I rolled off my bed as someone continued to hammer their fists on the apartment’s front door.“For God’s sake,” I thought, as the knocking didn’t seize. Where were my parents? Why hadn’t Mom answered the door yet? I exited my room, closed my door with my foot and walked down the hallway to the door. I passed Wim’s room, the theme song of the game he loved to play blasting his eardrums, as he smashed away at the keyboard. I got a glimpse of his screen, and oh Lord… that didn’t look anything like the sort of game a 7-year-old should be playing. But it was none of my business, and the person at the door was still going at it, so I continued on my way.
“What?” I said, heaving open the front door. A man looked down at me, his police badge catching the light. He’d brought a friend; a lady in the same all-black uniform, with bold white lettering.
“May we speak with your parents?” the cop asked.
I slammed the door in her face a little too forcefully, and strolled to the living room, taking my time; they could wait. Mom and Yoo-jin were lounging on the sofa together watching a new Netflix show. It looked interesting, I’d ask them the name later.
“Hey, Yoo-jin,” he looked up at me, lazily. Mom didn’t look up. “The cops are here,” I watched his eyebrows shoot out of his head, and he hurriedly got up. I followed him down the hallway, but veered off back into my room, as he opened the front door again.
I heard them exchange a few words, mainly the cops, but when my dad did talk, his voice was deeper than usual; the tone he had when he was trying to stay calm.
My step-dad soon let them in, and I heard them head into the living room, and the TV switched off. I wouldn’t be able to hear anything from where they were, so I opened my laptop to browse Youtube.
Before I could click on the red play button, Mom’s voice rang through the apartment, screaming for us to come over.
Jeez. Her voice could be heard all the way in Quebec. My eardrums a-ringing, I rolled off my bed for the second time. Wim basically crawled out of his room, tripping over every single wire near his computer, with me as his laughing audience. I pulled him up and followed behind him to the living room.
The two cops eyeballed us as we walked in, sitting comfortably on our couch. The lady smiled at Wim and gave me a tighter one but the man had a permanent scowl on his lips.
“So, what’s up?” I asked, sitting beside Yoo-jin. The policeman continued to stare at me, harshly, and I did the same back. We both looked away as the woman began to talk.
“Well, last night, an elderly couple found a dead body outside the apartment building,” Mom gasped, and the cop nodded sadly, her hair dislodging itself from behind her ear and falling in front of her eyes. “The body was Senior Detective Adamms’ of our police force,” That name sounded familiar, I was pretty sure that he lived just next door. I finally started paying more attention to her. “He was stabbed to death and then thrown out of his bedroom window onto the streets,”
“Ah, I think I understand where this is going,” Mom said, resting her head on her hand. “You think we’re suspects,”
“Exactly, Mrs Lee-Park,” the male cop said, “We’re here to interrogate you. Now, we don’t want to waste too much time as we have other people to work with,” Oh, God, what a snob. Self-righteous sucker. “So, let’s get started,” he took out his notebook, “You are Mrs Soo-yun Lee, correct?” Mom nodded, “And, you are Mr Yoo-jin Lee,” Yoo-jin nodded. “I see, and who are these children?”
“Do-yun Park is my daughter, she’s 16, and Wim Lee is my son, he’s 7,” Mom said, pointing at us.
We were a mixed up family. Mom and Dad had had me, but they divorced a few years afterwards. Mom met Yoo-jin and they married and had Wim. I’d kept my Dad’s surname by choice, and Mom and Wim had taken Yoojin’s surname.
“Okay, so, what were you doing around 10 to 11 pm last night?” he asked, his pen at the ready.
“Me and Yoo-jin were at the Gala Restaurant on Harmonger Street. We were celebrating our 8th year as a married couple. Do-yun stayed home with Wim,”
“Wim was sleeping and I was watching a movie. I went to bed around 10.30pm, though,” I said.
“Do you usually go to bed around 10.30pm?” the lady asked.
“No, I was exhausted so I went to sleep early. I usually go to bed around midnight,” I winced as Mom glared at me. She wasn’t the biggest fan of my sleep schedule, especially when I was still in middle school.
“Hmm, well, we’ll have to check your alibis,” the lady said to Mom and Yoo-jin, “However, you’re children, unfortunately, will have to be put on the suspect list,” Her face didn’t have a hint of sympathy on it; ‘unfortunate’ my butt.
Mom protested, the wrinkles on her forehead creasing “Why? They’re both children! They wouldn’t do such a thing! They can’t!”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but age does not matter when it comes to cold-blooded killers.” she got up and lightly clapped her hands, “Please let us escort them to the police station,”
The other officer also got up and gestured towards Wim. “Come on, young man,” he said, and gently placed his hand on my brother’s back.
I grabbed Wim’s arm, dragging him towards me instead. I didn’t like the guy.
We made our way out of the front door, hand in hand, and after a quick elevator ride, we left the apartment building. Sure enough, a few metres away from the front doors, was an excessive use of police tape. The woman walked past her colleagues working in the area, to a sleek black car. “Get in,” she said, opening the door, and we did. Our parents joined us, and the car door clicked shut behind them.
The officers got into their allocated seats; the man at the wheel, the woman beside him.He turned the car key, and the engine revved. The car slowly inched forward, starting in the direction of the police station.
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