Washington County Jail
“Hey, hurry up in there.” I called to her again. She wasn’t answering me and I’d begun to think that she snuck out through the bathroom window. I knocked on the door agitated at her defiance.
“I’m fine!” She yelled back. Another curdled sound hit the porcelain and I shook my head.
“Miss Kasey?” I called after a while.
“Jennifer!” I clutched the handle tighter in my hand and thought twice about entering. She’d tasted the blood. I heard the toilet flush and she came out of the bathroom with a paper pressed to her lips and cheeks bulging. Her eyes looked right through me.
“Hey, Cop, got any water?” She said. I gritted my teeth and pointed over to the blue jug and cone cups by my desk. She walked over and I couldn’t help but feel like I was gaining something as I watched her struggle to dispense the water and keep hold of the paper towel. She finally managed and then sat at the chair behind my desk, leaving me the small flimsy plastic chair that sat on the other side.
I grunted and clinched my fists.
“Get up.” I demanded, annoyed at first. She stayed where she was and I pounded my fist on the desk seeing her eye twitch. It annoyed me that she could act so tough one moment and completely helpless the next, though it gave me the upper hand when I wanted it. Something was very wrong with this woman and I didn’t want to stay with her much longer. She stared at me and I got the eerie feeling that she was reading my thoughts.
“I __” She started. Her mouth hung open a moment and she began to look even more like a child to me. Then she shut it and got up from my desk, keeping her eyes on my gun hanging in its holster. I hadn’t noticed that my hand gripped it in what would look like a warning. I felt a tinge of guilt and grabbed her arm as she headed for the other chair.
“Don’t make this any harder than it has to be, Jennifer. You get through this interrogation and you get to go home.” The sooner the better. My prayers were answered when the interrogator showed up at my side. The hefty man that I’d learned to call Bill looked at my grip on her arm and I released it hearing Jennifer’s sigh.
“Miss Kasey?” He asked. She nodded and I followed them to the small colorless room, taking the door to the room parallel of it. I saw her sit down and she seemed much smaller behind the long table. She looked at me through the glass and for a moment I believe she saw more than just her reflection.
I sat just beyond the glass, hunched over and feeling the cold air from the vent above me. I heard the speaker to my left muffle on and my ears became alert to the interrogator’s cough.
“So Miss Kasey, did you know Erin Swanson well?” She pushed her hair behind her ear and unbuttoned the cuff of her coat.
“No.” I gritted my teeth together until I thought they might crack. She’d told me that she knew him.
“Officer Harpen told me that you were devastated, you’re telling me that you hardly knew the guy?” I could hear the urge in his voice and saw Jennifer’s eyes flicker to my spot behind the mirror and back to her hands.
“Yes.” Her voice shook and I could see her clench her fists.
“So you’re telling me you lied to an officer?” She frowned and her jaw jutted out. I was afraid she was going to leap at the man but she looked back down.
“I didn’t lie to him. He didn’t even ask me if I knew Mr. Samson__ I mean Swanson, damn it.” There’s no doubt that I wanted to hit her after that. Even worse, the interrogator looked like he was believing her. I clenched and unclenched my fists.
“Have you been drinking?” The interrogator asked, drumming his fingers on the table.
“Yes.” Jennifer answered, prodding her stomach. She winced and the interrogator eyed her suspiciously.
“How long has it been since you had your last drink?” I saw her fingers stretch for her thigh and then stop short. Something was going on, I knew it. She was hiding something and I wanted to know what, I could almost swear that she’d killed Mr. Swanson.
“Eight hours.” She said, standing and then sitting more comfortably on her right side. I shifted in my seat as I watched her lie again. I’d follow her after this interrogation. Bill coughed.
“Jennifer, that’s your name right?” She nodded. “If you killed Mr. Swanson out of self defense, we can help you through this.”
“Why do you think that?” She asked too quickly. I didn’t even know why he’d thought that. Mr. Swanson was a model citizen and a patriot, we’d seen it in his files.
“Well for one, your position shows you’re in pain. Did you kill Mr. Swanson because he was harming you?” She shook her head and pushed her hair over her shoulder. With the way she was acting, I was beginning to think along the same lines as bill. It would explain why she was so timid around me.
“I could lift that man and throw him against a wall, and I’m not in pain.” She murmured the last words and I scanned her for any scratches or bruises. She looked all right to me, though she’d taken on a sickly pale.
“Thrown against a wall? Hmm, nothing in our reports say that he was thrown against a wall.” I saw her bite her lip.
“Mr. Harpen told me that I could examine the body and…his spine was cracked, there was blood high on the wall above the dumpster. Mr. Swanson was a big man. Unclothing him, strangling him, and then throwing him is a definite physical incapability for me.”
“…You’re telling me that Mark let you see and examine Mr. Swanson’s dead body?” She nodded a matter-or-factly and I dropped my head from my hands, slamming it against the desk. She’s a doctor! I was lucky if she didn’t get my ass fired. She committed murder, oh I’d make sure of it.
“And how do you know about the other offences?” He asked, anger heating his voice.
“I’m a certified doctor at Providence hospital in Northeast Portland. His eyes were bloodshot and his neck was bruised.” And you tasted the blood you sick broad, don’t forget that. Bill nodded.
“Where were you at the time of Mr. Swanson’s death, Jennifer?” She scratched her head, knowing she was getting away with something.
“I don’t know, I wasn’t told when he died.”
“Thursday, February 10th. Where were you from 7:00am to 11:00pm?” She grunted and smirked.
“I was at the hospital. I’d been on call all day.” He nodded and reached forward for the recorder. I stretched and left my seat, standing in front of their door. It opened and I saw Jennifer shake hands with the interrogator. She looked over in my direction as if she was seeing me for the first time.
“Mark?” She smiled and reached her hand forward to shake mine. I took it firmly and then let go, remembering the trouble she could have just gotten me in. “Could you drive me home? You kinda just took me from my house.” You kinda just jumped in my car. I nodded and followed her out through the doors and to my car. For some reason I felt relieved to be behind her again. I didn’t trust her actions and yet she behaved so vulnerably, I guess from here I felt we were both safe. She got into the backseat and I started the engine.
“I’m sorry.” She murmured. I turned to look at her, surprised by the apology.
“Why?” I asked, though I new she had several things to be sorry for.
“For what I said. I could have gotten you fired.”
“You probably already have.” I said through gritted teeth. I tried to forget about. Even if I did get fired, I’d figure out what was going on. “Hey, what happened to your stomach?” I asked, trying to relieve the tension as I pulled out and started for the freeway. She laughed but I sensed no humor.
“That’s a random question.” She shook her head.
“Is it?” I pushed. Her eyes snapped up at me and I knew I’d struck a nerve.
“And a personal one.” She said angrily.
“Everything’s personal.” I informed, unwilling to give up.
“That’s__ too personal. You don’t need to nor want to be involved in my life any more than you already are.” She had that right, though now I wanted to know more.
“Jennifer, if you could just tell me__”
“No.” She interrupted. “I can’t okay, it’s not even important enough. I’m fine. You should really stop caring so much Cop, it isn’t part of the job.” I pulled up to her house, trying hard not to argue.
“You’ll be okay then?” I asked. It sounded pathetic and she probably thought that I actually cared about what happened to her. If I could just figure out this case, maybe I could get promoted, or get my job back. It depended on how much Bill mulled over my mistake.
She nodded and her eyes looked pleadingly at me.
“Bye.” I said, pulling out and driving around the corner before she got to her door. I stopped my care on the side of the road and rubbed my eyes.
What a day. When I took this job I’d expected a busy day to consist of stopping a couple speeding cars. Damsels in distress had crossed my mind once or twice, but none like Jennifer. I wonder if I can just let this one go. Could an officer do that? I’d be fired for sure then, wouldn’t I?
The sound of banging disturbed my thoughts and I looked up startled, putting my hand to my gun. It was a muscular man, bows furrowed and mouth moving rapidly. I rolled down my window and realized he was yelling at me.
“Hey, what were you doing with Jen? She in trouble?” I sighed but kept my hand on my gun.
“That’s restricted information, man. Couldn’t tell you, sorry.” He frowned and I saw the veins in his forehead.
“I’ll see what’s going on with her then. You leave her alone you hear?” I was two seconds from stepping out and arresting his ass but I stayed calm.
“I’m just doing my job, man. Do you know Jennifer?” He smiled.
“Yeah, me and Jen go way back. Well, I have to go. She’s been waiting for me.” I heard the sarcasm in his voice and reached for my phone when he walked away. Bill picked up on the other line.
“Hey, Bill? Yeah, I think I found out why Jennifer Kasey was in so much pain earlier. She’s been abused.”
-----------------
This was my first time ever writing from a male's perspective so please give me feed-back
.