Chapter 43:

The interrogation

The Y-files [GL]


We were in the car on the road to the police station. I wanted to break the uncomfortable silence that was still there between us, even after our little exchange, so I decided to start talking business. I took the demeanor of a detective from a novel. After all, we were about to interview criminals, so it felt quite real, and not like I was playing just a role. I wondered if that was all adult life was. Acting like you were the part assigned to you. It certainly seemed so to me.

Oh for your theory on Frank, I think we can put the fact that he might be a yuri detector to the test for the first time.” I stated factually.

What do you mean?” Anna was clearly surprised. Seems like taking the initiative was the right way to go. The ball was finally in Claire’s camp again.

I asked him to show me the cutest girls in my class in my class photo. He picked out Elsa and Eline which would reinforce your theory, but surprisingly, also the two we are about to interview.” I answered her. I didn’t say anything about the fact that he started by pointing me out. That was just him being a friendly brother after all.

Then why did they attack Elsa and Tina?”

Well, provided that Frank is a yuri-detector, that is what I also would like to know.”

We arrived at the police station and asked for detective Menfroid at the desk. He soon came to pick us up. “Ah, Ms. Lyst, Ms. Brossé, I am glad you could make it, because those girls have not been cooperative at all. There is a social worker from the force that will be present during all your interviews, as is mandatory when interviewing minors.”

In movies you always see detectives fight for not having to give away their case to another department, but detective Menfroid seemed rather happy to be rid of this one. I guess in real life police officers have more than enough on their plate... Or was this case really that troublesome?

How would you like to interview them?

Have you kept them separate so far?” Anna asked.

Yes, like is standard procedure in these cases.” detective Menfroid answered.

Then we will interview them together.” Anna said. Detective Menfroid looked at us like we were crazy. Seeing that Anna added: “They most likely feel attacked and alone, it might gain us some trust to try a different approach then one that hasn't been working. We can show our goodwill by letting them see one another.”

After thinking for a bit, he just nodded. It was clear he wasn't convinced of Anna's approach, but in the end it did not really matter to him anymore.

We were led into a small room where the two girls were already waiting for us. Eve was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a black and white patterned flannel shirt over it. Accentuating her emerald green dyed hair. This outfit made her look quite fierce. Therese on the other hand was wearing a skirt with stockings and had a long sleeved black blouse on that left her shoulders visible. The blouse also brought your attention to the size of her chest, and was quite revealing but still tasteful. Her pink hair made her look cute, but with a hint of mystery to her.

The social worker was sitting in a corner in the back.

They looked pretty surprised to see me, I guess that is normal. I would also be surprised if I was arrested, and a classmate came to interview me. Then Eve's gaze immediately became resentful.

Good morning girls, I believe we talked last week, I am Anna Lyst, do call me Anna, and this is my colleague Claire Brossé, you used to be in the same class, so you should know each other. This case has been handed over to the FBY, so we will be handling it from now onward.”

Eve and Therese looked furious at those words. They both looked at us with a pout and said “Hmph” and then both looked to the side. One to the left and one to the right. I could see Anna's eyes glittering behind her glasses for a second. I also recognized that reaction from yuri manga. They were playing hard to get, weren't they. I felt a little smile creep onto my face.

Anna was asking a lot of questions, without getting any response. If this continued for long, I would be home late tonight, and my time for cooking would be forfeit. I could not let that happen, I was thinking how to break them, while I was playing all kinds of scenarios in my head one of their reactions to Anna gave me the answer, and suddenly it all clicked. It was the basic question everyone had been asking themselves:

I heard you were such good friends, so why did you attack Tina and then Elsa?”

I saw Eve Flinch at the mention of Tina, and Therese at the mention of Elsa. No time to lose, let us put my theory to the test.

Let us cut the crap, the way I see it you both are just jealous.” I tried poking.

Eve immediately shouted angrily “I am not jealous! Why would I be jealous of those two disgusting girls” That confirmed it. That denial was way too strong. She clearly was jealous. So I continued.

The way I see it, Eve, you are in love with Elsa, and you Therese are in love with Eve here.”

Eve wanted to shout again, but then she saw the eyes of Therese on the verge of tears.

Therese said panicking “How did you know? Why did you tell her? I never told anyone. Now she will hate me. She hates girls that like girls.” and then the dam burst.

Eve's eyes were shooting lightning at me, but she had no choice but to react to her friend that was suffering, or she would make her suffer worse. So she hugged Therese and said “I never noticed, I am sorry. I was so focused on admiring Elsa. Claire is right. I was jealous that Elsa was being taken. But I am not in love with her, Elsa should be admired by everyone. Not be the property of a single girl.”

Then she glared at me and said “You even helped her! How could you! You are just as bad!”

Finally we had our motive. I wanted to push through, but the social worker stopped the interview because of the emotional state the girls were in.

In response to that Anna went outside and came back after a minute. She brought the girls some tea and said “We understand that the two of you would like some time to talk things through, so we will give the two of you a break for an hour. Try to think about what you want to say to us. We are looking for a positive way out for everyone. She then put the éclairs on the table and said “I imagine the food hasn't been very good here, so here is a little gift from us.”

That woman... She always had to push things just over the edge didn't she. I couldn't say a thing. There was no way we wanted police attention on those éclairs. I understood this would force a breakthrough if it worked. But still. Was this morally acceptable?

Anna and I left the room, the social worker followed us a little later, after having a short word with the girls.

Then Anna said to me “Let us go watch what happens.” and she gave me a wink. Of course there would be a way to watch what was happening inside. She wouldn't be Ms. Anna Lyst if there wasn't. I shook my head and just silently followed her into the next room.

It was a cliché setup. We could just hear and see what was happening through the mirror in the interview room. You would expect that kind of setup to be redundant these days, because everyone would expect it, and modern technology made it unnecessary, but the police seemed to like their traditional setup. There are probably a lot of detective novel fans on the force.

Both girls were sipping their tea. It was clear that Therese had not calmed down yet, so Eve said “Sorry I did not notice. I must have hurt you by talking about Elsa the whole time. I do not really hate girls who like girls. I've just always idolized Elsa, and I did not want to stop dreaming.”

To which Therese responded “I know, you look at her like we look at stars in a magazine. That is why I went along with you. I just wanted to be next to you. I did not want you to ever find out.”

Therese was on the verge of crying again, trying to prevent that, Eve said “Don't cry, let us have some sweets instead. Sweets tend to make everything better and bring things into perspective.”

They both started eating their éclair. I could see the bliss on their faces and with a slight moan they went into a blissful daze.

Eve turned toward Therese with a very intense gaze, and said “I can't believe I always took you for granted by my side. You were always there for me weren't you?”

Therese looked up with shiny eyes and answered “You mean the world to me Eve, of course I would be there for you whenever you need me.”

Then this time let me be there for you” and Eve kissed Therese softly on her lips and then softly caressed her face. Therese answered “I love you Eve, I must be dreaming, because this is what I always wanted!” and then kissed her back.”

I felt a strange sensation in my body and looked at Anna. I could swear her pupils had turned into hearts, and glitter was being cast from her gaze through her glasses, while she watched the two of them. Then she shouted excitedly “It's yuri! Pure yuri! The light of real pure yuri!”

Then she noticed I was next to her and she instantly blushed. So I answered “I had some serious doubts when you gave the éclairs, but seeing this changed my mind. I feel really glad my cooking can bring something so beautiful into this world.”

Anna gave me a joyful hug and said “I knew you were one of us all along.” Then she released me, removed her glasses and took her handkerchief to remove a tear. “I'm sorry, I always cry when I see a beautiful yuri moment.” She could be so silly. I liked this side of her more than the cool professional one. I wanted her to be like this more often.

We gave those two their privacy and went for a cup of coffee ourselves. We had more than enough for our casefile, and if we watched longer, we would be seriously disrespecting their privacy. Although I had gnawing feeling that Ms. Lyst was just filming the whole thing.

The hour was almost over, and now that we had broken the pattern we were facing, we could deal with it. We went to get the social worker and went back to the interview room.

I knocked on the door to let them know we were there. I saw Anna looking a bit disappointed at that. So I opened the door immediately, to indulge her. I had done that in an automatism. Why did I do that? Did I unconsciously want to please Anna?

We could see some stumbling and the both of them looked red in their faces. The social worker asked immediately “Are the two of you alright? You don't feel sick do you?” Anna and I gave each other a knowing smirk.

I think they will be fine.” Anna said. “It is just really hot in here, isn't it girls.”

They quickly agreed with Anna. She loved teasing girls didn't she. She was always doing that to me. I felt a little prick in my chest area knowing that she did that to everyone. Why did that bother me so much? I could not find an answer to that question, so I chose to ignore that feeling, and quickly put my focus back on the two in front of me, and said:

I have a proposition for the two of you that can get the both of you out of this mess.”

Now I had their attention.

First of all, you will openly and privately apologize to Elsa and Tina and offer to pay all the hospital bills.”

It seemed only logical they would do that.

Then I want the two of you to volunteer for community service at the CYA. The two of you will be leading a yuri awareness action, and publicly advocate that the lack of yuri in society is a bad thing, and that your actions were the consequences of that lack of yuri. Now that you have seen the yuri light, you cannot imagine why you ever did such things. You will be the poster girls for same sex girl relationships.”

Anna looked at me with admiration. Guess I surprised her here. I was getting the lead back. I could feel it.

I admit that there was self-interest here. I could get the FBY a little off the hook, and it should get some of that yuri Jeanne d'Arc attention off my back...

If you agree, the two of you will present yourselves to Ms Lourdes starting tomorrow morning, she will decide on your schedules.”

They both had some questions about what the CYA exactly was and the like. But I could see them holding hands like couples do the entire time. They also presented themselves a lot more approachable than earlier. It seemed like we were moving in the right direction, and indeed after just a couple of minutes they looked each other in the eyes, nodded and then agreed to the terms.

Anna called Ms Lourdes to explain the situation, and the deal I offered. I probably should have discussed it with her beforehand. I suddenly remembered the scolding Ms. Odes received this morning. But it seemed to be okay because Anna gave me a wink and a big thumbs up. I guess Ms Lourdes only got angry when she was made to look bad herself.

I realized we would have to talk to Tina and Elsa and convince them to accept the apologies. Yet another task on the list that would keep me away from my kitchen, so it would be best to get it out of the way as soon as possible.