Huh?
You saw it only once. You didn’t see any picture twice, did you?
No. No, I only seen it once.
Okay. That would make it, uh…
… roughly about nine-thirty, then, that you got out of the movies. You went home right away?
Yeah… I mean no.
Where did you stop?
I had a Coke at the… at the drugstore.
I see. Then you went home.
Ye—
… yeah, then I went home.
The house was dark?
Yeah. But… they never used no lights when they watched TV.
Uh-huh. You went in?
Y-yeah.
Take a sip of that coffee, son, before it gets cold. Take it easy, take it easy. Don’t choke on it. There. Okay?
Yeah.
All right then. Now… oh, good. Put it over his shoulders, Sergeant. There we go. Better?
Mmmm
Okay. Let’s get on with it. And believe me, son, this is no more fun for us than it is for you. We saw it too.
I want mama. I want her. Please, can I…
Oh. What did I… well, shut it off, Sergeant. Here kid. You don’t have a handkerchief, do you? Here. Did you shut it off, Sergeant?
Oh. Right away.
When you went in, was there anything… peculiar?
What?
You told us last night you smelled something.
Yeah. It… it… There was a funny smell.
Anything you know?
Huh?
Did it smell like anything you ever smelled before?
No. It wasn’t much. Not in the… hall.
All right. So you went into the living room.
No. No. I went… Ma. Can I…
Come on, son, snap out of it. We know you’ve had a bad time. But we’re trying to help.
You, uh, didn’t go in the living room. Didn’t you think you should mention that smell?
I… h-heard the set on and…
Set?
The TV set. I thought—I figured they were still watchin’.
And?
And ma didn’t like me to… b-bust in on them. So I went up to my room so’s I wouldn’t… you know.
Bother them.
Y-yeah.
Okay. How long were you up there?
I was… I don’t know how long. Maybe an hour.
And?
There… wasn’t no sound downstairs.
Nothing at all?
No. There wasn’t nothing at all.
Didn’t that make you suspicious?
Yeah. Well, I figured… they’d… laugh at somethin’ or talk loud or…
Dead quiet.
Yeah. Dead quiet.
Did you go down then?
L-later I went. I was goin’ to bed. I figured I…
You wanted to say goodnight.
Yeah. I…
You went down and opened the living room door?
Yeah, I… yeah.
What did you see?
I… I… Oh, can’t ya… I want my ma. Lemme alone. I want her!
Kid! Hold him, Sergeant. Take it easy!
I’m sorry, kid. Did it hurt? I had to calm you. I know…how you feel, Leo. We saw it too. We feel sick and… awful too.
Just a few more questions and we’ll take you to your aunt’s. Now first. The television set. Was it on?
Yeah. It was on.
And you… smelled something?
Yeah. Like in the hall. Only worse. Only lots worse.
That smell.
That smell. Dead. A dead stink. Like a pile o’ dead… dead… I don’t know. Garbage. Piles of it.
