INM 1 Part 5

The morning after being lectured almost all night by my childhood friend, whom I hadn’t seen in three years.

Trying to wake up with coffee, I had a second encounter with the two cops I met for the first time yesterday.

Where, you ask?

At my home, of course. In other words, they barged into my house in the wee hours of the morning without any notice, under the guise of an investigation. Frankly, the police these days…

As I opened the door to my room, making my displeasure as obvious as possible, a tall man with an even colder expression looked down at me.

“You’ve got some nerve, Mr. Potter, playing with the police in a murder investigation.”

“As I said last time, Inspector Robinson, could you please not call me by my last name?” 

I tilted my chin defiantly as I said this, and Inspector Robinson raised an eyebrow with an expression that made it unclear whether he was listening or not. 

Then, completely ignoring my words, he continued. 

“This time, tell me everything you know about Alan Maxwell.” 

“Even though you asked me so many questions yesterday!” 

“Apparently it wasn’t enough.”

The inspector lifted the corners of his mouth sarcastically, his gaze cold. 

“I thought friends would go out of their way to clear each other’s names. Well, if you’re the guilty one, I can understand your uncooperative attitude.” 

His words made me shudder, and just then my childhood friend, who had spent the night on my sofa bed, came out of the office.

He had washed his face, but it seemed he hadn’t noticed the bedhead behind his right ear. With a tuft of black hair sticking out, he shrugged at the intruder.

“Enough with the threats, Sam. He’s had enough.”

“Brian Darcy?”

Inspector Robinson’s questioning voice quickly turned into a nod of recognition. 

“Ah, yes, it’s you. We’ve met a few times. Thanks for the information.” 

“You traitor.”

Ignoring my resentful voice, Brian, dressed in oversized loungewear, approached me silently like a big cat.

“So the fact that you’re here means the police haven’t figured out that the victim was gay yet? I thought that would have come out by now.”

“Sorry, but the victim didn’t have anything that would identify his sexual orientation. He hadn’t told anyone around him, and his date was a woman. But they weren’t deeply involved.”

“Oh, now that you mention it, he said he was seeing a girl, too.” 

Robinson continued, cutting me off with a sadistic stare. 

“And for some reason, his family has been uncooperative with the investigation.” 

“I heard that he had a very strict father. The victim was pretty scared of him.” 

“That makes sense.” 

Robinson let out a low laugh from deep in his throat, then suddenly stopped and stared intently at Brian. 

“Did you get this information from this boy?” 

“Yes.”

“I see?” 

His dark brown eyes looked down at me. Despite his surprisingly cute droopy eyes, they didn’t diminish his intimidating presence. 

He continued. 

“It seems there are more issues I need to discuss with your friend, Brian.” 

“Wait, no way?” 

“Do you mind if I stay?” 

“Normally, I’d prefer it if you didn’t, but there’s nothing to be done. It might even be better for us…”

Just as I was about to interject between the two, who were continuing their conversation without me, a soft yet sharp, distinctive voice interrupted Robinson.

“Sam.”

Instinctively, I turned to the source of the voice. At the end of my and Brian’s gaze, Nguyen, who had been quietly observing, looked up at Robinson with an unusually intense stare.

Robinson, apparently expecting the interruption, turned his head slightly without much surprise and met his subordinate’s gaze over his shoulder. 

“I know what you want to say. But I’m not going to reveal all the information to these two.” 

Nguyen responded with silence, not breaking eye contact with his superior. 

Brian and I exchanged glances as Robinson leaned over and whispered something in Nguyen’s ear. The young cop whispered back, but finally, with a sigh, he lowered his eyes in resignation.

“If you say so.” 

Come on, push back a little more. 

As the conversation seemed to be winding down, I quickly interjected. 

“Wait a minute! I haven’t agreed to an interview yet.” 

“Interrogation.” 

“Yes, that!” 

Nodding, I pleaded desperately to the inspector who looked down at me with raised eyebrows. 

“Look, this is what Alan feared the most. You understand, right? It was scarier for him to have this come out than to die.”

“I sympathize with the victim, but that is no reason to relax the investigation. I have no intention of letting the perpetrator go free.”

“What if I refuse to cooperate with the investigation?”

Robinson’s eyes gleamed.

“On the charge of obstruction of justice…”

“Are you threatening me, coward?”

I interrupted the man’s words and let out a low groan. What a way to start the day. Come to think of it, I hadn’t even had my coffee yet.

“Just come in. We can discuss whether I will cooperate with the interrogation over coffee… ouch!”

“We will cooperate with the interrogation.”

The man put his big hand on my head and answered for me. 

Then, motioning for them to enter the office, he continued.

“Come on in. I feel like I need coffee more than ever in my life.”

With a somewhat pretentious nod, Robinson strode into my room without a hint of hesitation. He was clearly used to barging into people’s homes uninvited.

The two cops settled into their respective seats on the sofa and glanced around the room casually, almost reflexively. 

There didn’t seem to be anything remarkable. Nguyen turned his eyes back to me and spoke. 

“Lucas. I want to ask you again about Alan Maxwell.” 

They seemed to have switched roles. I sighed as I poured the morning’s dark roast coffee into four cups, with Brian’s help carrying them. 

“I think I’ve told you most of it.”

Grumbling, I placed a cup in front of the two, and they both stared at the coffee in front of them, looking a bit taken aback. 

Why were two cops so surprised by a simple coffee cup? 

“It’s just an ordinary cup with a koala and a kangaroo on it. Does it look like important evidence to you?”

“No, I’m just surprised you have the good sense to offer hospitality.” 

“Okay, then don’t drink it, Inspector.” 

Ignoring my grumpy remark, Robinson elegantly raised the cup to his lips, much to my annoyance. 

Next to him, Nguyen smiled at me before taking a sip of the coffee. His eyes widened in amazement. 

“Wow. This is really good.” 

“Isn’t it? But just so you know, I’m not giving you any more, Inspector Robinson.” 

“No need to hold back, Potter. Where’s the sugar?”

“Um, I’d like to get back on topic, Lucas. I heard that Alan Maxwell was gay and that you were his confidant. Is this true?”

Suddenly, I was at a loss for words. I looked away from the beautiful, symmetrical almond eyes staring back at me and weakly tried to resist.

“Snooping around the sexual orientation of the deceased is in bad taste.”

“I agree.”

Smiling and affirming, the young cop showed no sign of backing down, so I reluctantly replied, “Yes. Was it just my imagination? The air in the room seemed to tense with my answer.

“Did he have a particular partner?”

“He said he didn’t have one.”

“It seems he was hiding his sexual orientation from those around him.”

“That’s what I heard.” 

“Why did he confide in you?”

“We met in a gay bar, so we knew each other from the beginning. He only came once because he was worried and hasn’t been back since we met.”

“What was the name of the bar where you first met him? Please be honest this time.”

“Cafe Little Alexandra. You should be able to find it easily by searching the name.”

Brian looked at me questioningly. I knew what he wanted to ask—the answer was yes. Café Little Alexandra was owned by our mutual acquaintance, Max.

“Why did you lie?”

“Alan asked me not to tell anyone he was in this bar. There are women and straight people there, but most of the customers are gay. He wanted to eliminate any possibility of being outed. Even though we had no mutual acquaintances.”

“Were you and he romantically involved?” 

“No. Alan didn’t like men, and we weren’t each other’s type…” 

“What do you mean?” 

I looked at Inspector Robinson, who had quickly interrupted. 

“What?”

“Explain in detail why he was gay but disliked men.” 

Why is this question even necessary for the investigation? 

I lowered my eyes back to my feet and muttered.

“Alan hated men. Especially those who were like his father… masculine men. He was deeply shocked to find himself attracted to people who were the same sex and exhibited the same behaviors as his father.” 

“Manly men… I see.” Nguyen’s voice dropped. “Has Alan ever talked to you about his father?” 

The policeman’s question made me pause for a moment. 

I hesitated to talk about his father. To be honest, it’s not a pleasant story.

After a moment of hesitation, I finally gave in and spoke heavily. 

“Well, yes. He never even told me his last name, but he often talked about his father.” 

“Can you tell me what he said about his father?”

“It’s a pretty depressing story.”

“Go ahead.”

I sighed at the cop’s prompt answer. Come to think of it, they must be used to hearing about the grotesque aspects of human nature. 

“Alan’s father, as he described him, was quite controlling. And emotionally unstable.” 

“Oh…” 

“If Alan did anything even slightly against his wishes, he would suddenly get angry and try to destroy Alan’s self-esteem completely.” 

“Did he tell you about any specific incidents?”

“Well… For example, when he was little, his father would often lecture him in detail about how foolish and wrong he was. He even got yelled at for smiling. His father had taught him not to smile. But he got caught laughing with friends outside.”

“That’s quite something.”

Nguyen’s eyes narrowed, a smile on his lips, while Robinson furrowed his brow beside him. 

“Alan seemed really troubled by his father’s continued denial of his humanity. He said it was especially hard when his father burned all the books in his room. His father couldn’t stand the idea that Alan had books of his own free will. He often came home to find his room ransacked or his books thrown away. It seems that his father had a strong aversion to individuality and “self-expression”. Perhaps he was raised in a very repressive environment.

Nguyen, who had been quietly taking notes in his notebook, reacted slightly to my last comment.

“Repressive … Why do you think that?”

“Huh? Because he wasn’t allowed to be himself, his father couldn’t stand to see his son express his individuality, right?”

“Interesting opinion…Hey Sam.”

At Nguyen’s call, Robinson closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

He massaged the area around his eyes and spoke.

“He said he was attracted to men who looked like his father, didn’t he?”

“Well, yes. The guy resembling his father is just my impression, though.”

Feeling slightly pressured by the increasingly tense atmosphere in the room, I nodded.

“Can you tell us about the person he mentioned?”

“It’s a man.” Robinson interjected sharply. “A young man… if the victim mentioned any men in their early twenties like him, tell us about all of them.”

“All of them!” I was about to be taken aback, but then I realized that there weren’t many people in Alan’s stories. I didn’t know their ages, but if it was about men, it could be narrowed down to about four.

“Well… He often talked about a classmate from high school. He didn’t realize it at the time, but it might have been his first love. A central figure in the school who was fair to everyone.”

“Could he have been a special person to him?”

Oliver leaned in slightly. Realizing that I had piqued the cop’s interest, I got a little nervous. 

“No, no, they weren’t really that close. They didn’t keep in touch after graduation.”

“Not even once after high school?” 

“According to Alan, no.” 

He was perfect.

The deep, deep admiration in those words fell casually. A distant look, as if talking about a story from another world.

He was like someone wrapped in light. Sparkling. Maybe I shouldn’t have noticed that light. 

“I see… And then?”

“And then… oh yes. He often talked about three friends he hung out with. I don’t know their genders or names, but from the way he talked, they seemed to be guys. He would say things like, “We’ve been hanging out together for three years, but do they think I’m just a friend?” It made me laugh. They ate lunch together four times a week!”

As soon as I involuntarily smiled, a sharp pain shot through my chest. I quickly suppressed the smile and continued.

“But well, he mostly just complained about them. He often grumbled that they made jokes about being gay too easily.”

Alan narrowed his eyes angrily. His usually calm expression, which often made him look older, now rippled like a boy’s. His eyes burned with the righteous indignation of youth. 

Those who have never been in a minority will never understand that there are people who listen to their words in fear… 

“Still, I think they were good friends. He complained, but he talked about her happily.” 

“I ask again, did Alan have a lover?”

“He said he didn’t have one, but I think he had a physical relationship with someone. It’s just a hunch, so don’t ask me why I think that.” 

“When did you start to feel this way?” 

“Recently. Probably… in the last two months or so.”

“Do you know the person’s name?” 

I shook my head at the question. 

I wasn’t even sure if it was with a specific person. The image of the young man, blinking in self-loathing and the warmth of another man, is still vivid. 

The image of him in my mind pierced my chest again. It was only two days ago. 

Noticing my condition, Nguyen gave me a worried look. I reflexively smiled back to reassure him, and his expression softened.

I just realized I might actually like this guy. 

Nguyen smiled again, then returned to his serious expression and continued. 

“By the way, is there any possibility that the person he was attracted to and despaired over was a “manly man”?”

“I don’t know. He never talked about the person he was with. I just noticed the presence of someone. Maybe he had one-night stands with several people. If that’s the case, it could be a wild goose chase to find the culprit.”

I tried to get my point across, but it was clear that neither of them agreed with me. 

No, make that three. I looked at Brian, who was sitting diagonally across from me. 

My childhood friend, sipping his coffee quietly, had a cold air about him. 

“So tell us about this “manly man”.” 

“I don’t know how they knew each other. From what I heard, he was like a muscular, loud, fanatical preacher wrapped in Keanu Reeves muscles.”

The atmosphere became uncomfortably tense again. Even if they thought they were hiding it, I could tell. The young policeman sitting in front of me had a small, unnatural movement in his Adam’s apple, and the inspector next to him had a slight tension in his fingers resting on the arm of the sofa.

Sensing my discomfort, Nguyen continued with a deliberately calm demeanor.

“Did he mention anything that could connect us to this person, like initials or physical characteristics?”

“I’m sorry, but I really don’t know. I just got the impression that he looked like his father.”

“Well, good. If we go through the contact list on the victim’s device again, we should at least find the person he was involved with.”

“I don’t think so. He said he used different addresses and devices to contact people who knew he was gay. Except me, that is.”

My casual rebuttal visibly froze them. 

Realizing my mistake, I hastily covered my mouth with both hands, but that only seemed to irritate the inspector more. 

Robinson’s brow furrowed, his eyes grew more menacing, and I almost stood up involuntarily. 

“You seem to be seriously mocking me, Mr. Potter. Explain why you didn’t disclose this information earlier.”

“Because you didn’t ask.” 

“Don’t lie.” 

Robinson snapped. 

I knew my attitude had been obvious, so this was my fault. 

The man with the eyes of a vicious giraffe went on. 

“Can’t you give me a reason, Potter? If you can’t, you know what will happen, don’t you?” 

“I can’t help it! Even if you asked me, I wouldn’t know what to say!” 

I finally gave up and shouted.

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t understand what he was doing, even after he explained it! I knew he was using public terminals and free addresses, but IP… something or other, servers this and that… I couldn’t explain it even if you asked me!”

“You kept such important information to yourself for such a trivial reason?” 

“Trivial?!” 

“Sam.” 

Nguyen’s voice, now somewhat admonishing, overlapped with my raised voice.

At his partner’s call, Robinson, still looking dissatisfied, closed his mouth and began to think. 

Seeing this, Nguyen turned back to me. 

“You don’t need to talk about the technical details. What was his purpose in using this address? Can you tell us what you know?” 

“He started using it before we met. He said he went to question sites to get information about being gay and interacted personally with people he met on specialized sites. One of them even introduced him to the Little Alexandra Cafe.” 

“Specialized sites.”

“Surely you wouldn’t say you didn’t know what kind of specialized site it was.” 

“Well, just to confirm.” 

With a sigh, I told Nguyen the name of the site and explained that it was a place where LGBT people could freely exchange information and post messages. 

I also mentioned other gay sites and applications that I had told Alan about. 

Nguyen carefully wrote this down in his notes and then turned back to me with a few more questions.

When I finished answering the question, Robinson, who had been deep in thought, spoke up. 

“About the person who can verify your alibi.” 

His words made me shiver, because I had completely forgotten that I was one of the suspects.

But strangely, he didn’t ask anything specific about him, just looked at Brian and continued. 

“You hired him to find out who that man was, didn’t you?” 

Brian, did you really tell the cops that much?

I looked at my childhood friend and Robinson said calmly.

“That’s a good decision for you. I can’t force it in my position, but I personally recommend that you continue with him.”

“What exactly do you mean by that, Inspector?”

“It means that you may be in a very precarious position right now, Mr. Potter.”

I stared at the man who fell silent after saying that, feeling surprised. 

I didn’t quite understand, but it seemed that this policeman was concerned about my situation in his own way. 

I had no choice. I gave up trying to understand his words and nodded reluctantly.

“All right, Inspector Robinson. If you promise to stop calling me by my last name, I’ll do as you say.”

“I forgot to mention, Lucas, that I do not like being called Inspector Robinson either. Just call me Robinson.”

I must have had a rather strange expression on my face at that moment. Nguyen, who had overheard our conversation, added with an exotic smile on his lips.

“A few years ago, there was a popular drama with an Inspector named Robinson. And he looked a little bit like Sam.”

“Wow, I almost felt a sense of kinship.”

With a mixture of mild sympathy and deep understanding, I looked up at Robinson’s bitterly drawn face.

“Okay, Sam. It’s hard when someone with the same name becomes famous. I also have a wizard with the same last name who became really famous.”

“You were happy about that, weren’t you? You even brought the book to class.”

I glared at my childhood friend who had interjected unnecessarily, matching Sam’s sullen expression.

“I was happy. Until my nickname almost became Harry.” 

Before I could finish my words, the vicious giraffe… oops, I mean Sam, stood up and called out to Nguyen. 

“Thank you for your cooperation in this investigation. If you remember anything, anything at all, please contact the station.” 

With that, he left the room as quickly as he had entered. Just before he reached the doorknob, he turned back to me and calmly gave me his advice.

“Do not act rashly, Lucas. That advice may not have a solid foundation, but I’m telling you anyway.” 

With that, he turned away without waiting for my reaction and disappeared through the door with his partner.