Chapter 64

“-Mr Ronwood! Mr Ronwood!”

“Stop for a second!”

Not too far from the police station, Tim and Jude shouted breathlessly at the back of a street busy with people walking at night. A middle-aged man in sportswear turned his head.

“Oh, yeah, what’s the matter? I’ve finished my statement…”

“Oh, my gosh, I’m dying, huh, wait a minute. Uh, can you show me your leg, please?”

“Le, legs? No, I’m fine. It’s really just a bit of a sprain…”

“Oh, it’s okay if it’s just a sprain, but it’s a big deal if you’ve been bitten by a dog. What if you get rabies?”

Jeremy’s words, which Jude waved his hands at, stopped as if the pause button on the radio was pressed at Jude’s remark. Soon he smiled with a face as if he didn’t understand what he meant.

“What do you mean bitten by a dog? I don’t have a dog.”

“You don’t get bitten by dogs you raised. But when you attack a dog owner, you should have been almost 100% prepared to get bitten.”

“You, what are you talking about…”

“Or take care of the dog first. Oh, but I guess you had no choice. If you take a long time, Mr Stanberg might have recognized you. Well, I understand.”

Jeremy, who looked at Jude in the dark nodding his head as if he was truly liberal, soon let out a vain smile. It was a smile that was subtly distorted in balance, somewhere, and Tim spoke firmly to him.

“I just need you to show me your injured leg. Please cooperate.”

It was a voice that left no room for discussion. The smile on Jeremy’s face twitched and soon turned stiff. Tim’s face, looking at the expression, flashed a warning light.

“Hey, guys. It’s a violation of human rights, I don’t know why you’re doing this to me all of a sudden, but if you really want to do this, you can get a warrant…”

“You want me to bring it? Well, don’t you know it won’t make a difference anyway? In the meantime, your legs won’t heal, and the evidence from the dog you beat to death won’t change. I’m sure the jury would prefer you admit it, rather than hold it to the end.”

“Mr Ronwood, as he said. There’s no difference between getting a warrant or not. It’s best if you cooperate with us.”

Tim added politely. Jeremy kept his mouth shut.

His fist was clenched as he looked at the ground. His facial muscles trembled irregularly, like the cassette tape that was fast-forwarding and slow-winding alternately. His muscle texture moved oddly, filling the friendly and quiet impression with rough wrinkles. Tim reflexively grabbed the pistol grip as the bloodshot eyes gleamed. At the same time as a fuming roar erupted from his mouth, the middle-aged man rushed his body toward the blond detective in front of him who has been irritating. Tim did not hesitate to pull out the gun.

Jude moved before Tim issued a pre-fire warning. Jeremy’s eyes, as his arm was bent prematurely as he was rushing forward, were wide open. Jude, who did not reduce the force as he pressed on his torso while bending his arm, pushed Jeremy down to the ground.

-Udeudeuk! An unhinged sound rang out in the eardrums. The hostility of the shout turned into a cry of terrible pain. The people on the street stopped and looked at Jeremy. Tim quickly pulled out his ID card as he plugged the gun back in. “Public service duty, NYPD.” Those who cast disrespectful and frightened glances soon turned their heads and hurried their way. Whether his shoulder is off or his arm is broken, it wasn’t known but he just pulled Jeremy up -there was a shrieking cry- and Jude pulled out his handcuffs.

“It hurts, doesn’t it? Why do you run, it’s better than trying to escape. It’ll be painful, so I’ll keep it short. Jeremy Ronwood, you’re under arrest for the assault on Roman Stanberg. You have the right to remain silent…”

Tim approached his partner who spits out Miranda Rights, which are twice as fast as usual. On the contrary, Tim’s breath was lighter than Jude’s. Jude handcuffed Jeremy’s hand after reading up to the last phrase, “-can be appointed for you.” Tim tapped Jude on the back and asked.

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah, he didn’t even have a weapon. Let’s go, put him in and let the wife go.”

“Oh, yes, Mrs Stanberg, she’s still at the station. Come to think of it, his wife was already out of the picture when you assumed the culprit was his neighbours, but I forgot.”

Tim gave a small exclamation. Jude swept his distracting hair back and nodded.

“Well, what can we do? It was just a hypothesis, too. We can go and release her now. We’ve never even treated her like a suspect.”

“That’s true…”

“Okay, let’s go. She doesn’t look so good, so I thought she might be sick.”

Did the old woman look that bad? I thought it was because she saw two detectives who suddenly broke into the house. Listening to Jeremy’s shriek and Jude’s voice lacking in seriousness, — “Come on, let’s go. It’s not that far away, so no matter what happens to your arm, it won’t be any problem to walk.” “Argh, argh! It hurts! Let go of me, you son of a b*tch! What do you know, you know how hard I’ve been through because of that son of a b*tch!” “I’m not interested, so you don’t have to say it. Tim, he called me a son of a b*tch. Can I add some insult or something?” “Arghh! Don’t hold tight!” — Tim picked up his cell phone to contact his colleague who was questioning Karen.

“-Oh, Ron? I have something to ask…”

* * *

“Jeremy killed… Pell? To kill Pell, he…”

Karen couldn’t speak for a long time. Jude nodded lightly.

“Yes, Mr Ronwood, he has a record of visiting a psychiatrist several times with hysterical personality disorder. It’s been a month or so since he spent sleepless nights listening to Pell barking, he seemed quite determined.”

“I think he followed Mr Stanberg with a mask on and a golf club in the house. And he assaulted Mr Stanberg first and killed the dog so it couldn’t disturb him anymore. After throwing the dog in the trash can, he changed his clothes and took him to the police station.”

“It wasn’t meant to kill people. Well, it could be interpreted as an unscrupulous attempt to create his alibi. He’ll be charged with a criminal case anyway. I mean-.”

“-You can go back now.”

The old woman gazed at the two detectives as if to gauge Jude and Tim’s words. Karen, who was alternating between a brazen-faced Jude and a sincere-faced Tim soon rose from her seat.

“Thank you for that.”

The old woman’s face was imbued with anger and fatigue. Karen, who snatched the bag she had brought, gave Jude and Tim a bad look. Jude, who was looking back at her leisurely, raised his hand suddenly.

“Wait, I’ll give you a ride. It’s late, so you shouldn’t walk alone.”

Karen looked at the clock in the police station for a moment. The time was already approaching 11 o’clock. The round-faced old woman, who had been agonizing over it with an unwilling face for a while, soon nodded.

“All right……then please.”

The lady scuttled to the door. Following her, the two detectives exchanged glances briefly.

* * *