Unique desire

The street was deserted. He stopped under the pole. He looked carefully at both sides. Then he pulled the sleeping child firmly in his arms and began to look at his innocent face carefully. The baby's hair was blonde. There was sadness on his face as if he had fallen asleep crying. The young man stood for a moment as if unable to make a definite decision. His clothes were tainted. His hair was black and his face was yellow. And he looked scared.

Then he suddenly turned decisively and took a quick step towards the red brick building. Upon entering, he looked at the billboards of the tenants in the building. She was looking for a man named Edward. Edward lived in a second-floor apartment. Holding the young child tightly, he hurried up the stairs. Stopping in front of a flat on the second floor, he rang the alarm and waited for the door to open. The light bulb burning in the corridor was of low power. The young man turned away anxiously. After a while, the door opened and a young man peeked out from inside. Then he opened the whole door and came out. There was nothing on his body but pants and a vest. His face was numb and his eyes were red from insomnia.

"Here's your baby!" The young man said calmly, pointing to the sleeping baby Edward in his arms. "Look, that's fine."

Edward leaned over and took the baby in his arms. A sob came out of his mouth. She hugged her baby tightly. The young man was staring at his father's impressions. Moments later, Edward was startled by an idea. She looked at the young man who had brought her child with terrified eyes. Then he grabbed the baby by the chest and ran to the flat.

The young man stared blankly at the open door of the flat for a few moments. He was feeling strangely emotional at the time. Then he turned with a jerk and started descending the stairs quickly. As soon as he left the building, shadows suddenly began to boil in the darkness and someone shone a powerful flashlight on his face. Then some hands grasped him mercilessly. "Police," said a hoarse voice. "Surrender yourself to the law, in silence!"

A few minutes later, a police car stopped in front of the headquarters. Newspapers surrounded the car. The door opened and the young man got out of the car between two plainclothes soldiers. A few uniformed policemen followed and the small convoy entered the headquarters.

Shortly afterward, the young man was taken to a large room. Behind a large table sat a bald man. On either side of him were plainclothes soldiers. "I am Inspector Winter," said the bald pistachio, introducing himself. "It would be better for you to confess your guilt immediately. In this way, our time will not be wasted and the court will take into account your cooperation while sentencing. "The young man moved his tongue to his dry lips and said," Do you think that I abducted the child? ? You are misunderstood. "

The inspector's face hardened. A funny smile spread on her lips. "It's a very old worn-out phrase," he said, picking up a pen. "Your name and address?"

"Waltrasno." The young man wrote down his name and address.

"Profession?"

"I am a musician. But it doesn't work these days. "

"Are you married?"

Walter nodded. "Yes, but my wife has left me."

The inspector placed the pen on the table and leaned forward to look at Walter carefully. "Now tell me, why did you kidnap the child first?" Then why did you return it? If you wanted to kidnap a child and get money from your parents, why did you return it? If you intended to return the child from the beginning, why did you kidnap him?

Walter took a deep breath, nodded helplessly, and said, "I've already told the inspector I didn't kidnap the baby." He just went to get it back to his parents. "

The inspector saw his two companions sitting to Walter's right and left. Then he stared at the young accused for a few moments. "Look, Walter!" I'm not convinced to talk. "If you didn't kidnap the child, where and how did you get it?"

"I was wandering in my car," the young man said simply. "I am terrified of my home. So nowadays I drive around all day. Today I also had to buy some goods. I parked my car near a market and went inside to shop. When he returned, he found a child sitting in the front seat of my car. There was a piece of pin on his shirt with the full name and address of the child's parents written on it.

The inspector nodded uncertainly. "Where is that part?"

"I took it off his shirt," Walter said. "The baby was crying because of hunger. I took her home. He fed her milk and tore it to pieces and threw it away. "

"Good! Good! ”The inspector said sarcastically. "Well, what's the name and address of this market?" And when did you get there? ”

Walter slowly answered all his questions, which the inspector kept writing on one page. Then he handed the paper to one of his subordinates and said, "You have to confirm all this." Then he turned to the young man and said, "You will know that he was a kidnapped child and Was the police looking for him and the accused? ”

Walter nodded in agreement. "Yes, I heard the news of the kidnapping on the car radio in the afternoon."

The inspector punched hard on the table and leaned forward and looked the young man in the eye. Stayed for several hours. Can I believe this stupid story? ”

The young man shrugged helplessly and said, "Every word of what I said is true."

"If you want to hear the truth, then listen to me." The inspector said sharply, "First you kidnapped the child. Then you became terrified of the consequences of this crime, so you thought it best to return the child to the parents. "

Suddenly the telephone rang. The inspector raised his hand and picked up the pickaxe. And for a while he quietly held the quartet close to his ear. In the meantime, he kept saying yes. Then he placed the quadrangle on the cradle and stared at Walter. Now his facial expressions had changed drastically. "Walter!" The phone rang. That was done by one of my deputies from your flat. He went there to search your belongings. Is it true that your six-year-old child died in an accident a few months ago? ”

Walter had a strange reaction to this question. His yellow face turned yellow and his body felt a jolt. He straightened up his seat. The nerves went numb. But his face was still devoid of emotion and his tone was spot on when he spoke. "Yes, I was out of town. He was playing in the street when a truck crushed him.

The inspector's face softened. He looked down and saw a file on the table. When he spoke, his tone was mild. "I want to tell you, Walter, that despite being a police officer, I try to be human," but sometimes I have a hard time. Still, I try my best. I can understand your situation.

"The wife left him," so you were left alone and with the loneliness, the burden of raising a child fell on you. Then your child was taken away from you. But this situation is very harmful for you. Your case will get weaker. Our experience shows that when people do not remarry after losing their spouses and have children, some of them are attracted to crime. Women are more commonly involved in child abductions. But that's not a clue. It's not surprising to expect men to do the same. Do you understand what I mean? "

Walter looked up at the inspector. The pain was visible in his eyes. "I am innocent, sir!" I didn't kidnap the baby. "He repeated in a low voice. "Well, we will accept your statement for a while." The inspector said in a tired tone. "Now we have to find out where you were at the time the child was abducted." He was abducted at about 11:30 this morning. "

The young man bowed his head. He thought for a moment. "I don't know where I was then. All I know is that I was wandering in my car. "

"It won't hurt to say that." Suddenly the inspector's tone became as harsh as before. The boy was abducted near his home between 11:30 a.m. and 11:35 p.m. He was playing in the street. If you can't prove that you were somewhere other than the scene at the time, it doesn't matter if you are innocent or not. The court will find you guilty. Do you know how severe the punishment for child abduction is in our country? ”

The young man raised his head again and looked at the inspector. "I don't understand how I can prove my absence from the scene," he said. I get crazy At this point I get out of my car. I have no destination. There is only one purpose, to stay away from home. Then I keep wandering until my condition returns to normal. This is the only cure for my horror. I don't know where I'm going while driving. I just walk on a road, keep walking, even get tired. Then I come back home. "

"Which way did you go today?"

"I went north today. All I can remember is that I traveled a long way today. The city is over. Still, I kept walking. Even the countryside began and I saw fields and orchards spread out in the distance. Then I came back.

"Good," said the inspector. "Were you alone?" Did you see anyone who knew you on the way? You didn't even go to a hotel to drink coffee, etc.? You didn't even put petrol in your car from a pump? "

"My car tank was full of petrol. I feel very hungry nowadays. ”The young man replied in an offended tone.

The inspector kept asking questions and the young man kept answering. The answers were as absurd as ever. The inspector came out of the room holding the young man's arm. In the corridor, another uniformed soldier grabbed the young man's arm and took him away, handcuffing him.

**

The next day, at ten o'clock in the morning, the young man was again in the inspector's office. The inspector said, "Walter! I want to hear your story from beginning to end. "

The young man's face was flushed. He looked very depressed and tired. At the behest of the inspector, he repeated his statement in a soft tone. His voice was so low that the inspector had to lean forward and listen to him. Even so, he could not hear many sentences. "It's all true, Inspector, there's not a shred of lies in it," the young man concluded.

The inspector straightened his seat, lit a cigarette, and took a deep breath. "Maybe Walter!" That may be true, but it seems that you will have to prove your innocence in court. "

Just then someone knocked on the door. A policeman entered. There was another man behind him. He was dressed in a khaki uniform.

"This gentleman wants to tell you something, sir!" The soldier pointed to the person who came with him and addressed the inspector.

"You couldn't wait any longer," the inspector said angrily.

The man in the khaki uniform stepped forward and stood next to Walter. "I think so, sir!" What I want to tell you is very important. "He looked at Walter. "This young man is innocent, sir!" He did not abduct Mr Edward's child. "

There was complete silence in the room."I read the abduction story in the newspaper this morning and saw a picture of Mr Walter. I immediately recognized that this was the same young man who had left yesterday without the rest of the money. I am employed in Changi. This young man came in his car yesterday and gave me a five-dollar note for recovery. I wanted to cut fifty cents and return the remaining four and a half dollars, but it never stopped. I called out to him, but he would not listen. It was as if a deep trauma had paralyzed him. It was half-past eleven. My duty ends at half-past eleven. I was waiting for another person to come to my place. This young man is innocent because he was forty miles from the city at about half-past eleven. That's why I can't kidnap a child. "

"Why didn't you report it first?" The inspector asked.

"I read the details of the abduction in this morning's newspaper and then I saw a picture of this young man. The newspaper also wrote that the child was abducted around 11.30 am.

A short time later, the inspector was standing outside the police headquarters with the young man. He had come to see her off. He reached out and shook hands with Walter in a friendly and warm manner. "I still don't understand a thing, Walter." The inspector looked at him anxiously. Why not bring the station? Why did you take him home and keep him there for hours? This behavior of yours is unusual for me. I can't understand why. "

Walter hesitated before answering. He looked around and saw the road traffic. "Even if I tell you the reason, Inspector, you may not understand," he said in a low voice.

"I will try to understand," said the inspector.

"Very well," said the young man, taking a deep breath. "I wanted to see the face of a father whose child had been snatched from him, but then suddenly he was back."