“So, James, is it?”
“I go by Jimmy.”
“Jimmy. Got it. So, Jimmy, just for the record, how’d you know Caroline?”
“She was my girlfriend.”
“For how long?”
“Two years.”
“Right... You seem nervous, Jimmy. You alright?”
“Fine...”
“Just making sure. Tell me about your relationship with Caroline.”
“Well... I mean, we had our ups and downs...”
“I’d say so. Says here people outside your home heard a bit of yelling prior to what happened.”
“I guess.”
“Did you fight a lot?”
“No. Just every once in awhile about stupid things.”
“Like what?”
“My mom.”
“She didn’t like Caroline very much, did she?”
“Not really.”
“So it’d be easy to say your mom could be behind all of this, right?”
“She’s not!”
“Easy. Just putting that out there. Sit back in your chair, buddy. You alright?”
“Yeah...”
“Good. So let’s get to the hard part. I’ll try to keep it as simple as I can. Where were you
yesterday?”
“My house.”
“Okay. And Caroline was there too?”
“Yeah...”
“Why?”
“She always came over on Sundays.”
“And why’s that?”
“...To help me with my school work.”
“You seem kind of hesitant about that answer.”
“Well, it’s kind of embarrassing... You know, having your girlfriend help you out with your
graduate work.”
“But your mother says you had a tutor help you with your school work.”
“Like I said, she didn’t really like Caroline. She’d do anything to get her to go away.”
“Alright, maybe so. But you told Caroline not to come yesterday.”
“Yeah...”
“How come?”
“I wasn’t feeling up to it.”
“But why? She was your girlfriend, wasn’t she?”
“Yeah, but-”
“But what?”
“I... I just wasn’t feeling up to it.”
“Were you two fighting?”
“I guess.”
“About your mom?”
“Yeah.”
“And how’d it end?”
“With me telling her that no matter what happens she’s still my mom. And I still have to like her
no matter what. So she’d have to just put up with it.”
“And Caroline said...?”
“That I’d have to choose someday if I wanted to keep her around.”
“Well you made that choice yesterday, huh?.”
“No!”
“Well, you must’ve, Jimmy! You were found kneeling next to her lifeless body with a gun in
your hand!”
“I didn’t try to!”
“How on Earth did you not try to? You don’t accidentally aim your gun at your girlfriend’s
forehead and pull the trigger!”
“I swear I didn’t mean to!”
“Then how in God’s name did it happen, then?!”
“I... Um...”
“Come on, kid! You and I both know what happened. It built up in you. Those two, long years of
bickering finally got to you. It was rough between you two, everyone knew that!”
“But I loved her!”
“Yeah, sure.”
“I didn’t try to kill Caroline!”
“Who, then? How could she purposely step in the way of a fully loaded gun? Who were you
trying to kill!”
“...Myself.”