Convicted

Alex’s eyes snapped open with a groan. His eyes came to focus very slowly. He became aware of his surroundings and he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach when he realised where he was; there were four plain grey walls, a cold hard floor, and a small bed in the corner. It was a jail cell. He vaguely remembered they had been travelling abroad with his friends in Spain and they had been drinking at a local bar but his headache spiked in pain for a moment. He struggled to remember only seeing some flashbacks. But he remembered there had been an accident. They had hit someone and they had called the police but he had no idea yet if the victim survived or not. He could feel a dreading feeling inside him. Is this feeling anxiety, fear, guilt? He thought bitterly.

Alex looked beyond the cell door, through the bars and he saw an empty corridor ahead of him. He shifted his position on the bed, feeling the bed creak beneath him. Where are Michael and Sarah? Are they all right? The thought finally occurred to him. He climbed off the bed and went over to the bars, leaning his head against the bars. He felt the cold sensation of the metal pressing against his skin. He saw the door at the end swing open and one figure dressed in a typical looking police uniform and another man came down the corridor. He saw them stop by his jail cell. Alex pulled away from the bars and his eyes looked at both men who returned the gaze. Alex looked over at the other man, he was wearing a brown jacket with a white shirt and black trousers. He was the taller of the two men.

“Did the man survive?” Alex asked looking up but the guard cut him off raising his hand gesturing for him to stay silent for the moment.
“Now I need to hear your version of the story. I’m inspector Carlos Hernandez.” After he had spoken in English, the guard unlocked the gate and pushed it open. He strode into the cell and ushered him out into the corridor. He was vaguely aware of his surroundings; his mind was racing with different thoughts.

Eventually they brought him into what looked like an interrogation room and forced him to sit down at the small table staring at a blackened glass wall, and each of the other walls were plain dark grey walls. He felt his anxiety rose even further as they left him in the room alone for a while. He tried to calm himself down but he couldn’t; he felt his whole body rebelling in its own way as his breath was too was still loud and deep and he soon became aware that his foot was tapping against the ground erratically. His eyes looked up to the side towards the door as soon as heard the door moving across the floor and some light appeared briefly as a figure stood in the doorway. It was Carlos Hernandez. He didn’t sit down straight away but rather his eyes seemed to be studying him; looking beneath the table for a few moments. He’s looking at my feet, Alex suddenly thought in confusion. He looked at the man, not really wanting to meet his eyes. Carlos stood there for a few moments before walking over to the table and sitting down.

“Sorry about that,” Carlos said but he didn’t dwell on what just happened for too long. “You can relax. This is just a normal routine questioning. Take a deep breath and we’ll continue.”
“All right,” Alex said weakly. He inhaled deeply and held it for a few seconds before relaxing and exhaling.
“Now let’s begin.” He clicked the recorder and said the date, as well as his name and Alex’s name and where he was born and the incident that the interrogation was the second of this particular case. Carlos paused for a moment before continuing. “How long exactly have you been in Spain for?”
“For about six days. We’re due to go back home on the day after tomorrow.” Alex responded after a moment’s pause. He was still trying to regain some form of composure.
“So tell me in your own words tell me what happened on the day of the crash.” Carlos wasted no time in getting to the punch line as it were.
Alex paused for a few moments trying to recollect as much as he could. “Well we had decided to go to a club which included Michael, Sarah and me. We had a few drinks and danced around mingling with different people there.” Alex said slowly.
“Right. And what club was this?”
“El Dorado and it had something else attached to the name,” Alex said. He was vaguely aware of his hand scratching the back of his head, looking slightly to the side but he knew Carlos was watching him the whole time. Carlos nodded but didn’t yet respond for a moment.
“I know the one. What happened next?”
“This older man in the club was coming onto Sarah and well she got tired of having to fend him off. He wouldn’t leave her alone apparently.”
“You didn’t see it?”
Alex paused for a couple of minutes trying to remember as once again he was struggling. “I was by the bar at the time drinking. But eventually I think she came over to me either with Michael or not I can’t quite remember. She says to me that she wants to leave and I say I’m not ready yet so I hand her the keys.” He paused for a moment. He was vaguely aware of his fidgeting with his hands but his mind was focused on telling his side of the story.
“Okay then what?”
Alex tried to take a deep breath then exhaled. “Eventually we decided to leave we came back out and climbed into the car. I got in on the right and Michael got in on the left. He drove way to fast and hit the person.” Alex paused for a moment again he felt the eyes of Carlos digging into him, piercing him like if he was being stabbed by a physical blade as Carlos had leaned forwards just a touch. What just happened? He felt a sudden confusing, sinking feeling down in his stomach.
*
Sarah felt her stomach groaning as she was hauled out of the cell by the guard and the detective, Carlos Hernandez. You gotta be kidding? Hungry at a time like this, Sarah thought to herself. She remained silent as they led her down the corridor taking a right at the end. The only sound she could hear were their footsteps with hers being the loudest. I can’t wait for this to be over and get back home to my family, the friends I left behind.
“In here,” The guard said as he opened a door. Sarah peered inside and saw that it was a small room with four grey plain walls and a table in the middle of the room. It looked like it was a typical interrogation room that she had seen in movies and crime dramas. She took a step inside cautiously before walking over to the table. She sat down A sudden bang filled the air and she glanced over at the door as the man with the coat closed it behind him before walking towards the table. His eyes looked straight at her, staring into hers as he approached. She turned to look away to face ahead.

“Ooh I forgot. My name is detective inspector Carlos Hernandez,” He introduced himself as he sat down at the table. Sarah offered a small brief smile at him. “We may as well get straight to it.” Carlos tapped the recording box in the middle of the table and spoke into it saying his name, the date, the case name, her name along with the fact it was the third interrogation regarding this case. “All right then. How long have you been in Spain for?”
“Six days. And it’s seven days we’re staying here and then we go back on the Friday.”
“Right. So what happened on the day of the crash then?”
“Most of the day we were having a relaxing day, just chilling by the pool. However Michael decided we should go out clubbing so we reluctantly got ready and went out clubbing. We stopped by a couple of bars some weren’t all that nice so we kept moving. Eventually we arrived at the El Dorado Pizza bar and club place. This one seemed better than the last few other places we had stopped at, so we stayed for at least two hours.” Sarah said taking a pause for a moment, recollecting her thoughts. Carlos nodded but he didn’t say anything.
“I was on the dance floor minding my own business, dancing with a couple of girls and guys. But then this older man came over to me and started dancing with me. At first I was fine with it but then he followed me over to the bar. I shrugged and tried to ignore him but he wouldn’t lay off me. Eventually he even tried to follow me to the bathroom but one of the workers stopped him. After that I went over and spoke to Michael then we both went over to Alex. I wanted to leave but they handed me the keys to wait for them. I exited the club and went over to the car and climbed in. Michael had followed me out and took the keys back with him. It was fairly hard but I guess I eventually drifted off. The next thing I was sorta aware of was that the car had started up and we were moving. The next thing I know is that we came to a sudden halt. I glanced up at the car and I saw something fly up over the windshield.” Sara paused once more.
“Do you remember who was driving the car at the time of the crash?”
Sarah paused for a moment, a finger twirling in a strand of her hair. “It was….” She sort of trailed off. Something else sprung to her mind when she had exited the car after Alex and Michael. There had been very few witnesses and they had made a pact with each other that they weren’t going to say who was driving the car so that they both equally got in trouble more or less and forced Sarah in on it.
“It’s important. I need to know. They’re both saying it was each other so they both go down. It doesn’t really work that way as only one was driving and only one has the name down on the insurance for the rental service.”
Sarah nodded feeling slightly guilty as Carlos stared into her eyes. “It was Alex.” She then looked down at the table as soon as the name had left her lips. Carlos must have noticed because he responded.
“That is all.” He then tapped the recorder. “I wouldn’t worry about betraying him. He betrayed himself first.”
“What?”
“That’s right. This is irregular but I will show you.” Carlos said getting to his feet. Sarah followed staying silent. Carlos led her out and around the side to where the mirror was giving a view to the interrogation room and there were some screens over to the side. Cameras. Carlos pressed the button and it went back showing when Alex was in the room. He then played it from a particular point. It was showing them both, and Carlos had asked a question to Alex, a simple question.
“See how he acts? He was nervous at first then eased up but then went back to being nervous. But watch the hand movement.”
Sarah watched carefully. She heard Alex saying that he had got into the right and Michael on the left. But when he had said left, his hand gestured to the right.
“See? His own subconscious betrayed him. After that I asked him about it. He eventually admitted he was the driver. He was trying to hide it. He’ll be charged with murder by dangerous driving.”
“Wow.” Sarah felt gobsmacked. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. “Will he be sent back to the UK to one of their prisons?” She asked. She felt her voice starting to break now. All she wanted to do was go home even more now than before. She felt tears starting
“Eventually, perhaps.” He shrugged his shoulders casually. “You’re free to go. Your friend is outside or already left. We called for a taxi to take you back to your hotel.”
“Thanks.” Carlos led her down the corridor and into the main part of the station before pointing to the door.
“Take care.”
“Bye.” Sarah walked out of the front door and felt the cold breeze on her face. She saw Michael about ten feet away, he turned and looked at her. His stare wasn’t a warm or friendly smile; it was a cold icy stare as if he already somehow knew that she had told them what they needed to know. He walked off down the street without a second glance back at her. She saw the taxi on the other side of the road. She started walking over to the taxi and waved over at it as she reached half-way. It was going to be a long lonely journey back to the hotel, she thought to herself as she looked out into the road ahead before crossing.