New Orleans Federal Penitentiary
December 25, 2014
A visitor. Agent Henshaw.
"What do you want from me, Agent Henshaw?"
"You know, two years ago, at this time, I bet you were pretty happy, weren't you Dexter Morgan? You probably thought God himself had just given you a Christmas present."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Hector Estrada was paroled in 2012 on Christmas Eve, the man who killed Laura Moser, your mother."
"Why are you bringing this up? You enjoy opening old wounds?"
"No, but you enjoy making new ones."
"I'm not going to dignify that with an answer."
"It must have been quite a shock when you discovered that it wasn't God giving you a present, but Captain Maria LaGuerta. She recommended the release of Estrada to catch you in the act. Yet you and your sister somehow managed to outsmart both of them and make it seem as if they killed each other."
"I'm going to call my attorney if you persist in this kind of harassment, what do you want?"
"I want a full confession, Dexter Morgan. Everything. How you killed all those people, how you framed Doakes, how you let your wife die, how you murdered your boss… No more lies."
"That's not going to be possible because I have nothing to confess. Anything else?"
"Sure, I'm here to give you a Christmas present of my own," he said as he took out his new smart phone.
"A phone?" I asked surprised.
"Unblock it," he said.
A video recording from Miami News played.
"In other news, the prime suspect in the murder of high profile investigative journalist Salvador Price has finally been apprehended in Argentina. Hannah McKay, aged 32, had been living in hiding in the suburbs of Buenos Aires under a false identity over the last 2 years. Federal authorities are pursuing an extradition agreement with the Argentine authorities on charges of murder, assault, forgery and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Hannah McKay is a former girlfriend of Dexter Morgan, the alleged Bay Harbor Butcher, presently held without bail in New Orleans Federal Penitentiary and on trial for over 150 murders. McKay was found to be raising Morgan's son, Harrison. Dexter Morgan himself had been in hiding for over a year before…"
"Okay, I've seen enough," I said turning it off.
"Well?"
"Where's my son?"
"Right where you left him. I wouldn't worry about him. He'll be back in America in no time and set up for adoption. Or maybe he'll just grow up without his parents in some run down orphanage, not that you've demonstrated that you care when you let his real mother to die."
"What do you want? You want me to confess to something I didn't do so you'll let her off?"
"Did I say that? I don't make any deals with murderers anymore. You had your chance. You chose instead not to cooperate and hire a schmuck of a lawyer whose only achievement in life is to allow bigger schmucks to walk free by exploiting loopholes in the legal system. But even he won't be able to save her once she is extradited back on US soil. You want to save her from the electric chair, I have nothing to offer you. You, you alone, must figure it out. Time is running out, Morgan…"
"I see what this is about now. Fine. I had a fight with Hannah McKay. I set her up. I planted that pen mixed with aconite in the evidence locker."
"That's not good enough."
"I poisoned Salvador Price."
"Still not good enough. Nobody is going to believe you. I don't believe you. After all you are otherwise a legitimate law abiding forensic analyst who is just trying to save his criminal girlfriend, I can understand that, I'd probably do it too," he said in a sarcastic tone.
An awkward moment of silence followed.
"I won't keep you any longer, Mr. Morgan. Good luck with the trial next month. Your last court hearing before the verdict is coming up. Make it count."
Miami Federal Courthouse
January 7, 2015
I truly destroy everyone I love. I see it now, Debra was not the last. Leaving, disappearing, faking my own death and starting over again didn't help, if I only I had drowned that day in the hurricane. But now I am at a point where even my own death will not ensure the safety of my loved ones.
"Court is in session, the Honorable Judge Oliver Fischer presiding over The People vs. Dexter Morgan, case #3097-12," the bailiff said.
Will Lumen have to keep running all her life until she's old, weak and worn out? Will Hannah finally meet her fate in an electric chair? Will my son grow up a healthy human being?
"Thank you, your Honor, in my closing statement I would like to say that…"
I've never been a religious man, yet they say in the Bible that the truth will set you free.
"Your Honor," I said, "I'd like to make one final statement before the court."
"Granted," said the judge.
"What are you doing? Dex? What are you doing?" whispered Billsworth repeatedly, but I ignored him.
I have spent 42 years hiding my true nature. No more. No more lies, no more secrets.
"Well?" asked the judge.
"Your Honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I… I can't go on with this farce any longer. I am the Bay Harbor Butcher. The charges against me are true."
Everyone in the court was in shock.
"Objection, your Honor! My client's statements reflect nothing but a mental breakdown and cannot…" yelled my attorney in vain.
"Overruled, let him continue," the judge said.
"Your Honor, I'm afraid Mr. John Billsworth can no longer represent me and so I relieve him of his duty. I will represent myself."
I then confessed to everything as my attorney shamefully walked out of the court room in defeat. How I framed Doakes, got Rita killed, got LaGuerta killed, everything or almost.
"I never wanted any of this to happen. But it did, and it's all my fault."
"Anything else you would like to add, Mr. Morgan?" asked the judge.
"I failed my girlfriend, Hannah McKay."
"What about her?"
"We had a fight in 2012 when she found out I killed her father."
"Clint McKay?"
"Yes. He was trying to extort money from her. I thought I was doing her a favor but she was ungrateful. I wanted to kill her too but… I just couldn't. So instead I murdered Salvador Price while he was at my house and then set it up to look as if Hannah had poisoned him, planted a poisoned pen in the evidence locker. I forced her on the run."
"And what about her husband? Miles Castner," asked the prosecutor.
"I killed him too in a jealous fit of rage and threw his body into the ocean."
"I must admit that I find you to be a truly despicable human being, a murderer and a liar of the worst degree. You have disgraced the good name of Miami's police department. Prosecutor, would you like to make a final statement in light of these discoveries?"
"I rest my case, your Honor," Benner said, with a bit of a smile on his face. Henshaw too was in the court room and he nodded at Benner.
"Very well, court is adjourned for 2 hours for a lunch break after which the jury will have to make a decision, although at this point it seems to be a mere formality."
Outside the crowd was getting restless.
"Tom, we've just received word from inside the court room that Dexter Morgan has finally confessed to the Bay Harbor Butcher crimes and has relieved his attorney from duty," a random reporter for the Miami Times could be heard saying while mobs of angry people chanted "Free Dexter Morgan!" religiously in vain.
While I was held in custody for the break, I had a visitor. It was Lucas Olin again.
"So, Dexter, this is how it ends?"
"Seems so."
"You sacrificed yourself to exonerate your girlfriend?"
"Yes. Only if I'm convicted will the evidence against her be rendered invalid in court. That is what Henshaw wanted when he visited me on Christmas. He was smart."
"You'll be convicted yes, but you don't need to die," Lucas said, "I'm part of the team of prison guards escorting you to and out of the courthouse," he said as he unlocked the door and my handcuffs, "I knew something was up the moment Henshaw walked out of the interrogation room rather pleased about himself. So I prepared for this moment. Escaping here is actually easier than you think if you know the shortcuts. Walk out this corridor, turn left, next on the right, into the courtyard and get inside the white van. No security cameras, my cousin is driving. He will take you to the border. They'll never find you again."
"That sounds like a crazy plan, Lucas, but then again you've shown that I can trust you. Fine, we'll do it."
"I'll have to stay behind and play my part."
"Will you be alright?"
"Don't worry about me, I can handle myself just like last time."
"Thanks for everything."
"Sure, don't mention it."
And off I was. I didn't know where but I knew this time would be far out of Henshaw's reach. Hannah's charges would be dropped and they could have a normal life back in America. I'd never see them again but at least I wouldn't be harming their lives either. It was satisfying for me.