21 The Interrogation

Its light was neither yellow nor green, casting a faint glow on the plump face of a man in his late forties. The man's face was calm but from the side of the mirror, Ravi could see the beads of sweat on his forehead, they had been here for less than a minute and the man had already changed positions of the hard chair twice.

"I would go in and interrogate the suspect. It should not take me long." Arlen looked like he was talking to the two of them but his primary gaze was on Ravi. Ravi hoped that he was not planning to ask him to interrogate the man.

The Davenport Police Bureau was a paper tiger. The district always sent a teacher every six months for some training but it was always someone who did not truly know what he was set to do and they would just learn in theory, never practical.

They had interrogated thieves and jaywalkers and stuff like that but never truly a real criminal if you could call the owner of a small gambling den in one of the smallest towns in Avalon, a criminal.

Arlen walked into the interrogation room and Sarah walked towards him. The middle-aged woman has always been calm but now she had an unmistakable excitement in her eyes.

"Officer West, you came to watch." She said as she tried to put a communication device in her ear, she failed spectacularly. She gazed at Ravi who looked away.

"Yes, I came to watch. You are putting it upside down."

She turned it upside down and it connected properly, "I wonder where Captain got this communicator from."

The word Captain made Ravi turn and face her, he was curious, "Why did he give you the communicator?"

Sarah was a little surprised but she replied honestly, "So I can tell him if Mr Garfield's heartbeat starts to rise."

Ravi blinked. Ah! It is true. Sarah could detect minute sounds, it does not last for long but for this interrogation, it should be okay. He became quiet so he could not distract her, watching as the tall man in a darker police uniform strode through the room and sat opposite Mr Garfield.

Sarah watched Ravi in shock, the first time she had seen Ravi, she had been so entranced that she had stood still and stared. That time, he did not have this scruffy beard, and his hair was cut short showing his entire face. So beautiful. Her awe did not last long, she soon found out that her seven-year-old daughter was less lazy than Ravi. If he could sit then he would not stand, if he could lie down, he would not sit down. Not to mention he never had a good face for her either, walking around like someone owed him a million dollars.

She did not hate him but she disliked his kind of person. That was why he was extremely shocked to see such an earnest and interested expression on his face. She looked back to the interrogation room, was an interrogation really that great to see?

Ravi did not know what was going through Sarah's mind. He leaned in, his nose was a few millimeters from touching the one-way glass mirror. In the movies, shouldn't the interrogator have a stern, ruthless atmosphere, even Sergeant Tom does not smile when interrogating the petty criminals but there is no frown on the Captain's face.

Arlen had broad shoulders and long legs, with a straight and upright posture. He sat down casually behind the interrogation table and Mr Garfield's whole body tense up.

"Hello! Mr Garfield. We were sorting some details out, would you like a cup of water? Tea? By rule, we can not serve caffeine so no coffee."

"What is this about? I have not done anything wrong? I was just having a party with some of my friends. Are parties banned? Are the police allowed to do whatever they want, keeping people from any contact?" Seeing Arlen's laid-back attitude, Garfield took the initiative to fire a round of bullets without stopping.

Ravi looked at Arlen, waiting for him to counterattack. Seeing that he was still quiet, Ravi frowned.

"Do you want me to get you a lawyer?" Arlen suddenly said in the quiet interrogation unit and Ravi blinked slowly. Sarah and the man inside had the same expression on their face so he probably misheard.

Ravi might bear the lowest tier police officer but he seriously doubted if this man had finished the police academy. What kind of interrogator would hurriedly provide a lawyer for his suspect?

"A lawyer?" The man suddenly coughed, incredulously, "You are asking me to get a lawyer."

"It is your right. We caught you red-handedly after all, what should I be afraid of with the stack of evidence against you? Mr Garfield the punishment of illegal gambling is a fine of 1 million dollars and 2 to 5 years in jail," Arlen looked him up and down, still in his relaxed posture, and made a loud tsk, "You might be the boss of a gambling den in Davenport but I can tell you, prison in the city is different, I am afraid you would not last long."

Arlen casually slides a folder filled with signed confessions from other people who had been caught and let go.

"Your…what do you call them… party friends are quite helpful. Some even provided evidence of payouts. It is all in there, you can take your time, and look through it."

Arlen had a friendly countenance yet his light tone was like Mount Everest pressing down on Garfield, causing him to sink and hunch into the iron chair.

"Okay! Fine! It is a gambling den and I just opened it to feed my family but I never hurt anyone ever. I swear!"

"That is a good start. Mr Garfield. The thing about gambling is that you all run a tight ship. You would not let the customers swindle so there should be all-round surveillance 24/7 in the gambling house and around it. Fetch me the CCTV records and I will take it easy on you,

The man clenched his fists, an apparent reluctance in his gaze, "Are you going to shut down the laundry?"

"CCTV first and then we talk."

Garfield looked into those kind blue eyes and he could not help nodding, "Okay,"

Arlen stood up, "Thank you for being so cooperative, Mr Garfield."