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Noah GoldbloomCreative writingJanet’s StoryJanet had recently killed her mother. Sitting on the lawn with her mother’s body lying in front of herself Janet thought about what her father would be making for dinner that night. She was unsure what to do with the rest of her day. It was only noon and her mother was already dead. Mr.farly, Janet’s next door neighbor, was passing with his dog Banjo when Janet ran up to say hi.Mr.farly was a humorous man. Being a carnival clown in his younger days he always knew a trick or two to make Janet giggle. He was preforming a simple coin trick for her when he realized she was holding something behind her back. When asked about it Janet paused for a moment and with a joyace look held up a broken cutting knife. The blade was now only about 5inches long and bloody.Mr.Farly became panic. Trying to ask what happened Janet skipped over to her mother’s Body. She pointed to her mother whose limp body was lying in a pool of blood. The other half of te knife was lodged in her mother’s back still. Mr.Farly was scared. Janet was puzzled by his fear. “Janet,” began Mr. Farly, “Why do you have that knife?” “Oh this?” Janet replied. “It’s from Mommy’s back. I wasn’t able to get it all the way out.”“How did this happen Janet?” Mr. Farly started to slowly approach Janet trying to make not to sudden movements.“Well, Mommy was out here watering the gardens and I was bored. So I went to the kitchen, got her big knife and shoved it in her back.” Janet giggled slightly at the idea that Mr.Farly not understanding what she did.Janet was not a violent child. Starting 3rd grade in the fall she was about to turn nine. She always very adamant that she was exactly 8 years old and X month. This month she was eight years old and six months. Mr. Farly told Janet to stay exactly where she was and he pulled out his flip phone. Hurriedly he called 911. “Hello, operator there has been a murder…. No I am safe…. Yes the attacker is still here…. She is, well she is an eight year old girl….Yes…..Yes…. the address is 8465 Zara Ave……The cross streets, the cross streets are Lincoln and Noble….I’ll be here when they get here…please hurry..”Ten minutes later two patrol cars pulled up with an ambulance. Not used to this Officer Horris Took the lead. He was not old, but not new on the force. Having seniority he felt it would be best for him to lead the situation. He told his partner to take Mr.Farly to the corner to talk. He then told the other two officers to try and block the street from wandering eyes as he put it. Officer Horris went with the paramedics over to the body. Janet was standing counting her fingers the knife in still in her hand. “Hello miss could I ask you your name?”“I’m Janet. I’m 8 years old and 6 months.”“Oh well Janet someone is growing up fast.”“Yep, Ms.Talrel says I’m one of the best adders in my class. I’m not super good at multipliers though.”“Multiplication is tough. Janet would you mind if you gave me that knife?”“Only if you promise not to lose it. This is Mommy’s favorite knife and she would be mad if it got lost.”“I promise not to lose it.”Janet presented the knife to Offficer Horris. Officer Horris pulled out a plastic evidence bag and one plastic glove from his back pocket. He quickly opened the bag and put the glove on his right hand. He tried is best to stay calm as he took the knife from the young girl. He gently gripped the hilt of the broken knife and slid it into the open evidence bag. “Janet would you mind going and sitting in the back of my car for me?”“I get to sit in a police car? I’ve never done that before.”Janet skipped over to Officers Horris’s Patrol car. He opened the door for her and told her to stay put as he went to talk to the paramedics and other officers. Janet nodded her head in reply and Officer Horris closed the door. Janet was excited to be in the car. She had never been in a cop car as she called it. She ran her hands across the plastic screen that was between the back and front seats. She wondered if this was like the cabs she had been in. whenever she talked too much to her father or mother the cab driver would shut the divider. She always thought it was because her story was to interesting for the cab driver to pay attention to her and the road at the same time. She then turned to look at the shotgun that sat in between the two front seats. She had only seen these in the movies. Being a curious child she tried to part the division to touch the weapon, but was unable to shift the small gliding window that sat in the middle of the divider. Getting bored of the car Janet looked out to the Officers. All were standing in a circle around the paramedics who had put her mother in a black bag. Her mother’s body was being placed in the back of the ambulance. Janet was a bit annoyed that they were moving her mother from the lawn. Even with her mother dead Janet knew her mother needed to do chores. With her now dead either her or her older brother Patrick would have to pick up the work. She thought that Patrick would be upset since he would have even more chores now. Patrick was 14 years old and 3 months by Janet’s count. He was becoming meaner to her as he got older and was worried he would hit her when he found out about the extra chores. Janet turned her thoughts over to the officers. Officer Horris seemed like someone was shaking him. He could not stop shivering. Maybe he was cold Janet thought. The other officers looked just as cold. The paramedics were less cold it seemed. Maybe they were just warmer, Janet was unsure though. All of them together seemed to be discussing the events. Janet was unsure what there was to discuss. She simply put a knife in her mother’s back and went about playing till Mr.Farley came by with his dog Banjo. Janet heard a loud screeching noise coming into her drive way. She saw her father running over to the Officers. Her father was in a panic. His arms were flailing in the air. He seemed to be upset, maybe a bit more in contempt. He was definitely unhappy. Janet’s father pointed to her. Officer Horris put his hand on Janet’s father’s shoulder and walked him over to the patrol car. Officer Horris opened the door and Janet’s father reached in and gave her a hug. He kept repeating that everything was going to be ok and that she would have to go down to the police station to answer some questions. Janet was excited to go. She had never seen the inside of a police station. She was wondering about what questions she was going to get asked. She was hopeful her questions would be able to get answered.Officer Horris closed the door and walked with her father out of view, a few minutes later Officer Horris and his partner entered the patrol car. The partner was a young woman. She was trying not to make eye contact with Janet. Janet tapped on the divider to get the Officers attention. Officer Horris opened the divider.“Yes Janet,” said Officer Horris.“Are we going to the police station now?” asked Janet.“Yes we are Janet.”“Oh I’m excited. I’ve never been into a police station before. Do I get to see the jail cells? Will there be bad guys inside?”“Yes Janet, there is ba…”“Why are you humoring her,” shouted the partner. “She just killed her mother in cold blood!”“Rebecca, please,” Officer Horris looked and his partner with pain in his eyes, “Janet do you mind if Officer Starsh,, you, and myself just get to the police station in silence.”“Of course. I’ll just watch out the window.”At the police station Janet was placed in a small room with a window that she could not see out of on one side, a steel table in front of her, and two chairs on the opposite she sat on. Her chair was not to the comfort of her liking, but she thought this was so the bad guys in the room wouldn’t feel welcomed. On the opposite side of the glass window was Officer Horris and detectives Grieves and Mueller. Grieves a man in his early thirties had been on the job for years as a beat cop who four years ago became a detective. Mueller on the other hand was chiseled. She was into her fifties and had worked homicide for most of her tenure as an officer and had been doing detective work for the past ten years. Both were trying to gage how to talk to the young girl on the other side of the glass.“She’s young,” said Grieves.“We can’t go in attacking her,” responded Mueller.“We’ll start small. Shes eight right?”“Yes,” replied Officer Horris. “She seems nice enough. Then again she just killed her mother.” “Danielle, how are we supposed to start this?” “Well Rob, I’m not sure. As you said, small. Horris could you go and get us some coffee, maybe a juice box for the girl or something. She must be thirsty after all this.”“Yes Danielle, I’ll be right back,” Officer Horris headed to the kitchen and left Grieves and Mueller to start the interrogation.“Ok Rob let’s start this. The quicker this is over with the better,” Mueller opened the oak door with Grieves following behind her.Janet was surprised to see the two in front of her. Both were dressed sharply. Grieves had a collared white button down with a two toned bluet tie. Around his shoulder was a gun holster that was empty. Mueller was in a light blue blouse with her hair tied back. Her glasses rested on the bridge of her nose which she pushed up as she sat down. The room itself seemed muddled. The air was coming from a vent in the top right of the ceiling. It hummed as Janet tried to get comfortable in her seat. A moment of silence was shared by all three as a tape recorder was placed on the table and a note pad was taken from Grieves suitcase. Officer Horris walked in the room with two cups of coffee in his hand and a slightly crushed apple juice box in between his forearm and waste. “Is that apple juice for me?” asked Janet in excitement.“Yes, Janet. And here is sugar no cream for Grieves and two Splendas and creamer for Mueller.”“Thanks Horris, we will take it from here.” Muller took the two cups of coffee and placed hers down and handed Grieves his. She then took the apple juice and handed it to Janet.Officer Horris left quietly as Janet waved goodbye to him.“Hi, Janet. I’m Detective Mueller and this here is my partner Detective Grieves. We are just here to ask you a few questions about what happened today. Tell us if you ever need a break or anything”“Ok.”“So, Janet. Could you please tell us a bit about yourself,” Grieves said this as he hit the record button on the tape recorder. The tape spun to life with a small screech. He placed the microphone close to Janet. “Just talk into the mic when you are ready.”“To start I’m Janet Fenwer. I’m eight and six months old. I’m starting the third grade soon and I like the Power Puff Girls. Bubbles is my favorite. Buttercup can be mean sometimes.”“Janet could you tell us a bit about today?” Mueller adjusted herself in her seat and took a sip of coffee. “Well it started when I woke up. Mommy woke me up around seven and she had me take a bath and get ready to go with her to drop Patrick off at summer camp. Patrick really likes it there. He says that he can have fun without me being in his hair all the time. I’ve never been in his hair though. He gets annoyed when I tell him that.”“Janet can we get back on topic?” Mueller said with another sip of coffee.“Oh yeah, so we get home from dropping off Patrick and then Mommy and I had breakfast. She made eggs and toast with jam. I like strawberry jam, but we only had raspberry. After that Mommy went to do some work in her office and I played with our iPad for a while. I played Minecraft till Mommy was done with work and she went outside to water the flowers.”Grieves and Mueller both tensed a bit.“And what happened next Janet?” Grieves was worried about what was to come next.“Maybe we should take a break.” Mueller tapped Grieves on the shoulder and motioned for him to walk out with her. “Janet we will be back in a moment, is that ok?” Janet nodded in agreement and poked the straw threw the hole in the juice box. Grieves watched her do this as a crawl went down his spine. Knowing what the girl may have done earlier made the straw have an unsettling connotation.Grieves hit stop on the tape recorder and the tape stopped with little noise. When both Mueller and Greives were in the hallway they took a second to breathe and take a few sips of coffee. They looked into the room through the one way glass at the young girl at the table.“Her clothes have no blood on them.” Grieves was worried what this meant.“You saying she changed them?” Mueller was almost done with her coffee. It was only three o’clock and this was her third today.“I’m guessing so. But that would mean she knew to change. If she really did this there would have been blood everywhere. Her hands, face, clothes, all should look like a horror movie.”“Well…” Mueller paused. “She’ll be sent to a psych ward. It could help. She’s young.”“To young.” Grieves had stopped drinking his coffee at this point. He wasn’t much of a fan anyways, but felt the warmth might have helped. “She shouldn’t say another word before a lawyer comes. Where is the father?”“He should be on his way. Last I heard he was taking the brother to a relatives.”“Rob, this is different.”“Yeah, it is.” Both took a second to think of what to do next.“Ok let’s stall. Maybe ask if she’s hungry. Anything more out of her and it may become hard for a jury.”“Rebecca, she’s a child.”“A child that was smart enough to wash her hands and change clothes.”Grieves looked back at his coffee. He had a daughter of his own. She was twelve years old. He couldn’t imagine anyone this young doing something like this in cold blood. An hour went by before Janet’s father arrived. He looked in shambles. His clothes were disheveled. He seemed to have thrown a t-shirt on from his trunk before coming in. His work pants were still on and his dress shoes looked uncomfortable. He seemed to be walking down the hallway to the interrogation room as a blind man. He stumbled every few steps and was using the wall as guidance. Mueller and Grieves were both sitting on the bench outside the room. When they spotted the father they both stood up. Grieves straightened his shirt and tightened his tie. Mueller was already making introductions.“Hello Mr.Fenwer. Sorry to meet on such circumstances.” “Yes, hi, who are the both of you?” “I’m Detective Mueller and this is my partner Detective Grieves.”Grieves waved hello not wanting to interrupt.“Call me Clifford. It’s my first name. That should be obvious. Um, so, is she, did she, what has she said?” “Not much. We left before she said exactly what happened. Wanted to give you time to get here and to have a lawyer in the room.”“Is that normal?” “Well no, but under these circumstances it seemed appropriate. Do you need a lawyer?”“I am a lawyer. Not that I’m going to represent my daughter, just she can, I just, can I go see her?”“Afraid it would be better if you stayed out here. Is it ok that we continue? I want you to fully understand whatever she says will be used in court.”Clifford paused for a moment. He had no idea what his daughter would say. Still in shock he was hoping it wouldn’t be what happened. He was hoping she just found Luanne like that. Just walked outside and his wife was dead and his child scared for the rest of her life. Best case scenario to him.“She can say whatever. Just find out what happened to my wife.”“We’ll be back soon Clifford.” Mueller walked back into the interrogation room. Through the glass Clifford and Grieves could see that Janet was excited to see Mueller back in the room.“I got a daughter of my own,” Grieves put his hand on Clifford’s shoulder. He paused for a moment. “She seems like a nice kid.”“She was something special to us. The both of us,” Clifford shifted away from the glass window. He sat down on the bench as Grieves entered the room to join Mueller.Grieves sat down as Mueller stood in the corner. Grieves turned back on the tape recorder took one last look at Mueller and took a deep breath. “So, Janet, tell us what happened once your mother was watering the flowers.”“Well I saw Mommy in the garden through the windows. We has a small garden in the front lawn. I knew exactly where she kept her favorite knife. It’s the biggest one in the house. She says it’s a special Japanese knife. She said never play with it because it could cut through me like butter.”Grieves moved back a bit in his chair as Muller moved closer. “Continue Janet,” Mueller said in a slight whisper.“Well I took the knife from the drawer and I took it out of its special case, I went outside to see Mommy. Her back was turned and I put it in to her.”“You stabbed your mother with the knife.” Grieves was a bit struck by the news he already knew.“Yes.”“How did you know where to place the knife Janet? Did you know it would kill her?” Mueller was trying to gage Janet’s response.“I knew where it would puncture a lung.”“A lung?” Mueller was confused by the specific location Janet had said.“Yes.”“How did you know to stab her their?”“What?”“How did you know where the lung was Janet?”“Well everyone knows where the lungs are.”Janet was becoming noticeably uncomfortable by Mueller’s questions. She wiggled around in her chair and continues to sway her legs.“Is everything ok Janet?” Grieves was unsure why she was squirming so much.Pee fell down Janet’s leg. Her pants became increasingly soaked in urine. Mueller jumped out of her seat and called for Officer Starsh. Mueller was yelling out of the room as Clifford jumped from the bench from the commotion. Officer Starsh came running down the hallway and came into the room with Clifford having the door shut in his face. “Taker Janet to the bathroom and find her something to wear. Have Clifford come into the room.”“Who is Clifford Danielle?” “The father, the man in the hallway. Starsh just get him in here dammit!” Mueller was yelling at Officer Starsh.Officer Starsh exited the room with the pee covered Janet and motioned for Clifford to come in the room. Clifford almost sat in the chair his daughter has just soiled. Mueller snapped at him till he realized what was on the seat. She took her chair and placed it to the side closest to her and Grieves. She told Clifford to sit down for a moment. The room smelt acidic. Both detectives were unsure what to follow with. Grieves was more in shock then Mueller, who was irritated by what had just happened. Both detectives had seen plenty in their days. Dead bodies, rape victims, destroyed faces from a spouses fists, but the child stood out. Less from it being a child and more from the calculated nature she had. “Is my daughter alright? Did something scare her?” Clifford was wiggling as much as his daughter was a moment ago.“Clifford do you need to also use the bathroom? Can you please calm down?!” Mueller’s temper was reaching a tipping point.“Danielle let me take it from here. Go get another cup of coffee.” Grieves was trying to deescalate the situation. Mueller left the room with a slam to the heavy Oak door. Grieves positioned his chair closer to Clifford. The tape recorder was still on as Grieves began to talk to Clifford. “Listen, your daughter Janet, she said she did it. Even with that maybe she didn’t know what she was doing. We would be lying to say that, but maybe she didn’t. We’ll get a Psychologist in here to see if she’s stable. That’s the best we can do. Has Janet ever killed any animals or hurt anyone at school?”“No, not at all. Not that I know of, no. we have a cat. Her name is Glitter. Janet named her. She loves the cat.”“I’m going to level with you Clifford. Best case now is she is committed. She could go free, possibly, but that would have to be a good day at the court house. Can we search the house? If you tell us yes we won’t need a warrant. Anything to help prove that your daughter….she ever had a problem with emotions?”Clifford began to cry. Grieves was unsure on what to do. Mueller came back to the room with an already half gone coffee. All three were in the room when Janet returned. ................
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