“It was that woman who started it; it was her fault. What’s there to worry about?”
Natalie was an optimistic person, so naturally, she didn’t worry about that at all.
“Hope so. I hope I’m just overthinking.”
I frowned as I assured myself that I was just overthinking. I believe that the police will provide us with sound judgment.
Soon, we arrived at the police station. The two police officers brought Natalie and me to the interrogation room, while John and that woman were brought to another place.
In the room, two young police officers sat in front of us and stared blankly at us. They did not appear like they were going to question us.
“Sir, it was that woman who made the first move. We were merely defending ourselves,” Natalie broke the silence.
“Silence! You’re not in the position to tell me about that,” one of the police reminded Natalie expressionlessly.
“I thought you brought us here to ask about the whole incident? Why are we not allowed to speak?”
Natalie frowned and gazed at the police officer in annoyance.
Growing impatient, the police’s tone became unpleasant. “This is the police station. Hence, if I asked you both to keep quiet, you should do as I say!”
Natalie had a bad temper too. Upon hearing that, she stood up angrily. Right when she was about to speak, I grabbed her hand and shook my head, signaling for her to sit down.
After all, we were at the police station. If we caused trouble here, we would be the ones at fault.
Although Natalie was very impulsive, she would always listen to me. When she got my hint, she said nothing more, even though she was angry.
For the entire time, we did nothing in the interrogation room except waiting pointlessly. Everyone had completely ignored us. No one even came and asked us about the incident.
I felt utterly uneasy about the situation. Hence, I wanted to try to call Yuval again. However, my phone had been confiscated before we entered the room. Thus, it was hard to find someone to help us now.
After a long while, the door of the interrogation room opened. Two police officers came in and walked toward Natalie and me. Then, they placed something that resembled a statement of confession before us and said, “Sign it and stamped your thumbprints on it.”
One of them put a pen and a stamp pad in front of us and gestured for us to sign the statement.
I didn’t sign it immediately but read the document with my brows scrunched in confusion. When I read through the content on the paper, it was written that Natalie and I had intentionally assaulted that woman. At that moment, fury roared through my mind.
“What the hell is this? Why did it say that we intentionally assaulted that woman? Sir, it was that woman who made the first move. What we did was self-defense!”
When I knew that it was a confession statement for Natalie and me, anger welled up in my chest. We’re the victims here. Why do they want us to admit to the accusation?
Moreover, they didn’t even allow us to explain what happened just now. And all of a sudden, they’re instructing us to sign a statement? Why should we?
Upon hearing that, the police officer’s expression turned cold. “Self-defense? Obviously, the two of you intentionally assaulted the woman. You’re still denying it? Do you want to be charged with another crime?”
Upon that, Natalie stared at the police officer angrily and retorted, “We didn’t intentionally assault her! What right do you have to convict us before investigating this matter meticulously?”
When the police officers found that we were not afraid of the warning, he threatened us again, “I have many ways to let you admit the crime. Do you want to get yourselves punished?”
Facing his threat, Natalie got even angrier and quickly retorted, “This is the police station. How could you accuse us without even investigating the matter? We’re the victims, for cryin’ out loud!”
“Stop it, Natalie. Obviously, they are in cahoots with that woman. Maybe she bribed them, so they put the blame on us.”
Now, I knew why that woman looked happy after lodging a police report. It must be because she had connections with the police, so she was confident that Natalie and I would be charged.
I just didn’t expect the police would cooperate with that woman to slander us. All that talk about maintaining peace and protecting the public was all talk but no action.
Hearing my words, the police’s expression stiffened. Maybe because my assumption was right, the former felt embarrassed and stared right into my eyes and barked, “I’m warning you. This is the police station, so don’t you dare slander me!”
Initially, I didn’t want to stir up trouble to such an extent, but these police officers didn’t seem to let go of Natalie and me. Thus, I mustered my courage and said, “You know perfectly well if we’re slandering you. Not only am I not going to sign this statement, but I would also like to sue you for accepting bribes!”
If we signed and inked our thumbprint on the statement, it would signify that we admitted to the crime. We were not that stupid to do so.
“I have plenty of time here, and I’ll wait until you sign this! You two better think carefully about this.”
However, our resistance was in vain. I guessed it was not the first time the police officer accepted bribes. After saying that, all the officers left, and only Natalie and I were left in the interrogation room.
“What do we do now, Anna? They’re putting the blame on us!”
Usually, Natalie was a bold person, but now she was panic-stricken. It was the first time we got locked up at the police station, and we had no idea what would happen next.
“I guess that woman really has connections with the police authorities. Otherwise, it’s not possible to place criminal charges against us.”
