A Meditation On Murder

‘Then tell me,’ Richard finally asked, knowing it couldn’t be put off any longer, ‘did you kill the man we found in there?’

Julia blinked back tears as she looked deep into Richard’s eyes and said, ‘His name’s Aslan Kennedy. And I think so.’

‘You think so?’

Julia gulped. She then decided that maybe Richard was right to want this point clarified. ‘I know so.’

‘You know so?’

Julia nodded slowly, frowning.

‘Then can you tell me what happened?’

‘That’s what I don’t get. I don’t know.’

‘You don’t know how you killed him?’ Richard exchanged a quick glance with Dwayne. What was this?

Julia explained how she’d been looking forward to the Sunrise Healing, it was the only therapy Aslan still had time to lead himself.

‘So we all went into the Meditation Space,’ she continued.

‘Meditation Space?’ Richard asked.

Julia indicated the Japanese tea house. ‘It’s what Aslan and Rianka call that building there.’

‘And who went inside with you?’

Julia thought for a moment. ‘Well, Aslan … and four other hotel guests. Their names are Saskia, Paul, Ann and Ben.’

‘So there were only six people in total in there?’

‘That’s right,’ Julia said. ‘The five of us plus Aslan when he locked us inside.’

Richard caught Dwayne’s eye, both thinking the same thing.

‘I’m sorry,’ Richard said. ‘He locked you in?’

‘That’s right,’ Julia said, puzzled. ‘It’s a Yale lock. You know, one of those latches that closes itself. And Aslan locked it before we all sat down. He said he didn’t want us to be disturbed.’

‘I see,’ Richard said making a note in his book. ‘And then what happened?’

‘Well,’ Julia said, ‘we then all sat on our prayer mats and shared a cup of tea. It’s a way of relaxing before the session starts. And then we put on our eyemasks and headphones and lay down on our prayer mats. Although Aslan tends to stay sitting up, cross-legged. He’s far more advanced in reaching an autogenic state than the rest of us.’

‘I see,’ Richard said, not really seeing anything at all. ‘And what’s an autogenic state?’

‘It’s a state of perfect relaxation, and it’s what the Sunrise Healing’s all about. You lie down, put on some headphones and an eye mask and the idea is to let your mind wander as the sounds of nature and the rays of sunlight overwhelm you. It’s like being plugged into a recharging station. You wake up half an hour later full of energy. But this time, the next thing I knew, I was standing over Aslan’s body holding a knife … I killed him.’

As Julia was saying this, she lifted her bloodied hand and looked at it as if she couldn’t understand how it was attached to her body.

Richard noticed that Julia was holding up her left hand.

‘Tell me,’ he said, as though it wasn’t of much consequence, ‘are you left-handed?’

‘That’s right,’ Julia said, puzzled by the question. ‘Why?’

Richard smiled blandly. ‘No reason.’

‘It was like an out of body experience. I could see myself with the knife … but if I’m honest, I don’t actually remember the moment. You know … I was just standing there, the knife in my hand. And that poor man was at my feet … not moving …!’

Julia was overwhelmed by her memories and started to weep. Richard flashed a panicked look at Dwayne. What was he supposed to do now?

Dwayne stepped in.

‘Hey. We don’t have to do this now. We can take you in, get you a lawyer. Take your statement later.’

Julia turned to Dwayne with a look of gratitude, and she wiped her tears from her cheek.

‘No,’ Julia said, after a moment’s thought. ‘You have to know what happened. I owe that to Aslan.’

Richard was frankly baffled. Since when did self-confessed killers feel they owed anything to the corpse they’d just created? Dwayne looked over at his boss and shrugged that maybe they should carry on.

‘Okay,’ Richard said. ‘But don’t worry. Only a couple of questions, then we’ll be done.’

In short order, Richard got the remaining details. Julia was able to explain how she had no particular grudge against Aslan. In fact she liked him. Which was why she was stunned to discover that she’d just killed him. What’s more, she not only hated knives, she had no idea where the knife came from that she’d just used to kill Aslan, or how she’d managed to smuggle it into the Meditation Space.

In fact, Richard had to conclude, Julia seemed no less baffled by the murder than he was.

‘So, to sum up,’ Richard said checking over the notes he’d taken. ‘You say you have no motive—you have no idea where the knife came from—you don’t know how you got it into the Meditation Space with you—you have no clear memory of actually killing the victim—but you’d noneth-less like to confess to his murder?’

Julia looked at Richard.

‘But I have to. It was me. I killed him.’

Richard looked at Dwayne. Dwayne looked at Richard. Oh well, a confession was a confession. Dwayne got out his handcuffs and started to bind them to Julia’s wrists. As he did this, he cautioned her.

‘Julia Higgins, I’m arresting you on suspicion of murder. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’

‘But before you go, can I ask you one last question?’ Richard said.

‘Of course.’

‘Do you know why there’s a drawing pin on the floor of the Meditation Space?’

Julia didn’t really understand the question.

‘What drawing pin?’

So that was the end of that.