A rose by any other name
Wednesday 24th May 18:02
It was three hours later when Mark met Steve at the Simmons house.
"Where's your car son?" the old man asked as Steve crossed the gravelled yard and opened the car door for his father.
"Got a squad car to drop me off" he explained.
"So what have you got?" Mark asked expectantly as he stepped out and closed the door.
"After we left the hospital" Steve began "Cheryl and I were going over the time frame again." Mark nodded and the two men began walking towards the house. "It's such a short window of opportunity, forensics show time of death to be four at the earliest, and Luis was dropped off at 4:10." Steve paused as they drew closer to the house. "So the likelihood of Luis, or Mrs Lippman and her son seeing something is pretty high right?"
"Right" Mark agreed.
"So, I called on the Lippmans and they are sure they didn't see a thing"
"I don't understand" Mark screwed up his nose, "how does that help you?"
"It doesn't, really. But Mrs Lippman is positive it was 4:10 on the dot when she pulled away from the house because the weather report came on the radio." Steve looked towards the door of the house then lowering his voice continued "back at the station I went over the file without really knowing what I was looking for you know?"
"What did you find?" Mark asked, knowing there must be something.
Steve straightened up "Luis arrived home at 4:10, got a drink, and went straight to the study"
"That's right" Mark nodded.
"But the 911 call was time stamped at 4:21" Steve whispered and resumed his walk towards the front steps. "Eleven minutes to get a drink and make a call?" he raised his eyebrows.
Mark reached out and grabbed Steve's hand just as he was about to ring the doorbell, "what are you saying?" he asked sceptically.
"I'm saying eleven minutes is a long time"
"That Luis may have seen something in that time he's not telling us" Mark surmised.
"Exactly" Steve smiled and rang the bell.
Wednesday 24th May 18:07
Mark stood at the foot of the stairs watching his son wander from the front door towards the kitchen. Steve disappeared through the doorway and a few moments later Alyson, the Simmons' housekeeper came down the stairs and addressed Mark.
"Where did the Detective go?" she asked levelly.
"Oh, I think he went to get a drink, hope that's OK?" he lied.
"Sure, I'll go and see if he needs a hand." She made a move towards the kitchen but Mark halted her with a question.
"Did you call Mrs Simmons?" he smiled hopefully.
Alyson nodded "she's due home soon but she has no problems with you talking to Luis again as long as he's happy with that." She glanced again towards the kitchen.
"And is he?" Mark asked.
"I'm sorry?" the housekeeper asked distractedly.
Mark pointed up the stairs, "I take it you went to speak to Luis, is he OK with us having a chat?"
Alyson nodded whilst still gazing towards the kitchen. When Steve appeared, still maintaining his languid pace, she seemed confused but began to relax. "Yes, Luis will talk to you" she followed Steve with her eyes as he moved towards the study.
"Do you mind?" he pointed to the door and when she shrugged in reply he entered and crossed the room.
Mark smiled bashfully "likes to be thorough" he offered by way of explanation.
A few moments later Steve re-appeared, checking his watch and scribbling in his notepad.
"Luis will speak to us now, his mother says it's fine" Mark informed his son who flashed a smile at Alyson before making his way up the stairs. At the top and out of earshot of the housekeeper Mark stopped Steve and asked, "Well?"
"Even if he fumbled to open and close the front door, spent plenty of time deciding what to drink, then meandered over to the study, I'd say he can't have discovered the body any later than 4:14" Steve closed his notebook.
"He felt for a pulse" Mark added "probably panicked a little"
"He sounded fairly calm on the 911 recording" Steve reminded him "but that could be due to shock I suppose".
"Even so" Mark continued "say he panicked, maybe even found himself in shock for a minute or two…" the old man tailed off shaking his head.
"If Luis has been comprehensive in his statement of events, then even standing there in shock for two minutes would mean we'd expect the 911 call to have come in by 4:17. What happened in the four minutes between then and 4:21?" he asked flatly.
"I don't know" Mark shrugged "but you know that he's still very upset Steve."
"I know dad" he replied reassuringly "we just have to face to possibility that Luis saw or heard something that he isn't telling us."
"But he doted on his father" Mark whispered "why would he hold back, who would he want to protect? Surely not Matthew Green."
Steve rolled his eyes "you're backing Jesse's horse too now? Look, maybe he's not protecting somebody else; maybe he's protecting himself. It could be he's scared by who ever did this, he's only a child after all."
"But he could be protecting somebody else" Mark pondered out loud "Corrine still has nobody to back up her alibi that she was out shopping." The old man sighed sadly "do you think he could have been in the house when Max was actually killed?" he asked incredulously.
Steve shrugged "I really don't know. It could be nothing, as you said, if he was in shock or panicking there's really no way to account for his time, but I just get the feeling something's amiss here."
"A hunch" his father smiled.
"A hunch" Steve nodded.
Wednesday 24th May 18:11
Steve immediately noticed the subtle changes in Luis' room since their last meeting there. Though he'd thought it incredibly tidy last time, it now seemed almost sterile. Three cardboard boxes stood under the large window, each neatly labelled with contents Steve presumed, though he couldn't read the writing from this distance. Having a clear out, he wondered, or finding a way to keep himself occupied?
Again using the chair from the boy's desk Steve seated himself as his father perched on the end of the bed. Luis hovered by the window, only half facing the room.
"How are you doing Luis?" Mark asked softly.
"OK" came the murmur of a reply.
"I hear you are going back to school tomorrow" he continued.
"So they say" came the non-committal answer.
Mark picked up on the young boys insecurity. "Are you happy about going back?" he asked.
Luis shrugged "who's ever happy about going back to school?" he replied flatly. Steve smiled but as Luis turned to face him he realised he hadn't meant it as a joke. It was then Steve remembered their last conversation about school and how unhappy Luis seemed to be there. If he was bullied as he said, and Steve had no reason to doubt him, then going back wasn't going to be easy. He knew how cruel children could be, and he was sure that there were those who'd show no mercy for the boy despite all he'd been through.
Mark clarified his question for the young boy "what I meant was, do you fell ready to go back to school yet?"
Again Luis shrugged "it makes no difference either way"
Mark threw a worried glance towards Steve, he was no child psychologist but it seemed obvious to him that Luis had become even more withdrawn since the funeral. Not surprising, he reasoned, given the recent revelations about his mothers' affairs and his sisters part in the robbery.
"Luis" Steve began gently, "I was hoping you could do something for me." This seemed to pique his attention somewhat and for the first time he made eye contact with Steve. "I wondered if you'd come downstairs with me" the boys' eyes widened slightly but Steve continued "and show me exactly what you did when you came home from school that day."
Luis shuffled from foot to foot then turned to look out of the window.
"It's OK if you don't want to" Mark reassured him.
Luis shook his head "I'll come downstairs but I don't want to go in there" he croaked. By "there" both Mark and Steve assumed he meant the study, the scene of his father's murder.
"OK" Steve replied standing and opening the door "that's fine". For a moment a look of panic crossed Luis' face but calmly he crossed the room and made his way towards the stairs.
Wednesday 24th May 18:18
They were standing outside Max Simmons' study now as Alyson busied herself close by, casting worried glances towards them. Steve had watched Luis run through his actions twice now, each time stopping at the doorway to the study. The first time he'd said as little as possible, simply allowing the boy to repeat his actions as he remembered them, but the second time he'd quizzed him as he went along;
"When you headed for the kitchen did you walk quickly, like you were thirsty, in a hurry to get a drink?"
"Wow, you've got a lot of types of drinks in the refrigerator. Bet it took you a long time to choose."
"Didn't you poke your head into the lounge to see if there was anybody in there?"
Each probe, each attempt to coax the tiniest morsel of additional information was met with a brief impassive response.
"I just walked normally"
"I always have apple juice"
"No"
It didn't explain the delay in calling the paramedics, if anything it suggested Luis had discovered the body even sooner than Steve had estimated. And now they were standing here, frozen in the doorway, both Mark and Steve attempting to read the emotion on Luis' face.
"What happened" Mark eventually asked.
Silently Luis raised a finger to his neck, checked his pulse and then allowed his arm to drop to his side once more.
"Luis" Steve spoke gently "after that, you picked up the phone in the study and called 911." The boy nodded. "Did you make the call straight away?" he asked and Luis' eyes darted up to meet his.
"Of course" he croaked, his voice still surprisingly level, "as soon as it happened, I wanted them to get here as soon as possible, to help him, to make it alright."
"It's OK" Mark tried to calm the boy as he became slightly breathless. He noticed his eyes darting from the front door to the kitchen to the study.
"I called straight away, why wouldn't I? I didn't want him to die," he added.
Steve nodded "I know, I didn't mean to upset you" Steve apologised.
"I think Luis has had enough, don't you?" Alyson interrupted firmly but politely.
Mark nodded, "indeed, why don't we go into the lounge and wait for your mom?"
Luis nodded and led Mark and Steve into the adjacent room. Once inside Mark and Steve took seats in front of the fireplace and waited in silence while Luis headed to the back of the room, running his fingers along the neatly labelled videos which lined the shallow shelves. Both men turned to watch him.
"Are they of your father's work?" Mark ventured after a short while.
"Mostly" came the reply "some are things he's been involved with producing, but these ones" he pointed "are from the Ed Baxter show" then signalling another batch "award ceremonies."
Mark nodded "he was very successful" he stated.
Luis nodded "yes he was."
"He has lots of awards too," he noticed that a faint smile had crossed the boys face. His fingers stopped their dance across the videos and he looked at Mark.
"He got an award the day before…." he chewed his lip "the day before, you know. An award for his charity work, he did a lot of that, it was very important to him."
"That's very commendable" Mark smiled "and from what I've learnt about your father I'm not surprised. Everybody I've talked to has only had good things to say about him."
"He was a really nice guy." Luis smiled "people used to say that over and over again, 'he's a really nice guy'. And he was, but it was strange, hearing it all the time, reading it in magazines. It was like people overlooked his other qualities, he was more than nice, he deserved to be happy, this wasn't supposed to happen…."
"It's alright" Mark assured Luis as he rose and crossed the room to place a comforting hand on the boys shoulder.
"Do you know what he used to tell me about the bullies at school?" Luis asked, looking up at Mark. "He used to say 'no one can make you feel inferior without your consent', it's a famous quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, dad used it a lot."
"Sounds like good advice" Mark agreed.
"Dad applied that to so many things; people can't make you feel stupid if you know you are smart, can't make you feel weak if you know you are strong" he continued. "A rose by any other name…" he smiled.
"Shakespeare, I'm impressed" Mark grinned.
"Romeo and Juliet" Luis nodded. "People used to tell him he was a nice guy, and he heard it so often that he forgot his own advice" Luis frowned and Mark waited for him to continue. "He was a nice guy, but that didn't mean he had to be nice all the time" Luis reasoned calmly. On Steve and Mark's bemused look he elaborated "you saw them all, at the funeral. The way they were, that's how they treated dad, and he let them. Why? 'Cos he was a nice guy. He'd find out about one of mom's affairs but oh, no need to make a fuss. Even what Lexie did he brushed under the carpet. He told me to stand up to bullies but he never did it himself. He was too busy trying to keep everybody happy, never wanted to 'make waves'."
Mark attempted to hide his shock. Neither he nor Steve had thought Luis had any idea about the goings on in the family before the outbursts at the funeral. Struggling to find something to say Mark countered evenly, "but he stood up for people who couldn't defend themselves, that's what much of his charity work was about, wasn't it?"
Luis nodded slowly "That's when I wished I was more like him" he smiled.
"From what I've seen," Mark replied, "You are like your father."
"Am I?" Luis continued steadily "That's one of the last things he said to me. He said 'son, you and me are the nice guys of the world'. But he was wrong, I'm nothing like him, because you're right, when it came down to it, he was strong wasn't he?" he asked looking to Mark for confirmation. "He stood up to bullies and he didn't shy away from things even if they scared him. And I'm not like that, I'm a coward and, and……"
After remaining silent throughout the exchange Steve decided to intervene, joining his father and the boy at the back of the room. "Luis, you know you have nothing to be scared of, talking to us right?" Luis laughed nervously and Steve pressed him again "if there is anything you want to tell us then I want you to know that you can. Don't be worried that you didn't tell us sooner, we won't be angry with you Luis." Noticing the young boy was beginning to draw back Steve attempted once more to get his point across. "Luis, if you saw anything, if you know anything that can help us, there's no need to be afraid."
"Luis" Mark added "we just want to find out what happened to your father, I know you want that too. Whatever you tell us is confidential, secret, do you understand?"
At that moment Corrine Simmons entered the room. Luis turned again to the videotapes and began lightly caressing them once more. "Detective, Mark" she smiled sweetly. "Darling" she added spotting Luis "leave those alone, lets all sit down and talk." But Luis ignored her as she turned and headed towards the fireplace. "I'm sorry about him" she nodded towards Luis.
"Do you really think he's ready to go back to school?" Mark asked quietly.
Corrine sighed "I don't know what's best for him anymore Mark. My own son, and I don't even know him. At least Lexie I can understand, I may not like her much right now but I know what's going on in her head."
Steve cleared his throat and extended a hand "thank you Mrs Simmons, but I think Luis is about done for the day, we'll be in touch."
"Thank you detective, and thank you Mark" she smiled, nodding towards Luis.
Steve crossed to the door and paused as his father peeled off towards Luis. He placed a hand on the boys shoulder but Luis remained focused on the shelves in front of him. "If you ever need to talk" Mark offered "just call me OK?" He withdrew his hand and added "It may not seem like it now, but it will be OK."
Without turning Luis replied sternly "how can it be? He's dead when it should be me."