EIGHT

"How did Stillman save his life?" Lilly asked.

"Well," said Crawford, "dad told me that he was into petty crimes. One of the things he did was steal purses. He said he had snatched this lady's purse and was running away when he ran head first into Stillman. Needless to say Stillman arrested him.

"But while he was taking him to the police station he and dad got to talking. They both discovered they had served in Vietnam. Not together, of course. Well, when dad went before the judge, the judge went easy on him. Told him if he got counseling and kept his noise clean he'd only get probation. He didn't understand why the judge went easy on him but he agreed. Later, he discovered that Stillman had talked to the judge. Got to recognize that dad was suffering from post traumatic stress and that he could get straightened out if he got some help."

"And you dad got that help," said Scotty. "Because of Stillman."

"Yeah," said Crawford. "Got himself straightened out. And met my mother there. She was working at the center where dad went for his counseling. They got married about a year later. Dad used to tell me that if it wasn't for Stillman talking to the judge he'd have ended up in jail. And he had no doubt he'd have ended up dead. Because Stillman took the time to get to know him, he was able to come to terms with some of the things he had done. Mom used to say he was a changed man after that."

"Where is your mother?" Lilly asked.

"She died when I was 15," said Crawford.

"Oh, sorry," said Lilly, self-consciously.

"Thanks," said Crawford. "But that was almost 7 years ago. Now that dad's gone I'm all that's left. Except for some cousin or something out west. Don't really know who they are."

"Did your dad do or say anything unusual before he died?" Lilly asked. "Something that might have been out of character for him."

"Not that I can think of," said Crawford. "He was really introspective the last few weeks. I guess that's to be expected when you know you're about to die. I know he wrote some letters to people he hadn't seen or spoken to in years. I don't really know who they were. I guess he wanted to say goodbye to people he had known over the years."

"Well, thanks for the help," said Lilly. "We appreciate your taking the time to talk with us."

"Do you think my dad may have been involved in the murder of this Hopkins?" Crawford asked.

"To be honest, we don't know," said Scotty. "Hopkins was killed during an apparent burglary. You don't know if you dad did any burglaries, do you?"

"He never said," said Crawford. "He would just say they were bad things and they were in the past. Best left there."

"Well," said Lilly, giving Crawford one of her cards, "if you think of anything else, please give us a call."

"I will," said Crawford. "To be honest I'd be interested in finding out if he was involved in any of this. I know he wasn't perfect. But I don't think he was the same man he was when he was younger."

"If we find out anything we'll let you know," said Lilly.

"Looks like we may have found the person who sent the paperwork to Stillman," said Scotty as they walked to their car.

"Maybe," said Lilly, looking at her watch. "Guess we'll call it a day. We can pick this up tomorrow. Can't go see Young until then anyway."

"Good idea," said Scotty. "We can check in with Will and Nick and see if they've found out anything. Maybe with a little luck we can wrap this thing up soon."

Lilly agreed with her partner as they headed back to police headquarters.