I Am Tired Of Being A Hero
Chapter 81: Interrogating the students

Chapter 81: Interrogating the students

"She did not even say anything that can help?" Lisa grumbled as she settled in her seat.

Sarah looked through the students’ record in front of her, flipping through it, "Emily has great grades, she has been on top of her class from the moment she joined the school last two years, Marcus’s scores are more average and Jack, well, from what I am seeing, he is a typical sport’s student. Ravi, do you have anything else to add? A strategy?"

"Yes, you have been oddly quiet." Lisa thought and she placed her hand on her mouth, "Couldn’t it be that you do not want to go with me and you would rather go with the Captain instead?" Seeing the shocked expression on Ravi’s face, "Don’t mind me. I am just joking. How would you not want to go with me, your very cute partner." She held her cheeks, pulling them in what she believed to be a cute manner.

Ravi’s heart pounded. Now, someone else said it, it sounded even more ridiculous out loud, "I am a little nervous. If it is arson, then it is a major case."

Lisa’s eyes widened and the smile on her face instantly dropped.

"Don’t scare her, Officer West. Officer Johnson, the students would be here anytime, act more composed and mature."

"I am always composed and mature."

A minute later, there was a knock on the door and a young man followed by the Guidance Counselor entered the room. The teenager was skinny with chestnut-colored hair that stopped shortly above his nape. His eyes were light brown and it reflected a mixture of nervousness that he tried to hide. He fiddled with the glasses on his nose bridge that was glued with scotch tape.

"Hello." He said and sat down, "Should I ask why you all are looking for me?"

"What is your name?"

"Marcus Reynolds. Grade 12."

Sarah looked through his files, "From 8 o’clock to 11 o’clock last night, where were you?"

Marcus’ throat moved but he did not look up at any of them, "at..at home."

"What were you doing at home?"

"I...I just watched some TV."

"Who was with you at home?"

"Nobody...I just watched it alone. My mom...she works late."

"So you did not visit Michael Grill and Bar." Lisa asked and he shook his head.

"No."

"Have you ever Visited Michael Grill and Bar?"

The boy shook his head.

Sarah instantly placed some pictures on the table, "Then Mr Reynolds, could you tell me who this is?"

The teenager began to stutter, "No...I visited."

"You did not visit. Now You visited. Don’t try to lie to us, or things will get worse." Sarah slammed her fist on the table, scaring Ravi who almost jumped out of his skin. Even the Guidance Counselor got to her feet, she wanted to move forward but Ravi looked at her clearly telling her to go and sit down.

"I...I went a few times."

"Did you go alone?" Sarah asked him. He hesitated for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"I went with my friends."

"Why did you go there with your friends and harass the owner of Micheal’s grill and bar?"

"That...she was killing animals."

"Was that the reason you tried to kill her and burned her father and brother alive?" Ravi asked suddenly and the boy paled. He looked like he was planning to throw up.

"No. I didn’t. We would never do something like that. We just wanted to put some giraffes on their wall so that they would stop harming all those animals. We did not burn them!" His voice croaked and the Guidance Counselor stood up and hurriedly went to pat his back.

"Officers, I think that is enough. He had told you all he knew. Can he go now? You said this is not an interrogation."

"Of course, he can go. Mr Reynolds if you recall anything. Please contact the Police Bureau." Sarah said, her harsh voice turning more gentle as the Guidance Counselor left with the teenager.

She turned to Ravi sharply, "Why did you do that?"

"He is never contacting the Police Bureau again. Do you think he would be traumatized by police officers from now on? Sarah, do not be angry, Ravi wanted to catch him off guard. From his reaction, I would say he did not. He is too squeamish to be an arsonist."

Sarah took a deep breath and soon the door opened for Emily. Emily was taller and looked like she played lots of sports. Her short, sandy blond hair was neatly styled and she had a pair of sincere blue eyes. She did not look nervous but entered the room boldly and sat down.

"Yes, I have been to the Michael Grills and Bar several times. I am the president of the Knights of Earth Organization and that grill was not practicing ethical methods when purchasing or killing the animals, plus they dumped the leftovers instead of giving them to orphanages or outreach stations. They are cruel and only care about profit."

"That gives cause to harm. Did you plan to harm them, perhaps burn them as a warning." They watched her expression closely and the girl looked as shocked as they did.

"I care about the environment and the animals but I am not a medical savage. I was not even up for the giraffe plan but Jake insisted that it would cause them to change so I vetoed it. We absolutely did not do anything like that. The day the fire happened, I was at Glory Study Cafe."

"By 2 a.m"

"Yes. My home is a few blocks from the Cafe so I study from 12 pm to 3 a.m. They have CCTV. You can see me there. We were wrong but we did not have any intention to hurt them. We did not do it." She said firmly, looking like she was about to pull out more evidence if any of them tried to deny her.

"Do you remember anything odd that happened when you lurked around the Grill? Any strange person or interaction?"

Emily thought for a while, strange interaction. She recalled the man with a black cap who had been helping the beautiful blind man cross the road. He is definitely not who the police are looking for.

She shook her head, "Officer, does this mean that the fire was not an accident? Was it arson?" She leaned closer to the desk without fear, her eyes filled with a gossipy nature that could only belong to teenagers.

"It is a routine investigation. We are not sure of anything right now."

She clicked her tongue, "What a standard answer, officer can I go home?" They dismissed her and soon the last student of the trio came in.

He was an Art student and it clearly showed in everything he wore to the different hair dyes on his head. He collaborated with the story and lovingly went ahead to show them the picture he had drawn for their wall giraffe and the spray cans and what else he had prepared.

"It is a pity." He said and for a second Lisa was not sure if he meant the deaths or the fact that he would never be able to use his, don’t slaughter pigs artwork. As for if he noticed anything or anyone strange, he had nodded before saying that everyone was strange and that was the beauty of humanity. He was clearly the strange one in their group of four.

He bid them bye cheerfully and shivered.

"Sarah, I suddenly pity you."

"Don’t, Susan is an angel."

"Your words make me pity you even more."

Susan was Sarah’s little daughter. She had come to the office once or twice. Children huh, he looked around the campus where the children were either walking or running up and down.

Asher should be here. He should be getting his education, the thing about school was that it helped children dream for more. It had definitely helped him. But that child has been so afraid to go to a restaurant.

He rubbed his forehead. What should he do? To be honest, he did not know Asher’s literary ability and he could not ask the child to shapeshift back.

Could he? Just to ask some questions.

His chest pounded, Was he ready? Was Asher ready? The cat form was like a self-defensive mechanism, and judging from how familiar he was with the cat form, it was not the first or the second time that he was assuming this form.

"At least they are innocent." Lisa said and then changed her words, "We should not assume but I really have great hopes for them. Still praying this is an accident. We should go and eat, I am famished. I know some really good spots around here. Right, Sarah, what was the case of the woman that came early in the morning? It looks serious."

Sarah frowned, "The woman did not say anything. No matter how I pushed and coaxed her. In the end, I had to ask her to leave. Maybe she was playing a prank. We get stuff like that at times."