Conversation · Composure

"All you know is I saw it happen -- and I liked it. I liked it a lot. Her plump body, bobbing up and down in that canal like a cork. That chick-yellow bag still on her, strangling her..." Cold black coals look at the canal, then at you -- blink.

"Slippery fuck didn't keep his word..." The kid's been listening, mouth agape.

"Heh..." a sputter again. "Now that sounds like you want me to testify in your charade of law. My days are numbered. Let them rot away in a Moralintern cell -- I've said all I will." He coughs.

"Edgar didn't keep his part of the deal."

"It was you." (Make a motion, like shooting a rifle.)

"Heh." He does not fall for it. "It was someone. Someone shot her," he shrugs. His eyes grow cold suddenly.

"Or maybe she just fell. I get these violent ideations.... My memory is filled with holes, especially the Thirties. All I know is..."

"You killed her?"

"Someone did," he shrugs. His eyes grow cold suddenly. "Or maybe the cow just fell. The past is blurry, all I know is..."

Say nothing.

"The cow caught a bullet in her right lung, fell into the canal grasping her tit and drowned. Or bled -- hard to say. It was a sloppy job. And a moving target."

"But did she? They say it was her daughter who called in for her. That wasn't her daughter, was it?"

"Women do like their Barbara Muskova and their Numb 12..."

"Mmmhm... She'd probably spray a tanker full of that shit on her. Of course, I never got close enough to smell it..."

Oh no, the connection doesn't come to you! On such a pivotal moment...

Dumbo, do something, you can't zone out now, this isn't doodle-loo dance time.

Slap yourself in your head again, jump start it!

"Something with the Union boss... the elections. The previous leader..."

"What?" He's beginning to sense it now. Something is off.

To your right you see the lieutenant give you a quick sideways glance...

"About this deal you made." The lieutenant immediately understands what is happening, and turns to the suspect.

"With Edgar. The death of the Krenel mercenary was only coincidentally beneficial to the Claires. But..."

"What about the other people you've killed for them?"

"Other people?"

"Like -- the previous forewoman of the Union."

That's it! That's what you weren't connecting yourself...

"I didn't fight forty years to end up an informant for the international regime." He wags a finger at the lieutenant. "What happened happened."

Still dumb, your eyes are transfixed on his digit. It's yellow with nicotine...

Before, when you asked him about the Union he said it was a disappointment. They promised him something. Political.

"Kim, we're not solving this part. What do we do?"

"Look who's up!" He grins at you. "From the drunken stupor. This one's worse for wear than me... emotionally frayed. Life is hard for us human beings in deregulation hell, isn't it?"

"We will have plenty of time to talk about this later, Mr. Dros." The lieutenant does not let him gloat. "When you're in pre-detention -- it can take years in pre-detention."

"Go ahead." The straggler closes his gap toothed smiled. "I've been in solitary confinement my whole life."

Ease off it. This was not an unmitigated disaster. The lieutenant mitigated it. Just proceed, calmly...

"You fucking killed the previous foreman. I know it."

"Look who's up!" he grins at you. "From the drunken stupor. This one's worse for wear than me... and so emotional. Life is hard for us human beings in deregulation hell, isn't it?"

"They promised political change. And they didn't deliver."

"Look who's up." He scoffs. "You're worse off than me."

"We will have plenty of time to talk about this, Mr. Dros." He does not let him gloat. "When you're in pre-detention -- it takes years in pre-detention."

That's it? I've gotta say that? There are no other thoughts in my head?

You could say he has dirty fingernails, but that's just a fact, it's not going to do anything.

That's, regrettably, all you've got, yes.

You are THE LAW. He must divulge the information!

"Yo, Cuno doesn't understand what's goin' on here. Get a hold of it, detective Dick, let's move on, okay?"

You have to straighten your back and get back to it now. You're the last detective of the RCM here. Finish the interrogation, it doesn't matter if you forgot one thing.

Get a hold of yourself, this is just one little thing. You still have everything else! Go on, finish the interrogation!

There is no other officer on the scene, only you. You have to get a hold of yourself -- finish the interrogation.

Get your head back in the game. Everyone else is gone. It has to be you, finish the damn interrogation, forget this.

NOW!

"Something with the Union boss..." (Punch yourself in the head.)

"Officer!" The lieutenant watches you beat yourself in the head -- to make a connection in the murder case.

He quickly realises what is happening.

"Mr. Dros, about this deal you made." He turns to him. "With Edgar. The death of the Krenel mercenary was only coincidentally beneficial to the Claires. But..." He leans closer.

The kid watches you violently beat yourself in the head -- in order to make a connection in the murder case.

The communist watches you violently beat yourself in the head to make a connection in his case. It yields no revelations.

God dammit. Why are you so stupid? That's it -- we're aborting this mental failure. Back to questions.

"Kim, what do you think? About this... you know..."

Wait. It was about him meeting Edgar, and a deal...

By god, we are on the edge! In the very end -- and you can't even remember what you're trying to connect, can you? While the murder suspect stares at you with contempt!

Slap yourself in your head, jump start it!