Finals by Alan Weisz

Denzel were thinking like me, then I was sure he’d assume no average Joe could slice his friend open then do well on a test.
     
    I dug out my exam from my backpack I had slung off to the side of the chair, and showed it to him. “See,” I said.
     
    “ Uh-huh,” he answered, barely glancing at the paper. His clear lack of interest was proof this brilliant idea of mine wasn’t about to earn me a “Get Out of Jail Free” card.
     
    “ Did you notice anything different about Brent recently?” the investigator asked, getting back on topic. “Anything unusually, like habits or behaviors? Was he hanging with a new crowd? Anything like that?”
     
    “ He was living with this guy named Mike,” I said. “And I think the guy might have been a coke addict because when I went over to Brent’s for a party the guy seemed to be tweaking out. He was shaking a lot.”
     
    I didn’t feel the need to mention Brent had been snorting more coke than Courtney Love too. Where was the fun in throwing a dead guy under the bus? I had already taken his life, I didn’t need to be a complete bastard and take away his dignity. As Dunn began writing more ferociously on his notepad it appeared this bit of information would be sufficient.
     
    “ Did Brent show any signs he might have been using?” Dunn asked, his eyes staring straight into mine once again.
     
    “ Like I said, I wasn’t spending enough time with him to know. I mean, in class he seemed fine, but the weekends…I have no idea.”
     
    “ Anything else?” Dunn asked .
     
    “ Not that I can think of,” I replied.
     
    “ Rumor has it , Brent had himself a new girl . Know anything about that?” he asked straight-faced.
     
    I’m not sure if Dunn knew about Hayley and was trying to get my goat. He was probably unaware of our previous relationship, but either way I wasn’t going to share that factoid with him. The scorned lover kills his ex’s new boy toy out of jealousy was wonderfully cliché. Nothing like a gift-wrapped present to make one’s job easier . I wasn’t about to divulge one morsel of information that would guide me down the path towards a life in prison.
     
    “ Nope,” I said, playing dumb. “We didn’t really talk much about that kind of stuff.” Well, I basically avoided the topic at all costs. Being intentionally out of the loop kept me from knowing anything about the newly formed couple, which was the point.
     
    “ One last thing,” Dunn said. “Would you take off your shoe for me?”
     
    I’m sure if Denzel wasn’t eyeing me like a hawk a smug grin might have appeared, but instead of acting smitten I put on my confused face as if to say, “Why do you need my shoe?” as I handed my left shoe over to him.
     
    Dunn flipped the shoe around to check the size then gave it back , before jotting down a brief note on his pad. Sorry Denzel, I didn’t have a size nine Converse. Well , I did have one , but it was currently nestled in the bottom of the Willamette River.
     
    “ Okay, that’s it. If you hear anything or think of anything else , give me a call,” he said, handing me his business card .
     
    If I was smart I would have shut my mouth, but a single question was gurgling in the pit of my stomach like ingestion and I couldn’t help but spit it out. “I’m just curious, do you have any suspects at this point?”
     
    I should have been happy that he was finally leaving, but no I had to push it to the limit. If I soon had to start worrying about dropping the soap, the only person I could put the blame on was myself.
     
    “ I know you’re a writer and all,” Dunn said. “ But I got nothing for you, kid.”
     
    “ Oh, I can’t write anything about Brent,” I began. “Our supervisor has forbid us from writing anything related to his death. She said the university doesn’t want any more media attention.”
     
    “ Smart gal.”
     
    “ So you see, I can’t write anything about it. I want to know because Brent was my