BBDW 67 [Black Butterfly] - Nevereverland

Section 72 & 73 (UNEDITED)

Pushing their way through the onlookers, the two detectives approached the middle of the scene where people were snooping around. The crumpled body in the street bin was still small. Tim frowned. The smell of protein rotting struck his nose. There weren’t any maggots on the body. The glove-clad Jude approached the side of the trash can and turned it over carefully. The face was yet of a young boy. Staring at the faded pupils like dead fish eyes, Jude looked around carefully at the body that began to decay black and blue.

"Is he beaten to death... and there are a lot of marks like that here and there. We'll have to move him to the autopsy room."

"...he's still a little boy.....even in the back alley, how could they do that?"

"Would people call it a back alley for no reason? Let's look around. We can't match his fingerprints since he’s underage, so we need to look around. Let's get the body back."

Jude shook his hands and straightened his back. Turning his head in search of fresh air, the blond detective noticed something strange and opened his eyes wide. In that alley, a child was staring this way. He didn't want to pay much attention to the child living in this neighbourhood, but the child bit his lips, looked at the ground once and began to walk this way. It was a boy at the age where the voice was about to change.

The freckles on his face were still making a youthful impression. Recognizing Jude's gaze, Tim also opened his eyes wide when he found a child approaching in the alley.

"What is it? Some kid."

"It's not like he’s watching. Does he have something to say?"

The child walked slowly and soon approached Jude and Tim. Tim waved and shouted as he passed through the tape indicating a no-go.

"You can't come over here, it's a murder scene."

"I, I have something to tell you."

The child's voice was shaking a little but it was clear. Under the mysterious eyes of not only the two detectives but also the onlookers gathered, the child barely stood on his two feet, biting his lips several times. When the dry crack of his voice rang, Tim doubted his ears.

"He's Tyler, and I killed him."

The noisy air froze for an instant. After a brief lull, the onlookers soon began to murmur as if they were sober. It's enough if the onlookers talk as they please, but Tim, who had to find something to say to the child, agonized fiercely for a moment.

"What do you mean..."

"Joshua! Joshua, Joshua!"

A voice that interrupted Tim, who barely opened his mouth to ask, ‘What do you mean?’ ripped the air. A woman popped out of the alley where the child walked out. The woman, who couldn't even tidy up her tangled blonde hair, rushed to the side of the child in a hurry. At first glance, she looked like a street woman, judging by her dishevelled appearance.

"Joshua, what the hell? I told you not to leave, I told you it was just an accident! Why aren't you listening to your mother?"

"How can I keep my mouth shut? I can't... I can't."

"But.....still...!"

When the child mumbled, the woman seized the child by the shoulder and shook him hysterically. Eventually, she burst into tears and hugged the child and looked at Tim and Jude with frightened eyes. The bewildered Tim approached them cautiously. Even in this situation, he really respects his partner with indifferent eyes.

"Well, first of all….what's your name?"

"I'm Joshua. Joshua Blum."

"I'm Marilyn Blum... oh, Detective, don't listen to what this kid is saying. Please. He’s just distracted because his friend died. It's just a brief crudeness..."

"A child who is depressed because of his friend's death is just going to be depressed; he won’t say that he killed his friend. Well, I don't know the details, but let's go together first. I think we need to listen to the story."

Jude snapped from behind Tim’s back in a not-so-serious tone. Surprised again by his thick nerve, Tim said to Marilyn with a slightly uncomfortable face.

"Yes, I think he should."

"Well, then, can I come with you?"

"There's no problem, but... is it okay if your mother comes with you?"

Tim looked back at Joshua. Sometimes it's hard to talk in the presence of a parent. However, Joshua held his mother's hand rather tightly.

"Yes…... I wish she could stay with me."

The child's hands were shaking a little. Tim nodded with an uncomfortable face. He looks like a kid who hasn't even entered middle school yet, but how did he end up like this? The mixture of frustration that he didn't know what was going on and sympathy for the child formed a lump in his throat. Tim looked at the two hands clasping together, thinking he wanted to take out a cigarette he didn't smoke.

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"I was... picking on Tyler. He's small, so with the kids in the neighbourhood... you know. Bullying."

The child sat on the interrogation room chair and began to stutter. Still, the child's mother was sitting next to him. It was because of Joshua's condition that his mother should be around to talk. Jude was sipping coffee next to him as Tim listened to the child with serious eyes.

"And then... it suddenly got worse. Around the night before yesterday. I didn't mean to, but Tyler rebelled a little, and I was so angry at the moment that I hit him a little harder than usual, but at some point, he didn't move. I was scared.....and I poked him, but he wouldn't move, so I ran away. Leaving him alone..."

"So you're not the one who put the body in the trash can?"

The child hastily replied to Tim.

"No, I'm right! I went out early in the morning again, and Tyler was still there. He was so cold... and I was really scared. So I thought I'd hide him somehow, so I put him in the trash can next to him. I roughly covered him with trash.....and then I ran away."

"Did you have any particular motive for thinking that you should confess to us?"

Jude asked as he shook off the last drop of his coffee. Joshua looked at his knees and raised his face with his mouth squeezed like he was holding back his tears.

"Yes, when I got home, my mom kept asking me what had happened. I wasn't going to tell at first, but she kept prying... and I was so scared and wanted to lean on someone, so I told her. So, my mom, said it was just an accident, I didn't mean to kill him. But... but, no, it's not. What I did was kill him, and it’s a crime. I couldn't sleep well....it was very, very difficult."

"Joshua..."

Marilyn reached out and took her son's hand. Tim alternated between the two, feeling a little dubious. If what the child said was true, it was likely to be quite a problem. Now that he's 12 years old, will it end up with probation at best? It was also a matter of assuming that the child's words were true. Tim looked back at his partner with a slightly tired face. He seemed quite tired for someone who said he had a good night's sleep last night, but seeing him playing with an empty paper cup it didn't seem like it at all. Tim stood up with a sigh.

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Soooo idk why Harlem is such a bad place in some manhwa and novel. Did I miss something? If any of you who read this happens to be from Harlem don't attacc me okay. Next update tomorrow. See ya.