Page 43 of I Did Something Bad
“Of course.” Tyler, still his usual collected self, gives them an acknowledging nod. “You were here last week. Can we help you, Detectives?”
Blood is thrumming in my ears. They saw us on Saturday. They were still keeping an eye on the park—like Tyler said, some culprits just can’t help but return to the scene of the crime—and someone clocked me. Then they ran all the plates in the parking lot, and saw that one of them was registered to the car service that everyone on this movie uses. Tyler and I arebothgoing down.
“We’d like to talk to you again, Khin,” Detective Zeyar says. I look up and realize they’re not looking at me and Tyler. Just me. Histone becomes blatantly accusatory as he adds, “You failed to mention to us that you’ve had a run-in with the police before.”
“I… didn’t see how that was relevant to this case,” I say, trying to coax my body language into relaxed territory even though my escalating anger and anxiety are making me anything but. From a glass-half-full perspective, though, it doesn’t sound like they know about us revisiting the park.
“Well, from what we hear,” Detective Htet says, stepping in my direction. I brace myself to stop from flinching back. “You’re a bit of a troublemaker.”
Troublemaker? I open my mouth, ready to spit out something like,Now, now, your misogyny is showing,but then remember where I am, remember that Tyler and Yasmin and several crew members are also present. “Why don’t we let them”—I nod at Tyler—“get started with the shoot? I don’t want to be holding anyone up.”
Detective Zeyar opens his mouth but it’s Tyler’s voice that I hear first. “Do we need to call our legal team?”
“That depends,” Detective Zeyar replies to him, and I can tell that whatever he was going to say tomewasn’t nearly as polite. “In our experience, though, it’s only the guilty ones that require legal representation.”
“Or the smart ones that ask for it,” Tyler says with an innocent head tilt.
Both detectives exchange a look. “Of course Khin is entitled to legal counsel if she wants. But we just have a few follow-up questions. We don’t think it’ll be necessary.”
I know the responsible course of action here is to insist I’ll wait for a lawyer, but I’m too fixated on the disgusting, smug sneers on these men’s faces to remember to be scared. “It’s okay,” I say, fixing my own dauntless smile. “I’m happy to cooperate. I’ll come find you when I’m done.”
“Khin—” Tyler begins.
“Go. I don’t want to be the reason you guys run late today.”
“Right this way,” Detective Htet says, and turns to lead me toward their pathetic makeshift interrogation room, his colleague sandwiching me from behind like I’m some perp who might flee at any second.
“So the thing is,” Detective Zeyar says once we’re sitting at the wobbly wooden table in the storage room, the two of them huddled together on one side because that’s the only way they can both face and (I suppose) intimidate me. I hold back an eye roll as I watch them consciously make an effort not to rub shoulders because, of course, that’s too much physical contact for their macho (and most likely homophobic) personas. “A funny thing happened yesterday. A few of us were gathered at my place to watch the football game in the evening when my teenage daughter ran into the living room in tears. Do you know why?”
I shake my head.
“It turns out, Tyler Tun has a girlfriend now. And when I asked who it was, she showed me an Instagram video of Tyler on top of a woman. Now, of course, I’m sure you’re aware that that woman was you.”
“That was a misunderstanding. Tyler and I aren’t dating. We’re colleagues.”
“Right,” he says, his tone making it clear that he does not believe me. “I did remember you, though, and imagine my surprise when my buddy Zaw jabbed a finger at the screen and said, ‘I know her,’ even though he’s been nowhere near this case.”
I swallow. “Oh?”
At this point, Detective Htet leans in. “You see, it turns out he was part of an investigation that was looking into an article you wrote earlier this year? About an—” I know the pause is deliberate. Iknowwhat the article is about, andheknows I know. “Abortion clinic?”
I draw up the corners of my smile. “That investigation was closed. And like I said earlier, I’m not quite sure howthatis relevant to our current—”
“Do you hate men, Khin?”
I give a small jump in my seat. “What?” I ask, and curse myself when both of them smirk at having caught me by surprise.
“It’s a simple question,” Detective Zeyar says with a nonchalant shrug. “Do you hate men?”
“I don’t see how that’s an appropriate question.”
“Oh, my bad,” Detective Zeyar says, shaking his head. “I forgot to tell you why we are here, because you’re right. We didn’t have a reason to come back simply because you were part of an earlier closed investigation and because you might or might not be dating Tyler—”
“I’m not.”
“Right,” he says, and I swear under my breath that if he saysRightone more time in this conversation, I am going to choke him with the neon purple feather boa that’s draped around the mannequin behind him. He takes out his phone from his jacket pocket, unlocks it, and rotates it around to me, obviously having planned this big reveal hours ago.
“What’s this?” I ask with a bored sigh. “I don’t—” I stop once I take in what’s on the screen. In a daze, I grab the phone with both hands, zooming in and out of the photo.
