The Whitlock Case

(Friday, July 21, 2017) Something interesting happened today. I was interviewed by the police. I didn’t think I could’ve ever done something like that, but I did. Mom was the one who told me I should. Said that it could help with the case AND, possibly, provide me some closure. It didn’t. I remember everything, every single word, every single action. I was sitting in a room, at a table, with an empty chair across from me. It wasn’t too spacious, wasn’t too comfy, but it wasn’t suffocating. A policeman came into the room. He sat down in the chair across from me. I recognized the man, he was the officer that was there for me, during that time. He let out a sigh before he looked at me, concern filled his gaze. The officer greeted me: “Hello, young man,” giving me a brief smile. “Hello, officer,” I responded. “You wanted to add information on the Whitlock case, correct?” he asked me, seemingly hesitant. I nod slightly and said: “Yes, sir, I do.” He stared at me for a while. Maybe confused, maybe worried, who knows? He then gave me a small nod. “Alright,” he said in a tired voice. “First of all, what’s your name, kid?” “Elijah.” “Elijah?” “Elijah Houston, sir.” “Alright then, Houston, we are trusting you to be honest, we want to solve this case,” He started, giving me a serious look. “You swear everything you tell me in this room today, is nothing but the truth?” “Yes, sir.” “Good, let’s get started.” “How old are you, Houston?” “I’m seventeen years old, officer.” “Is your birthday anytime soon?” “No, sir, my birthday passed.” “What is your current education level?” “I’m a junior in high school.” The officer paused for a moment, and wrote down my information. He continued: “How do you know the Whitlocks, Houston?” “My best friend and girlfriend are a part of their family, sir.” The officer seemed a bit surprised by my statement, but continued on anyway. “Tell me about your relationships with the Whitlocks.” I don’t like talking about them, especially after everything that happened, but at that moment, I had no choice. “Well, like I said, my best friend is Adam, and my girlfriend is Emma. I got along well with Mrs. Charlotte, but I never got to meet little Dani, unfortunately. And... Mr. Whitlock and I didn’t like each other.” The officer asked: “How long have you known Adam and Emma?” And I said: “I’ve known Adz for 9 years, ever since second grade. I met Em through him, we’ve been dating for about 3 years now.” “Okay, what about Mrs. Charlotte?” “8 years, I met her during an open house at school.” Then the officer asked me that question. A question I didn’t want to answer, even though I knew it was coming. He asked: “Why didn’t you and Mr. Whitlock get along?” I really didn’t want to answer, so I stayed quiet. The officer didn’t like that though, and told me: “Mr. Houston, I need to understand where you stand with the Whitlocks.” “I know, sir, I’m sorry...” “It’s alright, son, but please, try to cooperate with me, okay?” “Okay, I’m sorry...” “It’s alright, son. Tell me why you and Mr. Whitlock didn’t get along.” “It was one-sided, at first... He didn’t like me, I figured it was because I was dating Emma, you know, protective father stuff. But then I saw him at the supermarket, I was waiting for my mom outside, and I saw him walking out. I didn’t want to be rude or disrespectful, so I said hi. But, he just looked at me, gave me a real nasty look, and got up in my face. He told me to stay away from Adam and Emma, or else I would face consequences.” “Did you respond in anyway?” “Yeah, Mom said if someone ever get in my face, I go back at ’em. So I told him that what he said was pointless ’cause I was still going to be around them anyway.” “How did Mr. Whitlock respond to that?” “He didn’t take it well. The stupid old man punched me in the nose. It was one of those days no one was around, I think that’s why he did it.” “Be honest, Houston, how did you react?” “I didn’t, sir, I couldn’t actually. The guy may not look like much, but he’s strong. The bitch stunned me, knocked me right off my damn feet. When Mom saw me she was all worried, the fucker made my nose bleed.” “Did you tell anyone about this?” “Besides you, Emma. We told each other everything.” “That was her father, did she believe you?” “Of course she did, why would I lie about something like that? She knew he didn’t like me, and she said, sooner or later, it was going to happen anyway.” The officer paused for sometime. It gave me a moment to calm down. Thinking about Adz and Em... Mrs. Char and Dani... It made me so... hurt. I watched quietly as the officer finished writing up the things I said. He then looked up and, even though he didn’t give me any kind of look, the mood turned serious, even more serious than it already was. He said: “What happened to them, Houston?” I responded, a little shocked, and said: “They died, sir...” “How did you figure that out?” I gulped a bit, tried to calm myself down, and said: “I... I saw Mr and Mrs. Whitlock, in their house... I was there when Adz died... and I only heard about Em and Little Dani through my friends...” “For Mr and Mrs. Whitlock, when and where did the incident occur?” “At their house, I don’t know when, but I got there around 4 in the afternoon, after I got out of school.” “Why did you go to their house.” “I had just heard about Little Dani, when Mrs. Char was away, he died. I wanted to be there for her because I knew she was suffering. Adz and Em had died, and then Dani.” “Can you describe what you observed during the incident?” I took a deep breath. Having to remember that day, made me want to thrown up. But I knew, everything I was going to say would be important for this case. I had to man up. For Little Dani, Mrs. Char, Adz, and Em. This will get them their justice, even if the true villain can’t be put behind bars. “Oliver, Mr. Whitlock, and Mrs. Char were on the floor. There was blood all around them. I saw a gun lying next to them, and there was glass too.” “Who else was present during the incident?” “A few neighbors of theirs.” “Did you hear anything that was said during the incident?” “Their neighbors were saying they heard gunshots and were worried something bad was happening.” “Was anyone’s behavior or actions particularly concerning or alarming?” “I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t paying any attention to them.” “Why not?” “A woman I cared about was hurt and possibly dead, I didn’t give a shit about them.” “What about Oliver, Mr. Whitlock?” “The bastard was probably dead already too.” “You seem to hold resentment towards Mr. Whitlock, tell me why.” “It’s his fault they all died.” “How can you be sure?” “That bastard... A public icon in the city, an absolute monster behind closed doors.” “Elaborate on that, Houston.” “With pleasure.”