Guilty Party [REWRITING]

KARA AKIYAMA | FEBRUARY 2020

SUSPECT #1
KARA AKIYAMA
FEBRUARY 2020

          DETECTIVE GUNNER DOESN'T LIKE to admit that she had no idea what she was getting into when she accepted the case surrounding the death of Tatiana Petrova, the daughter of the esteemed real estate developer, Dmitri and Vanya Petrova. One of these sleepless nights, Detective Gunner wonders if she made a mistake for being so ambitious. 

          These are rich, reckless kids. Nothing good could ever come out of them. 

          Detective Gunner sighs as she reaches for the silver doorknob, praying for the stinging headache to go away. She finally steps into the room and it's cold in there. The cold embraces her, making goosebumps grow on her dark skin. A girl is already sitting by the desk, her eyes staring down at the surface with her perfectly manicured fingers intertwined gracefully. 

          Kara Akiyama. The Queen Bee of Monarch Prep, as they like to know her as. 

          At first glance, she looks like a Rennaisance painting. She's so undeniably beautiful and graceful, you'd think she's made out of gold threads until you realise those gold thread is just one big pretty pearl noose tightening around her neck. Being an Akiyama to many seems like a blessing to come from generational wealth with, what, generations benefiting from the oil they found in Japan and now eight decades later, owning half of New York, where the richest of the richest dwell. At age seventeen, Kara already has millions to her name 

         But nothing is ever what it seems with a pretty, rich girl like her. 

        "Hi Kara," Detective Gunner sits down in front of her with a brown file grasped in her hand. Kara's tired eyes flicker from the desk and to her eyes. Detective Gunner's eyebrows quirk slightly at the coldness in her eyes. She puts the brown file on the table and clasps her hands over it, "I'm sure you know why you're here today. All I need to do is ask you a few questions about the night at the Petrova manor. Is that okay?" 

        Kara scoffs and laughs tiredly. There's not a sliver of makeup on her face, exposing the reddish bags that sit under her eyes. Her eyes are bloodshot and vacant. This tiny square room is the last place she wants to be. 

       "I don't have a choice, Detective Gunner," She replies callously and folds her arms on top of the desk. She breathes in sharply, her eyes drilling down at the woman in front of her, "In fact, I'll answer the first question that's in your mind. No. I didn't kill her." 

       "Okay." Detective Gunner purses her lips and nods her head, her fingers tapping the brown folder. Her head tilts sideways as she studies Kara's expression. She's indifferent to her friends. All of them inherently acted similarly. None of them liked being in that room, getting questioned to the core. 

        Detective Gunner almost regrets taking the case. But she isn't one to easily quit. 

        "Would you like to tell me where you were when Tatiana was presumed dead?" 

        Kara's eyes moved away from the detective, training on the spec of dust that's aimlessly floating near the fluroscent light over their heads, "Didn't your minions ask me the same question?" 

       "I just want to make sure we have things clear, Kara." She sighs, trying to suppress her frustration. 

       "I was in the cellar," Kara folds her arms over her chest, replying flatly. 

       "And what were you doing in the cellar?" Detective Gunner asks and takes out her notepad from the pocket of her coat, snatching a pen that sits behind her ear. She scribbles Kara's whereabouts that night. 

      Kara watches her hand scribble and leans over the desk slowly to watch her. She replies gently, "I was fucking my boyfriend," and sees the abrupt pause in Detective Gunner's hand. Their eyes meet and Kara smiles widely, "Do you need to hear the details of that too?"

      Detective Gunner senses the hostility in the air and puts her notepad aside. She tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear and looks at Kara, "I'm just going my job here and I'm sure you know that. And I don't like being here as much as you do. So, if you can leave that attitude elsewhere, you'd be doing the both of us a favour." 

       "Fine." She states and swallows the lump in her throat. Her finger plays with the dainty necklace on her neck, preparing for the next question that's thrown at her. 

       Silence lingers in the air as the cold exterior that encases Kara crumbles as her eyes softens as she stares into the corner. Her bloodshot eyes water, refusing to look at the detective, as if she suddenly remembers something. 

       "I understand that there was a strain in the group months prior to the night she was found dead. Now, there are accusations surrounding that someone in your circle of friends may have something to do with what happened," Detective Gunner opens the file and briefly reads the first few statements that mostly came from partygoers at the Petrova Manor. Kara freezes for a moment before slowly looking at the detective. Defeat isn't something Kara wears like any of her Prada or her Versace pieces. She never wears it well. 

        "She was my best friend," Kara's voice cracks. She wipes the corner of her eye with the sleeve of her sweater. Clearing her throat, she adds, "I cared for her, like a sister. But Tatiana... She was a destruction. To everybody. And to herself." 

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