Rosalind sat still like a porcelain doll on the bench of her old baby grand piano. She could hear the dull thuds of Roy's boots on the hardwood floor. Even though she was blind, she swiveled her head towards him and followed the sounds of his pacing back and forth along her living room.
"Can you believe that they're saying you're Red John? That's ridiculous."
Roy didn't say anything, but his foot paused midair for a split second as he looked up from the milk swirling in the earl grey tea in the white and blue floral teacup. He glanced at Rosalind. Her blank, sky blue eyes looked right past him. Roy was glad that the only thing she could see was the good in him, but sometimes, it was the only thing in the world that nagged at the little, if any, conscience he had left.
He lifted the teacup and took a sip. The silence was broken only when he lowered the teacup and it clinked against the saucer.
With a smile, Rosalind said, "I'll clear things up right now. I'll call Patrick Jane and get things figured out."
"I don't know if they'll listen, Rosa."
"Patrick will listen," stated Rosalind. She pouted her lips and brushed a strand of her blood red hair out of her face. Roy knew it was no use arguing with her.
"Then tell him and Darcy that I'll clear things up."
As Rosalind called Patrick, Roy walked back across the room and sat down in the lounge chair that he had placed by the piano. He watched Rosalind's face carefully, taking in every inch. He closed his eyes and listened to her sweet voice.
"Of course I am" said Rosalind before she hung up. She laughed. "Can you believe it Roy? They asked me if I'm okay. I'm more than okay"
Roy stood up and made his way to Rosalind's side.
"Rosa..." he paused for a second.
"Yes, my love?"
"Can you play a song by Bach for me?"
Turning to face the piano, Rosalind began playing his favorite song by Bach—"Prelude in C Major".
"I remember playing this song for you the first time we met. It was—"
"I need to tell you the truth, Rosalind." Roy buries his nose in her hair and inhales deeply before continuing. "I'm Red John."
"No." She stops playing and a heavy silence fills the room. "That's not true."
"Keep playing Rosalind. Take a deep breath and keep playing."
Hesitantly, she starts the song again from the beginning.
"I can't stay Rosa."
Tears rolled down Rosalind's cheeks as Roy... Red John continues almost lovingly, "Don't think. Just play. Feel and hear the notes traveling through you. Note after note after note. Breathe in. Breathe out."
As she listened to his soft, gentle voice, Rosalind felt all of her pain and confusion begin to wash away. She kept playing the song over and over again. Even when Red John dragged a plastic wrapped corpse into her closet and kissed her forehead goodbye, the notes wouldn't leave her. And when the police came barging in, she still couldn't stop playing note after note after note. She breathed in and she breathed out.