The First Line 2018 - part 2

Summer:

      "I wanted you to be the first to know," Rowan tentatively confided in me.

      "Okay, good. There is a witness. That's good!" I tried to smile at my partner while the panic grew inside me.

      He nodded and started pacing back and forth, stroking his chin, in front of the board.

      The board so far had some scribbled notes about neighbors' statements and a picture of a Mr. Leo Cain, shot dead in the hallway of his two million dollar mansion in Wayland. My partner, Andrew Rowan, was assigned to head the investigation and I worked closely by him.

      We are the Homicide unit of the Providence Police department. There are a couple more detectives in the group. I don't mean to be the one to blow my own horn here, but Rowan and I, we are the best in the group.

      The shooting took place three months ago and since there had been almost nothing to go on, up until now, the investigation had stood still. Yes, we had talked to all the neighbors, but funnily enough nobody had seen or heard anything. I'm always amazed by that. Maybe it's an occupational hazard, but I see, hear and remember everything that goes on around me. I thought everybody did, until I became a cop.

      The forensic team had not found any bodily fluids, apart from Cain's blood, but eight sets of fingerprints that later were identified to belong to women Cain had had brief connections with. All but one had solid alibis for the time of the shooting. The eighth woman was later cleared from suspicion. And we were back on square one.

      The guy that was shot, didn't seem to have any family. Nobody came asking about him. Some people seemed upset by what had happened at the company where he worked, but nothing major. There were stories in the paper about him, but after a couple of days it all died down and since then there was nothing. So the investigation was left under the pile of all the other investigations we had to deal with.

      I always found it strange how an innocent person could live his life fully and then suddenly not exist anymore, and how the world kept going as if nothing had happened. I saw it on a daily basis at work, and it always saddened me. But I was the same as the world in the end - I kept going as if none of all the tragedies I witnessed were real.

      And then the other day, this girl had walked into the police station, claiming she had information about the murder. As if she had appeared from nowhere.

      "We put her somewhere safe for now, and we'll talk to her tomorrow, when she's had some time to relax." Rowan stopped pacing and looked at me. "Not much more we can do today. I'll pick you up at eight tomorrow. Sharp!"

      I saluted him in an exaggerated way, as I usually did when he gave me an order. He would always nod determinedly and when we looked at each other we could never hold a straight face for very long, and we would always end up walking away giggling. It was our thing, had been for the last ten years. And I loved it.

      The next morning, sitting on the porch swing outside my house, waiting for Rowan, I was still wondering. Who was this girl? How much had she seen? Would she be able to describe the assailant? Why is she appearing now?

      I was startled by the honking horn in Rowan's car and walked quickly to get in.

      "Morning." Rowan looked over at me as he pulled away. "Sleep well? You look tired."

      "Thank you. I always love it when you say that, dear." I tried to stop a yawn.

      "I know, that's why I say it. Dear." He laughed.

      "Where are we going?" I tried to say it so he wouldn't think I was overly eager to find out.

      "You'll see. We're stopping for breakfast on the way."

      "I already had breakfast." I immediately wondered if it had come out too quick.

      "The kids were at war this morning. There was no time for breakfast."

      He looked at me like I was supposed to understand what that was like. I didn't. I didn't have kids, or brothers or sisters for that matter.

      Rowan was one of the lucky ones. Married his high school sweetheart, Betty, and now have three little ones. Jo was 12, she was just a baby when I first met Rowan. Bee, or Beatrice, was 9 and Zach was 5. Along with the beautiful house and the two dogs, Texas and Arizona, Rowan certainly seemed to have it all. He was worth it though, he was one of the good ones.

      Should anyone ask me on my death bed who I have truly loved in my life, Rowan will be on the list. I would hope I'm on his as well.

      The car finally stopped outside a large building on the outskirts of town. So many years on the force and I had never been here before. On the way in Rowan told me it was a high security psychological facility. I nodded, amazed by how I could have missed it.

      "The rich and famous pay loads to be treated here. Or, to hide." Rowan pressed the button beside the door.

      "Yes?" The voice of a man in a raspy loudspeaker.

      "You'd think if they are so expensive they'd afford a better loudspeaker." I giggled.

      "They want you to think you've come to the wrong place." Rowan stared at me. "Get your act together!" He pressed the button again. "I'm detective sergeant Andrew Rowan, I have an appointment to see Cenessa Williams."

      It took us a good half hour to get in. The security was certainly high. I was exhausted when we were told to sit down in a small room. The room had a table, four chairs, no windows and it was all-white. And I mean, all white, even the legs of the table and chairs. I found myself starring at one of the seat cushions that was bright red, and wondered how that got there. Perhaps there's a red room and the cushions had been switched, by mistake or out of spite. Somebody wanted somebody else to go mad wondering about how it got there. The whole thing was almost hypnotizing.

      "No wonder people go crazy here." I heard myself saying it and looked over at Rowan.

      "People are crazy..."

      The door opened and three huge guards walked in. We stood up. Standing in front of the guards I realized I had never in my life felt so small.

      And then came the girl.

Looking back - 1994

My father had gone to Stanford and there was no other alternative for me. So when the time came I had to go back to California, while Leo went to Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island. Not really ideal for a loving couple such as us. But we would make it, we had to. That's what we told ourselves, and I believed it.

      The first two years were good. We'd go see each other on school holidays, talk on the phone all the time and write letters. Sometime during the third year I started realizing he didn't call me very often, it was always I who called him. And when a school holiday would approach he would say he had too much to do and that we would see each other the next holiday.

      So when fall break came around our senior year, we hadn't seen each other for six whole months, I decided to surprise him. It wasn't my best idea, I admit. But how was I to know he'd be screwing that blonde when I arrived all decked out in my finest little black dress and high heeled shoes?

      So that was the end.


To be continued...