BBDW 68 [Black Butterfly] - Nevereverland

Section 74, 75 & 76.1 (UNEDITED)

"What do you think, are Joshua's words true?" 

"Not really."

Jude's answer came back shortly with a new cup of coffee in his hand. Tim also narrowed his eyebrows and touched his jaw.  

"There's something weird about him, too. It's strange that the perpetrator, who habitually beat, harassed and killed the child, now feels guilty and has come to confess."

"I'm really weird about that mom. She said she was selling herself, and Joshua was born by mistake. But I can see that her affection for the child seems pretty abominable." 

"But it's a mother-child relationship..."

Jude shook his head half-heartedly. Tim stopped talking.

"I'm negative. I'm not saying there can be no love for a child born by mistake, but that mother also has a pretty flashy record. There's a lot of trouble with drugs, theft, and injury. Such a person is a good mother to her son?"

"In retrospect... when you think about it, it could be weird. Exactly. I don't mean to demean it as a job, but I've never seen people in those professions care for their children."

"And, no matter how scared you are, few people tell their mother that they killed people. If I had lived in a slum, I would have grown up watching so many ugly things, would I have been so shocked by the death of a child?"

"Jude, but a 12-year-old kid killed a friend of his age with his own hands. It's a completely different thing to see and do in real life. I think it's a lot more abnormal to be nonchalant about it."

"I think it's more abnormal for him to confess to us in front of everyone."

Jude, who snapped off, gulped down coffee like water. Tim, who lost his words at the moment, shrugged and breathed a long sigh after a while, mixed with thoughts of wanting to refute his partner and concerned about what Jude said.

"Yes, this case itself is abnormal..."

"-Oh, hey, detectives?"

A polite voice is heard. Tim and Jude turned their heads at about the same time and looked toward the sound. A man neatly combing through his light brown hair approached them from across the street with a worried look on his face. Wearing black-rimmed glasses, he asked Tim.

"Well, are you guys in charge of Joshua? That's what I heard."

"Oh, yeah, that's right. Who are you?"

"I'm a teacher at Joshua's elementary school. I'm Brandon Miller. I called Joshua because he didn't come to school today, and he said he went to the police station, so I came here. I heard he’s in big trouble, right?"

The moderate-looking middle-aged man nervously fixed his glasses. Tim answered as he stood up.

"Oh….I can't say much about the case under investigation, but we brought him because we had something to ask."

"I heard he killed Tyler? I heard from Joshua's landlord. Is it true?"

Tim looked awkwardly at the teacher's face. Word of mouth spread uncontrollably fast, and it was clear that the incident would hit the media tomorrow. The boy who killed another boy confesses, to a degree. But Tim couldn’t answer clearly.

"We’re not sure yet. It's under investigation. I'm sorry, but please leave."

"Oh, my God….How could he have… I thought he was a little off with Tyler, but... Detective, listen to me. It must have been an accident. He may be a little crooked, but he's basically a good kid. I’m sure he wouldn't have thought of doing that, I assure you."

The mild-mannered, pale-faced man explained eagerly. Tim shoved the back of the man who kept fixing his thick-rimmed glasses a little bit.

"Yes, as I said, we're investigating. Just go back."

"Please be mindful. With such a young child, the punishment won't be too severe, right? And if you can take into account..."

"We'll take care of it. Just go."

The man reluctantly stepped back with a worried look on his face as Tim added strength to his politely pushing hand. Jude’s unsmiling eyes briefly chased the back of the man, who slowly disappeared.

*        *        *

The next day, the newspaper was quite boisterous. Although it would have been difficult to get public attention because it happened in a slum, the fact that the dead was an 11-year-old child and another child confessed to killing the child was quite a sensitive matter. Murder committed by teenagers was not a rare thing that happened today, but this case was a little different. Eleven and twelve years old, aren't they a little too young. Articles about the poor conditions of the slum and how the dead child was usually treated at school were pouring in. Including the fear of bullying, and the fear of schools where children walk in.

Tim loosened his shirt’s top button as he threw a newspaper edgily onto the desk. Confession has always been considered big evidence, but in this case, it was a fact that it was unwelcomed no matter how hard he thought about it. A child, a kid who's only twelve. What was even more headache-inducing was that after looking around, Marilyn's colleagues also testified that Marilyn was a good mother. Even though it's hard to believe that she is suchlike in a place like this, he felt terrible for Joshua. The children at school also said they thought Joshua was not very outgoing and only hung out with Tyler and a few other children. "Oh my gosh, we're not close, he’s bullying him? I didn't know." was the majority's response.

"Hey, Tim."

Without looking tired at all, Jude, who appeared with a big cup of coffee, slapped Tim on the back. He must have slept well last night since he looked a little less tired than before. Jude, who was sitting down, looked closely at Tim and asked.

"Tim, what's wrong? Why do you look so dead?"

"Why not, because of this case. He sticks to his testimony like an iron wall, and his mother and teacher kept hanging around saying he’s young, so he shouldn't be punished. It feels uncomfortable. I don't know who to trust or not to trust."

"I think it's weirder that she's been around too much. She even follows him to the bathroom, and it's abnormal no matter how much I look at it.”

“I don't know what the hell is going on. I really don't feel like it's Joshua. It's not just because of sympathy, it's like the way he talks is like he’s being suppressed by someone.”

Jude sways his head idly and nodded. In his pocket, as he was drinking coffee like water again - he cut down on beer and instead appeared to have increased his coffee intake - he heard the cell phone cry. Jude soon pulled out his phone.

"Hello. Why? I've seen it. What? Oh, you've got plenty of time. Yes, I have a rough idea of that. It's like picking out the answer on an exam paper you know. Well..."

Jude, who was talking on the phone for a while, giggled.

"You sometimes use weird literary words. Yeah, well, let's say it's your taste. I'm going to work. And... No, no. Bye."

Jude, who hung up the phone, was sitting absent-mindedly for a moment. Tim looks at his face a little nervously as if it's a re-enactment of the blank face he sometimes sees these days, and Jude soon looked back at Tim with a smile. Similar to the face when begging for something to eat, Tim looked at the face in wonder. It's not mealtime yet. Is he going to ask about bread to eat with coffee? But what popped out of his mouth was a completely different story.

"Tim, let's go and meet the gentle mother for a minute."

"Marilyn? Why, do you have something to ask?"

"It's a simple question. 'Are you a good mother?' Easy test."

"What are you talking about?"

"It may not be just a question for her, but... let’s see, we've got to do something. I don't want to be an evil civil servant who does nothing while getting paid."

Jude rose to his feet, spitting out some cheeky words. Tim, who looked suspiciously at his back, soon headed to the interrogation room.

*        *        *

Jude opened the door to the interrogation room. Almost all night long, the mother and son sat together with a tired face. Closing the door, Jude grinned blankly at the mother and son looking back at him. The blond detective, who approached the two tired faces lightly, shrugged as he recalled his blue-grey eyes.

- The child is standing in a forest of monsters. No one, no one is telling the truth. People who are close and people who are far off.

At the end of the sudden conversation, he spits it out so quietly. Anyway, he’s a guy with such broad feet. Is he even aware that he’s a fugitive, why is he still going around in New York digging into this kind of incident? Jude chuckled and headed for Joshua. The child's face was drenched in fatigue and anxiety.

It's a forest of monsters. One monster tree, two monster trees. Jude observed the child's eyes, humming lyrics that never were in his head.