The Glengarry case statements

===29 Spring 1395==========

“Don’t look at him, look at me,” I ordered the young dwarf across the interview table, when he threw Curry a pleading glance. He wanted very badly to be saved from the bad lady cop. “You told him you didn’t even know Tessia, or her brother. Imagine how disappointing it was to act on that as fact, only to hear from a credible source how you and she have been sneaking off together for over a season. Lying to your girl’s father is one thing—I really couldn’t give a shit. Lying to the watch is another matter entirely. Judicial obstruction gets people in really life-ruining kinds of trouble. So I need you to think very carefully right now, about whether she still deserves your love and protection, when after we spoke to her it took all of three seconds for her to spin us a tale about how her brother’s **** was all your idea.”

“What?” he said, in such open-mouthed, stunned dismay I felt genuinely sorry for him for being so in love with the evil little murderess that this betrayal actually came as a surprise.

“You’re not obliged to respond… assuming there was a question somewhere in there,” said the bonded verifier for this interview, who had spent this entire morning getting on my last nerve and whom I had decided was kind of a shitty bitch.

“I’ll be honest, Junas,” Curry said, shaking his head, with a tone of perfectly calibrated sympathy, “from the start you have not struck me a murderer.”

“I’m not a murderer!”

“Then we need to clear up some of what she told us,” I said. “I want to be clear—I find her story that you hated her brother and had it out for him pretty tough to swallow. But with all the lies and half-truths floating around this investigation, to my mind you’re the only one who can set things straight.”

“You’re not obliged to answer,” the verifier said, snottily.

“Obviously I sort of am,” Junas snapped at her, his little town accent finally filtering through the strain. “I knew what she was doing,” he said to me and Curry. “Of course I fucking did. But she had ****. And when you love someone—” he broke off. “I didn’t kill him. Whatever I’m guilty of it’s just—trying not to get her in more trouble. You don’t know how hard he made her life.” Now he was addressing Curry more than me. I let Curry take the lead.

“The troubling thing about this narrative,” Curry began in a mild tone, glancing at me to get confirmation from the hag who ruled him that it was all right to say this—which was all to plan, except that as he continued, suddenly a very strong smell of Estaharan curry beef wafted into the room, curdling my stomach so quickly and thoroughly it shocked me.

“Pardon,” I said quickly, fumbling in my pocket and pretending to consult a nonexistent pocket watch, “I just realized it’s time for—the Glengarry case statements,” I finished lamely, then stood and did my best not to actually sprint from the room. There wasn’t even time to throw Curry an apologetic look. Once I’d cleared the interview room door, I did run, all the way to the locker room privies, where I threw up for probably ten minutes before my stomach righted itself. My belly had been a bit touchy since I woke up today, not enough to actually warrant staying home, but not altogether cooperative, either.

The locker room soap smelled unpleasantly off, and so did all the assorted lunch smells wafting in from any office where people preferred to eat in with their unit instead of leaving the watch house, and so did, really everything, including my own self. “You all right?” Curry said, giving me an understandably odd look as I straightened up abruptly from sticking my face in my shirt to smell my own armpit.

“I think so? And sorry. I don’t know what the fuck that was.”

“Think you’ve got a little bug or something?”

“I must have?” I said, leaning on the sink. “My stomach’s been a bit off today and I caught the smell of something that just gagged me. I felt fine yesterday. Did I fuck up the interview too badly?”

He shook his head. “I mean, it’s grossly out of character for the Ballbreaker to unironically say pardon, but I don’t think poor Junas is like enough to catch on to that. How do you feel now?”

“All rightish. More worried now about giving it to you or somebody else.”

“Well, you covered well enough with that case statement comment that nobody expects you back right away—from his reaction I’m guessing he has no idea Glengarry is a cheesemonger fom the third ward.” Curry gave me an amused look. “I think you were a good enough bad cop that he’s ready for some attentive listening from another man who takes constant shit from his brutally domineering female partner. I can take over the rest of the day.”

We traded a little smile.

“Well,” I said, considering, “Maybe I’ll take you up on it, then. I don’t want you to get sick, assuming you haven’t already.” I started the sink running and splashed some water on my face.

“Yeah. You should. You look pale. You all right to go on your own?”

I nodded. “Yeah. If I get sick on the way—well, I guess that’s what storm drains are for.” I rubbed the water from my face and stood up the rest of the way. “Thanks for covering. I know this isn’t good timing.”

Curry shrugged. “No helping it. I’ll swing by later with something easy to keep down. Something brothy.”

“Thanks.” Curry walked with me back to the main office and fetched my cloak while I put a few case files in my bag for something to do today, and put my desk in order.