And then…
“Do you think that people are born evil?”
Brook hadn’t meant for that question to slip out, but she also didn’t regret it. Chief Conway would hopefully believe that she was talking about the criminals that he’d put away throughout the course of his career.
“Nature versus nurture. If you major in psychology, that is a debate that will be posed to you quite often.” Chief Conway gave her a sad smile. “I have a hard time believing that an infant is born evil, Brook. I took the nurture side every time, and I still stand by my viewpoint.”
Brook nodded her agreement, because she didn’t believe that babies were born evil, either.
They were full of innocence and joy.
She and Jacob had both been raised by the same parents, in the same household, in the same town.
He couldn’t be a murderer.
“Is there anything else?”
“Yes,” Brook replied, feeling more confident now after she’d finally spoken to him. “What other things did you learn about body language?”
“Well, there are quite a lot of tells that an individual does with their body language.” Chief Conway looked around the room and ended up pointing to Kim Sanders. “Do you see how she keeps glancing at the door? That shows her desire to leave the gymnasium.”
“Everyone knows that one,” Brook said with a roll of her eyes. “I’m talking about signs that not everyone knows, like when someone is lying.”
Chief Conway laughed before pointing toward David Verica and Chad Zisk. David was tall for a sophomore, and he was also on the football team. He and Chad were currently talking to a recruiter for the Marines.
“Look at David’s feet. Which direction are they facing?”
“Directly at the recruiter,” Brook replied, not understanding what Chief Conway was pointing out.
“And now look at Chad’s feet.”
Chad’s running shoes weren’t facing the same direction. Instead, his feet were slightly angled to where a couple of the college representatives had set up their tables.
“Chad has no interest in the military, unlike David. David is also showing interest in the conversation, whereas Chad has been avoiding the recruiter’s eye contact. A person can learn a lot about someone else by reading their body language.” Chief Conway stood, and Brook followed suit. He had a line of sophomores who wanted to talk with him, and Brook had been monopolizing his time. “I’m sure there are books on body language that you can check out of the library.”
“Thank you, Chief Conway.” Brook needed to ask one more question before she left to go and find Sally. “When you say that the DNA isn’t in the system, you mean from those criminals already in prison?”
“No,” Chief Conway replied with a shake of his head. “Fingerprints and DNA can be collected as a result of certain job applications or someone wanting to obtain a carry permit. There are several reasons why someone would be in the open systems that I referred to earlier.”
Brook nodded and flashed the chief a smile as she reached out her arm. The least she could do was shake his hand the way her parents had taught her to do when in a professional setting.
“Thank you, Chief Conway.”
The chief surprised her by not releasing her hand right away.
“Is there anything else that you’d like to talk about?”
Brook did her best to keep her smile in place and maintain eye contact. She didn’t want him to suspect that she came to him for any other reason than her interest in his profession. The fact that he’d initially gone to college for psychology had been a bonus, because she’d been truthful when she’d stated that was her interest when it came to picking a major.
Somehow, she managed to swallow her fear before responding to his question.
“No, Chief. Not at all. Thank you for your insight.”
Brook pulled her hand away before quickly making her way around the table. The three sophomores who had been waiting to speak with Chief Conway were all giving her odd looks, as if they couldn’t understand why she would have an interest in being a police officer. At least they hadn’t overheard her ask questions about Pamela Murray’s murder.
As Brook walked across the floor of the gymnasium, she began to go over ways that she could get Jacob’s fingerprints into the system. Doing so would be virtually impossible, but what if she could take something that belonged to Jacob and turn it into the police? What if she made up some excuse that she’d discovered it behind the library? After all, that was where the police had discovered Pamela’s body.
Something had Brook stopping at the double doors. She told herself to keep moving forward, but her body had a mind of its own. She glanced over her shoulder, and she instantly regretted doing so.