MINA [#Wattys2014]

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Listen here lady; I'm sick and tired of this BULLSHIT! We’ve been at this for hours and like it or not we have you where we want you so cut the crap and the tip toeing around and just tell us what we want to know!"

"My client is under oath..."

"So were many others before her and THAT didn't stop them from lying!" The head investigator and chief police in charge of the investigation shouted. He was the same officer who had arrested her and the same policeman who had held her there with that first interview. Looking at him you wouldn’t have guessed that he held such rank, but low and behold, he did. The fact that he liked to wield it was abundantly clear too. There was no doubt that the entire precinct knew that it was Mina Santra in the interrogation room at that moment and not just any ordinary arrestee. The only bright side she’d seen to this endless nightmare had been the fact that they were yet to mix her with the real criminals in lock up, because she had yet to leave this room.

Over the space of one night Mina had become a television sensation, though not in the way or for the reasons she had envisioned. Her father was probably having the time of his life with what the television stations were broadcasting about the murder and her alleged involvement. He’d always warned that he knew she’d never amount to anything good, especially not on her own. She doubted that even the fact that his name would be dragged into the ordeal, would put a dent in his ego.

Would they find out about her life prior to moving here? She sincerely hoped not, but chances were some nosey reporter had already started digging. Someone had probably found her father already and listened to him spew his lies about her, with her muted mother ghosting in the background. He was probably sitting there wondering how long it would take her to find her way back to him...like that would ever happen. Then again maybe not, but whichever it was, right now as it were, there were more disturbing things for her to worry about.

"Like I was saying to you Mr. Peterson..."

"Lieutenant Peterson..."

"My mistake 'Lieutenant'," Mina's Lawyer stressed.

Mister, Lieutenant, potato, potahto. If it looked, breathed and ate like a fat man gorging on power, then chances were he was just a fat man gorging on power. He could hide behind whatever title he wanted the fact simply remained that she despised him from the first time she laid eyes on him, and his presumptuous attitude greeted her on entrance. Love at first sight, meet hate at first sight. Her attitude spoke volumes, and knocked his out of the ballpark.

But instead of indulging in his pathetic attempts at a power struggle she just said, "As I was saying. My client is under oath which she has adhered to from the very beginning of this insinuating interview. You however have refused to consider anything that came out of my client’s mouth. If you would just remove the blinders that keep you so intent on seeing and searching for something that isn't even there, you would have clearly seen that she is speaking the truth"

The Lieutenant's eyes shot venom at Mina's lawyer and Tanya Shay returned it full force if not more. It was obvious that her disdain rivaled his and probably even more.

The director had stood by their claims because as soon as Mina had requested, like magic they had provided her with a lawyer. The lawyer, Tanya Shay, seemed to be cut from the same cloth as she was and they had found a connection right away. Neither could suffer the oversized egos and cockiness most men wore like body armor, as well as those men who had total disregard for the females' opinions. In the space of thirty minutes of getting to know each other, Mina found out that Tanya was one of the very small percentages of lawyers who actually believed that she was innocent, and was willing to take her case. Not once did Tanya mention a fee, so Mina just simply assumed that the D. A's office was taking care of that.