88 Open-Ended Question (1/2)

”Sebastian,” he called. ”I need to show you some case files on this guy.” We hurried behind him and he led us into a small office.

”You even have an office?” Sebastian asked, looking impressed.

”I share it with another person,” Detective Nash replied, throwing a glance at the other desk in the room. ”Here is the file,” he shuffled over his desk and found it.

”Why are you still so unorganized?” Sebastian asked, his brow scrunched up. He peered at the empty cup of coffee that had been left for at least a day on the desk and shook his head in disgust.

”It is all in order, okay? You can't see it, but there is a pattern to this madness,” he told us. Sebastian handed me the files and motioned me to go over it. I read through it and passed it to him.

”He was one of the four high school boys who gang-raped a female classmate. The case never made it to court because two of the other boys had powerful parents. It was swept under the rug.” I mulled over it. ”There are multiple possibilities,” I mumbled.

”What do you think they are?” Sebastian asked. I saw him hold up a hand to stop Detective Nash from speaking. I gave him a small smile as I started to speak.

”He was not an active member in the rape and just stood around watching them rape and kill her. He considered himself weak and unable to stop it from happening, so he is taking it out on others now that he has the power to doll out justice.”

I looked at the two men in approval. ”That could be a possibility,” Detective Nash said in a contemplative tone. ”It's like in the group of bullies, it is one or two people who do the actual bullying while the other just stand around and watch it happen. With those other two having powerful parents, it must have made him feel inferior in the group. He might have felt invisible and unable to do anything, so he is expressing exhibitionism in his method of killing.”

”Makes sense,” Sebastian commented decisively. ”What about the other options?”

I chuckled. ”He was part of the group, he took part in it but feels an extreme level of guilt and is punishing others of the same crime that he wasn't punished for. He's too much of a coward to punish himself, so he, by punishing others, is recovering from his guilt.” What a joke.

”We can't ascertain which it is because the case files were not available. The evidence is confidential and we couldn't access it.” Detective Nash wanted to throw something.

”Now, during the interrogation, we will have to find out which one it is by talking to him about it,” Sebastian glanced at me. I gave him a pointed look. ”Nash, what do you think about giving my assistant a crash course on interrogation?” he asked, flashing the brightest smile I had seen on his face.

Detective Nash turned to appraise me. ”What do you think?” he asked.

”I have great translation skills and can handle tense situations. I won't let you down.” I bowed, hoping this would be enough.

”You don't need to convince me. I'll let you in. Sebastian asked me for a favor, how can I say no?” he, too, grinned mischievously. ”I'll trust his judgment.”

I kept my head down, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

”Let's go over our strategy and signals so that we can coordinate effortlessly in the conversation,” I said firmly.

”Oh! You know collaborative interrogation technique!” Detective Nash exclaimed.

”I did my research over the past couple of days because Sebastian informed me that he would bring me into an interrogation if the situation arose.” Always better to be prepared.

”Quite the girl scout, aren't you?” he joked. Over the next few hours, we tracked down the reactions we were looking for and how we're going to communicate.

”You are familiar with the branched behavioral response, right?” Detective Nash asked suddenly.

”Yes, multiple possibilities and reactions to them. It's what my mind goes to effectively.”

And therefore, the time had come. Dean Stanley had arrived and he was waiting in the interrogation room. He had been offered a cup of coffee as per his preference and he was leisurely sipping on it. The police officers who had gone to his home had only summoned him and asked him to come at his own leisure.