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The station was a madhouse, with most officers and detectives outside, chasing a criminal or figuring out one, which meant that the rookie team had the building mostly to themselves.
It also meant that if they got a call, no matter how bad it was, chances are it would go to them. It’s a fair trade, Carl thinks, but he really didn’t want to get stuck on a long case or something they weren’t prepared to do, not to say they weren’t good enough!
Paperwork was the only thing on their tables, and he could tell the rest of them were itching for a new case, anything to break them out of the cycle of filling out papers. His Deca-bangle rang, the pen falling out of his hand as he checked the message he received.
“Boston wants us to check something out. Someone was reported as “suspicious”, so they want us to make sure it isn’t anything bad.” He stood from his seat, legs aching to walk around and do something.
“Can he redirect the call to one of us? It could just be some racist person or joker,” Mani put her pen down, pushing herself back and out of her chair. “Only saying that the person is suspicious isn’t really enough.”
They turned on their comms as they left, grabbing gear just in case the person was a real threat. Someone new started talking in his ear, startling him for a second.
“Okay, I’m gonna leave you with these guys now.” The dispatcher spoke slowly, hanging up and leaving their caller with them.
“Hello?”
“Hi, we’re with the Broadstone Police. Could you tell us what happened and give us a location?” They stood outside, trying to figure out whether or not they needed to drive or not.
“Oh, thank god. Yeah, so a few minutes ago I heard, like, a scream coming from my neighbor’s house, or like a loud sound, right? But I looked at my cameras that pointed in their direction and I didn’t see anyone come into their front door. So either my neighbor, or her son, got hurt or is in trouble, or I’m having auditory hallucinations.”
“Thank you for calling us. Have you seen anything out of the ordinary surrounding your neighbor’s home?”
“ No, I don’t think so. I mean, I saw the son do some gardening out in the front for once. But that might be just because his mom kicked him out the house for a while ‘cause he was just rotting in his room.”
“Right….Well, can you give us your or your neighbor’s address for us?”
“Mine is 46 Pinetree St, Broadstone. My neighbor is just across from me so her’s is 47 on Pinetree.”
“Thank you. We’ll be there shortly, so please stay in your house until then..”
“Yeah I plan on it. Thanks.”
Mikey ended the call with the person.
Mani opened her mouth, “Are we supposed to end the call with the person? Is that part of the protocol, ‘cause I feel like we’re not supposed to do that.”
Carl assured her it was fine. “It’s fine Mani, we can end the call as long as the person isn’t in any immediate danger. If the neighbor’s house was broken into, that’s when we don’t end the call. But the person only called because of some suspicious noise that they heard.”
“If you say so.” Mani shrugged her shoulders.
The group left the station and got into their cars, Mani and Mikey in one and Carl and Zhang driving the other. As soon as they got to the address, the person who called came out of their house, their phone in hand.
“Over there, that’s their house. I was out taking a walk when you called.” She pointed towards the blue house across from hers, the lights turned off inside. Carl and Mikey crossed the street, while the other two stayed behind, asking her various questions. He knocked on the door, pressing his ear to the door to hear if anyone was coming.
He tried to jiggle the handle, the door already being unlocked. As he thought, the lights were off, nobody but them in the room. Nothing seemed to be out of place, but he couldn’t completely rule out a kidnapping. Still, why would the lights be off this early in the day? Saving electricity maybe, but the curtains were closed so it wasn’t like they were letting the sunlight brighten their house.
“Hello?” Mikey yelled out, listening to it echo throughout the empty halls. “It’s the police, is anyone home?” They could've left their door open and left, but their neighbor swore that someone was here, so what was going on. He moved forward, nodding to Carl to keep going. A basement door was becoming closer, the door left wide open.
They walked downstairs, Mikey turning on his flashlight to see around them. As they walked, candles started to illuminate the hall, blood in front of a door. It felt as if the temperature dropped, Carl slightly shivering as he stared at the blood.
He braced himself as he walked through, pushing the door open with his gun in his hands, pointed towards the floor, but completely ready to raise it if needed. Two people resided in the room, one held up by what seemed to be IV’s in a chair, and the other standing in front of her, a knife in his hands, both of them blonde.
“Drop the weapon!” The man spun around, trembling as he faced him. His blue eyes were haunted and slightly glazed over, as if he was barely paying attention to what he had just done. His grip on the knife tightened, Carl slightly raising his gun towards him in hopes to get him to let it go.
“I killed her,” the blond breathed out, barely over a whisper. Did the guilt hit him already? He didn’t sound proud of doing it, but his face remained blank so there really was no way of telling.
“Can you kill me?”
“What?”
“I’m a murderer, I need you to shoot me.” His voice unwavering, he seemed so sure of his words. This couldn’t have been an accident, it was too creative and twisted to be a simple mistake. Did they walk into a murder-suicide? No, something told him that he’s lying.
“I can’t do that.” He needed to act calm, who knows what was going through his head right now. Was he an accomplice to the real murderer, taking the blame instead of spilling the truth? All of this was too confusing, too many questions and no answers.
“I know you can, you have a gun. Police officers are supposed to get rid of murderers, right? Shoot me, get rid of one more killer.” He pointed to himself, a grin forming on his face.
“Listen, I’m not gonna harm you. I just want to talk, can you please drop the knife? I’ll drop my gun if it’ll make you feel more comfortable.” He handed off his gun to Mikey, who placed it on the floor, releasing a sigh he didn’t even know he was holding in when the blonde did the same.
“Great. I’m Carl, and you?”
“...Harvard.” He took a small step closer to Harvard, him taking a step backwards as he did.
“That’s a nice name.”
“Thank you,” he mumbled, his gaze focused on the gun on the floor. Mikey wouldn’t let him grab it, but chances are that wouldn’t stop him from trying anyways, meaning Carl needed to keep him occupied.
“Do you know who this woman is? Any connection to you?” He flinched at the question, opening and closing his hands as a way to fidget.
“She’s my mother, and I killed her! What kind of person kills their own mother, that’s why I need to die with her.”
“So was this a murder-suicide?” With the face Harvard made, you would’ve thought he just asked him a question about quantum physics. He didn’t look like he had an answer, as if he wasn’t expecting the question.
“I don’t know.”
“You did murder her right? What was the motive?”
“I don’t know,” he said, annoyance and confusion blending in his voice.
“Why not? You claim you did it, what was the thought process?”
“If you woke up in a room with a knife in your hand, blood on you, and a dead person, you’d think you were the murderer, wouldn’t you? Except I
know
I’m the murderer. I may not know
why
I did it, or how, but I know I did,” he snapped, gesturing to the corpse as he mentioned it.
“But you didn’t.”
“Oh, and how would you know?” His mood did a complete 180, angrier than he was just minutes ago.
“I don’t, but I doubt you would’ve killed your mother.”
“You really suck as a police officer, you know that right? I’m giving you my confession, taking all of the blame for this and yet you insist that you know me better than I do. I did this, so you can rather kill me here or let me loose to go kill another.”
Carl sighed, he wasn’t getting through at all. Did he escalate it too far by asking about the murder? He needed to regain control of the conversation, change the topic.
“So what were you doing before,” he gestured around him, “ this .”
“I was in the garden, she wanted me to water some of her plants in the back.”
“Oh really? What plants does she have?”
“How does that concern the case?” He folded his arms, taken aback by his semi-genuine interest in their garden.
“It doesn’t, I’m just curious and want to talk.”
“....She had some flowers and some vegetables. She wanted to try growing eggplants and carrots, plus some assorted flowers. I don’t really remember their names. I usually water them and shit after my classes.”
“You’re in college?” He nodded, posture slightly relaxing.
“Yeah, I recently got my bachelors, and I’m going for my masters degree.”
“In what field?”
“Computer science, it’s basic but I’m pretty good at it and it pays pretty well.” He shrugged, dropping his arms to his side.
“My friend’s into technology stuff as well, maybe he could help you study or something.” Harvard snorted, a grim look in his eyes.
“That’s if I even make it to my next class.”
“What do you mean?”
“Cmon, even if you didn’t kill me, I could still do it myself. Even then, a jail cell would be my next location.” Once again, another step back, yet it was still better than when they first got here. He just needed to try to not mention topics that could be redirected to suicide, though with the little knowledge he had of Harvard, any topic could be if he tried hard enough.
Now that he thinks of it, was he right? If he really did kill her, he was going to prison, no trial really needed. Assuming Carl’s right, and he didn’t, if he was talked down now, nothing was stopping him from going and doing it himself. He seemed to really want to die, yet he insisted it had to be by his hand. He could’ve used the knife on himself, ending this conversation ages ago.
Unless…
“Are you sure you want to die?”
“I’ve been saying this since the moment you got here, what do you think?” Metal slid across the floor towards Harvard, eyes widening at the sight of the knife he had.
“You say that, yet you had the chance to do it even before we arrived. Do you want to die, or do you just think you should?”
“Both? If I killed myself, that’s just another life I took.”
“So you rather make me a murderer?”
“No! No, ugh,” he groaned, the sudden outburst surprising Carl. “Police are supposed to stop criminals, you’re just doing your job if you kill me.”
“No, I would be killing an innocent person if I did.”
“I’m not-”
“Harvard, you didn’t kill her. I swear on my job that I’ll find the actual culprit and bring them to justice.”
“What happens when you find out that I’m the actual culprit huh? That all evidence points back to me, and you placed all your trust onto a killer.” He started to step closer, and that would be a good thing if he didn’t seem so pissed.
“That won’t happen.”
“How can you be so sure?” He was in his face now, Mikey not too far behind in case he got physical, though he doubted that he would.
How was he so sure? Carl just met the guy and yet his heart is telling him that he’s innocent, that someone else is the killer, despite what he yells at him.
“I don’t think you’re the type of guy to kill your mom. You don’t have to die, Harvard.” A fire burned in his eyes, something in him desperately wanting to prove this man’s innocence not just to the world, but to himself. He needed to get him to believe in himself, it wouldn’t matter if everyone else did if he didn’t think he was innocent.
“Nobody will think I’m innocent.”
“I do. I think you’re innocent.” He softly smiled, receiving a grin in return, though something seemed off. He seemed to be resigned, as if he no longer wanted to argue, which is what he wants, but something else was mixed with it, something more grave and solemn.
“You’re the only person who does.” Not the only other person, but the only. He really didn’t believe in his own innocence, something in him stopping himself from thinking he didn’t commit this crime. He lunged for Carl’s gun, which was still on the floor, Mikey reaching for it at the same time. Harvard pointed it at himself, tugging it closer to his chest as he tried to pull the trigger.
A gunshot rang through the room, Carl tensing up as the gun was pulled towards Mikey, who was scanning himself for a wound. Red stained Harvard’s hand, a bullet wound in the middle of his palm. He stared at it, eyes slightly unfocused, as if he hadn’t even realized that he shot himself. Mikey pulled out his phone, calling for an ambulance, his pitch rising out of panic, forcing Carl to play medic.
“Gimme your hand,” he instructed, reaching to grab him as he went unconscious. He dived down, catching him before his head hit the ground. Paramedics swarmed the room, along with a few police officers. They took Harvard out of the room, leaving Carl and Mikey there to deal with the actual case.
He made a mental note to visit the hospital soon.
Knocking on the door, Carl stood outside the hospital room, a bag in his hand and his badge in the other, in case he was asked for it. It swung open, a nurse giving him a smile before squeezing past him, closing the door behind her.
“Carl…”
“Hey,” he sat down in the chair next to his bed, dropping the bag on his bed, “Brought you breakfast, I can’t imagine hospital food being that good.”
He side eyed him, cautiously digging through the bag. “I didn’t know what you would want, so I just bought a donut and bagel, hope that’s okay.”
“Thanks,” they didn’t meet eyes, but he could tell he was grateful. He took the bagel from the bag, biting into it while passing the bag to Carl. “You can have the donut.”
“Not a fan?” He shook his head, Carl understanding and putting the bag on the table behind him. There was a silence between them, not quite awkward, but it definitely wasn’t comfortable, as Harvard ate the bagel. He still had some things he wanted to ask the blonde, but he didn’t know if he was mentally up to it, he didn’t want to trigger anything.
“Soo…why are you here?”
“I came to visit, I can leave if you don’t want me here!” His speech sped up near the end, suddenly feeling slightly embarrassed. He barely knows him, yet he came out of the blue to visit out of his own accord, instead of for job reasons like some other officers would be doing soon. Blame his sense of justice, he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t check on him.
“Oh.”
“Oh?”
“I thought you would be here on business, y’know? Questioning me and shit or arresting me.”
“Why would I arrest you?” He almost felt insulted that he thinks he doesn’t believe in his innocence. He’ll say it a million times to get it into his head.
“You know why.” He gestured to himself, did he seriously believe he would come and arrest him?
Carl sighed, throwing his head back. “How are you so dumb? You know we have to do an actual investigation before we make an arrest, right?”
“Not if I confess. There’s nothing to investigate, it’s a clear case.”
“How’d you get access to IVs?” He barely gave him a moment to breathe before asking, the question in his mind since he first saw the crime.
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly. Even if, and I do mean if, you did it, we still have other things to investigate and put together before we can arrest and put you on trial.”
“So you’re just going to let me free until then? I could go kill another person and flee the country if I wanted to.”
“You’ll still be under investigation and shit, but like, you aren’t going to jail. Are you gonna go kill another person?”
“No.”
“Then I have nothing to worry about.” He patted Harvard’s back, a grin forming on his face.
“You really suck as a detective, you know that right? Letting your strange bias control your decisions against a literal confession and fact.”
“What’s so strange about it?”
“Everything about it is strange. You won’t accept a criminal confession and you believe that I’m innocent, despite the fact that everything proves I’m not.
“We found someone else’s fingerprints on the knife.” Harvard went silent, taking in the information before scoffing.
“So? My mother used the knife as well, it’s probably hers.”
“No, we checked and they didn’t match up. Someone else, the real murderer, used the knife before you to kill her. That could prove that it wasn’t you.”
“You really think I’m innocent don’t you?” He sighed, shaking his head while chuckling. “What happens when it gets proved I’m the criminal? When you prolonged a simple case all because of your hope.”
“You already asked me this, and my answer hasn’t changed.”
“It’ll be your fault if something happens.”
“I’m willing to take the blame for that. I’m going to find the real murderer, prove your innocence to you.”
“Right now, you’re the only person who thinks I’m innocent.”
“You’re the only person who thinks you’re guilty.”
“What about your friend, the big tall guy? He heard me confess, saw me with a weapon. He’s probably telling your boss to arrest me.”
“He isn’t, he thinks you’re innocent.” He shut his mouth, rebuttal dying in his throat as he thought it over.
“Please, let me find the real killer,” he pleaded, locking eyes with Harvard, who cracked his fingers, breaking eye contact first.
“Fine, since you’re so insistent on doing it. I’ll cooperate, but don’t come crying when you don’t get the answer you wanted.”
“That means no confessions.”
“No confessions, got it. Can I hint at it though?”
“No.” He left no room for argument, the blond sighing at his failed joke.
“Fine fine, geez you’re so serious.” He rolled his eyes, sighing as Carl’s phone vibrated. A text from Mani, he was needed at the station. He stood up, stretching before writing in a slip of paper and handing it to Harvard.
“I’m needed back at the station, here’s my number.” He picked up the bag, the lone donut still inside, uneaten. Heading towards the door, he placed his hand on the door handle, stepping back to pull it towards him.
“Thanks, I guess.” He turned his head back to Harvard, who was staring at the covers.
“For what?”
“Believing in me. I’m glad I met you instead of a more competent detective.” The sincerity in his voice almost made Carl miss the jab at him and his skills, but he just shook his head, smiling back.
“I’ll visit again soon, let me know when I can.”
“Yeah, see ya later.” He kept looking away, his face slightly…red? Was he blushing? Whatever it was didn’t matter right now, he could ponder the implications in his apartment later.
He’d solve this case, not just for him, but for Harvard. If he really wasn’t the murderer, he deserved to find out who actually is and get peace. If he did kill her…
He’ll never forgive himself if it causes someone else to die.