Maybe Some Coffee

I can't believe the nerve of Mia trying to hit me. She must know that I am an officer of the law. As I walk to my car, I point to the car that needs to be towed and say to the tow truck driver;

"That's the vehicle the pick-up truck. Please take it in. The Crime Scene Investigators will comb through and see if we can find anything linking him to the crime"

"Will do"

I get in my car and drive to the station. As I walk into the station, I walk straight to the Captain's office. On my way I see Madison walking down the corridor. I walk to her and before I could greet her she says;

"Two in custody? The guy I understand, but what's the story of the girl?"

"Well, she took a swing at me..."

I see her giving me a smirk while she says.

"Did you get hurt?"

"No, like I said she tried. That's not enough to keep her. I know, I have twenty-four hours till I have to charge her or release her. I wanted to ask her some follow up questions about our victim, maybe now that she's in the station, she feels a bit more cooperative"

"You can always try. Just keep in mind if she asks for a lawyer, she's walking"

She is driving me insane with her smile and her way of putting me in my place every time. I love the way how she looks all business but something is hiding in her eyes. Something that she does not want to admit.

"Atleast we have the twenty-four hours. But thank you, Madison"

I walk to Woodi's desk to get away from her to not give too much of my feelings for her away.

"Did you find anything on the surveillance footage that we can use?"

"Yes and no. We did see a vehicle at 4:15am that looks like the pick-up truck but we can't see the plates"

"You can't see who's driving?"

"Nope, sorry"

"And we don't have any camera angle of the crime scene at all?"

"Nothing, unfortunately"

"Okay, so a confession is the only way to build this case. We have Mia in custody. Are you going to join me for the interrogation of our suspect?"

"Sure, let's go"

We walk to the interrogation room where Mia is held. We walk into the room and sit opposite her. I look up and say;

"Can we get you anything... maybe some coffee?"

"Yes, that would be nice"

I call the officer that's standing guard outside and ask him to bring her some coffee. I sit down again, take out my file and look at her.

"We wanted to do some follow-up questions with you regarding Sarah's disappearance that evening that led to her being murdered. So, if you know of anything else that happened, now is the time to tell us. But first, I am reminding you that you don't have to answer any questions and you have the right to have an attorney present. We are also recording this for evidence. Knowing this, would you like to continue?"

"Yes, I have nothing to hide"

"Okay, so we are going to go back to the first time we asked you questions. Because there are some inconsistencies and new evidence that came to light and it contradicts the statements you made. So, on the night of her disappearance, you said that you weren't sure who picked her up or where she went, but in fact, you do know Mr. Marcus Anderson? And camera footage shows that you, Sarah, and a guy called Mr. Marcus Anderson left that night together, where did you go?"

"Fine. It was a party that we went to. Sarah invited us to it. She wanted me there as we were friends so Marcus just tagged along. It was some sort of a sorority party for girls that completed college. Like a five year after college kinda thing"

"Okay, go on..."

"So, before we got there Sarah seemed unsure of actually going. Like she was afraid of seeing people there or something. She sat in the car for a few minutes before actually getting out of the car and going into the house. Once we got into the house it was clear that it was a sorority party. Loud music, people dancing in the living room. There was so much booze there and everyone was drinking.

After a while of parting, Sarah got so wasted. We tried to get her to leave with us but she just didn't want to leave. We got in a fight over that because she told me she would be sleeping over and that we should leave. We did try harder to get her to leave with us but the more we tried the more she fought...so I decided that we must leave. I told Marcus that we must go. There was nothing more that we could do for her."

Suddenly, there's a knock on the door. I get up and open the door. The officer hands me the coffee and sugar and says;

"Can we speak outside quick?"

I give Mia the coffee. I gesture to Woodi to come outside with me. He stands up and follows me through the door. As we close the door the officer says;

"CSI is done with the pick-up truck. There is no blood anywhere in the truck. The only DNA was hair in the vehicle."

"Shit, that means they didn't have anything to do with the murder. Thank you for letting us know"

We open the door and sit down again. I say to her;

"Okay, so was there any person at the party that was acting suspiciously? Or talking to Sarah that you can remember?"

"No, nobody that was standing out. We were drunk, all of us, and some were using drugs as well. There were times that she was talking to people, other times she was dancing. But there is one thing that I'm certain of. That when we left she was still alive and she was still at the party"

"Okay, but why were you packing up your apartment and trying to leave?"

"Because I feel like I'm responsible for what happened to her. I shouldn't have left her there. I should've insisted that she come with us. Maybe she would still be alive if I didn't give up on trying"

Mia starts crying. I stand up and say;

"Please give me the address where the party was"

I hand her a piece of paper and a pen. Mia starts writing. I take the paper and pen from her. As we open the door, I turn and say to her;

"Please don't leave L.A., if we have any more questions...I don't want to come looking for you okay?"

She sits and nods while crying. We walk out and say to the officer;

"We're done, you can release her"

As we get to our desks, we sit and stare at each other. I am the first to speak;

"Well, atleast we have another lead to go on, the party house. Maybe we can get some information there. But for now, I'm hungry. Where is the best place to get lunch around here?"

"Man, do I have a treat for you...I know just the place"

We get up and as we are walking out, Madison calls us over;

"Hey guys, how did the interview go?"

"Not too bad, atleast we've eliminated another two suspects. The roommate and the guy with the pick-up truck. Now we have to check the house where the party was held for clues and find out what happened there"

"It seems you have everything under control. Great job for the first day. Where are the two of you off to?"

"We are going to grab some dinner"

"I know how you feel, I haven't eaten all day..."

Woodi then jumps into the conversation and asks Madison if she would like to join us. I hold my breath and hope that she agrees to come out with us. She then looks at me and gives me her shy smile while saying.

"I would love to go with you guys. Thank you. But only if we can take a drive in the beaut of a car that is yours, Detective Marks? What do you say?"