Solomon knew it was bound to happen. One by one, the police pulled his friends in for questioning, so it only made sense for them to target him next. He tried not to show it, but his pulse raced as he settled into the chair, taking far too long to get comfortable. Fuck. Did they notice? He knew he hadn’t done anything wrong, but law enforcement was...well. The first question interrupted his inner monologue, and he took a deep breath before answering.
“tell us where you were on the night of tuesday, the first of october.”
“I was at my boyfriend’s house. I don’t know what time it happened, but we made dinner, spent the rest of the night at home, and went to sleep. I woke up at eight, and I left for work at 8:15. I don’t eat breakfast.”
“can anyone confirm your whereabouts?”
“Yeah, my boyfriend. I don’t know. Maybe his neighbors heard or saw us.”
His throat closed. Something told him, ‘my boyfriend,’ wasn’t exactly a tight alibi.
“what was the nature of your relationship with ms. upton?”
“Uh, I met her. Once. She was at the park with her kids, I think? I heard they were just, like, the kids she babysat or whatever, but at the time I thought they were hers.”
“how often did you interact with her?”
“and what was the nature of that interaction?”
His foot tapped underneath the table, an erratic pendulum fueled by his anxiety. He knew his answer to this question could make both him and his ‘relationship’ with Hope seem suspicious. “It was super short, barely anything. I had some drinks at lunch and ended up falling walking to the park and falling asleep for a few minutes. She woke me up, and she didn’t like that I was tipsy in the middle of the day, so she took her kids and left. Like I said, nothing major.” His fingers fidgeted and flexed, moving from his lap to the table and back again.
“did anything seem out of the ordinary either in town or in your interactions with ms. upton prior to tuesday, the first of october?”
“Um, not really, no. Well, not at all, I mean. Just seemed like the usual sleepy town, nothing really to notice. I’m pretty busy these days, don’t get to hang out like I used to.”
“Work. I work in Portland and commute, so I’m over there more than I’m here these days.”
Why did they jot that down?
“do you know anyone else who might have information pertaining to this missing person?”
“No, I don’t even know who she was friends with.”
“do you have any other insights or information about the case that you wish to share?”
Did Solomon imagine how long the officer’s eyes lingered on him before dismissing him from the room? He tried to keep his step as steady as possible as he left the interrogation booth, but he couldn’t imagine the police wouldn’t notice the way he held this breath the entire way out the station. But why did he even have to hold it?
