Watched (ONC 2021)

Chapter 4 - The Statement

Image by Lynda Hinton from Unsplash

***

By the time we parked in front of a quaint two-storey building, my heart had calmed. The emergency protein bars I'd stashed in the glove box had chased away any madness my lack of sugar had caused. That was what transpired in the forest, nothing more. The police station had tall windows reminiscent of a 19th-century store. Its rust-coloured bricks were soothing, but it still gave me the chills. The men on the force lingered when I coached soccer games or track meets. 'Nice thing you're doing for the kids,' they'd say, though their eyes conveyed their suspicion.

My problems had worsened since the town had a gruesome murder, and the cops needed a suspect to put the taxpayers at ease. Why not target a newcomer, especially one that was different? 

Police had never had a problem blaming my mom's eccentricities for things she hadn't done. The shame of sitting in the officers' chairs while my mom was locked up and my father tried to defend my mother's innocence still stung. While I wasn't muttering spells and going into trances, the local police force didn't have any LGBT members, at least none that were open about it or attended the community group. People tended to fear and blame what they didn't understand.

Mike squeezed my shoulder. "We'll go in together. They only want a statement." His gaze shifted to the left. I could have missed it if I blinked. We both knew it wouldn't be that simple, but he was reassuring me. "If they ask, we entered the house together, and we discovered her body together."

My skin bristled at the possibility of getting caught lying to the cops. "What if they question you about the house?"

"What was in there?"

"Newspaper on the walls, rotting food and a bloody fingernail on the kitchen floor, and books on the occult."

Once I'd walked him through the layout of the home, he took my hand in his soft one. "Will you tell me what happened in the forest after I left?"

I closed my eyes and inhaled. "Later." I released Mike's grip and petted Milo, who purred in response. His ribs were still too prominent. We'd have to get him real cat food on the drive home.

"We bringing Milo in?" I asked.

"He's Mrs. Crawford's property, so the police will decide what happens with him."

I swore Milo tensed when I did. It was comforting to have a creature reaffirm my feelings. Perhaps the cops would let us care for him, at least until someone else came forward.

"Ready?" Mike asked.

I nodded. 

We entered through the double set of doors into a room with a large front desk and several others set further back and partitioned with wooden dividers. The room had a musty library and stale coffee scent.

Jeanine, the curvy receptionist with flat hair, greeted us with a cheery "G'morning," before diving into a crossword puzzle open on her desk.

"We're here to see Officer Potts," Mike said. The woman continued her puzzle. "About Mrs. Crawford."

She chewed on the cap of her pen. "Three-letter word for a fancy coffee dispenser."

"Pod?" Mike humoured her.

Her red hair stuck to her face as she shook her head and studied the page. "Starts with u."

"Urn." I'd always found it unsettling how the English language couldn't find different words for containers of hot beverages and ashes.

As her lips quirked into a smile, she scribbled the answer and flipped the book shut. "That'll work. Thanks, Winston. Officer Potts swung by the bakery, but should be back soon."