CHAPTER 44
"You're under arrest for murder…"
Those simple 5 words branded themselves into Finn's mind as he was dragged into the police station that night. The night went by in a blur: he was dragged into the police station, had a mugshot taken, had his information written down, he had to write a full statement of the night's events and then was thrown into a holding cell for the night. This couldn't be happening to him right now! There was no way he was being convicted of murder! But he wouldn't go to jail, right? He didn't kill anyone, and he would probably be able to prove it!
At around 7 am the next morning, Finn was dragged into an interrogation room for a custodial questioning. Finn knew from the many TV shows he had watched how this worked. Sure enough, moments later, an angry looking detective strutted into the room. As soon as he did, Finn looked at him.
"Sir, you have to believe me! I didn't do this! I would never…"
"Shut up!" The detective shouted. Finn stopped talking immediately. "Today's date is the 17th of June. My name is Detective Alan Cooke, badge 170 in the Regional Police Homicide Division. The time is 7:03 am and we are at the Lima Regional Police Department. Sitting with me is Finn Hudson. Finn, could you spell your first name please?"
"F-i-n-n." Finn replied.
"And your last name?"
"H-u-d-s-o-n."
"Any middle names?"
"Christopher. C-h-r-i-s-t-o-p-h-e-r."
"I ask that you acknowledge that you understand that this statement is being video and audio taped and consent to the tape is being made. Is that understood?"
"Understood." Finn replied.
"This statement will be taken under oath, solemn affirmation, solemn declaration, and will be videotaped. You must understand that lying under interrogation is a criminal offense under section 139 and 140 of the criminal code: to obstruct justice or to commit public mischief by making a false statement to police during an investigation. You must further understand that you may be a witness of a trial concerning the events you describe in your statement. If, at that time, you recant your statement or claim it to be false, it can and will be used against you and you may be liable to prosecution under section 137 of the criminal code for fabricating evidence."
Finn's mind was racing. He had no idea what was going on. Although he knew he was innocent, he was still incredibly nervous. After all, he could be thrown in jail for a crime he didn't commit! Finn took deep, calming breaths and made sure to just take everything a step at a time, listening intently to the policeman as he spoke. Finally, you must understand that you are not obligated to give this statement. You can give this statement if you choose to do so. Do you understand your right to choose to give this statement?"
"Yes, I understand that."
"Do you understand the consequences of making a false statement?"
"Yes, I do."
"Do you understand the fact that this statement will be videotaped?"
"Yes, I do."
"Do you choose then to give a statement?"
"Yeah, I do."
"And do you, Finn Christopher Hudson, swear in this statement to give the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
"I do."
"Okay. We are here to discuss the actions that occurred last night, on the 16th of June, at around 9:30 pm. What I'd like you to do is just start from the beginning as to what happened."
Finn nodded and took a deep breath.
"Well, some backstory that you would need to know is that I served in the Army. I enlisted as a reserve last summer and I have been deployed twice, once in the summer and once for two months between March and May. I am not at liberty to describe what exactly happened to me during those months - if you want more information, you can contact my Lieutenant. His name is Lieutenant Marcus Brandt and he can be reached at the following number 703 872 9651. Although I signed an NDA that forbids me from talking about it, I can tell you that I had serious PTSD issues when I got back. I occasionally have episodes, flashbacks to my time on the battlefield. The episodes can happen anywhere and can be triggered by anything, but in particular, loud places or crowded rooms. Needless to say, a nightclub is a pretty hellish place for me. But my girlfriend convinced me to go. High school graduation is in a week so all of my friends wanted one final night out together. We went to the club and I was kind of tense already, understandably. I had a drink or two to gather some courage and I then got up to dance with my girlfriend. Suddenly, a song came on the speaker called Luv Dem Gun Sounds, which contains, as you probably guessed, gun sounds. I started to have an episode but surprisingly, I was able to nip it in the bud and pull myself out. But I needed to clear my head and get some fresh air so I left the club. I was so lost in my thoughts, thinking about the Army, and thinking about the future."
"The future?" The detective asked. Finn sighed.
"Yeah, so, because I served between March and May, I missed two months of school. I didn't attend enough classes to graduate. I'm not going to graduate with my friends next week. I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Anyways, that's irrelevant. I was so lost in my thoughts that I ended up taking a couple of wrong turns and getting extremely lost. It was dark, I had had a couple of drinks and I had no idea where I was. I then heard someone shouting down a dark alley up ahead. I ran over to see a mugger trying to mug someone. I started running over and I shouted for the mugger to stop. The mugger saw me and panicked. He ended up stabbing the victim in the chest multiple times before running away."
"Your prints were on the murder weapon." The detective remarked. Finn was unphased though. He nodded.
"Yeah, when I got to the victim, the knife was still in his chest. I removed the knife from his chest to stabilise the wound, and then I put pressure on it. That's all! I swear!"
"Why didn't you call an ambulance immediately?" The detective asked. Finn sighed.
"It all happened so fast. I've seen a lot of death during my time in the Army. I can tell when someone has a chance of making it and when they are about to die. My Army medic training kicked in. I knew I had two options: not help him and just call the ambulance. An ambulance on average takes 10 minutes to arrive. I gauged that the victim had about 7 so that wouldn't work. I knew that he wasn't going to make it if I didn't do anything and just called the ambulance. I needed to put pressure on the wound to help prolong his life as much as possible. While I did that, I pulled out my phone and was going to call an ambulance but he died before I could. My next call was going to be to the cops but before I could, the cops were already there and I was arrested."
The detective nodded slowly and looked at him.
"See, you contradicted yourself there." The detective murmured. Finn's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Huh?"
"You said that it all happened so fast, and yet you had enough time to think about all of the different possibilities of what to do."
Finn shrugged.
"I don't know what to tell you. That's just how it happened."
The detective was extremely suspicious at this point but he decided to move past it.
"Okay, next question: did you know the victim?"
Finn nodded.
"Yeah, I did. Jessie St. James was his name, right?"
It was the detective's turn to nod.
"Yes, it was. And I know that the two of you briefly went to the same school. What was your relation to the victim?"
"He was NOT my friend at all." Finn admitted. He knew he was under oath so he couldn't lie. He might as well be honest. "In all honesty, and I know this will make me sound guilty which I AM NOT, I did not like the guy. He had it out for me since day 1. I used to date his girlfriend and while the two of them were dating, she still kind of had a thing for me. We were also rivals for the male lead position in our school's show choir."
The detective raised an eyebrow. This definitely wasn't going too well for Finn.
"Okay, I think I've heard enough." The detective announced. He had pretty much come to the conclusion that Finn was guilty. He had means, motive and opportunity. There was no way two rivals just 'happened' to be in the same dark, abandoned alley in a tiny part of Lima at 10:30 at night. "One last thing… How do you plead? Guilty or Not Guilty?"
"Not Guilty! I didn't kill Jessie!" Finn exclaimed.
"Okay, I heard you the first time!" The detective snapped. "For now, you will either stay in our custody or released on bail until trial."
"What charges am I looking at?" Finn asked, nervously. The detective looked him right in the eye when he answered.
"Well, I'll be honest. You are looking at a second degree murder of a minor. That's life without parole…"