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“I need to talk to him,” I state firmly, my voice strong even though the words cause my heart to stop in my chest at the thought of confronting him.
“I’m recordingthis conversation for research purposes. Anything you say cannot be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand?” I ask, staring into his dark brown eyes. They’re filled with humor; the way most killers’ eyes are.
They find it amusing that I want to speak with them. It feeds their ego. They get to relive their crimes and enjoy the high all over again all by telling me their story.
This man is no different than any other murderer.
He may have killed my best friend but that doesn’t make him special.
Yes, I’ve taken a special interest in him, but that’s personal.
“I understand. Just like I did last week when we talked. And the week before that.”
“Thank you. Now, Mr. Royal—”
“Ben. Please call me Ben. Mr. Royal was my father, and he was not a good man.”
And you are?I want to ask.
“Okay, Ben. We’ve talked about how you met Sam in high school. The jealousy you felt when she dated your brother, Brandon. And reconnecting with her when you moved back to town. You’ve explained what you loved about Sam and how you wanted to be with her. You even described in detail the events leading up to the night you killed her.”
“It was an accident,” he insists, for the millionth time.
You don’t accidentally carry a tire iron around in a backpack and you certainly don’t accidentally hit someone over the head with it. It’s called premeditated murder, but I don’t correct him. That isn’t why I’m here.
“Yes, the night of the accident. Can you tell me what happened that night?”
I’ve been interviewing Ben Royal once a week for the last month. We’re getting to the hardest part of the interview. The night he killed her. I’m not ready for it, I know this, but I also know the story won’t be complete without all the facts. So, I had him start at the beginning.
Meeting Sam. Falling in love with her. Showering her with gifts in high school, when she was only in ninth grade. He wanted her even back then. Wanted to make her his. He also admitted to being aware that she would never want to date him because he was a screw up.
Ben was a star athlete but a poor student. The only reason he passed was because his brother, Brandon, who was a freshman at the time, helped him with his homework. Ben was the brawn and Brandon the brains of the family. Ben had failed kindergarten twice, making him a nineteen-year-old senior.
The verbal abuse from his father started at an early age and never let up.
The only reason he came back home was to watch his father die a painful death from lung cancer. When his mother asked him to take over the theater, he agreed so he could be close to her. Then he ran into Sam again. She was older this time, a sophomore in college. And he found her even more infatuating.
Sam had recently started dating Jay and it enraged Ben. In his mind, Jay wasn’t good enough for her. No one was but him. She belonged to Ben, and he wasn’t going to let anyone stand in his way.
So, he watched and waited for the perfect moment to strike.
We had it all wrong, though. His sights weren’t set on Sam. He wanted Jay. He wanted him out of the way so they could be together. In his mind, Jay was the problem and if he removed him from the equation, Sam would seek comfort from Ben. The way she had the night at the theater when she was upset.
He bought the rope and tape from a neighboring town. Stored them in his backpack along with the tire iron and carried it everywhere with him. He was on his way to Riley’s that night, assuming Jay would be waiting in the parking lot to pick Sam up after work the way he always did. When he saw her walking home, alone, he approached her.
Offered to walk with her.
She turned him down.
He persisted, attempting to take her hand, and she pushed him away.
Sam was a spitfire. If she wasn’t interested in you or you were getting too pushy, she wasn’t afraid to tell you. Her lack of a filter that night was what sent Ben into a fit of rage. He tried to calm her down, to control her, but Sam struggled to get away from him. When he thought he heard someone coming he took the tire iron out of his bag and struck her over the head, planning to knock her out, and carried her to the small, hidden enclosure of the park. The couple entered the park as he was tying her up. He panicked. He hadn’t intended on hurting Sam. Jay was his target.
He screwed up and he knew it. Knowing he’d need an alibi in case anyone stumbled on Sam, he went to Riley’s, had one drink per usual, and walked back through the park to see if the couple was still there. He watched them run out, rain falling in sheets, drenching everyone and everything.
When he went back to where he left Sam, she wasn’t breathing. He hadn’t intended to kill her. He only wanted to subdue her so he could talk to her. To explain how they were meant to be together.
He goes into detail about how he covered his tracks. About how he felt knowing she was dead. That he had killed the one woman he loved.
