Chapter 5: Chapter 5 The Interrogation
"So your name is Sarah, right?" I asked as I took a seat across the table in the interrogation room from the sister and housemate of the dead girl. Jones already had his pen and paper out to take notes. Underneath his paper, he had the file with pictures so we could show them to her.
Sarah looked surprisingly a lot like her sister. The same tall, slender frame. The same blonde hair. They could be identical twins if not for the freckles decorating Sarah's cheeks. Jessica didn't have freckles, though she did have a mole under her left eye.
"Yes," she said, as she looked between Jones and I. Her posture was confident. She didn't seem nervous like most people are when they talk to police. That seemed a bit shady.
"And you and Jessica were living together in that mansion?" I asked. "By yourselves?"
"Yeah, our parents bought it for us when we started college here at the university," Sarah said. "We rented out some of the extra rooms to make some extra money for ourselves. After we both finished college we stayed here because we liked it. And our parents stayed in California."
I looked over to Jones who was writing down on his notepad all that Sarah was saying. He nodded at me to continue.
"Did Jessica have any enemies?" I asked Sarah. "Anyone who would want to hurt her?"
"No, God no," Sarah said. "Jessica was always the good child. She did everything by the book."
"So her going to clubs on the weekend is by the book?" I asked.
"What girl in their twenties doesn't?" Sarah wondered.
"Well me for starters," I said with a giggle. "I am twenty-four."
"Oh, sorry," Sarah muttered. She sighed and started again. "She went on the weekends because she doesn't - didn't work weekends. She wanted to meet a guy. Clubs are full of single guys, perfect to find someone looking for a girl."
"And what about you?" Jones asked for the first time. "Did you also go out partying?"
Sarah chuckled. "I was the one who always wanted to party. You know, you only live once. It took me twice as long to graduate compared to Jess."
"Did you do drugs? Drink?" Jones asked.
"A bit of both," Sarah nodded honestly. "I tried a bit of everything in college. But I only smoke weed now and drink. But not at the same time."
"So you have no idea how ecstasy got in your sister's system?" I asked.
"What?" Sarah gasped. Her posture changed almost automatically. It became defensive. She face turned to one of confusion and worry. "Ecstasy? Jess would never willing take any drug."
I looked over at Jones. I could tell that he noticed it as well. Jones pulled a picture of the EXO member out of the file sitting on the table in front of him. He pushed it towards Sarah.
"Ever seen this man before?" Jones asked.
Sarah's jaw dropped and her eyebrows scrunched together. A flash of recognition crossed her face. Something was definitely off, that much was certain.
"I don't recognize him," Sarah shook her head. I noticed that she began taping her leg as she answered the question. "Who is he?"
"He was seen leaving the club, The Galaxy Illusion, with your sister," Jones said. "He was the last person to see your sister alive that we know of. We just need to speak with him."
"Do you think he killed her?" Sarah asked, tears started to appear in her eyes.
"We can't say," I said. "But what we do know from another source, that he's a gang member."
"Gang? What gang?" Sarah asked.
"They're called EXO," I said. "Ever heard of them?"
"No, I never even knew about any gangs in Towson," Sarah said.
"So you didn't know that EXO deals ecstasy?" Jones asked. "And they kill people who wrong them?"
"What does this have to do with my sister?" Sarah asked.
"Sarah, when was the last time you saw your sister?" I asked, deciding to change the subject.
"When she dropped me off at the airport four days ago so I could go on my vacation to Costa Rica," Sarah said. "But what does this gang have to do with my sister?"
"When was the last time you did ecstasy?" Jones asked.
"Two years ago," Sarah said getting more irritated. "What does this have to do with my sister's murder?"
"How did you obtain your ecstasy? We won't be booking you, we just need to know," I said.
"D-does it matter? It was a l-long time a-ago," Sarah stuttered.
"If your sister and yourself were so close, she might have had the same dealer," I said.
"His name was Xiumin. He was some hot Asian dude who hung around campus. After I stopped doing drugs, I stopped looking for him. I never saw him again," she said after a long pause.
"Do you have a picture of him?" I asked.
"No. When I was around him, I was focused on my hallucinations," Sarah muttered.
"Do you have any contact information?" I asked.
"Of course not, I went cold turkey. Stopped contacting everyone who had anything to do with drugs," Sarah said.
"So how do you think your sister got the drugs?" Jones asked.
"I have no idea," Sarah shook her head.
"Could she have gotten them from the gang, EXO?" Jones asked.
"I guess," Sarah shrugged. "But I don't know why she took those drugs. Or why she would bring this strange guy into our house. I have no idea why any of this would happen to Jess. Jess would never act like this. She would never bring a guy home without telling me. And she would never do drugs especially ecstasy. I have no idea about her murder. Or her murderer. Or the drugs. Or what she was doing in her room. Or why she had a knife."
My head snapped to look at her. I turned to look at Jones who was already looking at me. We got her.
"Sarah, we never mentioned that she had a knife," I said.
Her jaw dropped and she looked between the two of us. We didn't say anything to her. And let her think about what she has just told us for a moment.
"I could have sworn you did," she muttered. She looked down at her hands in her lap.
"We didn't, Sarah. What do you know about your sister's knife?" I asked.
"Nothing. I thought she used a kitchen knife. I didn't know that she had a knife," Sarah muttered.
I looked over at Jones who rolled his eyes. Neither of us believed the lies she was saying.
"Tell us the truth, Sarah. If you tell the truth now, you'll have a chance of a lesser sentence," Jones said.
Sarah sighed. She leaned over and put her head in the palms of her hands. I watched as her shoulders started to shake. "It wasn't supposed to end up like that," Sarah whispered, her voice shaking.
"Then tell us what was supposed to happen," I said.
"Jess was supposed to drop me off at the airport and Chanyeol was supposed to pick me up," Sarah started.
"Chanyeol, the man in the photo?" I asked.
"Yeah, he's - well, was my boyfriend. Xiumen introduced us back when I was doing drugs," Sarah continued. "So after he picked me up at the airport, he took me back to his place. I never went to Costa Rica. I was just supposed to spend time with him and not have to worry about my family. And that's how it was until Chanyeol got a call later in the evening on Friday saying he needed the stash from my place."
"Stash? What stash?" Jones asked.
"Cocaine," Sarah said. "I was asked to hid it in my place for a while. So I hid it under so loose tiles in my bathroom. So that night, Chanyeol went to make sure that Jess didn't come home while I was getting the stash. I had the code to get into the house and disable the security cameras."
That makes sense. The footage from the security cameras at the house. Since they look so alike, it would be hard to tell the difference between the sisters. So when we saw the footage, we thought it was Jessica.
"I was getting the last of it when Jess came back. Chanyeol noticed I wasn't done so he kept her distracted. Jess only brought him home because she wasn't feeling well and he offered her a ride. I could hear them talking from upstairs. That's when he tried making out with her. She asked him to leave when he did, that's when she found me with the stash.
"She got mad at me because she knew that I quit drugs. She thought I was now selling them instead. I told her I wasn't selling them, that I was hiding them for a friend. She told me to just leave. When I got out to Chanyeol's car, he asked what took so long and I told him about Jess. He told me that I needed to take care of it. He handed me a gun. I went into the house, hiding the gun in the back of my pants. Jess was in her room when I knocked on her door.
"She answered the door only to close it on my face. She kept yelling at me to leave. I told her I needed to talk to her. She opened the door with a knife in her hand. I stepped back, I didn't want to get hurt. That's when she looked behind me and a gun went off. Chanyeol shot her."
"So you were trying to protect your boyfriend?" Jones asked.
"Yeah, and I know I'm going to go to jail. But my sister, she was my best friend. I was never going to kill her. I only wanted to talk to her about getting her out of town. EXO doesn't have any power or people outside of Towson, so she would be safe. I was supposed to be her big sister, to protect her. And all I did was get her killed."
"Where is Chanyeol, right now?" Jones asked.
"I don't know. After he dropped me off at his place, he never came back," Sarah said. "I haven't heard anything from him since. I'm done with him. I want nothing else to do with him. I was done with him when he shot my sister."
"And the drugs in her system?" I asked.
"I have no idea. She never took drugs and Chanyeol knew that too," Sarah said. "The drugs were a surprise to me too. But now that I think about it, her being sick could have been because of the drugs."
"Where did Chanyeol hang out?" I asked.
"I never knew. He never told me what he did with his gang. Sometimes we would go to a bar with the other members. But it was always different bars, never the same one," Sarah said.
I looked over at Jones who nodded at me.
"Sarah Cullson you are under arrest for the prevention of justice," I said as I walked around the table to Sarah. "Do you know your Miranda Rights?"
"Yes," Sarah whispered. She slowly stood up with her hands behind her back. I cuffed her hand together as Jones opened the door for me.
Jones and I walked out of the interrogation room with Sarah down to booking. The entire station turned to look at us, not expecting to see the first person we interrogated in cuffs. The Cullsons looked at us with their daughter in handcuffs.
"Why is my daughter in handcuffs?" Mr. Cullson yelled out. He shot out of his seat and began to storm over, but Sarah stopped him.
"Dad, I didn't kill her! But it's my fault she's dead!" Sarah called out in tears.
Mrs. Cullson has tears begin to stream down her face. Mr. Cullson pulled her into his arms with his own tears falling from his eyes. Jones led Sarah to the holding cells. While I went to talk to the parents and let them know the information that Sarah just told us.
///
I was in my office at home later, going over a case that was handed over to Jones and I from the overnight shift. Murphy was sitting on my lap, resting.
We already went on our evening walk so he was tuckered out. After I was finished reading the page I was reading my cell rang.
"This is Anastasia Barnes," I said into the phone.
"Hello, Little Detective. Congratulations," the person said. And I knew exactly who it was just by hearing that nickname.
"RM? How'd you get my number?" I asked.
"Detective Jones gave it to me," RM said. "So the sister is at fault. Who would have guessed that the sister was dating the EXO member. And he was the one that killed her sister."
He let out a whistle. I rolled my eyes.
"Are you actually congratulating me, or condescending me?" I asked.
"A bit of both, what are you doing now?" RM asked.
"Looking at a new case Jones and I were given," I said. "Why do you care?"
"Just wondering what the Little Detective does when she's not at work," RM said.
"Didn't know that a mafia boss cared what detectives did in their free time," I laughed.
"Not really. So what are your plans for catching Chanyeol?" RM asked.
I sighed and begun spinning in my chair. "We have no leads on any places he frequents, or any of the other members of his gang. They're completely underground. Unless some good citizen wants to give an anonymous tip to the police."
I hinted that he could give me a tip if he knew of something. He only laughed at me. Jerk.
"Well I wouldn't get my hopes up," RM said. "I hope you have good luck with this case."
"Whatever," I said with a roll of my eyes again. "Thanks RM. I hope we never have to see each other again."
"Goodbye, Little Detective," RM said with a smooth voice. It was actually pretty hot.
"Bye," I whispered before hanging up quickly.
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