Chương 25: Interrogation
Maxwell glared at the eight people looking at him daggers. "You need to let me go, otherwise my superiors will come looking for me, and it will not be good."
Stevens stepped up to scrutinise the man. Not too handsome, hair that looked like it hadn't been combed for years, he wore decently, but not expensively, and looked too much naughty to go around spying on people. Anger suddenly rose up within him and he gave a man a blow, knocking him over.
"That is for Sheila you asshole," he barked at him.
All of a sudden the man started laughing, a laugh that surprised everyone, and made them look at him with fear. If he was laughing about killing a girl, God knows what he would have done to the four had Luis not confronted him. Clement finally reached boiling point and he couldn't take it anymore.
He grabbed Maxwell by his shirt, lifting both him and the chair he was tied to. He pushed him against the wall and stared threateningly at the man's frightened eyes. "Listen here you dipshit, do you see anyone here joking? Tell me? DO YOU SEE ANYONE HERE JOKING?" He yelled. Maxwell was so scared he was this close to start crying. He had chosen a bad reaction to Stevens' action, and wondered whether any of them actually thought he was the murderer. He slowly shook his head at Clement, asserting that he was sure none of them was joking. It was then that Clement put him down.
"Maxwell Griffin, a mechanic at Bob's New Garage, and an errand man for The Shadow, in the code name of Redhound. What really surprises me is that you actually have a degree in software engineering. I guess this is where unemployment takes people," Calvin said. Since the last time he had seen Marcus and company, he had decided to take it into his own hands to find out who Redhound was. He had worked all week and just as he found a picture of the alleged man, Michelle had called him to say that a man attacked them, the same man who killed Sheila.
Michelle was the most shocked of all of them. There, in front of her, was the man who killed her best friend. She could feel all the negative emotions racing through her veins, waiting to explode any minute. She struggled to control herself, not because she was afraid of how she would react, but because she was afraid of what she would do to him. She approached him, slowly and carefully, until she was close enough to smell the man's fear.
"Why did you do it? Why did you kill Sheila?" Michelle asked, tears in her eyes.
"What if I tell I wasn't the one who did it?" Maxwell replied, his eyes showing back the sadness.
That statement took everyone by surprise. It was a shocking twist to what they had expected out of him. Marcus was the first to react.
"What do you mean you didn't kill him?" He gasped.
Clement stepped back right at him, prompting Maxwell to move backwards. He held Maxwell by the back of his neck and said, "So this is how you want us to go?"
"I swear, I didn't kill her. I was at Arabella Academy that morning, but I wasn't the one who killed the girl. I had gone to search for hidden spots at the school where the necklace might have been, That's when I heard the girl scream. I got afraid and ran away, and when the news said that a girl had been murdered at the school, the gang was already congratulating me for finally being brave. I simply just couldn't tell them that it wasn't me," he defended himself, then looked down in shame.
"Wait, so Sheila was killed on a morning, and you are claiming you did not kill her?" Marcus inquired.
"Got any other lies to tell us," Michelle asked. She was the most hurt and felt even more hurt by the lies that this man was telling them.
Luis had been listening to the conversation the whole time. He saw it was now appropriate for him to involve himself.
"Guys, as crazy as it seems, I think he is right."
It was now his turn to surprise everyone. Everyone looked at him, their mouths dropped.
"Please tell me you're high on something because I cannot believe you!" Jeff exploded.
Luis stepped forward and looked at Maxwell. "You want to know why I stood up to you? It was because a killer as skilled as the one who murdered Sheila would never hold a knife with both of his hands. Plus you were obviously shaking, and that's not a characteristic of a killer."
Everyone kept quiet, Luis' logic sinking into their minds. Realisation dawned on them and they were suddenly lost for words. Clement, however, was not convinced.
"Why didn't you tell your fellow criminals it wasn't you?"
"Because of personal issues. And I even don't know who works with them. I usually just stay by myself, waiting for Rocco's orders," Maxwell explained.
"Why did you come for the four then?" Stevens added.
"It was actually three, before this guy was added," Maxwell said, pointing to Luis. "After Rocco had killed that watchman, I was sent to clear the scene and erase any presence of Rocco. It was then that I noticed those three talking beside the body, and knew that they had seen him kill the man."
"Bloody fool! Don't you realise that you could have gotten us killed if he had decided not to use you!" Marcus scolded him.
"I'm sorry," he replied. "But you have to let me go, please. For my sake and yours."
"I'm sorry too," Stevens replied. "We have to keep you until we know more."
"Excuse me! What happens to us?" Jeff interjected.
"You'll have a secret agent assigned to you to protect you. I've already alerted the headquarters," Calvin responded.
"Cool! We get our own bodyguards!" Marcus remarked. He looked at Jeff and they both smiled at each other.
"Does he ever talk?" asked Michelle, pointing to Arnold, who had sat quietly the whole time just watching them.
"Oh! Him? You'll get used to it eventually. Never has anything much to say," Calvin answered.
"Okay then kids, you can leave it to us here then. Hope you are keeping out of this as I told you," Stevens reminded them.
"Yes, we are," Marcus sighed. "Do you actually think we would want to be involved in all this drama?" He lied through his teeth.
"That's good. Then you can put your blindfolds back on and we'll lead you outside and back to your homes," Stevens concluded. "You will leave us here with this man so we can investigate him further."
Calvin took Michelle's blindfold and stood behind her. "Here, let me help you." Michele obliged and Calvin went ahead. Jeff and Luis watched with excitement as they noticed Marcus eyes burning with jealousy. Marcus looked away, muttering unintelligible words.
As they were led outside, the jokes were not left behind.
"You mean we're never going to find out what piece of SHIT you work in?" Jeff joked.
"I told you it's not called SHIT!"
"Ouch!"
***
Rocco entered the hall. He found the man by the window, staring outside at the setting sun. He stood beside him and waited until he noticed his presence.
"Isn't the sun beautiful?" the man remarked. Rocco nodded in acknowledgement.
"Yes, it is."
"What is it?" the man asked, still staring outside.
"They got Redhound. We don't know who, but Redhound was missing when we tried to contact them. We think the kids are working with someone else."
"You want to tell me some young children are giving you this much of a headache?!" the man laughed. He stepped from beside the window and went to sit at a couch.
"I wanna see the kids that are disturbing you. Do you have a picture?"
Rocco fished out his phone and opened his gallery. He chose a picture of them taken when they were going home from school. Then he gave the man the phone. The man, on seeing the picture, suddenly sat upright. He scrutinised the picture for a few seconds, then a smile formed on his face. He looked at Rocco enthusiastically.
"You know what, leave the kids to me. I know how I will take care of them. You can leave now. By the way, don't stop searching. I want this necklace thing over and done with before we move to the final stage of our plan."
"Yes boss," Rocco said and left the hall, leaving the man to himself. The man went back to the window and gazed outside at the incoming dark.
"Time for a reunion," he said and continued gazing, his mind wandering far away.
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
musembee
musembee Yipee!
Perfectly Imperfect has reached its 25th Chapter.
This is a significant milestone y'all, even though I don't think I've reached half of the book.
Let's all continue with the positive energy and don't forget to rate the chapter and vote!!
Regards,
musembee
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