“Can you speak louder for the recorder?” he urged.
I cleared my voice, then spoke louder, “Yes, I did.”
Magone: “Which carriage were you seated in?”
Me: “C carriage.”
He slowly nodded as my heart raced and jotted something down in my file, giving the impression he was diligent, but he was probably drawing pics of penises.
“Did you ever leave the C carriage throughout the journey?” he pressed.
I paused to remember. “Ah, yeah, I went to the eatery in A carriage twice, I think.”
“You think? You’re not sure?” he persisted, and my nerves stirred. It was weird to feel guilty for something I didn’t do and had little information on, but I was concerned that I might be pinned for the crime just because I had a record.
I shook my head, trying to remember. “Hang on,” I exhaled and gazed up to the ceiling to catch my memories. Taking note of how many times to went to the eatery was not something I everthought I had to do. “Once to grab a turkey sandwich and a Red Bull, and then later on to grab another Red Bull and a protein bar. So, yeah, twice.”
“Did you ever go back into the D or E carriages behind you?” he asked, and it occurred to me that whoever died was seated in one of those two carriages. The Boleyn girl was in carriage D. I knew much, and we kept an eye on her when she boarded, but once seated, there was no need to stalk her because where else could she go on a moving train?
I shook my head. “No. I had no reason to.”
“Okay,” he nodded, relaxed in his chair, and exchanged glances with the officer beside him. “I think we’re almost done.”
The locked air in my lungs escaped, feeling like I’d been holding my breath. I was eager to glance at the time on my phone to see if I could still make my class since it was in the same building. I pushed my chair back to stand, then he said, “Just one more thing,” and I tensed again.
He lifted my file, and underneath was a downturned photograph, which he proceeded to push across to my side of the table. “Do you recognize the person in this photograph?”
I hesitated, feeling the weight of eyes scrutinizing my every move, then I turned the photograph over. The face of someone I didn’t know well, but I was acquainted with him.
“I couldn’t tell you his name, but he’s a student at Castlehill in my year,” I spoke the truth.
Magone nodded slowly, jotted something down again. “Do you remember seeing him on the train?”
I shook my head.
“Speak up for the recorder,” Magone urged.
I cleared my throat. “No, I did not see him on the train.”
“Did you hear anyone in carriage C mention him?” he then asked, and I frowned.
“I don’t know his name, so…” I shrugged, finding the question strange, and wondered if he was trying to catch me out on something. “If someone mentioned his name, I wouldn’t know who they were referring to.”
Magone persisted, “Was the man in the photograph in any of your classes?”
“No,” I shook my head. “I mean…not that I noticed.” Silence fell as images flashed in my mind of the body bag lying at the investigators’ feet yesterday, by two carriages parked on the spare track. In the back of my mind, I remember seeing the letter C on the side of one of the carriages, but I could be imagining it. I was certain the man in the photograph was not in my carriage because it was packed with Ez’s and Sick’s crew and teammates.
“How did he die?” I asked Magone.
He looked up at me under his auburn eyebrows and sternly stressed, “That’s not for public knowledge yet.”
“Yeah, but was it suspicious? I mean…were all of us on the train with a murderer?” I pressed, but he was giving me nothing.
“We’re done, Lev,” he said, leaning across the table to take back the photograph as the officer beside him pushed his chair back to stand. “You can go now, and we’ll contact you if we need you to answer any more questions.”
“Okay,” I mumbled as the second officer escorted me to the door, and as soon as I was free, I checked the time on my phone, pleased that it only took twenty minutes, instead of an hour, as Magone said, but I was disappointed that I was too late for class. It was a class I shared with Adina, and I wanted to be close to her after that kiss.
The kiss.
