"Fighting over a seat?" the police emphasized and raised his voice.
The young man nodded, his body still trembling, and his teeth clattering, "He wanted the window seat, but that man wouldn’t give it up. He must have harbored resentment because the man wouldn’t give up the seat, so he followed him to the bathroom and killed him!"
The youngster demonstrated with his hands the length of the knife, "A knife this long, stabbed in from behind!"
The police frowned, "Why didn’t you stop him?"
The young man shivered violently, "I... I was too scared."
"Where were you situated to see the entire murder unfold?"
"Yes... I saw it all." The young man ruffled his hair, his eyes vacant, "I wasn’t feeling well in my stomach, I was sitting on the toilet, I don’t usually lock the door, so the door was ajar, leaving a small crack, I heard noises and looked out through the crack, and I could see... the entire murder!"
The police handed him a cup of hot tea, "Have some tea first."
"Thank you." The young man took the tea, blew the leaves that floated on top, sipped gently, furrowed his brow slightly but said nothing more, then took another sip and set down the cup.
"Feeling a bit calmer?" asked the police.
The young man nodded, his face still somewhat pale.
"I know it’s cruel to ask you to recall the entire murder process, but I need to know everything, I hope you can cooperate."
The young man took a deep breath, closed his eyes as if sinking into his memories, and murmured, "I looked through the crack, saw the man with his back to me, he was using the bathroom, seemed to be in good spirits, even started whistling."
"How could you be sure it was the man who didn’t give up the seat?" the police asked.
The young man spoke softly, "He was wearing a pair of coconut shoes, a model that I really like. I haven’t saved enough pocket money to afford them; they are limited edition. I might recognize the wrong person, but not the wrong shoes. I was watching his shoes when suddenly I saw another pair approach him."
"He just stood behind the man who was using the bathroom, holding a knife, standing very quietly, like it was a planned assassination."
The police frowned, "Are you suggesting he had been planning this for a long time?"
"He stood there for a long time, didn’t kill immediately, just waited behind the man until he finished using the bathroom and zipped up, then he made his move. Aside from the altercation over the seat by the window, they seemed not to know each other."
The police took notes, "Go on."
The young man had his eyes tightly closed, his expression strained, large beads of cold sweat slipping from his brow, "The knife plunged down, again and again, all I saw was red! He covered the man’s mouth from behind with something, the man could only make muffled sounds, completely unable to call for help."
"Until the man fell silent; once he let go, the man just collapsed limply to the ground."
"It seemed he was afraid someone would discover him, he looked back towards the toilet doors, seeing every door hung loosely, not tightly shut, he thought no one was there and did not check, then he went and washed his hands, acting as if nothing happened and left."
The police looked at him, "What would you have done if he had discovered you at that time?"
The young man clasped his head, anguished, "I don’t know, I was so scared I didn’t even dare to breathe, I held my breath, my mind was a blank. If he had checked by pushing on each door, and the moment he opened the door... I probably would have just sat there dumbly staring at him, completely defenceless."
"Maybe... I would have been killed to silence me."