After waiting for what felt like an agonizing eternity, the moment Joshua had been dreading came abruptly. Rachel knocked once and opened his bedroom door, without waiting for him to grant permission. She stuck her head in and gazed at him appraisingly.
“The cop downstairs is ready for you now.”
“Come in and close the door.”
“What do you want Josh? I’m tired. I wanna take off this dress and lay down for a few minutes.”
“How did your interview go?”
“FINE, I guess. he tried to trip me up but I was ready for him.”
“What do you mean, he tried to trip you up?”
“He tried to get me to throw you under the bus, but it didn’t work.”
“Why was he trying to get you to do that?”
“To make life easier for himself. The quicker he can pin mama’s murder on somebody, the sooner he can close the case.”
“Why is he focusing in on me,” Joshua asked nervously.
“Relax Josh, he’s not singling you out. I really don’t think he cares who he pins this on. So, watch your ass down there. Don’t let him put words in your mouth or catch you off guard and get you to blurt out something that will put one us in a bind. Stop looking at me like a deer caught in headlights. If you go down there looking like that, he’s gonna think you’ve got something to hide. Maybe I should just go down there and tell him you don’t feel well. I’m sure he’d reschedule your interrogation.”
“No, I want to get this over with. I don’t need this hanging over my head. Besides, if I backed out after you all went ahead and did your interviews, then he really would think I have something to hide.”
Rachel shrugged and retreated to her room. Joshua had sounded braver than he actually felt. A life spent under his mother’s thumb turned him into a people pleaser. Joshua had a near pathological fear of displeasing anyone. he took a deep breath and stood up, scrubbing his damp palms on his pantlegs. it was better to forge ahead before he psyched himself out.
Each step closer to the living room robbed more of his resolve. Halfway down the stairs, Johua momentarily lost his nerve and paused to give serious consideration to turning back and making up some excuse to avoid the interview. then, The thought of Rachel taunting him for chickening out forced him down the steps and into the living room.
Officer Foster looked up, as Joshua walked in, flashed an insincere smile and waved a hand at the couch across from him. the officer’s unblinking gaze appraised him in an instant. joshua became awkward under the weight of the officer’s stare. foster could tell that joshua was a mama’s boy. joshua’s eyes were still damp from shed tears. foster resisted the urge to sneer. granted, the man had just lost his mother but foster was willing to bet that it wouldn’t have taken much to bring joshua to tears even before she died.
the shy retreating eyes which refused to meet his confirmed his suspicion that the man was weak. foster was a little disappointed. there was no way this marshmallow of a man would have enough backbone to kill a fly, let alone off his mother. still, a little pressure on him might yield a little dirt on his brother richard. foster decided to have a little fun with it. he narrowed his eyes suspiciously and leaned forwared slightly.
“where do i know you from?”
“Me? i don’t think we’ve ever met before,” said joshua dubiously.
“i never forget a face. have i ever arrested you before?”
“no, of course not! i’ve never been in trouble with the law. I never even gotten a traffic ticket.”
“that’s not what your brother said,” foster said giving him a knowing look.
Joshua caught his breath, looking at the officer with widened eyes.
“you mean he told you about my gambling,” the moment he said it, joshua realized that he had been tricked. richard would never share his personal business with this man or anyone eLSE…would he? Joshua gazed searchingly at foster who stared back expressionless. without missing a beat, the officer said, “so the mama’s boy likes to play the ponies huh? relax, i’m not gonna arrest you for that. we all place a friendly wager from time to time. it’s not a problem, unless it becomes an addiction. you got gambling debts?”
joshua stared at the officer in disbelief. was this man really prying into his personal affairs? what did that have to do with his mother’s death? unless…unless he was insinuating that he killed her. this couldn’t be happening! first his mother, his rock, his everyTHING suddenly died and left him all alone. Sure, his siblings were with him for the moment, but that woldn’t last. They had lives of their own in other states. Half the time, Harriet was overseas somewhere, performing with her ballet troop.
the thought of being alone for the rest of his life had sent joshua’s anxiety into overdrive. then there was the demands of her parishoners. his phone had been ringing off the hook, since Reverend Mother passed away. she hadn’t even been laid to rest and now this man was accusing him of murder! Lost in his anxious thoughts, joshua hadn’t heard foster’s question and was slow to perceive that the man was waiting for him to respond to it.
“i…i’m sorry, what does all this have to DO WITH what happened at the nursing home?”
“just making converesation. i feel it’s important to get to know the people i interview. is there some reason why you don’t want TO answer the question joshua?”
“i just don’t see how knowing about my personal life is going to help you catch my mother’s killer…if she was even murdred. i really think she died of natural causes.”
“is that right,” drawled foster. his lips spread into a smile which failed to warm his cold stare. joshua didn’t like the skeptical tone of his voice. foster stared him down for a few silent moments before continuing. “well, your sister rachel says that your mother had to have been murdered. are you saying THAT she’s a liar,” foster asked leaning forward slightly.
“What? no, of course not. i never said that. stop twisting my words.”
“Hey, i’m just tryiNG TO get clarification.”
“no you’re not. you’re trying to trick me into saying somETHING incriminating.”
“unless you killed your mother or were somehow invovled in her murder, then there ain’t no way that I could trick you into saying something incriminating. wait a minute…are you crying?”
“I…no, i’m not crying.”
“this ain’t even an interrogation and you’re crying. Know what I think? you got a guilty conscience.”
“i’m not crying!”
“Son, don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining. if you know something about your mother’s death, then you better tell me now. i can see in your eyes that there’s something you’re not telling me. are you protecting somebody or did you…you’re shaking your head. i don’t know what that means. are you saying that you know who killed your mother or did you do it?”
“What? No…no…I”
richard crept down the back stairs to the kiTCHEN, lookING FOR something to eat, not wishing to interrupt the interview in the front room. he couldn’t hear what was being said in the living room, just the muffled drone of Foster’s voice. Richard rolled his eyes, opened the refreigerator door and peered inside. he was prying the lid off of a tupperware bowl of leftovers, when he thought he heard joshua shout. richard went to the door, leading into the dining room and listened for a moment. he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
in a flash, he was through the door and charging into the living room. Foster had his armchair pulled acrOSS The room so far that his knees were nearly touching JOshua’s knees. richard recognized the invasion of his brother’s personal space by the officer as a HIGH-PRESSURE interrogation technique. Joshua looked terrified. Enraged, richard barely resisted the urge to grab foster up by the collar. instead, he shoved the armchair backwards.
“what the hell is going on in here?”
“i’m just asking your brother a few quesTIONS.”
“don’t play with me foster. you and i both know you’re in here putting the screws to my brother, trying to force a false confession out of him!”
“watch yourself richard. don’t go making wild accusations with no evidence. your brother was exhibiting suspicous behavior…”
“suspious behavior? what the hell are you talking about?”
“he was crying guilty tears.”
“our mother just died you asshole! get out of my house, before i throw you out!”
“what are you gonna do, if i don’t leave? you gonna file another one of your useless complaints? It’ll be your word against mine. who do you think they’re gonna believe a civilian or me?”
“Don’t make me call your bluff foster. don’t forget, i used to be on the force. you and i both know it wouldn’t be the first or even third time a civillian filed a complaint against you. i have it on good authority that things haven’t changed, since i left the force and you’re already skating on thin ice with internal affairs.”
richard stared into foster’s unblinking eyes and was gratified to see his left eye twitch. that bit about internal affairs had struck a nerve. foster hadn’t known that richard was aware of that investigation. foster smiled faded. he held up his hands in mock surrender and backed toward the front door.
“didn’t mean to offend anyone. no, don’t get up joshua. i’ll let myself out. i look forwARD TO continuing our…interview later. be seeing you real soon.”