chapter 30

The interview did not end in a short time.

There were so many names on the list handed over by Beckman, and although other detectives were also involved in the work, Jude and Tim faced the children to the extent that they did not have time to rest. Although they were talkative, the fact that most of what they said was similar also perplexed the two detectives. The victims were all having a hard time due to family circumstances. They said they couldn’t feel any suspicious adult’s approach and that they were scared and sad that their dear friends died……..

By the time Jude, who no longer felt the need to take notes on a similar testimony, put a pen on his ear to play with, a brown-haired boy came in and sat down. Re-quoting the words he repeated dozens of times -“ Name, Josh? We want to ask you the third…..no, we want to ask about Eli. I’d like you to answer me honestly.”- Tim sat down straight in his seat, clearing his voice with a slight splitting cough.

The 10-year-old child sat with his legs together in his seat, glancing at the two detectives and looking back and forth nervously at the windows and doors. Tim forced himself to smile at the child even though he was tired.

“You don’t have to be nervous, Josh. Just tell me what you know.”

“……Yes.”

“Well, was there anything strange about Eli before it happened, like being close to a stranger or being looked at from a distance by a suspicious person?”

“……no. He just said his grandfather hits him too much these days. He’s been harassing him a lot. It must have been hard. He said he wanted to get away from home, often.”

This answer again? While Tim was trying not to sigh, with one glance at the blatantly sighing Jude, Tim nodded tiredly.

“Yes…..are there kids he’s gotten close to lately, or the others you don’t know?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t just hang out with me every day.”

The child looked depressed and uneasy at first glance. With both hands constantly fidgeting, it seemed that he wasn’t very comfortable to sit down.

-Is criminal interrogation a heavy burden on young children? No matter how gentle we are, it may be harsh for children. As soon as Tim, who was looking awkwardly at the half-baked child, was about to say it was okay to go back, the words that came out of the child’s mouth stopped Jude, who was trying to put the pen behind his ears.

“He always said he wanted to get out of it, so he got what he wished for.”

The slightly dispersed gaze of Tim and Jude quickly turned to the child due to the tone that was soft yet not childlike. The child’s face was brusque, full of stiffness, as if wary of the two detectives. Tim, who had been choosing words in his mouth for a while, finally opened his mouth smoothly.

“But Josh, dying is not a good thing. And Eli was your friend.”

“But he always said he wanted to run away from his grandfather, but he always looked sad because he couldn’t run away. Don’t you think it’s better to disappear? Adults kill themselves a lot, don’t they?”

“That’s not right. If there’s anyone who made Eli do it, that’s not right. That’s why we’re looking for someone like that right now.”

“If there was someone like that, Eli would have appreciated it! That person gave him the courage to get away, to be free!”

The outburst sounded like weeping somehow. His face, not as fierce as the outcry, was twisted with fear and antipathy. As Tim looked at Josh’s face without finding the right words due to distress and unease, Jude sighed loudly, clapping his hands.

“Okay, whatever. The idea of death is different from person to person. Josh, you can get going. Good job.”

“Jude, what …”

“He’s not running away, Tim. Later.”

With a short, low voice, Tim shut up. As soon as Josh looked alternately at the two detectives as if he wanted something and eventually left the room with his eyes full of tears, Tim hastily asked Jude.

“What the hell? Why did you send him out? It’s weird. We’ll have to look into it.”

“There’s nothing weird about it. You can focus on people who are close to the kids.”

“Then you don’t have to send him out. We can ask him.”

“He can’t talk. I don’t know if there’s another kid or an adult behind him, but they’re in higher position than him. I mean, at least in his head. That’s why he’s like that; otherwise he’d have told us as soon as he saw us. Besides, he’s very confident about what he did, although he’s nervous. We shouldn’t have pressed him, and he should be part of the people who orchestrate this…. At any rate, if he’s watched by someone, we’re going to hit the bull’s-eye.”

“His doings?”

“Yeah, he said that before. Eli will thank the person for doing that. There’s no reason to justify that, because he was involved in it. But he was scared because it seemed to be too big for him. But if the cause is loyalty or fear, he can’t tell us straight, but he’s got answers that justify their actions. It’s obvious, right? But he’s getting scared because we didn’t answer him. Didn’t you see the last expression? He went out with tears in the end.”

“Oh, how can you………. so sure?”

“Sure? Sure, of course. Otherwise, why would he reacts like that? Who would say anything in defense of the murderer when he hears that his friend around him is dead and that someone may have been involved in his death? No matter how run down ten-year-olds are these days, they’re not to that extent. Besides, what’s with the nuance? It’s like a little kid shouting, “I didn’t do anything wrong!” Given that he’s under a lot of stress, he might have opposed to this. That’s not yet known.”

“….. Yea… yeah.”

“Oh, he might be like Eli, but it’s still strange that he’s not only in favor of the death itself, but he’s also in favor of the ringleader. Let’s meet the rest of the kids, and if there’s nothing in particular, let’s focus on them. Oh, we don’t have to do that. We can just tell Beckman.”

It felt like a voice reading one of the most boring pages in the newspaper – not particularly surprising or serious – as Jude yawned. Tim looked at Jude with a slightly blank look on his face, sometimes, really occasionally, but there were times when his partner startled him. Of course, Josh’s behavior made him feel something suspicious, but he didn’t feel so specific that he could get into the child’s head so quickly. First of all, it was very disconcerting.

“So, Tim, it’s past lunchtime now.”

“Oh, uh, yeah?”

The blond detective, who just startled Tim, turned to his brown-haired partner with the most pitiful expression possible.

“Let’s eat something then continue.”

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