Mr. RedShirt

I looked through the one-way window into a room. The walls were made of brick and painted white. The metal table shined as a single light illuminated it. A man sat waiting at the table.

"He isn't doing anything." A my co-worker said. He wore a black police uniform. "You sure this is the guy?"

I scratched my chin, because I wasn't I was quite sure myself, at least not anymore. He fit the description, but he was awfully calm. I pulled a folded paper from my pocket and opened it.

"White, red shirt, jeans, curly hair, bags under his eyes." It read.

"He's not even blinking." My co-worker said. "Is he even alive?" He tapped the window, but the man inside didn't even flinch, he just kept staring blankly at the wall.

"I'll go in now." I told my co-worker, and then I walked to the door and walked out. I went to the door and opened it. The man looked up at me and smiled. "Hey how you doing man?"

"I'm quite alright." He responded, which surprised me. I expected him to just keep staring at the wall, but this was nice I guess.

"So, you know what you're in for right?" I asked.

"Mhmm, theft of an illegal firearm." He said.

"So you admit you did it?"

The man stopped smiling very suddenly. He just stared into my soul, before smiling again and saying "Mhmm."

I looked to the window where I just saw the reflection of the room, but I could practically see my partner laughing right through the glass.

"You serious?" I asked him. "Like, you actually stole that firearm."

"Mhmm, the AR-15." He nodded.

I chuckled before finally sitting down. "Where and who did you steal it from, AR-15's are illegal in California." I asked him.

He simply shrugged and readjusted himself on his seat, sitting up straighter. I sighed and pulled a folded paper out from my shirt pocket and opened it. It was a picture of the exact same man. "Kirk Laughlin." It said at the bottom of the page.

"So…" I said, placing the paper in front of the man. "This is a picture of Kirk Laughlin, a murderer suspected of killing at least four people."

"That's me!" He said staring at me in the eye.

I furrowed my brow and stared at him, not exactly knowing what to say. "So you're saying that you're a murderer who has killed four people?"

"Mhmm."

I leaned back in my seat. "You're messing with me aren't you?" He shook his head slowly, it was quite menacing honestly. "You really killed four people?"

"Well I didn't say that."

"How many did you kill?"

He frowned and folded his arms. "I want my lawyer."

"Man, you just admitted you killed people, I think you're beyond help. No lawyer can clear that up."

"Did I though?"

I looked behind myself and up to a camera on the wall. I pointed at it and said "You realize everything you say is on that camera right?"

"Yes, I saw it." He said.

"So that means we have you admitting you killed people on record."

"Okay that's cool, but I didn't."

"But you just said you did!"

"But I didn't."

This was getting quite childish very quickly, so I stood up and excused myself, going back to the last room I was in with my partner.

"You got that on camera right?" I asked as soon as I walked in.

"Wha-?" He asked, half asleep.

"What he said! You got that on camera right, it was recording?"

"Yeah those cams in there are always on."

"Okay, I need you to get the footage, I got him to admit to murder." I said, walking up to the desk.

"Wait, for real?" He asked logging onto the computer.

He opened an app and look through the cameras, eventually finding the recording of the one I was just in. He skipped to the part I was interrogating the man.

I looked through the window and looked at the man who was just staring at the wall once again.

"Why were you staring at the camera?" My partner asked.

"What?" I asked. "I wasn't staring at no damn cam-" I looked at the screen to see myself looking at the camera, and the man was just staring at the wall like he is now.

"The hell- did I black out?" I questioned myself.

"Well I'd think you'd know that." My partner said, to which I elbowed him.

"It was a rhetorical question."

He skipped through more of it, but I never stopped staring at the camera, until I just got up and left.

"So what did you get him to admit?" My partner asked.

"Nothing I guess." I responded.

Written by: HorrorsUnknown