Chapter 30
Another officer enters the room where I’ve been recounting my side of the story for hours.
“Wait. Stop there, Vera,” she announces, arms crossed.
I pause mid-sentence.
She gestures for Officer John Alonso to leave, and both of them disappear through the door. I’m left alone with Officer Horseface and my boss. No one says a word, but she rubs her face with her hands.
During this time, André has served himself coffee twice, and I’ve had them bring me coconut milk to add to mine before continuing.
There haven’t been any breaks. The police officers seem tired; who knows how long they’ve been working on the case?
Fuck it. I’ve been locked up all night, and they haven’t even offered me a croissant! I almost welcome the interruption.
The moment doesn’t linger. When they come back, their expressions reveal something’s wrong. André catches on as well, his eyebrows lifting in silent question.
“I’m the department head. My name is Mariah,” introduces the woman who had entered the room earlier.
Her hair is gathered into long dreadlocks that form a high bun.
One of them falls over her forehead as she leans over the table, taking the seat that Officer Alonso had occupied until now.
He hangs back and crosses his arms, knowing his place in the hierarchy.
André positions himself next to me, as if he were my protector.
“Is something wrong?” André asks, his voice cutting through the tension without dodging the obvious question.
I can almost hear his unspoken plea: Please, don’t say anything. Department head Mariah steps forward, holding out a paper, a transcript. Her eyes lock onto mine as she begins to speak.
“We’ve just taken this statement. It took me a few minutes to realise this, but… what you said earlier. About the relationship between Julian Garros and Antonia Hawtrey-Moore. Your involvement in all this. It caught my attention.”
“Why?” I ask, holding her gaze.
I can’t let her sense my fear. Not now.
“You claim not to know why you got involved in all this. Why did they give you the money? Do you know that lying in a police statement is a crime, Vera?”
My heart feels like it’s about to stop. I glance at my boss, who is absorbed in the document, then shift my focus back to Mariah. This is what I’ve been dreading all night, waiting for it to happen, yet, at the same time, wishing to a star for it to go unnoticed.
She gestures for me to read the file.
“Then, why did you do it?”