Framed: Part II

 

After a humiliating walk through the halls of the police station, Perera’s clothes were taken for testing. He sat in waiting for the results in the Interrogation Room. Officers Jerome and Mahone watched him through the one-way mirror in the adjacent room. Perera was sweating; he looked nervous. Every now and then, he looked at the glass, knowing he was being watched.

“He’s looking more and more guilty by the minute,” Jerome said.

The results arrived a little while later, and the two officers walked into the Interrogation Room with the files in their hands, making Perera visibly even more nervous.

“So, what’re the results, guys?”

“The blood’s Helena’s, George,” Mahone said.

“Things are looking more and more bad for you,” Jerrome said.

“That’s impossible!”

“Stop playing games and tell us where the body is, George,” Mahone said.

“I didn’t kill my wife! Why don’t you believe me?”

“Because you're lying, as usual!”

“I’m no criminal!”

“But you did regularly beat your wife, am I right?”

“Yes, I used to slap her around whenever she complained about my drinking habits. I work hard all day, so when I get off, I need to lighten up with some booze. I provide for her, so she should know her place and shut her trap,” Perera said.

“I see… So, you beat her up constantly to the point where she has had enough and complains about it to the police, at which point you turn around and kill her?” Jerome said.

“No, I didn’t!” Perera yelled.

“Such a temper… I can imagine how she must’ve felt all this time.”

“She was scared of me, as she should’ve been. I’m the man of the house!”

“Let’s see how good those excuses work in court.”

“That’s it. I want my lawyer.”

Perera’s lawyer, Jason Roy, arrived at the scene after half an hour, and after Perera’s and Roy’s discussion was over, Jerome and Mahone walked into the room. The attorney insisted that Perera was being framed by his wife, and that the evidence against him was circumstantial.

“But he has admitted to getting drunk and beating his wife on a daily basis. I wonder how ‘circumstantial’ it’s going to look for long,” Jerome said.

“You’ve been badgering my client without following the proper procedures.”

“Hey, he’s a cop, too. He could’ve called you first without answering our questions,” Jerome replied.

“We should’ve acted sooner. This monster doesn’t deserve to wear the badge we do,” Mahone said.

“You seem to take it personally… A little too personally, one could say,” Roy said.

“Oh, so you’re no better than him when it comes to shifting the blame, I see.”

“I want you to dismiss what my client said under duress and let me bail him out.”

“Sorry, not until he’s taken to courts.”

“My client is a respectable man in the community, and a police officer at that. He should get bail.”

“It's Friday already, and it’s getting pretty late. He’ll have to wait until Monday. Besides, this isn’t a traffic violation—it’s homicide.”

Perera was put in a cell with a few other criminals he had arrested a few days ago and was found the next morning beaten to a pulp. Word had got out as to why he was arrested; but even if they didn’t know why, a cop in a cell was a free meal to them.

He was taken to the hospital for treatment and, not long after, Roy caught wind of what had happened and arrived with complaints against Jerome and Mahone. The attorney accused them of willfully putting Perera’s life in danger, but they denied it and promised to move him to a different cell once he had recovered.

Come Wednesday, Perera was put on trial for the murder of his wife. It was said that she had called the police to complain about domestic violence against the defendant only a day before they had found him covered in his wife’s blood. The officers presented the knife that was believed to be the murder weapon.

Several neighbors also testified against Perera, saying he would regularly beat his wife. One of them even said he had overheard him say he would cut her into pieces and feed her to the fish. Helena’s sister, Mary, also came up to the stand and said that he had threatened not only Helena, but her family as well, if she were to ever call the police on him, or run away. She further said that her sister had suffered several miscarriages owing to his abuse.

“Even two weeks ago, my sister found out she was pregnant, and she was terrified at the thought of bringing a child into this world when they were going to be raised by someone like him.”

Perera looked shocked when the miscarriages were brought up. “That’s a lie! She never miscarried!” he yelled. However, the evidence against him was too strong. He eventually confessed to beating Helena, but he still denied killing her. “I used to beat her on a daily basis, and even threatened her, but I never tried to kill her.”

“Then where’s she now?” the prosecutor, Henry Lang, asked.

Perera was in a deadlock. To gain some leniency, with the advice of his lawyer, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and that he had disposed of the body in the sea afterwards. The entire courtroom was in shock. Helena’s sister ran out in tears. However, leniency did not come easy to him; the judge ordered him to be imprisoned for twenty years.

To be continued...