chapter 34

“Wh, why? Why did you call me again?”

Josh, who they saw again, looked much more nervous than before. He glanced at the two detectives, fidgeting his hands and feet restlessly, as they take him to another empty room, not an interrogation room, and sitting on a chair. His face was blue, and he seemed to realize that he was in trouble. Sitting motionless on the chair in front of him, Jude opened his mouth casually.

“Oh, it’s not much – but you’re not good at lying by nature. Josh, let me ask you something. It’s important.”

“Well, what is it? I don’t know anything other than what you said last time?”

“Have you had any weird get-togethers with your friends?”

At any rate, his small shoulder sprang over. The blue eyes grew greener and trembled little by little. Feeling at the same time that somehow they became a villain and mysterious at the situation, Tim spat at Jude in a low voice.

“Jude, what are you talking about all of a sudden? What strange gathering……”

“Sorry, Tim, later, later. Josh, talk to me. Have you ever met your usual friends and talked about anything unusual? I won’t ask about strangers.”

“Why…..why? It doesn’t matter what we do among ourselves, does it matter?”

“Oh, of course it matters. I’m a cop, and your friends are dead.”

“They’re……..!”

“Ah, yes. You’re trying to say they’ve finally freed themselves again. Yeah, well, whatever you think. But I have to care about the people who ‘let them free’. But you know what I’m thinking as time goes by? I don’t think this has anything to do with that teacher. You don’t know, do you? The teacher who passed on the idea of Schopenhauer’s pessimism, who was close to the late Reeve and Eli, he’s stuck at the police station right now.”

“Mr., Mr. Lance….”

The child’s face, turned a little whiter. Perhaps he did not hear that the teacher had been arrested, because he was brought from the teacher’s office quietly – since the crime was not confirmed yet, and it was demeaning to catch him in front of the children.

“Yes, he’s being beat up in there now for allegedly causing your friends to die. He’s denying it now, but after hours of interrogation, he’ll lose his mind. He won’t have the energy to argue with others. By then, he might feel like he has done something wrong. Then what if he confesses? That poor teacher will be socially buried. He dared to kill the children on the subject that he teaches.”

“Wait, Jude. What are you saying to the kid…”

“Josh, I knew you knew something. I didn’t know who was behind you, so I just didn’t try to touch it, but now that he’s been arrested, things have changed. I don’t think he’s the cause. Even college students don’t do it these days because they are fascinated by Schopenhauer’s ideas. But if he stays here, well, it’s a bit of a quandary, so if he stays here, even if he’s innocent, he can still be guilty. That’s why I’m checking you out now.”

Jude’s eyes were serious, and he kept his eyes straight into the eyes of the child and spoke clearly.

“Really, do you think that teacher killed Reeve and Eli and Carrie?”

“……..”

“Josh.”

Little by little, the breathing became like a wheeze. His hiccupping breathing made his heart throb several times, and Josh’s face twisted. Tears came to his eyes in an instant. Josh, who tried to hold back his tears by biting his lips several times, heard Jude said halfheartedly – “Well, if you’re not going to talk, that teacher is going to go to jail. Take care of yourself.”- Slowly, with his voice to suppress his cry and his head down said.

“Mr. Lance is not a bad person…”

“Then.”

“Jude, you don’t have to push him too hard.”

Feeling sorry to Josh, who was trying to bite the corners of his mouth with tears hanging in his eyes, Tim held Jude’s shoulder lightly. Looking at Tim, Jude sighed quietly. Reaching out a little awkwardly and rubbing Josh’s hair, Jude asked in a soft voice.

“No, you know, it’s not like I’m taking them here. I just want you to tell me. These days, no one has seen any suspicious people, and no one has been transferred to another school. So it’s just things that happened between the kids who were there, but when I changed the question a little, there was one adult who knew something.”

“……what……….heuk, he said, what….?”

“I think he heard the kids at school once at night. He didn’t perceive it when I asked for suspicious people, but when I asked him if there had been anything unusual in school these days, he thought about it for a while and then he told me? By the way, do you know how many times did I dial the phone to hear this?”

“Mr. Matt…..aah.”

Toward the bewildered little face, Jude smiled altruistically.

“Ah, yeah, Uncle Matt. He’s a security guard. You must know something, don’t you? Okay, what did you do there in the middle of the night? Who was there?”

“……that’s…… I don’t know, I can’t……”

“Josh, I know you’re scared. You don’t want to be abandoned by your friends, do you? But among your friends, three died, I’m sure they were the ones who gathered there. It’s a big deal.”

“No, no. I’m not. They’re… …!”

“Okay, I’m out. I’m getting tired of this too. Whatever it is, they’re dead. They’re dead, okay? It’s not something I can turn a blind eye to, and it’s not something you can forget. And, you know, is that good? Are you relieved that they’re gone in the name of being free? No, right? You’ve been having a hard time, haven’t you?”

“No, no. No! No! They did it to let them be free from it!”

The boy’s soprano voice split the room with a crackling sound. Unknowingly, Tim looked back at Jude, frowning. The blond detective was laughing like someone who figured out the last word of the word puzzle. Feeling unfamiliar, Tim looked at him with a strong sense of incompatibility. He never looked like this when he was investigating the case.

“You’re saying they did it, who did it? Who?”

“………….. I really… I didn’t know this would happen…..I didn’t know it would be this big…”

“Yes, you didn’t know. So who made you do that?”

“……I’m scared, I’m scared…”

“It’s all right, this is the police station. There’s plenty of cops, and I’m gonna protect you from anyone hurting you, so there’s nothing to worry about. Who made you do that?”

The child fidgeted with both hands several more times. When the child, who was rubbing his feet, finally opened his small mouth, Tim forgot about Jude and held on to the armrest in surprise.

“… Connie.”

“Connie? Is it Connie …”

“The boy who came with Clara earlier!”

“Ah, that kid. So, was Connie the leader of your group?”

“….y, yes……. Connie…”

Tim, who looked at Josh humming with his head bowed, immediately grabbed Jude’s arm. After mouthing, ‘Wait a moment’ toward Jude’s slightly confused eyes, Tim took Jude and left the room. To the partner who nonchalantly said “why?”, Tim asked with a confused head.

“All right, Jude, I don’t know what’s going on right now. Can you explain?”

“Oh? Explanation, you’ve heard everything. A children’s meeting. It’s what teenagers do often.”

“Wait, so they killed the kids at the meet-up?”

“Well, I’ll have to ask him the details, but it’s better ask the ringleader. I don’t know everything, Mr. Tim, I was just told there was a gathering like that at best of all. But at least I don’t think there’s an adult involved……but something feels wrong, I’ll have to ask him again.”

“Huh? Ask what more? Can’t we just call Connie first? Come to think of it, maybe Connie asked Clara to tell us earlier.”

“Hmm…. Let’s call Connie first. But I don’t think he’s the ringleader, he’s got a weird attitude. I was going to ask him because he seemed to be lying, but Tim, you dragged me out so I couldn’t ask……. Josh!”

“Jude, he’s still a kid, go easy! What’s wrong with you?”

Holding Jude’s arm a little hard as he opened the door, the unintentional green eyes looked at Tim for a moment curiously.

“What do you mean, what do I do? I’m just asking, he’s no different. You can’t ask him anything if you keep on pitying him.”

“But…..!”

“They’re dead, and we want to solve it as soon as possible. If you don’t like it, go tell Beckman what’s going on. Let the poor man go before he makes a hard confession. Okay? I’ll take care of this side.”

In a sullen look, Jude pushed Tim gently and closed the door. After staring at the closed door for a moment, Tim soon shook his head erratically and began to move his feet. As Jude said, it might have been him who had clouded judgment. When he said children, he just thought they would be pure and kind. He had nothing to say if they were too naive, but it wasn’t right for him to question them.

Still, he wouldn’t do it too hard. As he walked to the end of the hallway trying to silence the commotion in his mind, suddenly the door of Josh and Jude’s room opened with a fierce sound. Bam! As Tim turned around surprised by the sound, Jude grabbed Tim’s arm as the footsteps getting closer.

“Let’s go, there’s another question!”

“What? No, Jude, what?”

“Lance! We have to go to Lance!”

Jude, who ran to the interrogation room in a dangerous three-legged duo with Tim shouting, “Uh, well, Jude, wait, Jude!”, suddenly opened the door of the interrogation room and received the wide-eyed look of Beckman and Lance, who was sitting with a depressed face. Regardless of the obvious signs of doubt in the gaze, Jude came to the front of Lance, letting go of Tim’s arm.

“Mr. Hamilton, I have a question. It’s about a student.”

“What? What, do you have another question…”

“Jude, what the hell is this all of a sudden? What’s going on?”

On Beckman’s face, there was surprise and light anger at the same time. It was a situation where he couldn’t say anything even if he was disciplined for trespassing during interrogation. Feeling both puzzled and bewildered, Tim looked at Jude’s appearance. I think he’s got something, but who’s he trying to ask about?

“It’s about a student, just in case you know.”

“Ha, when it comes to student’s privacy, I can’t say it myself…”

“This kid is closely related to the death of the students. If you don’t tell me, you’ll be in trouble too.”

Lance, seemed extremely confused, looking through Jude’s face several times as if he was trying to read what Jude was thinking, finally nodded his head.

– When a student’s name popped out of Jude’s mouth, Tim ended up clamoring with astonishment.