak, Garza's roll began. He would watch
Mustang's face and gestures through the part they knew to be true
and compare them to the expressions he used during the part being
called into question. "We went to dinner at 7. There was a
restaurant she wanted to try, the Chi, so we went. Dinner lasted
about an hour and a half, then we went dancing. Around 10 we went to
the park, then we left at about 10:30." They already knew this. So
far he was being roughly truthful. "We were on our way home when we
heard music. We stopped in the alley and for about five minutes we
danced. I spun her out, and when she came back, her eyes looked
vacant. She put her hand to her stomach, she fell, I caught her. I
checked her pulse, but she was dead." As far as Garza could tell,
he was telling the truth.
"Why didn't you call the police?"
Conroy asked.
"We had drawn a crowd, I assumed someone had
called them already."
"Why did you have a gun with you?"
"I
always carry a gun."
Conroy looked at Mustang for a moment, then
turned to Garza. They walked out into the hall, leaving Mustang in
the room alone. "I can't find anything to suggest he's lying,"
Garza said, after the door had closed.
"Damn, me either."
Conroy had been so sure that he was the one. Not that this proved
otherwise, but he had been sure they would catch him strait off.
"Should we bring in the next one?"
"Unless you have anything
left to ask." Conroy had no other questions for the moment, so he
took Mustang back to the holding area and brought in the next
suspect, Hughes. Garza didn't think he had done it, either, but he
was one of the few people in Central that knew the victim, which,
according to Conroy, made him a suspect.
Conroy started in the
second he sat down. "Where were you at 10:45 on the night of the
fourth?"
"I was on my way home from the records office,"
Hughes said.
"Is there anyone who can verify that?"
"I
think I was passing the fish cart on street 14. You could ask the
woman who runs the cart because I always say hello on my way
past."
Conroy made a note on his pad. "How did you know the
victim?"
"We were old friends. We went to school
together."
Conroy asked a few more questions to verify
information they already knew, then they sent him on his way back to
holding and Conroy led Hawkeye in. This was another 'suspect' who
knew the victim, and even just barely.
Garza had objected to
bringing this woman in. Hawkeye barely knew the victim, had a
verified alibi, and, most importantly, had no motive. They
began.
"Where were you on the night of the fourth at 10:45?"
"I
was in my apartment." They had already checked with the tenant
across the hall, who had verified that she came home at nine.
"Did
you know the victim?"
"Barely. I had met her the day before.
She came by headquarters to visit the colonel, and he had introduced
us."
"Was that all?"
"I didn't even hear her name
again until I was called in for questioning."
Conroy sighed, oh
for three, and led Hawkeye out. Garza wasn't quite as annoyed as
Conroy looked, but he was coming close. They had all been Conroy's
suspects. He had understood calling in Mustang, but the last two had
probably just been desperate grabbing at straws. He led in another
sham of a suspect, Major Alex Armstrong.
"Major," Conroy
began, "how did you know the victim?"
"I met the general the
day before she was killed. She was in Central Headquarters, she ran
into me in a hallway."
'Wow, this guy definitely did it,'
Garza thought sarcastically.
Armstrong wasn't done yet. "She
and Colonel Mustang had a conversation about knowing my father."
"How
did they know your father?"
"It seems he taught them at the
academy."
'Wow, he's simply a goldmine of relevant
information.'
"Was that it?" Conroy asked.
"She
apologized for hitting me, and she walked away. Later that day, I
witnessed a fight between the general and colonel Mustang."
'That's
slightly more interesting.'
"What were they fighting about?"
Conroy asked. He was just as intent as Garza now.
"They were in
disagreement as to who would win, so they fought. It was quite
humiliating for Colonel Mustang. He lost horribly, in front of his
entire staff."
'Entire…' That's when Garza decided to
speak. "So, Lt. Hawkeye was there?"
Armstrong, startled,
turned to Garza. "Yes…," he said, hesitant and confused.
"Where
were you at 10:45 on the night of the fourth?" Conroy continued,
aggravated to have been interrupted by Garza. He failed to see the
significance of such a slight omittance.
"I was at home."
"Is
there anyone we can verify that with?"
"No, I live
alone."
Conroy led Armstrong out and came back to talk to Garza.
"What was that about?"
"Hawkeye didn't mention a
fight."
"She probably didn't see the need."
Garza could
admit that to Conroy, but he didn't see Hawkeye as the type to
leave anything out. She also seemed like the type that could tell a
convincing lie, should she see the need.
Conroy led in Lt. Burt
Esch and began again. Esch had been in town on leave visiting his
mother. They had verified this and the fact that he was at her home
on the outskirts of town at the time of the murder. They also had
proof that he didn't have his side arm with him in Central.
"I
didn't even know the general was in Central, or I might have
visited her."
That was that for Esch, which left only James
Foust to be questioned, then they would release the least likely
suspects and begin more in depth interrogations on the suspects left
over.
Foust didn't own a military pistol, but that didn't mean
there was no way he couldn't have gotten a hold of one. He and the
victim hadn't parted on the best of terms, giving him some small
semblance of motive, and his alibi was weak at best. He also claimed
no knowledge of the victim's presence in the city.
After leading
Foust out, Conroy and Garza sat in the small room and decided who
would be released that day, and who they needed to keep in
holding.
"Hughes, Armstrong, Esch, and Hawkeye should be
released," Conroy said. "I want Mustang around a little
longer."
"I think we should hold on to Hawkeye for a while,"
Garza countered.
"What? Is this about the fight?" Conroy was
angry. It had been a long day, and Hawkeye was obviously innocent.
"She was at home at the time of the shooting, we have proof!"
"We
have the testimony of an easily bribed neighbor."
Conroy was
tired of this. "Fine, if you think it will do any good, she'll
stay."
"I think it will. Now, let's release the others and
go."
"Sounds good to me," Conroy said, making for the
door.
It'll be better next time. Until then, read, review, enjoy.
