IMMOLATION: CHAPTER 36

Matt rode the elevator up for the third time in just as many minutes. He couldn't believe what he'd seen the first two times. He hummed along with the faint music that played out of the speakers in the ceiling and tapped his foot. The elevator slowed to a stop and the doors opened. Matt frowned. His apartment door, not far from the elevator, was wide open with two police officers standing in the door frame. The officer closest to Matt was a broad shouldered giant of a man, and thankfully had his back turned to Matt and obscured the other officer's view. Matt reached for the button that would send him back down to the ground floor.

“Hey, wait a minute,” The smaller officer called out and Matt froze. “Are you Matthew Wellis?”

Both officers approached, the one who spoke, a frustrated looking woman, took the lead and the other followed a few steps behind, hand on his sidearm. Matt began to sweat.

“Are you Matthew Wellis?” The policewoman repeated as she and her partner blocked the elevator doors from closing.

“If I say yes,” Matt stammered, “Will I be in trouble?”

The policewoman grinned and Matt was reminded of all the nature programs he'd watched in the past where the cameraman had captured a closeup shot of a predator right before it pounced.

“You're wanted for questioning,” She said and pulled Matt out of the elevator and towards his apartment, “In regards to the disappearance of Judge Dervin.”

Matt knew any struggle against the policewoman's clamp-like grip would be useless and so he allowed himself to be steered into his apartment. A half dozen other officers were in his apartment, rifling through his belongings, making copies of various papers, and otherwise tearing his apartment apart.

“Do you guys have a warrant for this?” Matt asked.

Immediately, the giant that was the policewoman's partner handed Matt the document.

“You still could have asked,” Matt muttered as the policeman took back the search warrant, “Before just letting yourselves in.”

The policewoman didn't give any sign that she'd heard Matt's complaint and instead launched into her questions.

“When was the last time you saw Judge Dervin?” She asked.

Matt stared, unsure how to respond.

“Are you aware,” The policewoman stated, “That withholding information is a federal offense and that you could end up spending a whole lot of time thinking about how you should have answered my questions behind bars?”

Matt blinked. “Am I under arrest?” Was the first thing that came to his mind to ask.

“Not at this moment,” The policewoman answered.

“Am I a suspect?” Was the second question Matt could think of asking.

“Not so much, no,” The policewoman responded, pursing her lips and looking more annoyed than before.

“So how did you get a search warrant for my apartment?” Matt asked.

“You are a person in interest in this case,” The policewoman said, “With close personal ties to our two main leads. As such it was deemed prudent to investigate your apartment while you were escorting Joan Darcy to her holding cell.”

“And that's why the judge let me go with her?” Matt asked. “So you guys could come in here and poke around without me?”

“It was a convenient coincidence,” The officer said. “Now then, when was the last time you saw Judge Dervin?”

“Can I talk to a lawyer before answering?” Matt asked.

“Of course,” She said, “Though it only makes you look more guilty.”

“I thought I wasn't a suspect?” Matt said.

“Behaving guilty is never a good sign,” She said.

“Isn't it my right to talk to an attorney before answering your questions?”

She nodded. “But why would you need to an attorney if you haven't done anything wrong?”

Matt thought for a moment, trying to come up with a rebuttal but couldn't and at last conceded that it would be best to answer.

“I last saw Judge Dervin at the university,” He said, “I was working with Dr. Muto when Judge Dervin interrupted us. He said he wanted to speak with Dr. Muto about something and so I excused myself and got something to munch from the vending machines. When I returned, Judge Dervin was already gone.”

“See?” The policewoman said, “Was that so difficult?”

“No,” Matt admitted, “But what are you going to do to Dr. Muto?”

The policewoman shrugged. “That's not for you to worry about.”

Matt found a chair in an empty corner of his apartment and contented himself with reading a book while the officers finished their search for whatever it was that they hoped to find. At last, they began to gather up their things and to return Matt's apartment to some semblance of what it had been before their arrival.

Matt stood by the door and nodded them all out, if for no other reason than habit. The last to leave was the behemoth of a police officer, he extended his hand out to Matt and Matt, not wanting to anger the man, shook it. Something crumpled between their palms and the officer gave him a knowing look. When they ended their handshake, Matt accepted whatever it was that the officer had given him and shut the door.

Matt looked down. In his palm was a wrinkled piece of paper with a phone number scrawled on it and the words, “Don't use your own phone, you're being watched”.

Matt decided he needed a coffee and he left his apartment in a hurry. Despite the fact that he'd kept it clean for the last little while, it felt suddenly filthy and violated.

*     *     *

Writing police characters has always been a struggle for me. There is, unfortunately, the stereotype for police, painting them as mean, power-tripping individuals who love any excuse to abuse their authority. My struggle come from the fact that my limited experience with police has been more with the stereotypical officers than with the nice/good ones (it should be noted that my record is clean, not so much as a traffic ticket).

What's your take on police in literature? Are they demonized too much? Is it fair to have 'bad' cops in stories without showing their counterparts?