14th September, Death Investigation
"Good afternoon, sir", I said to the man sitting opposite of me. "I believe you are aware of what you are here for?"
He just gave me a death glare but didn't say anything. Hans honestly looked worse to wear. His hair was a mess, beard unshaved and unkempt. He had a white dress shirt that looked like it had been on him couple of days straight. It was wrinkled and looked unclean, with the second button on the top lost. There were dark bags under his eyes and his skin was pale and waxy.
The thing that interested me the most was the slight bruising on his left cheek. It was starting to turn yellow, which indicated it was a couple of days old. The timing of that bruise could match the timing of Elsa's bruises. His lower lip had a small cut on the same side. It could have been caused by a hard slap on the face.
"So, let's start," I said in an attempt to gain his attention. I succeeded, but he remained quiet. "Could you state your full name and relationship to the victim?" I asked and gestured to the mic.
"She jumped off a bridge. What is she a victim of?" Hans all but snarled.
"Just do as asked."
"Hans Nils Westergård." I noted that he omitted his relationship with Elsa. But I let it slide, for now.
"You seem to have an unfortunate bruise on your face. What happened to it?"
"I hit my face on a doorknob," he snarled sarcastically. It obviously wasn't the truth, but I could sense that he wasn't going to tell me anything about that.
"Those doors can be so cruel sometimes," I let him know that I understood his jab. "Can you tell me what your relationship with Elsa Árnadalr is?"
"Why are you asking me? Everyone knows she's my fiancé's sister," Hans huffed, sounding clearly annoyed.
"Your fiancée's? I'm in belief that you two called the wedding off," I asked, keeping my face and tone neutral.
"Ex fiancées," Hans snarled at me.
"Did you keep contact with Elsa after your breakup with Anna?"
"Sometimes, I helped her with some things," Hans sifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable.
"Care to elaborate what you helped her with?"
"Work and stuff. What does it even matter to you?" Hans attacked angrily. It seemed quite defensive.
"I'm curious why you were trashing her room after her death." Hans flinched with the word dead. I wasn't sure if it was for that word, or for what I was accusing him of.
"I was looking for something." He said vaguely, shifting in his seat again.
"For what?"
"I thought I left my watch there. I was trying to find it before they would ban people from going in that room," Hans said slowly, choosing his words. It was obviously a lie, but I didn't call him out of it. I wanted to see if he would invalidate his own words later.
"Did you find it?"
"Yes."
"When and why did it got lost in Elsa's room?"
"Couple of days ago, I guess. I went to Elsa's room to talk about business occasionally. I must have dropped it then," Hans shrugged, seemingly getting comfortable with his lie.
"So, when was the last time you saw Elsa?"
"The evening before the night she jumped." Hans closed his eyes and licked his lips. He started to get uncomfortable again.
"What did you talk about?"
"Work." It came fast, a little too fast. Either they always talked only about work, and it was an obvious answer, or it was a lie.
"How would you describe your last interaction with Elsa?"
Hans seemed to get nervous. He swallowed and shifted on his chair. "Umm—Normal, I guess?"
"Elsa seemed completely ordinary for you?"
"Maybe she was a little tired." Now he was just trying to offer something to appease me.
"Did she mention anything that might have made you feel troubled or suspicious?"
"No, we just talked about work." Hans was playing with his fingers. He was starting to look increasingly agitated.
"Where were you at that night?"
"Are you accusing me of Elsa's death?!" Hans suddenly yelled, slamming his hands against the table.
"I'm not accusing you of anything, I just want to know where you were at that night."
"Why do you need to know that? It was suicide, she jumped from the bridge! That bitch didn't need any help to off herself!" Hans continued shouting angrily. Then he continued with a slightly calmer tone. "I was with two of my brothers Lars and Jurgen, if you have to know." Okay, so there was a possibility of an alibi, if his brothers complied with this claim.
Before I could say anything, Hans slumped down to his seat, looking drained. He ran a hand through his face and said: "I'm done with this conversation. I won't say anything, before I have a lawyer."
And he didn't, so I had no other way than to let him go. As Elsa's case wasn't really a murder case, I had no means to keep him in custody. He was merely a person of interest. But he was hiding something, and I was sure to squeeze it out of him.