Chapter 4

"Jim? What's going on?" Callie asks, entering Jim's office.

He had called her as soon as he had left the interview with the victim's mother; he knew that she would be able to help him in this dilemma. He has no idea how Jeff is going to react.

As soon as the door closes, he blurts it out: "Jeff knows the victim."

"What? Okay, start from the beginning; I'm going to need some context."

"A boy was found on the beach this morning, he was fifteen years old. I had a chat with his mother, she said that the victim was friends with Jeff."

Callie sat in the chair opposite and reaches out to hold his hand.

"Jim, you're scared about telling him aren't you?"

He nods silently.

"I think it should come from you," she tells him honestly.

"How?" The question comes out of his mouth before he realises.

"Jeff is no different from any of the other relatives that you have told," Callie reasons.

"He is though," Jim counters, dreading when he has to tell his step-son.

"Jeff's been through this before; remember the death of his soccer coach?" Callie reminds him, "it's better coming from you than anyone else, think about how hurt he's going to be if he finds out second hand. I know I would be hurt."

She stands and pulls a packet of pain killers out of her pocket and throws them to him, "you forgot these," she adds.

"Thanks," he smiles for a second.

"Just don't leave it too late," Callie tells him, "I'll see you later, I love you."

"Love you too," he tells her wholeheartedly.

From the interview with Matthew's mum, Jim has now got a person of interest: the violent father. The pieces could fit, mum and son move continents to get away, he would certainly be pissed off if that ever happened to him. He has to file an APB to find him and he just begins to fill in the form on his computer when there is a knock at the door.

"Come in," he beckons, not looking up from the screen.

"Hey, Jim," Jeff replies.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I came with mum, she said that you wanted to speak to me about something," there was something in his voice which worries Jim, it's like he somehow already knows.

"Erm…yeah, Jeff, can you sit down."

The teenager sits opposite him, anxiously staring at Jim.

Slowly and delicately, Jim tells him about Matthew's death – leaving out all of the gory details - and then he asks him, "Do you know anything about last night?"

Jeff remains subdued on the chair; staring down at the floor and then he shakes his head slightly before bursting into tears. Automatically, Jim moves over to him to comfort him, sitting on the chair's armrest, holding Jeff tightly in his arms.

"It's okay, it's okay," the detective repeats, "we're going to do everything to find who did this."

"Everyone…loved…Matty…" Jeff sobs.

"I know, but I need to know, did anyone not like him?"

Please Jeff, tell him about Tom, please. Remember that night I told you about liking Jenny, c'mon you must remember that!

"Tom," Jeff whispered.

BINGO!

"Who's Tom?"

"Tom Kirby, Matty told me about liking his girlfriend, Jenny."

"Thank you Jeff, I'm sorry about your friend, really I am."

Jeff remains silent and hugs Jim back. The pair sit in the chair, holding onto one another in silence. For a moment, Jim looks up and sees Callie through the glass panels of his office. She nods at him, and he nods back.

"Jeff, I've got to get to work, you go with your mum okay," then he hesitantly adds, "if you think of anything else, just let me know okay."

Jeff hugs him tighter before letting go, "okay," he tells him.

The detective lets go as Jeff gets up.

"Did he suffer?" Jeff asks, looking Jim in the eye.

"No," Jim replies, "not at all."

A few minutes after his family has left, Daniel knocks on Jim's door.

"Yep," he answers.

"Got a hit on that APB you put out on Matthew's dad, Robert Davies. He was seen at Jacksonville airport an hour ago trying to board a flight," Daniel informs him, "uniforms have managed to get him off the plane and are bringing him now."

Dad was in the US? Why? I don't remember seeing him at all, damn it, I hate forgetting stuff; especially something as important as my murderer. Crap, crap, crap! Why is this so bloody difficult?

There is another knock at the door, and this time it's Carlos.

"Jim, can I see you for a minute?"

Compliantly, Jim leaves the comfort of his office and follows the ME to the morgue. The body is now fully covered by a lime green sheet, but the shorter stature still doesn't mask the victim's youthfulness.

"What is it?"

"I've taken an imprint of the weapon used to kill him," Carlos explains, "there were also trace elements that I've sent off to the lab."

"Anything pointing to a definite murder weapon," Jim enquires.

"Nothing definitive yet, but once we get the results back, you'll be the first to know."

"Why would someone want to kill him? He has no ties to gangs or the usual stuff kids get up to, he was a model child, it just doesn't make any sense."

"Sometimes, there is no reason for a person to kill another," Carlos comments, matter-of-factly.

"The three common motives are money, power and…love," Jim suddenly has a light bulb moment, "I need to make a call."

He pulls his phone from his pocket and phones Jeff's school. The phone is answered by the school secretary that Jim had met a few days ago, when he had been called in to the school because of Jeff.

"Good Morning, this is Palm Glade High School, who's speaking please?"

"Hello, this is detective Longworth, FDLE, I'm calling to ask about one of your students, a Tom Kirby?"

"One moment please," the secretary replies.

The line goes silent for a moment before the voice returns, "Detective Longworth, would you be able to make it down to the school?"