Never Again

 Ari sat on the edge of the bed, unable to stop his hands from shaking. Every few minutes they would calm long enough to make him think he had won, only for them to begin again. In his peripheries he noticed the two figures towering over him. Probably looking at his bald spot. He knew what they were thinking, what it looked like. Well fuck them. They don’t know him; he’s not like the others. His circumstances were different. And this was his first time. And the last.

He looked up at them. The one on the right seemed in charge, he had been doing all the talking. His nametag said “Robinson”. The man cleared his throat and began speaking.

“We’ve checked the room and on preliminary search haven’t found anything we were looking for: hair, nails, anything likely to have DNA on it. It’s a shame you didn’t use a condom. However you weren’t the first one this happened to. We have several descriptions and an MO. We’ll catch her soon.”

“Thank you,” Ari said slightly louder than a whisper.

“Now I need to take your statement,” Robinson said, pulling out a recorder and placing it onto the bed next to Ari. “We could take you in for it but I don’t see the need. Once I turn it on, everything will be recorded. Are you ready?”

Ari nodded and watched Robinson click the device. A bright red light illuminated, serving as a reminder of his transgression being permanently recorded.

“I need your name, city of residence, and age.”

“Ari Schmidt. St. Louis, Missouri – United States. I’m 44.”

“And what were you doing in London?”

“I’m here on business.”

“Do you have a visa?”

Ari raised an eyebrow at the officer, which was quickly answered with an indication to answer.

“Yes, but obviously not with me anymore as my passport was stolen. If you check in your systems I’m sure you can find it.”

“Tell me what happened tonight.”

“After dinner, I was bored in my room, so I went to the bar to have a drink. There was this girl on the other end, in a red dress. How could I not notice her?”

“And this is the girl?” Robinson interrupted.

“Yes, do you want a description?”

“No we have footage. Please continue.”

“So she’s sitting there, gorgeous, but I don’t pay her any attention at first. I was just going to watch some TV and have a scotch or two. Anyways, she’s talking to the bartender a bit. Soon him and I start talking and it turns into the three of us having a conversation. At some point I went to the bathroom and when I came back I sat next to her. We were talking so I figured why not. I wasn’t trying to do anything, we had been having a conversation so it’d be polite. It began getting more intimate, more her and I talking one on one, and then her hand ran up and down my leg. She was young and beautiful, what was I supposed to do? What would you have done?” Ari said, jabbing a pudgy finger towards Robinson. He breathed heavily for a second before regaining his composure. “I’m not sure what happened but we ended up in here. And one thing led to another and we had sex.”

“And she never asked for money or mentioned being a prostitute?”

“No. I thought she liked me,” he said, his head down in shame. “Then I passed out and when I woke up she was gone. I was honestly kind of relieved, sort of like it was a dream. Then I went to get my room key, which should have been in my wallet. But that wasn’t on the bedside table. I looked around for it then checked the safe, which was gone. Then I called the front desk who called you.”

“What was in the safe?”

“My watch, wedding ring, passport, and 3,000 in US dollars.”

“Thank you,” Robinson said, before switching the recorder off. “I’m going to check around the room one more time. Then forensics should be here and you’ll have to switch rooms.”

Ari watched as Robinson walked around the room, looking in the same places he had earlier, expecting some magical clue to appear and solve the case. He found nothing. There was a knock on the door and several people in matching attire entered the room, spreading out and opening their suitcases.

Robinson grabbed Ari and led him down the hall to his new room. He walked towards the door then pulled out his notebook and was ready to write.

“Is there anything else you want to tell me? Anything at all?”

Ari racked his mind, thinking through the events of the night in slow motion. Not even looking for anything important, just any information. The detectives could figure out what’s useful and what’s not. He realized he had nothing to add when he blurted out:

“I normally don’t do this kind of thing. I’ve never cheated on my wife before.”

Robinson looked directly at Ari and smiled. He closed his pen, flipped the notebook shut and put them both away.

“You don’t have to lie to me mate,” he said before walking out of the room.