27. Lie Detector

The next day I left the house, there was no Henry, which was a reason to celebrate. I walked to the street and took a taxi.

In front of the police bureaus, I met my (gay) caretaker, looking today especially gay as well. His skin was so hairless that it seemed he waxed his face, and he had two small earrings in his ear. His tight-fitting clothes stood in contrast to my baggy ones.

He just screamed gay, and I tried to relax my face so as not to show my disgust.

"What's going on? Why are we meeting here?" He grabbed my shoulders the moment he saw me.

"I am a suspect, and I am here for a lie detector test. I need an adult for probably signing something." I said, while distancing myself as discreetly as possible.

"A suspect?!" He asked far too loud, and my face fell at the people turning around. I would rather not be seen with him before the police station, so I motioned with my head to the door and walked the few steps up to it.

He followed and bent to me, his aftershave being too sweet, so I leaned my head away.

"Why are you a suspect? Of what? Drugs?" 

"Murder." I mumbled, asking myself if being guilty of drug possession would be better than being innocent of murder, yet still the prime suspect.

"MURDER?" He blurted out, and I sighed, looking at the floor. Forget it; it doesn't matter. The lie detector test would show my innocence.

Last night I searched for Haruka and found her on social media. I texted her, saying I would like to meet her about Henrietta. If even Elli read about me in the school forum, she might have too, so I had set up a fake female profile to write to her with. She told me her university schedule, and I will meet her later, where I will also warn her about giving out information so easily.

At least I accomplished a meeting with Henrietta's friend, my investigation going forward, so my caretaker could talk as loudly as he wanted. Eventually, I will prove my innocence. Though, if it really was the government that was after me, I hardly have a chance anyway. And I had also to look out for the fire that would somewhere, sometime, happen. 

Haruka was the last person the teacher saw before he died, so flipping the coin with her would help both of these cases.

The female officer, no, the female detective, came to us.

"I am detective Norman; nice to meet you." She said, shaking my caretakers hand.

"Hello, I am the temporary Guardian of Kenny, Jacques Lorrey." Even his name was gay.

The detective nodded at me, and I nodded back. I would have taken the chance to shake her hand, but I was about to take a lie detector test. If I flipped the coin and saw the details of this murder, it would influence the results, making me seem even more guilty.

"Please follow me." She said, bringing us to an elevator.

When we stepped in, my caretaker shifted a bit closer to her.

"I am sorry, but could you tell me what this is about? The boy hadn't mentioned a thing."

She turned back to look at me, who was leaning against the elevator wall casually, before turning back.

"Naturally. Mr. Howard agreed to take a lie detector test; you are here to sign the papers as his guardian; that authorizes us to take the test."

"No, no, about the murderer, who is dead? What happened?" He waved his hands in desperation.

"Oh. It is a girl from his school who had just graduated. She was found dead, and she knew Mr. Howard."

"Oh, okay, so just a formality." My caretaker breathed a sight of relief and patted his heart, while the detective gave me a pointed lock.

Yes, I know already that this is not just a formality. 

We walked out of the elevator and were brought to another room. There she put papers in front of my caretaker before leaving with me to another room.

She introduced the guy to me who would oversee the test and ask the questions. He explained lengthy what this was about, that they could easily capture lies, that I shouldn't even try to answer falsely, blablabla.

Finally, he put a bunch of things on me, electrodes and whatnot, and I was pr actually strapped to a chair.

"Is your name Kennith Howard?"

"Yes."

"Is today Monday?"

"No."

"Are you female?" He asked while nodding at me. He mentioned that I had to 'lie' at the beginning. Feeling a bit insulted that he chose this question for me to lie about, I clenched my jaw.

"Yes." I answered.

"Are you male?"

"Yes."

There were a few random questions, two where he motioned for me to 'lie' before coming to the main questions.

"Have you known Emilia Henrietta Devin?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever met Emilia Henrietta Devin outside the school?"

"No."

"Were you in a romantic relationship with Emilia Henrietta Devin?"

"No."

"Have you exchanged numbers with Emilia Henrietta Devin?"

"No."

"Have you ever forced yourself on Emilia Henrietta Devin?"

"No."

"Have you ever had sexual contact with Emilia Henrietta Devin?"

"No."

"Have you ever kissed Emilia Henrietta Devin?"

"No."

"Have you ever hit Emilia Henrietta Devin?"

"No."

"Have you ever threatened Emilia Henrietta Devin?

"No."

"Have you ever wanted to harm Emilia Henrietta Devin?"

"No."

"Have you ever mentioned to someone that you wanted Emilia Henrietta Devin dead?"

"No."

"Have you ever conspired to kill Emilia Henrietta Devin?"

"No."

"Have you paid someone to kill Emilia Henrietta Devin?"

"No." 

"Have you killed Emilia Henrietta Devin?"

"No."

"Have you ever killed someone?"

I paused, not getting the answer out. Closing my eyes, I sighed.

"Can you change the way you ask the question? My mother drowned, and I feel responsible, so I can't answer that."

His eyes mustered me, and I also felt the detective's eyes turning strange. Yeah, I didn't tell you that for you to pity me, but for the test result to not be falsely interpreted.

"When was that?" The guy asked me quietly.

"When I was nine." I said, and he nodded.

"Have you ever killed someone after the age of ten?"

"No."

"Have you ever wanted to kill someone after the age of ten?"

"No."

"Do you know how Emilia Henrietta died?"

"No." This was the reason I didn't flip the coin of the detective.

"Do you know where Emilia Henrietta Devin was found?"

"No."

"Were you ever a threat to someone's life after the age of ten?"

"No."

And like this, it went for some time. When we were finished, I felt drained, really fucking drained, and I hoped that this test was worth the energy I spent on it.

I was patted on the shoulder by the guy who had taken the test with me, and I walked outside the room with the female detective.

The same play anew, I wobbled, and contrary to my antisocial professor, the female detective grabbed me, by the shoulder, and by my hand, in case I would fall.

I had what I wanted, so I flipped the coin, repeating Henrietta's name in my mind.