"Manslaughter?" Amanda had dealt with jerks like Matthews before, always trying to frame people who hadn't done anything wrong in order to set an example and scare of the truly guilty. Still, no one had ever gone this far. She was a drug addict, yes, and she may have killed an unconscious and helpless man, but what would they have done in her situation? Just sat there and let the trap go off?
It was clearly a bluff to get her to cooperate with them. They needed her to convict the Jigsaw murderer. In order to get her testimony, they had to pretend that they would get her for something much worse. It would be to her benefit to make a deal with the police and lessen her own sentence.
If prison kept her from Jigsaw, though, then it wasn't much of a punishment…
"The tape said he was dead," Amanda declared stubbornly.
The policemen exchanged glances. This was the most life Amanda had shown since they had first seen her. They also knew that Jigsaw tended to leave instructions for his victims, either on a cassette player or a tape, and one had been missing at the scene of Amanda's trap…
This meant that either Amanda had stolen the tape or Jigsaw had destroyed it. Perhaps he did that when his victims survived…or planned to. Tapp was pretty sure Amanda was the first victim that survived.
"You're not on trial for murder," Tapp began.
"Not yet, anyway," Sing interjected. The older detective glared at him, and he fell silent.
"But Jigsaw is a murderer and your presence can help us to locate him," Tapp explained, standing up. "So, in exchange for your cooperation, we'll give you our protection."
This was somewhat of a bluff. They needed Amanda to be protected, regardless of whether or not she revealed any details of what had happened. Even if Amanda wouldn't tell her story, they could still force her to testify at Jigsaw's trial, if they ever got him there. Amanda had a level of power even if she tried to refuse.
Amanda remained seated. "If I go with you, he'll find me again and he will kill me. He's not human…no human can do what he does and get away with it. You haven't found him yet and you won't because he doesn't want to be found."
"Don't worry about that," Sing sneered. "You're valuable enough for us to take precautions. At least until it's all official and down on paper. Someone can escort you back—someone trained and armed. But you will come with us unless you want to be convicted for some of your other crimes."
Here, Tapp laid out a very thick manila folder. "You will come with us."
"Yes, Mandy," Liz said, returning and actually pushing her to the door. "And when they're done with you, feel free to get your things, but I want you out by this evening. I don't give up my apartment to murderers."
The detectives took this as permission to drag her out of the apartment. Amanda was livid at Liz. Hadn't her sister known her long enough to realize that Amanda would never kill someone? Well, not on purpose, and certainly not someone who was helpless.
She could give Liz a few broken bones now, and she could easily do the same to Matthews. Even the police weren't among her favorite people.
Just cooperate, she told herself. Give them the story, let them arrest you, and you'll never have to worry about Jigsaw again. Drugs are easier to get in prison, anyway, and you already have some connections…
She almost nodded. Perhaps it was better to let them think that she was guilty. Guilty enough to be kept safe from Jigsaw.
She knew that outside of prison, Jigsaw would be able to find her no matter how many police were guarding her. He could kill them. It was as Amanda had said before to the same cops. He was some kind of super human…it was like he was impossible to kill or had some other kind of power. She knew, as easily as she knew that Liz was her biological sister or Mike had once been the love of her life, that the police would never be able to stop Jigsaw.