Where the Heat receded

處暑 [3] / [7]

It was just the wind, he thought, she knows that. Why was he so jumpy? He couldn't answer. He simply had a general feeling of foreboding about this upcoming meeting with Violet. He knew her intentions weren't pure. She wouldn't be trying to blackmail him if they were.

He got in the car, put it into gear, and pulled out onto the street, heading in the direction of the office. On the way, he thought about his next move, but he couldn't think of anything helpful. She had him thoroughly trapped, and there wasn't much he could do to escape her snare. He would have to meet up with her, and figure something out in the moment.

Violet was waiting for him in front of the main entrance of the police station. She covered her head with the hood of her sweatshirt, and wore short pants which revealed her thin, pale legs. The weather was pretty chilly, but Alexander ignored it.

Violet found his car parked in the lot, and, waiting for him to get out of the car, she tried to hold his arm. He withdrew so fast, her hand couldn't touch him. He walked to the statement room without guiding her, and she just followed him. He didn't say anything about her recent situation, and he didn't want to know either. What he wanted was just to finish this case as quickly as possible.

I shouldn't have even responded to her message from the start, he thought with regret. He overlooked that sometimes some victims use their victimhood as a weapon to accomplish their own will, tied to their own purposes. The regret was too late now. He would be freed once this case was closed.

But was that really so? He felt a ruthless anxiety. Even though she kept saying she would never intervene in his life after this case, how could he believe her?

He sat opposite her at the table. She removed her hood from her head. Her hair flowed until it settled at shoulder-length. Even before Alexander said something, she submitted the complaint to him. He read it.

The accused: Edward J. Blaine.

Address: 629 Sycamore Lane

Relationship with the accuser: previous boyfriend

As he read the petition, he frowned. The contents were too ambiguous. No place, no date, no time, only saying he did bad things to her 'almost everyday.'

It was written like, 'he raped me,' 'he beat me hard,' 'he recorded video of me while we were doing it,' etc. Her testimony was equivocal, and contained so much that seemed questionable.

Alexander sighed. From the moment they got in the room, everything was recorded automatically. He decided to remain calm.

He began his questioning and ordered her to make it clear what she could remember.

"So to sum up his deeds; violation of bodily autonomy, rape, threats, is that about right?"

She nodded with a rigid expression.