The Suspects

This is not going to be so much of a mystery, but more a series of different interviews. I have been studying methods of police interrogation and wanted to give Carlton and River a chance. There is a mystery part to it, as one of the suspects is guilty, but it's more of a 'case study' style piece.


I hope you enjoy it!


Carlton and River looked through the one way mirrors into the four suspect rooms. In one, a rich teenage posh-boy swung back on his chair, his immaculate designer trainers resting on the table. In the next one along, a shabby homeless man sat hunched on his chair, his bloodshot eyes glancing into the corners. In the final room, a young girl was waiting in a nervous silence, her mother beside her.

A couple of the junior officers were standing watching the more experienced couple. "Why are they watching?" the shorter one whispered.

"Profiling," the other whispered back. "They can't just go in there and get a statement. People automatically don't want to talk to the police, and with if they ask for a lawyer, they'll belt right up. Those two have to find the best way to make them sing."

At that moment, Carlton and River moved towards the third room, where the girl with blonde pigtails was waiting with her mother.

**

"Hello, Melissa," smiled River, amicably. "Do you understand why you're here?"

The girl nodded solemnly. "They said I had to tell you about this morning."

"That's right," replied River, with another smile. Melissa gave a tentative smile back, comforted slightly, but glanced uneasily at Carlton, who had sat down opposite her, his face less than friendly.

"Don't mind him," River said. "Can you tell us about what you saw this morning?"

With another nervous glance at Carlton, Melissa began. "I was walking to my school this morning when I heard a yell. I went to see, and someone shoved me out of the way and ran. I went down the road and saw a woman lying there. She was crying, her ankle was broken. She said someone had grabbed her purse."

River nodded encouragingly. "This man who ran past you - what did he look like?"

Melissa looked more nervous now. "I - I don't really remember much." She looked away, at the floor.

"Melissa, lying to the police is a serious offence." Carlton spoke for the first time, gravely.

"I'm - I'm not lying!" Her voice became panicky. River placed a restraining hand on Carlton, who shook it off.

"It's okay, Melissa," she said, "Don't worry, he means well. We just need to know as much as possible."

"Well, he wore a blue jumper," she began, "And he was quite tall. That's all I remember... I didn't see much of him. Please, you must believe me. I didn't mean to lie, I just -"

"It's okay, Melissa," said River. "You're not in any trouble. In fact, unless you can tell us more, you can go."

**

"Two accounts of pick-pocketing, one of being drunk and disorderly, and now you're found with a woman's purse stuffed in your jacket pocket," he snapped. "It's not looking good for you, is it, Mr Piper?"

"I found the purse," Mr Piper, the homeless man, mumbled. "I didn't steal it."

"Really," Carlton drawled sarcastically. "You were seen to be in the area at the time the purse was stolen. Then the purse turns up in your hands."

The man shrugged, clearly not bothering with a defence. Carlton leaned forward. "As a matter of fact, I don't believe you did steal it. I think someone else did, and you stole it from them."

"Luckily for you," he continued, "The criminal we're looking for is to be charged with assault, as well as robbery. So here's the deal: you give me the information I need, and I give you immunity."

"That's not from chicken pox, either," added River, when Piper looked confused. "It means we drop your charges if you help us out."

"Of course, if you don't," said Carlton, "We can add mugging to your list of crimes and you're looking at a nice little stint behind bars. What do you say?"

The man frowned, and looked between the two. Tempted. Finally he grinned, showing a cave of yellowing teeth, and gabbled his information quickly. "There's a load of kids in the area. Got a kinda competition running. Who steals the most wins. I dunno who they are, but I'd have a bet at one of them."

**

Striding with a sure step into the interrogation room, Carlton knocked the feet of the teenager onto the floor, making his chair fall forward with a bang.

"You have the right to remain silent, so shut the hell up," he snapped, kicking the door shut behind him.

A smile spread across the face of the boy. "I never knew cops really said that," he grinned.

Carlton gave him his ferocious glare, and the boy's smile melted away. "Don't even think about any smart talk with me, Tyler" he growled. "Turn up, shut up, and sit up or I'll knock the wind out of your sails with a couple of nights behind bars before talking to you again."

Tyler sat up a little at this, and touched his hair self-consciously. "Okay."

"A witness claimed you ran into her from a place where a mugging took place. Care to explain?"

"I ain't talking to no-one without a lawyer," said Tyler.

Carlton sighed and leaned back. "Okay. Fine. We can do that. But I'm warning you, call your lawyer and he will take half an hour to arrive before I can ask you any more questions. And that will make be a rather annoyed guy. And trust me, you do not want to be the guy who makes me annoyed."

Tyler was visibly shaken by this, but he didn't move. "My dad says, don't talk to cops without a lawyer," he repeated, rather nervously.

"Fine. I ask the questions, and you can answer or not as you like. Choose to answer with a lawyer, and you can do that. But I'm warning you, that's not going to make me any happier."

Tyler nervously nodded. "Okay, I guess."

"We have a witness who states you ran into her near an assault and robbery which took place on the other side of town. Care to explain?"

"Yeah. I was walking along and suddenly this weird creep of a guy grabs this woman and shoves her on the ground. She starts screaming and crying and he grabs her purse from her hands. I yell for him to stop, and start chasing after him, but he had a head start. I collided with this kid on the next street, but kept on running after him. But I couldn't catch him."

**

Is someone lying? If so, who?
Answer: It is highly unlikely that Tyler, an young, fit teenager, would be unable to catch up with a street homeless man like Piper, especially with his bloodshot eyes, indicating that he probably had been drinking. It is Tyler that Carlton and River need to re-interrogate.