“My last question to you, now that you know it’s over, how did you make it through MEPS? What doctor did you pay off to hide your medical history? The people who hired me want to know, so they can prevent this from happening again.”

I waited for a response. Finally, with a shaky voice, he started his confession.

“I had no bad intentions. I never intended to go as far as I did. My family has a history of being in the military and I didn’t want to disappoint them. In the beginning it was simple really. I told my doctor I wanted to go into the military and he recommended me not to, but I was firm on my decision, and offered him $5000 to fix the paperwork and hide the medications. Just in case. I got to the recruiting station and didn’t say a word about my medication, or my diagnosis. They tell you to lie at MEPS anyways to prevent any elongation of your process, which made it even easier. So I went through like everyone else did, and I made sure to hide some pills with me when I went for the overnight trip. I passed, and got a ship date for basic training. I knew I had to be smart enough to hide my pills for training, so I paid off my doctor again for a 3 month supply of pills, and told him I would contact him after basic with another payoff for pills for my AIT. He knew it was risky for him, but I offered him big payouts for these pill supplies. $15,000 for each 3 month supply he gave me. I knew in the long term the military would pay me enough money for me to forget about those payoffs, and I wasn’t dumb with my money so I had a good amount in savings anyways. I ended up crushing all of the pills and hiding them in uniform pockets and under the soles of boots, places that were very seldom checked. I was very secretive about it and after the first week I figured out the perfect amount to take to equal one pill. I stayed on my Ps and Qs so that the drill sergeants would never question me, and I performed to the best of my ability. After training it got easy again. I would find civilian doctors and pay them off to hide the paperwork and documentation of meds, and continued this every time I moved stations. Once I met my wife, I knew I couldn’t hide it from her. So I told her everything, and she offered to help. She took my place on deployments, and played the Mulan role like you said earlier. She would wait till all the other guys were asleep to shower, things like that. She was never gifted with curves so it made blending in easier for her. And being a sniper in the field, other soldiers seldom see you anyways. After the first tour she enjoyed it so much that she offered to continue taking my place until we could find a more permanent solution. When they would return I would go back to my duties as normal, and attend the awarding ceremonies that took place, accept the medals that truly belonged to my wife, and lived out a career in the military until I decided to be done.” He finished, with a sigh. Desperation? Embarrassment? Who knew. I was just happy to have a recorded confession.

“How?” He asked.

“How what?” I replied.

“How did you know? How were you so confident that it wasn’t me who got those kills?” He asked.

“Well you see sir, I have a gift. A very special gift. And when I was old enough to understand the concept of money, I realized that life had given me an unfair advantage. An exotic lemon that nobody else possessed, if you will. And I realized that if I didn’t plant those lemon seeds, and sell them to the highest bidders, I would be wasting my gift. But just know, all I need to do to put away a murderer…or in this case, a non-murderer… is look at them.” I said.

“But what is your gift?” He asked, quietly.

I leaned over the table slowly, looked him in the eyes and said with a smirk, “Now if I told you, I’d have to hire your wife to make it 201.”

— Case Closed —

(Final)