Interrogation

Sitting in that interrogation room was not what 16 year old Louis Conrad thought he’d be doing at four o-clock in the morning. The police had come to get him just three hours before and he has yet to talk to anyone. They were prolonging his stay on purpose, so he could spill easier.
Tears were pouring down his face at an alarmingly high rate, for he had no idea what he was doing in the police station in the first place. Just the day before he was out at a barbecue with his family and close friends; what could he have possibly done to cause this?
“Hello Louis.” A kind looking woman came into the room, no older than 35 years of age. She was a veteran at her job and she knew exactly what she was doing. “Do you know why you’re here today?” She asked with a soft smile on her porcelain face. Louis burst out into more violent sobs as he shook his head, wanting nothing more than to go home. “Well, no more than 24 hours ago, a friend of yours, Marcus Greene was found murdered in his home and if I’m not mistaken, you were the last seen with him, alive.” Her features set into a stone cold mask as she watched Louis begin to cry even more, if possible.
Detective Martha Anbroms held no remorse for these sort of people. Anyone that was viewed as a murder in her eyes didn’t deserve to have anyone care for them. This boy definitely did look innocent though, but don’t they always play that card. When she first walked in, she was shocked to see such a young looking man sitting in the chair before her, sobbing. She couldn’t bring herself to believe that he might not have done it though, for that was not how she was trained.
She didn’t even bother reading, or caring, that the boy might not have been informed of his friend’s death yet. She was set to believe that the first suspect was most likely the person who committed the crime, so he must’ve already known.
Alas, Louis did not know and was not only left with the grief that his best friend was dead, but the fear that they suspected him of doing it. How could they possibly think something like that? He was a good boy, straight A student, already with a full ride to University. He was only 16, still a virgin and very much in love. Why would he possibly give all of that up? Why couldn’t they understand that he did not commit this murder?
“We have witnesses that place you in the Greene residence the day your friend was brutally assaulted and murdered. What do you have to say about that? Are you denying what they said? Are you calling them all liars, conspiring against you?”
She was speaking too loud and scared Louis into silence. Tears still poured out of his eyes as he hiccupped his way into silence. Why can’t she just give him time? She just told him that his best friend was killed, why can’t she just give him time to digest the situation?
“But I don’t hear you saying anything? Are you telling me that you did, in fact, murder your best friend? Because if you give me a confession right now, I can strike a deal for you.”
What poor Louis Conrad didn’t know was that detective Martha Anbroms was lying. She knew that there was no way she’d be trying to strike a deal for this boy; why would she ever do that? If this boy really was a murderer (which she believed he was), why would she help him in any way?
“I’ll give you some time to get your priorities straight.” She snarled, rising quickly from her seat, slamming the door behind her as she walked out, a sobbing Louis left behind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Someone had brought him breakfast two hours after detective Anbroms had left and Louis was now awaiting his third hour in that investigation room.
A new person walked into the room, a young woman with curly blonde hair. She seemed nice, but then again, so did detective Anbroms. He wouldn’t risk talking to her.

“How are you feeling Louis?” She asked as she sat on the chair. Louis didn’t bother answering. He wanted to see his parents, his friends, his boyfriend...anyone other than these people.
“Your parents hired me, I’m your lawyer and I’m here to help you.” She smiled, taking out a manila envelope and began reading the contents. “This isn’t looking very good for you, they have witnesses that put you at Marcus’s house that night. Can you at least tell me your story?”

Louis contemplated the pros and the cons, but realized that if he ever wanted to get out of this situation, he’d have to speak up. This would definitely not look good on a college resume.

“I didn’t kill Marcus.” He sniffed, finally looking up to meet her gaze.
This woman, Carla Manfield, just knew this boy was too innocent to have done anything.

“And I believe you, but you have to tell me what happened that night.”

“It was just another barbecue that his family usually held; something to signify the end of summer. He’s my best friend...” Louis’s lips trembled as another sob worked its way up his throat. “...I had to go.”

Carla deeply felt terrible for what this boy had to go through. She had no doubt in her mind that this boy was innocent, she’d been through his records; she’d never seen something so squeaky clean.
He was a senior in high school, a year ahead of his grade, straight A’s and proudly homosexual. Louis’s boyfriend, Derek May, had been sitting right outside in the waiting area ever since he found out what had happened. He had been the first one Louis’s mother called that morning. He’d been in tears after hearing what his boyfriend was going through and had asked for nothing more than to see him, than to talk to him for a few moments, to tell him how much he loved him. They’d been together for two years, ever since Louis was 14 years old.

“Can you tell me what happened at the barbecue? Did anyone go up to him, maybe fight him or anything like that? Did he have any enemies?”
Louis’s bright green eyes snapped shut as he tried to remember. Who could’ve done this to his best friend?

“I don’t know, everyone seemed to love him. What happened?” Louis squeaked out, afraid to look at the woman.

“He was stabbed...multiple times in the chest and legs and he was...broken up. He tried fighting back, but...”

This only caused Louis to sob louder. Fight back? The Marcus Louis knew was definitely not a fighter. The two boys had been attached by the hip ever since the age of 11 and they never thought they’d let go.

“T-there are a lot o-of security cameras. D-did you check them?” He looked up at her.
Security cameras? Why had no one told her of these security cameras? Did they even know they were there? Wouldn’t the parents have to have told the police about those; if they wanted to find their son’s killer. But what if they didn’t want to find out who did this.

“Alright.” Carla said as she stood from her chair. “Come on, they can’t keep you locked up in here all day, let’s go.”
She led him out the big metal doors, though an officer tried to stop them and led his down to the visitor’s area, where he immediately jumped into Derek’s open arms. It was quite comical to see the two, seeing as Derek was a good six feet, three inches and Louis was only about five foot four. Derek lifted the small boy directly from the ground and held him up in the air. Derek would be lying and spitting on his grandmother’s grave if he said that he wasn’t at all worried about what was happening to his boyfriend.
He’d gotten the call at four in the morning, Louis’s mother crying into the phone; Derek automatically thought the worst and had started his car, headed for the hospital. He never suspected anything like this. How could they possibly suspect his sweet little Louis of something like this? The past two years of dating Louis were the best in his life and he was not letting some dumbass cops take him away.

Derek had been with Louis at the barbecue and left the same time he did; there was no way Louis could have done something like this and he made sure to tell the police everything. He had wanted to be in that interrogation room with his boyfriend, knowing that he’d be scared. He wanted to hold Louis’s hand but that ‘bitch of a detective, Anbroms or whatever her name was’, wouldn’t let him through.
Louis shook in his arms as he tried to calm down, he never wanted to go through anything like that ever again.
Louis’s lawyer had talked to them and told them that they were not allowed to leave the country, which they, of course, agreed to. All Derek wanted to do was get Louis home, safe and sound.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Louis woke up in the middle of the night, screaming, tears flowing for his eyes. His mother had asked Derek to stay, to comfort him and Derek didn’t hesitate in agreeing. He was now comforting a whimpering Louis in his arms.

“I didn’t do it.” Louis whimpered, fisting Derek’s shirt in his tiny hands.

“I know you didn’t baby, its okay, I believe you. They’re going to find out who did and that person will be locked up forever, okay?” Derek placed a soft kiss on Louis’s mess of black hair. Derek missed the bright smile and the mischievous glances he’d often receive from the boy and he knew that it would be quite a while before he ever saw that again, but he was willing to wait.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Carla was doing everything in her power to get her hands on those tapes. She went through the entire investigation...twice and apparently, Marcus’s parents just happened to have forgotten to mention the video tapes.
It all seemed just a little too fishy for her, so here she was, at three o-clock in the morning, doing research. Her husband was trying his hardest to fall asleep with all the typing the background; it was proving harder than he thought.

“Baby, can you please just give it a rest for the night and go to sleep?” He grumbled, burying his head underneath a pillow to silence the typing.
Carla didn’t even hear him; she was too busy trying to hack into the Greene’s security tapes.

Jinkies! It took everything in Carla’s power to not scream it out at the top of her lungs. For hours she had been trying to find those tapes and she had finally managed to hack into the system and get a hold of them. Now all she had to do was watch them.

An hour later, her jaw was practically touching the ground. For the first time since she’s been a lawyer, Carla Manfield cannot believe what she just saw.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was finally the day of the trial and detective Martha Anbroms was sure that she had this in the bag. She would not rest until that boy, who was currently crying in his mother’s arms, was behind bars for life. Who would go to the extent of murdering their best friend? The person who so whole heartedly trusted them? She found Louis repulsive and she’d make sure he knows.

On the other side of the court, lawyer Carla Manfield was sporting a very triumphant smirk. What she saw was gruesome, something she never wanted to see again, but it would definitely keep Louis out of jail and place someone else in. This was the day she’d been waiting for, for weeks and now it was finally here. Marcus Greene’s real killers were still out there, in plain sight, glaring holes at her. Maybe they knew what she’d done, maybe they knew that after this, they’d be locked up in jail until they rotted and eventually died. Maybe she was just that lucky.

The trial went on as any normal trial would. The detective, of course, pleaded against Louis and gave the jury all of the evidence she could round up. In all of her years in the business, detective Anbroms knew that the jury was sceptical. She could not possibly give enough evidence to say that Louis committed this murder other than her word and the witnesses. She was so sure that he had done it that she had refused to interrogate the witnesses, see what they would say to the court; she should’ve.
Most of them were denying what they thought they saw when they first spoke to her. Some even came up with times now. Detective Martha was so good at her job, how could she not talk to the witnesses? No matter, she was confident that the ‘baby’ lawyer couldn’t come up with anything. Louis Conrad was as good as gone.

Next was his turn on the on the stand and he was beyond frightened. He was shaking, crying and all but bolting out of the courtroom door, but that would just get him arrested.
Detective Anbroms strolled up to him with a manila folder in hand, smiling. Louis knew well enough to not trust the woman; she was just a ticking time bomb.

“Louis Conrad, may I ask where you were the night of Marcus Greene’s murder?”
Louis had spoken to his lawyer before the trail and knew to tell nothing but the truth, or it would come back to bite him in the end.

“I wa-was at his barbecue, that I go to every year...me and...” The detective cut him off.

“So you admit to being at the victim’s house the night of his murder?”

“There were about fifty other people there too.” Louis sobbed out.
The detective dismissed the information as if it were never said.

“So you were there and our witnesses say that you were the last one to leave. Were you just jealous? Did he have the girl you wanted and you just wanted to get him for it?”
That had Louis glaring daggers at the woman.

“I’m gay!” He practically shouted, which had his boyfriend, Derek smiling lovingly at the small boy on the stands.

Some way, after his little outburst, Louis seemed to gain more courage and confidence in himself and had somehow blocked all of the detective’s advancements and left everyone in the courtroom stunned, including the judge. Now it was Carla’s turn and instead of bringing a person to the stand, which is what everyone thought she’d do, she brought in...a television.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury and everyone else in this courtroom, I do have to warn you that this footage is very graphic, so if you’re queasy easily, I suggest you look away.” She chose her words carefully. If she told them to leave, she knew automatically who would.
“Your honour, I’d like to present you with the video of what really happened the night of the murder.”

Louis had gone back to sitting with his parents and boyfriend and was now waiting patiently for the video to be placed into the slot. Detective Anbroms obviously did not think the ‘baby’ lawyer would be able to pick up a video and was obviously shocked. Her prior thoughts of winning this case was slowly draining as the video loaded.

The first picture was of the barbecue; everyone was outside having a good time, including Marcus, who knew where the camera was and set to making funny faces at it. That brought tears to Louis’s eyes; this was the first time he was seeing his best friend in almost four weeks.

It’s been twenty five minutes and so far nothing has happened, the barbecue just rolled on, until night time hit and everyone was forced to leave the premises. Being Marcus’s best friend, Louis stayed for another twenty five minutes with Derek, which what was the witnesses claimed they saw. Martha tried her hardest to stop the video there, but there was more.

The security footage clearly showed Marcus leading the two boys out of his home with some hugs and friendly words before he went back into the house. Carla paused the video there, giving the courtroom the warning to close their eyes, if this left them nauseous. Unfortunately for the jury, they had to see it.

The video fizzed before showing the dark night and the camera’s automatic night vision switching on.
At first it was nothing, but cleared to show figures moving in the house on the inside. It was just a regular family fight, or so it seemed. Marcus’s figure was the second shortest of the three, the father being the tallest and mother being the shortest. It seemed as though after a while the fighting stopped, until the smaller figure walked behind the second shortest and plunged what not only looked like, but what everyone knew as, a knife. Half of the courtroom gasped as police officers began walking up the isle towards the parents of the victim...but the video didn’t stop there.

The tallest of the figures, Mr. Greene, disappeared from the camera shot of the silhouettes, but quickly returned with yet another knife and began piercing it into the skin of his son over and over and over again. It was quite disturbing, but not as much as the next footage.

The mother and father of the house, sporting latex gloves to hide their fingerprints, exited their home, searched around their surroundings for any civilians and walked back into the house to grab the body of their son.
The camera switched to the one in the backyard, where Marcus was laughing and dancing in front of no less than three hours prior. It showed the parents bringing the boy out in the back, dumping him carelessly on the ground, Mr. and Mrs. Greene hurried back into their home and took out multiple more knifes, blankets and what looked like a sledgehammer.

Louis, Derek and more than half of the court room turned away at the sight of Marcus’s own parents taking a sledgehammer to their 16 year old son. Hearing the crunching and breaking of the bones was worse than the sight itself.
The judge had to force Carla to turn off the video and take it out.

“After what you just saw, the video shows Mr. and Mrs. Greene carrying the mangled remains of their son up to his room, where they left him and called 9-1-1 the very next morning. Their only mistake was forgetting about the security camera. They only remembered when the police came, where they neglected to tell officials that there even was a security camera. The parents did not know how to erase the video on their own and getting someone to do it for them would cause suspicion, so they decided to frame the only person they could, Louis. Convinced that Louis would be convicted of the murder, the parents put a lock on their security cameras, which I was able to break. They murdered their son and nothing would be able to deny that fact when you have visual proof.”

Lawyer Carla Manfield sat down in her chair, remote control clutched tightly in hand. Babies are smart after all.