Chapter 18 Michael and Cassandra spent the rest of the day interviewing everyone who attended the party Friday night. Almost all of them remembered seeing Sasha there, at one time or another. From what they could recall, she had been very social. Some even admitted to making out with her. A good number of those interviewed, told Michael and Cassandra that the last person that saw her talking to was Seth. A few of them said that they even saw her leave the party with him, and that they were followed a moment later by his girlfriend. No one recalled any of them coming back inside. After each interview was done, they would walk down the hall, to stretch; while the officers escorted each person in and out of the rooms. During these breaks, they would take the opportunities to discuss what the other had learned. “Was it more of the same?” Michael asked, stifling a yawn. “Yes, it was more of the same.” Cassandra replied, rubbing her eyes. “Alice admitted that she had a conversation with Sasha for a few minutes. The next thing that she remembered seeing, was Sasha leaving the house with Seth. She did not remember either of them re-entering.” “That is pretty much what Josh told me as well.” Michael said, cracking his neck. “He added, that he saw Seth’s girlfriend follow them a few seconds later. The way that everything is adding up, Seth and Kirsten were the last two to see Sasha that night. It will be interesting to hear what they have to say.” “That it will.” Cassandra said, trying to smile. “So which one do you want to talk to?” “Let’s keep it the same way that we have done it all day.” Michael stated, as he began to head back to the interrogation rooms. “You take Kirsten, and I will talk to Seth.” Michael stopped, and thought for a moment. “Put your phone on vibrate. Being that they are boyfriend and girlfriend, I might decide to try to rattle them. If I do, I will ring you once. Excuse yourself, and we will switch rooms.” “Sounds like a plan.” Cassandra answered, switching her phone to vibrate. “Ready to start these last interviews?” “Ready.” He said, with a laugh. He opened the door, walked in, nodded to the officer who was standing in there, and accepted the file that was offered to him. He glanced over at the recorder and saw that is was already on, as the officer walked out of the room. Michael walked over the table, put the file down, and sat. He then looked Seth up and down, to size him up. The first thing that He noticed, was all of the dark imagery that was tattooed on Seth’s arms and neck. He had his arms crossed across his chest, and he had a very smug look on his face. As if he was about to get away with something. Michael then opened the file, without saying a word. He wanted to let Seth sit there for a few more minutes in silence, in an attempt to make him a little uncomfortable. He began to read through it, and noticed that Seth had quite a lengthy rap sheet. Everything from shop lifting, to indecent exposure. Michael noticed one note in the file, that caught his attention; Seth had been brought in and questioned in connection with the deaths of those stray animals. But, due to lack of evidence, was let go. Ok, how am I going to proceed with him? Michael thought to himself. He has been through this on numerous occasions. I need to find some way to get him to drop his guard a little bit. Damn, that is a lot of ink. That’s it, I will start by engaging him about his tattoos. And see where we can go from there. “Thank you Seth, for coming in to speak to me today.” He said, extending his hand. “It is not like I had much of a choice.” Seth replied sarcastically, accepting Michael’s hand. Michael noticed that Seth had a bit of scar tissue under his right wrist. He made a mental note of it before continuing. “Before we get started, I would just like to say that is a lot of ink. I guess that would be expected, with you being a tattoo artist. I hope that you don’t mind me asking, but are they of a common theme? From what I can see, they all appear to be very dark in nature.” Michael commented, sitting back in his seat. “Thank you for noticing.” Seth said, standing up to show off all of them to Michael. “You’re right, ninety-nine percent of them are of dark images. Mostly of death and vampire imagery. This is my prized piece.” He rolled up his right sleeve, revealing a portrait tattoo. “Very nice. Who is that a portrait of?” Michael asked, knowing exactly who it was. “It is Vlad Dracula.” Seth said, with a smile. “The most famous of all the vampires. “His proper name was Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad III or Vlad the Impaler.” Michael stated, with a gleam in his eye. He had just found his in with Seth. “He lived in the mid fifteenth century. Some believe, that he was who Bram Stoker based his novel Dracula on, but he was not a vampire.” “Really?” Seth responded leaning forward. “Can you tell me some more?” “Certainly.” Michael replied, smiling on the inside. He had finally entered into a situation where he could talk about vampires, without fear of being relieved of duty. “Vlad Tepes lived from 1431 to 1476. He ruled an area of Southern Romania, known as Wallachia on three different occasions, if I am correct. His last name, Tepes, translates to impaler; which, by an odd twist of fate, was the preferred form of torture and execution for both him and his father. It was one of the most effective ways to strike fear into one’s enemies, and enforce a strict moral code. It is said that impalement, is still one of the most gruesome ways to die. Due to how slow, and painful it is. Now Vlad’s father, Vlad II, was admitted into the secret fraternal order of knights; known as the Order of the Dragon in 1410, by King Sigmund of Hungry. With that admittance, he was given the title of Dracul, which translates to The Dragon. Vlad III would become known as Vlad Dracula; Son of the Dragon. Vlad III would eventually be killed in battle. It is unknown if it was at the hands of the Turks that he was fighting, if he was assassinated by a rival, or if he was accidently killed by his own men. It is known, that his head was severed from his body and sent to the Sultan of Constantinople. Where it was displayed on a stake; as proof that he was in fact dead. His body was reported to have been buried at Snagor, an island monastery near Bucharest.” “That was very interesting.” Seth said, sitting back again. “I did know what his name translated to. And, I also know that the symbol used to represent his family was a dragon with his wings spread, wrapped around the cross. But, how did he become linked with vampires?” “There are a couple of theories about that.” Michael said beaming. “During the time that Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, that area of Eastern Europe was still in the middle ages. Some believe that while he was researching the area, he came across accounts of Vlad, and the atrocities that he committed, and decided to incorporate aspects of Vlad’s life into his main character. The country side was full of Vampire lore, so it would have been easy for him to combine them. Although, accounts and stories of the existence of vampires predate Dracula by centuries from all over the globe, the story ushered in a new interest and love affair with the topic. I noticed that you have one tat, that does not seem to go with the others. What does that red DC sand for?” “Oh..., that is just the call letters of an old group that I was once a member of.” Seth said, taken back a little bit. “They were called... the Dragon clan.” “I see.” Michael responded, making a note of Seth’s slight delay. “But, now to the reason that you are here. I have been told by numerous people that you were in attendance at the party last Friday night, that was thrown by Erin Andrews.” “Was that the name of the person who threw the party?” Seth asked, leaning back in his chair. “Yes, I was there with my girlfriend for a bit. What about it?” “Do you remember seeing this young women at the party?” Michael asked, sliding a picture of Sasha over to Seth. Picking up the photo, Seth studied it for a few seconds before he said, “Yes, she was there. She had heard that I was a tattoo artist, and came over to me to see if I would do one for her. We talked for a few minutes about what ideas she had. I always carry my portfolio with me, so I suggested that we take a walk to my car; so I could show her some of my work. She agreed, and we headed outside.” “I have been told by others, that a few minutes after you and Sasha left the party, your girlfriend followed you.” Michael stated, looking directly into Seth’s eyes. “Yes she did.” Seth Laughed. “Kirsten can get a little jealous at times. Once I explained what we were doing, she was fine. Though, she decided to stay with us. It was at that point, Sasha stated that she was feeling a little uncomfortable. She apologized for wasting my time, and agreed to come look at my work at the shop. With that, she turned around, and headed back up the driveway. Kirsten and I talked for a moment, then we got in my car to leave.” “Did you see if Sasha ever made it back to the house?” Michael asked, leaning forward. “No. Neither of us saw if she did make it back to the party.” Seth replied, folding his hands on the table. “Naturally, we just assumed that she did.” “Just one more question, if you don’t mind?” Michael asked. “I noticed that bit of scar tissue on your wrist. Are you into cutting, or was that a suicide attempt?” “Oh, that...” Seth said looking at it for a moment. “Neither. Actually Kirsten and I are exclusive with each other in more ways than one. We are into sucking each others blood. This way, we are always bonded by blood.” “You suck each others blood?” Michael said, as straight faced as he could. In a similar manner of that of a vampire?” “I never thought of it in that sense, but now that you mention it... I guess so.” Seth responded quickly. For the third time during this interview, Michael made a note of what Seth said, and how he said it. “Well, thank you for coming in.” He said standing up. “Here is my card, if you think of anything else. I will contact you again, if I have any further questions for you.” Seth stood up, accepting the card from Michael. “I am glad to be of assistance.” He said, stepping away from the table. Michael opened the door, and said to the officer standing there, “I will escort Mr. Romans out. Would you please recover all of the recordings, and prepare them for myself and Agent Smith to review.” He looked quickly back at Seth, before looking at the officer again. “Yes sir.” The officer replied, nodding. “Agent Smith just escorted Miss. Ambrose out a moment ago.” He stepped into the room, and walked to the recorder. “Thank you for that information.” Michael said, holding the door open for Seth. He followed close behind him, continuing to watch his body language. As soon as they entered the main lobby, Seth made a bee line for Kirsten. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he whispered in her ear. She turned towards him, giggled, and whispered something back. He turned back to look at Michael and Cassandra, and asked, “Are we free to go?” “Yes, the two of you are free to go.” Michael responded, watching how relaxed the two of them appeared to be. “Just remember that this is an ongoing investigation, do not leave the area.” Without a final response, Seth and Kirsten walked out of the station. Michael headed to the door. He reached it, just as they passed Ms. Roberts. He noticed that Seth turned his head, and glared at her. It was the most emotion that Michael had seen from him the entire time that he was here. That is some tension between them. I need to look more into this. With that, Michael turned back around, and headed back to Cassandra.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 02:51:01 +0000
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