Chapter 4: The Bathtub

Centre City, February 16, 2022

In a small room, about 8x10 feet, a bald man sat on a chair alone. He darted his eyes left and right, taking in all the details in the interrogation room. It was not his first time in this location; in fact, he had been here exactly one week prior. The week before, he came as a witness, but apparently, the Detective decided to change his status as a suspect, and they forced him to attend this stupid interrogation again.

The bald man sat with his head bowed and hand in his lap as he played with it. He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of his current predicament. In his wildest dreams, he never imagined that there would be a day when he would be treated like a criminal.

The door creaked open, and Detective Joe Smith entered the room with an unfamiliar-looking woman. He met Detective Joe Smith last week. They spent almost two hours together in this room, which he found pointless.

"How do you feel today, Mr. Frank?" Joe asked as he pulled the two chairs in front of him. He and the woman sat at the same time.

"Could've been better if you had not dragged me to this place." The bald man, Alex Frank, responded with a rolled-eyes expression.

Joe ignored Frank's remark. "Today, you will be talking with Detective Kathrina Reed. I'll be the observer. You have a right to remain silent and the right to have an attorney present during the interrogation." After Joe had finished explaining, Alex Frank showed his understanding by nodding.

"Detective Kathrina Reed, Centre City Police department, on the basis of art. 37, 179, and 190 of the Code of Criminal Procedure questioned as a suspect in the criminal case No. 23333" Kathrina's high-pitched voice filled the space. "Interrogation begins at one in the afternoon. Suspect: Alex Frank, 45 years old, a banker, married to Bianca Stacy, no criminal record."

Kathrina read all of Alex Frank's information with a flat voice. She put down the file in her hand, then took her time to watch Frank's movement. A little smile bloomed on her lips as she watched him fidget on his chair as if he sat on a hot chair. It was clear that Frank was nervous in contrast to last week; he was too confident, almost arrogant.

"So, Mr. Frank, on Monday, February 7, 2022, between nine and eleven pm, can you tell me where you were?"

Kathrina's sharp eyes penetrated through Frank's; it made him shiver. This woman was beautiful, but she was too intimidating for his taste. He didn't like this kind of woman. They always act all mighty to him as if they were above him.

"We are back at this again? I already told your partner that I was with my wife at home. She confirmed my alibi, so you should stop bugging me about Francesca." He replied hastily, he raised his voice at her, but the Detective didn't flinch. Instead, the Detective stayed still while staring at him with her dead eyes.

"I see. If that is the case, you must be referring to your second wife. Am I right?"

Frank was taken aback, and not long after that, the room was filled with the sound of his laughter. He laughed like a crazy man. "Are you drunk, Detective? Because you are not making any sense right now." He talked back at her. "Bianca is my only wife."

"Oh right, Bianca. How do I break this to you, Mr. Frank..." Kathrina trailed her words like she was seriously contemplating her word choice. She shook her face and showed him a look of pity. "Your only wife was with another man then, so you better tell me the truth right now. Where were you?" Her voice dropped. She gave him several pictures of his wife and another man.

Frank grabbed the pictures and saw his wife being intimate with another man. Rage took over his head. Then he hit the table with all his might. His breathing grew hard as he processed the truth about his wife's affair. "This bitch…" he muttered under his breath.

"Now, answer my question, Mr. Frank."

Frank refrained from making any comments. He was busy making countless scenarios to sound believable for the two detectives, but he couldn't make any. On his forehead, droplets of ice-cold sweat began to form. He kept moving his feet, restless.

"Or do you want me to answer the question?" Once again, it was Kathrina who spoke. "You were with Francesca. You were enjoying sex with her. Then suddenly, you found choking play was fun, but as a novice, you failed to control your strength and accidentally killed her in the process. Such a silly reason to be a murderer, I must say." She said it with a tone that contained a trace of amusement. She was enjoying her time taunting her suspect. "I feel bad for Francesca. She should have chosen a better partner than an inexperienced loser like you." She resisted the urge to laugh when Frank's vein popped on his neck, and he made a valiant effort to conceal his rage wrath, but she knew the sign of anger.

"You don't have proof, Detective. You imagine things to fits your narrative." He managed to control his voice to be as calm as possible.

"Oh, that, we found your fingerprints, Mr. Frank. Unfortunately, you did not pay enough attention to detail. If you want to commit a crime, I advise you to clean everything at the crime scene without missing anything."

"You are bluffing."

"Oh, I am certainly not Mr. Frank. We found it in the trash bin. I believe you forgot because you were hurrying to flee. Confess everything now; maybe the judge will be lenient with you."

"No, I didn't kill Francesca."

"Listen here, Mr. Frank…."

Before Kathrina could finish her piece, Frank cut her with his booming voice. "Let's end this silly interrogation. I want to speak with my attorney, Detective."

***

Katrina slammed the door with such intensity that several people inside the station jumped out of their seats in surprise. Her mood went downhill after Frank decided to stop talking. They were so close to getting his confession.

"Hey, don't fret. We had solid proof. His attorney won't be able to do much." Joe patted her back. "You look beat, Kath. If I remember correctly, you have not slept for two days, right?"

"You're right. I need sleep. This headache is killing me." Kathrina rubbed her forehead softly. "Please tell everyone that I'll be out for a day. And remember, no call, okay?"

"Okay. Enjoy your rest. I'll see you tomorrow."

After saying their quick goodbyes, Kathrina gave Joe a wave. Then, she hurriedly made her way to the front of the room. Having arrived in the lobby, she waited for the taxi to come while kneading her forehead nonstop. Suddenly someone ran toward her, her body limping and fell to the ground.

"Fuck, who…." Just as she was about to finish, she noticed several reporters carrying large cameras running toward her or, more accurately, toward the person who had caused her to fall. She overheard them chanting Marcella Williams as though they were chanting a prayer to God. She looked over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of Marcella Williams's back figure.

Three huge men surrounded Marcella. She assumed they were her personal bodyguards since they wore a uniform with FSS printed on them. "Now, those reporters won't get to hear Marcella speak.

As soon as she stood up, the taxi arrived. Kathrina opened the door and immediately made herself comfortable in the backseat. "Centre Palace Apartments, please."

The driver gave her an okay, and they enjoyed the ride in silence. It would take at least thirty minutes to get there; in the meantime, she spent her time gazing through the window of the moving vehicle. The sound of cars buzzing was almost like a piece of music to her. She liked it when the city was extra busy; it showed the life signs of humans. She didn't know when, but one day she was suddenly addicted to the lively sound of the cars.

"We are here, Miss." The driver informed her while staring at her through the rear mirror.

"Oh, thank you."

After handing the driver the cash, Kathrina exited the taxi and walked away. She ambled leisurely until she noticed that the elevator door was about to shut.

"Wait!" Kathrina ran towards the elevator as fast as she could. Fortunately, she made it. She was panting so hard. She touched the left side of her chest and felt her heart pounding fast. "Thank you," she uttered with a heavy breath.

"Which floor?" The man before her asked with a low voice.

For a while, Kathrina was stunned due to the man's voice. It beautifully pierced her ear. She wished her voice had this kind of effect, but no one said she had a pleasant voice. She eyed the man's back, thinking about what he looked like.

"Miss?"

"Oh, twenty-five."

The man pressed the number twenty, followed by twenty-five. Later on, the man got out of the elevator without saying anything.

Kathrina walked to her unit without energy left. She unlocked her unit and then said, "I'm home."

The silence was the answer to her words, as usual. She took the television remote and turned the television. She increased the volume till it managed to fill her whole unit. Then, she threw her body on the couch. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. After all, her body had been begging her to rest since yesterday.

***

As the sun went down, the moon began to climb higher into the sky. The city was still as busy as in the daytime. Some people spent their time wandering at night, and others, like Kathrina, had already rested their bodies to face another challenging day tomorrow.

An alarm sound rang frantically in the living room. It made Kathrina wake up in shock. She threw her alarm clock to the floor, and finally, it met its end. Kathrina was still lying on her couch lazily. She was counting to ten in her head while yawning. If she suddenly went back to sleep again, it was a sign for her to forget about bathing, but if not, she had to wash her sticky body. Sadly, she was wide awake even before reaching number ten.

Damn it.

She stood up from the couch, gave her body a good five minutes' worth of stretching, then marched toward her bathroom. She cast a glance at the bathtub. Her rational mind was screaming at her to choose the shower, but her crazy side insisted that she try the bathtub instead. In the end, her crazy side won.

She waited for the warm water to fill the bathtub while undressing herself. She looked at her reflection, thinking about the reason for her fear of the bathtub and several other things, which she found pretty absurd. She didn't remember herself being a chicken. She recalled that she had fainted while trying to face her fear, but it happened a few years back, so maybe this time, the effect won't be as extreme as before.

Kathrina turned her body towards the bathtub; she pondered her choice. She was in a daze as the water spilled from the tub and touched her feet. She tapped the button to stop the flow of the water, and after that, she went in.

About two minutes passed, and Kathrina started to experience the effect as her breath became heavier. She tried to hold in for another minute. However, her body kept rejecting her effort. She had difficulty breathing, her body felt weak, and her head was dizzy. She shook her head left and right to fight the dizziness. It would pass; she believed it. She wasn't a coward.

Kathrina's consciousness started to fade. Her eyes couldn't take a single view of her surroundings; everything moved endlessly. She tried to free herself from the pain. She mustered every ounce of energy she had left to pull herself out of the tub.

"Oh, God…" While panting, she lay naked on the floor, watching the white ceiling above her. She almost died, and all because of a damn bathtub. She wanted to laugh it out, but instead, she curled her body in a fetal position and cried her heart out.