"So, what do you think, Amy?"
"Ma'am?"
Sharon gestured for the younger woman to sit down across the desk from her.
"My hunch says one of her family members killed Michelle. What do you think?"
"I definitely think it was one of them, Captain, but I'm not sure which one."
"Lt. Provenza seems to think it's the father."
"Honesty Ma'am, I'm no so sure. I mean... usually it is the father in these cases. Statistics just go that way. But this time... I really can't say I'm convinced."
Sharon nodded and hummed, "I have to agree. I'm not ready to rule out the father yet, but I'm having a hard time reading the mother. She's upset and yet she's not."
"I know, right? She kinda creeps me out, to tell you the truth. She's sort of... Mommy Dearest, you know what I mean? It had to be tough living in that house with so much hostility and knowing you're the cause of it."
"You're talking about Michelle?"
"Yeah... I mean, to one parent the kid was the daughter of the family, and to the other... the son. How do you do that? That kid must have been torn in two most of the time."
"Mmm... and in returned she tore her family apart. That's what you're saying, right?"
"I'm not being prejudiced here, Captain," Amy said emphatically.
Sharon put her hands up to reduce Amy's tension, "Detective, I never suggested you were. This is hard on all of us to figure out, and if it's hard on us, how much harder was it on her parents."
"You have no problem with this kid being Michelle, do you."
"It's not my place to have a problem."
"Yeah, I know... but doesn't this seem... I don't know... You're a mother. How would you feel if your son came home and told you he was really a girl in the wrong body?"
Sharon leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, then nodded thoughtfully, "Well... I imagine I would be surprised, and then I would grieve the child I was loosing... and then hopefully I would get to know the new person in my life."
"As simple as that?"
"I doubt it would be simple, Amy, but yes... I believe I would do it just like that."
"I don't know if I could. I mean... how does a kid know that young when all the other problems in life that kids have to deal with are all over the place? How do you know? I can understand the mother not wanting to accept it. What if the kid changed her mind?"
"That's always the fear, but from everything I've read, these children rarely make a mistake about who they are, and usually keep quiet longer than they should have because they don't want to upset those around them."
"Michelle didn't stay quiet for long. Her father was completely supportive."
"Yes he was. And he seems the most upset."
"You figure that means he's the guilty party?"
"Perhaps... perhaps... but I can't shake the feeling that there is another secret here, just below the surface. The mother is hard to read, but the brother... The brother seems very emotional and protective."
"I'd say he's emotional. I had to pull him off that Lewis kid."
"Yes, I heard the commotion when Det. Sanchez was moving him."
"And that's another thing, Ma'am... I tried to break them up but Det. Sanchez pulled me back. I could have stopped it earlier. I didn't want to say anything, but it did bother me."
"Mmm..." Sharon nodded again, "a little too much like Police brutality?"
"Well to be fair, it wasn't us, it was the brother, Matt. He went at Lewis like he was ready to kill him, and Det. Sanchez wanted it to continue."
"I'm sure the Detective had every intention of stopping it. Perhaps he didn't want you to get hurt again. Last year is still pretty fresh in his mind."
"I wasn't that close, Ma'am."
"Do you want to file a formal complaint against Det. Sanchez?"
"Wha? No, of course not. I'd never do that to Julio. Did that Lewis kid say anything?"
"No. As far as I can tell, Lewis believes you got Matt off of him as quickly as you could."
"Well... technically that was true. Det. Sanchez pulled me back and when I shook him off I went in to stop the fight again."
"And what did the Detective do at that point?"
"He let me pull Matt off and grabbed Lewis."
"I think the tension around this case is being felt by all of us, Amy. When you deal with a person who is Transgender, it makes all of us question what it means to be male or female. That's at the very core of our identity. Everyone in this office is working hard to keep an open mind about Michelle, and that means we might be a little strained in our responses to things like an unrepentant bully or a parent who would rather kill their own child than allow her to become the person she was trying to be."
"Killing your own kid... " Amy shook her head before continuing, "I can understand a lot of thing, you know. I can understand physical abuse. I can even understand how sexual abuse can go on for years. But killing your own kid. I don't think I'll ever get my head around that one."
"I hope we never do understand, Detective. When we get to that point, it's time to stop doing this job. Okay, it's getting late... here's what we're going to do. We'll keep the family here for awhile. I'm going home to check on Rusty. I'm leaving everything in Lt. Provenza's hands for the next hour or so. And Amy, if Det. Sanchez actions are still bothering you, find time to talk with him about it. I know he pushes situations right up to the line, but he doesn't cross over. Remember that."
