Inspector Radley

It wasn’t the Lieutenant, as a matter of fact. Rather, it was Sergeant Brinkley. The good Sergeant stood straight and tall, his young and pallid face firmly set in an emotionless scowl, with a dreary look in his eye and a legal pad in his hand. He entered the room in boredom, respectfully keeping his distance by remaining in the doorway.

“Lieutenant Radley wanted to know if Miss Parker were yet awake and ready for questioning. As I see she is awake,” he vaguely nodded in Alice’s direction, “Lieutenant Radley would appreciate it if she would follow me to his office.”

Eddie and Tessa both urged Alice to rest a little longer, but she insisted she was fine, and so left her sick-bed of a couch to follow the Sergeant out. He led her across the body of the library, to the other side, where Lieutenant Radley had set up camp in the McArthur Room. Her head felt light and slightly woozy, but she managed to walk in a straight line without running into bookcases. So is this what a hangover feels like? she wondered, and then giggled to herself at the thought. Sergeant Brinkley stopped short at the sound, but only for a moment; upon reaching the McArthur Room, he opened the door, ushered Alice in, and took up his position in a dark corner of the room, where he could scribble on his notepad to his heart’s content.

Lieutenant Radley sat at the long mahogany table in the middle of the room, with a full view of the door. He sat patiently, a quiet gentleman in a sober suit. His hair had rather more salt than pepper in it, but his icy blue eyes might have betrayed an intensity of purpose, had he allowed them to. When Alice entered the room, he stood and greeted her with a warm smile and handshake. “Miss Parker, I am Lieutenant Radley of the C—Police Department, Homicide. I am sorry to have to meet under such circumstances, but otherwise, it is a pleasure. Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you.” Alice sat in the chair indicated, and faced the Lieutenant with a mixture of nervousness and curiosity. She shivered in the darkness of the room.

“I am sure the last thing you want to do at the moment is talk to a strange man, about strange and disturbing occurrences,” Radley smiled gently, “but we must ask you to recall those memories while they are still fresh, while you can remember details which will later fade away.”

“Of course. That makes sense.”

“And unfortunately, we must try to close this case as quickly as possible; I have many other things to attend to which I had to leave behind for this case.”

“You must be here only temporarily then?”

“As are you, I see,” and Lieutenant indicated a file perched on top of a large pile of manila envelopes and paperwork. “hailing from Virginia, Miss Alice Parker, a sophomore, studying art and history.”

“You have my file?”

“Dean Merton has been most helpful already in allowing me access to files of anyone related to the case. As you discovered the body, naturally you would be included in that number.”

“Oh.” Alice took a moment and considered this. “That means,” she looked up, her eyes widening, “That means that I’m a suspect!”

Inspector Radley indicated that this was so. “Of course, we will want to confirm your whereabouts on the night in question, but for the moment, we shall assume your innocence, and if you don’t mind, I would appreciate a statement from you regarding the discovery.”