a/n: Two chapters at once! Since this entire thing is complete, I decided to upload 13 and 14 together. One more chapter after that - I want to get this fic wrapped so I can obey my newest plot bunnies. Thirteen deals with wrapping up of the crime. And yes there will be D/L in the final chap! ;)
Chapter
13
Lindsay:
Closer
It had all come down to one thing: separation.
Lindsay sat reading a copy of the statement Damien Price had given to Flack that afternoon. Looking back, she wished she had seen the truth that was right before her; it was simple. The fear of of being separated by an unconquerable distance was at the root of this murder. The papers in her hand told the story.
Damien had been imprisoned for fourteen months for drug possession, while Dori waited and tried to go on with her life. When he was released, they had a happy reunion, but sadly, it didn't last beyond a week or two. Their finances were in trouble. He couldn't find a steady job, and his continuing drug habit emptied his wallet. Damien worried that his wife, who had been slightly distant lately, would decide to leave him. That was something he simply couldn't take, and he knew desperate measures were called for.
He remembered his sister Alice complaining about how Mrs. Truesdale tossed her money around like confetti. She even keeps ten thousand in spare cash in the pantry, she had told him, stuffed in a fish cookbook. It was almost like an omen.
That morning, he snuck to the mansion before dawn. He hadn't wanted to kill anyone; but when Alan Rothbart caught him in the act, he knew it would mean more jail time… more time away from Dori. So he grabbed the largest item that was within reach – a giant can of tomato sauce - and came down with more force than he ever thought possible. Damien said that the spilled flour was an accident, and that Dori had no knowledge of what he did. He agreed to plead guilty to one count of breaking and entering, and one count of second-degree murder.
Case closed.
Or not.
Lindsay had seen the protective, desperate look in Dori's eyes, and believed strongly that the woman had been at the mansion the morning of the crime, then tried to cover for her husband. It never ceased to appall her what people would do for love. Yet lately, she felt that perhaps she could understand the thin line between love and insanity. Multiple times throughout the past few days she could feel herself wobbling as she balanced with one foot on each side of that line. What she couldn't comprehend was the violent result, even if the motive was genuine emotion. She had a job to do, after all. She sighed and tried to push Danny out of her mind, and block off the feelings that softened her towards this potential criminal.
Stella poked her head around the door. "Dori's there now," she informed Lindsay, nodding towards the interrogation room. "Go ahead in."
Lindsay went in sat down across the table from Dori, who was almost constantly wiping her eyes with tissue.
"It must be hard," Lindsay said, an edge to her voice. "It looks like your husband will be in jail for the rest of his life. For the rest of your life."
"I can't believe he did it," Dori gulped, reaching for he box of fresh tissues Lindsay had brought in.
"Can't you?" asked Lindsay. "He did it for you. He thought the money would solve all your problems, keep you two together."
"I had no idea," said Dori with a hiccup. "I'm just in shock right now."
Lindsay crossed her arms, and stared at the sniffling woman across from her. "You can stop lying now, Dori. Be straight with me – you knew about the murder."
Dori shook her head, but the terror in her eyes betrayed her.
"Yes. You want to know how I know?" Lindsay continued. "The bite on your hand is the perfect size for a small-sized dog's jaw. It looks too fresh to have happened last month at the benefit you attended. Come on, Dori, did one of Mrs. Truesdale's pups introduce itself to you Monday morning?"
Fresh tears slid down Dori's cheeks, onto the cold metal table. "No," she argued. "No!"
"So you covered for your husband," Lindsay said nonchalantly, trying to appeal to Dori's emotions. "No one can blame you for not wanting to be separated from him again."
"If I go to prison, will I ever see him again?" Dori asked suddenly.
"What?" asked Lindsay flabbergasted. Was the woman confessing now after all?
"I followed him," Dori admitted. "I thought he was doing drugs again, and that he was going to see his supplier, but instead he went to the Truesdale mansion. His sister works there, so I decided to just go in." She paused, twisting her wedding band around her finger. "When I walked in the back door, I saw the chef lying there, and Damien had the cash in his hand. Then I realized what had happened, so I told him to get out."
"Then you tried to cover up any evidence he might have left," Lindsay prompted.
Dori nodded. "I knew about the neighbor who was always harassing Alan," she explained. "Alice always talked about how the staff was scared of him."
"You framed Travis Gonzales using flour," Lindsay said. "Pretty creative, I have to say."
"I poured flour all over the place, and made a bunch of noise to attract him. I figured if he came and left tracks in the mess, the police would arrest him and wouldn't even look at Damien. The little dog came running back right before I left, and clamped down onto my hand."
Lindsay was silent as she tried to imagine the events of that morning. The puzzle had now been solved, each piece snapping together cleanly.
Dori was now crying openly. "I don't know what I was thinking," she whimpered. "The only thought that occurred to me was that I couldn't bear being away from my husband again. He's a good man, he just got in some trouble, made a bad choice."
Lindsay never felt empathy for criminals, no matter the cause. So it frustrated her to feel a jolt of compassion, however tiny it was. She tried to overcome the sympathy that was growing.
"It looks like you'll be facing some pretty serious charges, Dori," she told her somberly. "Obstruction of justice, tampering with evidence, possibly accessory to murder." She stood up to leave, when Dori spoke again.
"Do you know what it's like? To be separated from the one you love?"
Lindsay closed her eyes for a moment, and all she could see was Danny's face.
"I do know," she replied softly. "More than you could ever know."
