They Said They're The Murderers

Officer King did not expect that I would admit to the crime, and he was obviously dumfounded. He asked reflexively, “You killed Mandy?”

I nodded. “It’s me.”

The assistant beside Officer King thought that I was joking, so he yelled loudly at me, “Rosalie, do you know what you’re talking about? What you’re saying now has legal implications!”

I ignored his scolding and pushed that piece of paper forward. Officer King frowned before opening the letter. I stared as he read it line by line. The love letter was obviously written by Mandy in her usual coy tone. She was taunting me in between the lines.

Once Officer King was done reading, his frown deepened.

“Look,” I said calmly, “Officer King, Mandy crafted rumors about me being promiscuous to fool my boyfriend and make him break up with me despite having been together for five years. I obviously wouldn’t tolerate it.”

One day, I caught her being intimate with my boyfriend in front of the library. She even shot me a smug gaze! I rushed forward to confront her, but she laughed at me mockingly. “He chose me. You should go!”

After hearing my statement, Officer King stared longingly at me, trying to read something from my expression.

He continued, “You said that you killed her. Where’s your weapon? How did you do that?”

I leaned against the cold interrogation chair and described my crime.

“I stole Anna’s cyanide and mixed it in Mandy’s drink. Once she finished it, I stabbed her using a fruit knife. Ten stabs in the front, and eight stabs in the back. Oh, by the way, I stabbed her eight times in the back after she died…”

Before I could finish talking, the door of the interrogation room opened. The other policeman came in with a serious expression and whispered something in Officer King’s ear.

Officer King’s expression immediately changed. “Anna also admitted to the crime?”

That policeman nodded. Then, he passed Officer King a stack of purchasing records and the recording of Anna’s interrogation.

In the recording, Anna passed a clear electronic receipt of her purchase of cyanide to the police officer. She complained about her dissatisfaction with Mandy. Her voice sounded both firm and shaky.

She said, “I killed Mandy. She stole my spot for a top university. You can look into this spot. I was the only one who had gotten it in our school; however, a week later, it was given to Mandy. I couldn’t accept this! How could she snatch a chance that I got after putting in so much effort?

“My parents spent half of their life savings on my studies. Mandy’s just fooling around, and she gets my opportunity? Dream on! I poisoned her with cyanide before stabbing her eighteen times, and I let her feel every single stab as she died…”

Anna’s words made me feel conflicted. Officer King’s face darkened further when he saw the evidence my friend had provided. He asked his assistant to store both evidence and statements from Anna, and then he looked at me.

“Rosalie, both Anna and you are admitting to the crime. Are you trying to protect the real murderer?” He paused and stared intently at my expression. “Are you trying to protect Fiona?”

I knew that Officer King was trying to use Fiona to get me to speak.

However, he was wrong.

The door to the interrogation room was opened once again. The police officer who came in this time exclaimed, “Officer King, Fiona admitted to the crime!”