Thank you all for following me through this journey. I hope you enjoyed this story.
Farmer 847
By the next afternoon, only a few rogue strands of yellow crime scene tape carelessly draped around the surrounding shrubbery served as grim reminders of the tragic shootout from the previous day.
As Mike slowed down the Galaxy next to the curb, both detectives stared at the crime scene in tense silence, each man reliving their private nightmares of the Sarah Roberts murder case.
And yet, just like so many times prior, the neighborhood seemed to slowly return to normal. Across the street, a couple of kids were racing their bicycles down the sidewalk, while a woman jogging with her dog crossed their path. Peace seemed to exude from every iota of the upper-class neighborhood, so long as people didn't look into the depth of personal tragedy and horror that unfolded in the Roberts mansion.
Taking a deep breath, Mike patted his partner's thigh, hoping to pull the young man out of his deep brooding. The glazed over green eyes were staring at the spot he'd taken Jason Roberts down at, undoubtedly replaying the troubling scenario in his mind over and over again, as his heart and soul came to terms with what his rational thinking ordered him to do.
"Come on, let's get this over with and then we'll grab some lunch, eh?"
As if he'd been waiting for a lifeline, Steve looked over at him in gratitude, a warm smile on his lips.
"It's a deal, Lieutenant."
Carefully opening the Galaxy doors, they both took their time getting out, before heading to the front door; knocking once again, but this time with a completely different motive.
Hesitant footsteps could be heard from inside, before the chain rattled.
Mustering the most soothing smile he could under the circumstances, Mike waited for Sarah Roberts' face to appear in the crack of the door. Understandably, it didn't wear off on the widow who'd gone through so much in a few short days.
"Mrs. Roberts, we're here to check on you and we've got a few more things to discuss, if it's alright."
With her red hair carelessly combed back and lacking any makeup, she looked to have aged by decades. A brief nod was the only answer they received, when she opened the door wider to let them in.
Following the long corridor like they'd done before, Mike watched Martha glance through a couple of the window, expecting to be watched by the neighbors, then hesitating briefly when the living room came into view before taking a sharp left to the kitchen area.
The neatly organized island with four bar stools surrounding it seemed to be the only area of the house that hadn't been affected by the crimes committed. Mike waited for the widow to reach the opposite side of the large eating area, and then pulled a chair back to allow his partner to slide in and get some weight off his leg, before sitting down himself.
"Mrs. Roberts, we wanted to let you know that the DA's office has modified the charges against Luther. Because he's related to the principle and was coerced into the act of running Sarah over with the Skylark, they opted to downgraded Luther's charges to 3rd degree involuntary manslaughter, rather than accessory to murder. Now that does carry a potential prison sentence and a felony conviction, but knowing who you hired as an attorney to represent your son, I am hopeful that he'll be able to convince the judge to waive the charge considering the circumstances."
Nodding quietly, with her face turned into an emotionless mask, Martha helped herself to some water from a glass that had been sitting on the counter long enough to leave a ring on the surface.
"Fred DeVarro will get him back out, I have no doubt about that. He's a great attorney and a good friend of our family. I appreciate your effort, Lieutenant. I know you didn't have much say when it comes to those charges."
They quietly watched her drink down the whole glass, hands shaking ever so slightly, before she turned back around to face her audience.
"When will you release the bodies of…my daughter and my husband? I have…funerals to plan."
"We just came from the coroner's office and had them released. The funeral home has been informed and is arranging the transport as we speak.", Steve explained, trying to keep the cadence in his voice even considering the morbid nature of their conversation, "Mrs. Roberts, that's the other reason we came here to talk to you. We wanted to show you something."
With her eyebrows raised, the widow leaned in closer and looked at him intrigued. From his short distance, Mike swore he could see a slight shudder run through his partner's body as he pulled the paperwork out of his breast pocket.
"This right here is an analysis from our coroner, as well as our Staff Psychiatrist. I was pushing for an autopsy because I felt that maybe there was something wrong with Jason's mind to cause the startling changes in his behavior over such a short amount of time."
As Steve handed over the yellow paperwork, Mike saw it shake.
Several seconds passed as Martha scanned over the many fancy terms and drawings depicting what all had gone wrong in Jason's body to lead up to the family tragedy. Steve waited patiently until she'd reached the last paragraph, before raising his voice again.
"What this paperwork here says is that Jason had a gold-ball size tumor in the part of his brain responsible for rational thinking. It was fast-growing and cancerous. Our Psychiatrist believes that it was responsible for his increasingly schizophrenic and neurotic behavior. Even with treatment, his diagnosis would have been very poor."
It didn't change things when it came to Sarah, they both knew that. But perhaps, it would help lift some of the burden off Martha's shoulders and releasing the guilt she undoubtedly harbored.
Watching her clench the paperwork and put a hand in front of her mouth, as a brief sob escaped her thin lips, both detectives froze in place, allowing for the widow to work through some of the immeasurable pain.
Finally, through red-rimmed eyes, she glanced back up at them, her bottom lip quivering slightly, as she drew in a deep breath.
"Thank you both…for returning what I thought I'd lost. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
