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Interrogation – part I
A third officer has joined officers Luis and Dave in the interrogation room. Officer Tyler, a soon-to-be retiree, comes in bringing a soothing, a bit more mature age presence in the room. The woman relaxes her face muscles as he walks in. She smiles. His nonchalant walk reminds her of her father.
A silent minute precedes the beginning of the session after everyone takes their places.
“Hi, my name is Ricardo Luis, I will be in charge of this interrogation session and my colleague here, Ryan Dave will step in at any moment during this time. Officer Luke Tyler is an observer and will also jump in when needed. Please tell us your name, date and place of birth”, starts Officer Luis.
With a pacific voice, the young woman introduces herself.
“My name is Julikana Tano. I was born in a territory called Fizi, in Eastern Congo, in the South-Kivu region on August 4th 1978.”
“Address?” continues Officer Luis as he is jotting down Julikana’s answers.
Julikana carries on stoically.
“7404 MacArthur Street, unit D, Miami Shore, Florida”
“Occupation?” asks Officer Luis, still busy writing.
“I am a scientist. I formulate botanical ointments”, replies Julikana.
Officer Dave is listening attentively.
At his side, Officer Tyler seems rather lost in a spontaneous admiration of Julikana. He harbors a smile as he hears she is a scientist. It reminds him of the time he dreamt of becoming a Chemical engineer, back in Madison, Wisconsin. During the economic challenges that the United States of America faced in the 1960’s, his parents did not have enough money to pay for his college education. So he worked all his life, whatever job came his way. One day, he found his true calling through service to others and enrolled in the police force.
The interrogation runs on.
“Who is your employer?” asks Officer Luis as his tone gets more and more monotonous.
“I work for a small start up research laboratory called Phytopron, in Midtown Miami”, continues Julikana, not so sure how all of this information will unfold the truth about the stalking charges.
Casually drifting away, officer Luis adds “What brings you to America?”
“I am American”, replies Julikana.
Another silent minute heavily invades the interrogation room as the word “American” echoes in each person’s head.
On the other side of the mirrored wall, our four students now seem positively drawn to Julikana as she defends herself in all sincerity. They let their guards down, somewhat able to relate to her, recognizing her as a fellow science enthusiast.
Officer Dave decides to step in and give the interrogation a purposeful turn, after the previous inappropriate intervention from his colleague Luis.
Showing her individual pictures of Kelly, Wong, Jason and Tony Jr., without detour, he asks Julikana:
“Why are you stalking these four students?”
With a majestic voice, she answers:
“I do not stalk them, I am working with them”.
Silence travels the rooms, one more time. Perplex faces in the audience translate the surprise effect of a highly unexpected course of events.
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