STRUGGLES

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them. She also makes the banners for each of my stories.

They both nodded 'yes' and as they began to walk out of Bella's room, Alice turned to let the others know that they would be kept up to date as to how Edward was doing.

CHAPTER 40: ALL THINGS COMING TO LIGHT

Det. Asher had wanted to stay and get Bella's statement about what had taken place between Frank Harrison and herself that led to his death, but, that wasn't going to happen. He needed to be back at the precinct to complete the paperwork concerning Norma Harrison's arrest.

However, as soon as he walked over to his desk his captain called him into his office. "Asher, we have some questions that need to be answered, or, rather, Det. Martin does. He's the lead detective concerning the death of Alma Johnson."

Asher looked at his captain and then looked at the other detective before taking a seat and asking what type of questions. "I'm not sure what type of questions you might have that would be concerning me being directly involved in your case."

"It's just that we came across a past association you had with the victim and thought that you might give us more information as to what could have motivated her to take her own life." Det. Martin responded, then paused and looked at Asher as he realized that Det. Asher wasn't buying what he had just said.

"I'm going to ask one question of you about your investigation and then I'll answer whatever questions you might want to ask. However, understand that it has been quite a while since Alma and I had been together, so, I might not be able to give you all of the information you might be seeking.

"Now, my question is, 'do you really believe that Alma Johnson committed suicide'?"

Det. Martin looked at Asher, then over to their captain and looked back at Asher once more. He seemed as if he was weighing how much he should or shouldn't say about what he felt about his case. But, he knew that he probably wouldn't get anything else useful from Asher if he didn't supply an answer that would satisfy the man. "To be honest with you, no. No, I don't believe that she killed herself, but, all of the evidence I do have is inconclusive without having a good working knowledge about the lady herself."

"Alma and I were married, however, due to different career directions and work schedules, the marriage failed within a short period of time.

"I did go out to her home once I heard that her body had been found and not knowing any of the facts surrounding the death. Once I arrived and looked around, I know that it wasn't suicide, but, murder. And, I did consider taking on the case because of our past association, but, realized almost immediately that that wouldn't be a good idea."

"Why was that?" The captain asked before Det. Martin was able to do so.

"Because after taking a mental walk down memory lane I did remember that Alma and the Harrison's were related. And, I felt that disqualified me from handling both cases at the same, although, in a manner of speaking, they were distantly related.

"The cases, I mean, being related." Asher explained when he saw the puzzled expressions of the faces of the other detective and their captain.

"I had only met Norma Harrison once, and that was a long time ago. None of us remembered at the time and I don't think Norma Harrison has even remembered it now.

"But, back to what I was saying about not taking on Alma's case; I mean being married to the lady a while back and the fact that she was related to the murder victim of my current case, I felt that it would be better to have Alma's case handled by a different detective so no one would holler conflict of interest.

"Now, after having said all of this, what questions did you want me to answer?"

Det. Martin explained that Asher had answered a lot of his questions through his explanation of things. However, the one thing he did want to know was if Alma Johnson was likely to kill herself because of the current situation she had found herself in at the time of her death.

"My answer to that is no, if you're referring to the matter concerning what happened at the hospital. Alma wasn't prone to suicide. She didn't believe in things like that. She always felt that given time a way could be found to resolve anything. So, with saying that I can't believe that she would have changed that much in all of the years we've been apart."

"Okay. You said that you believed the lady had been murdered, so, could you tell me why you drew that conclusion?"

So, Asher explained that from what he had heard from the investigating team that was present at the time he had been there, he knew it was murder. "Alma was allergic to the type of medication used to drug her. And, as I said, she didn't believe in suicide. Add to that the positioning of the body in the car and the fact that no oil was found on Alma's shoes.

"I noticed that a pool of oil was present beside the driver's door and to keep from stepping into it a person would have to be careful of how they would enter the car. So, if Alma had used drugs, she wouldn't have been careful to avoid the oil, and some would have been on her shoes as she had gotten into the car. There would also have been footprints of oil in the car as well and there wasn't any.

"But, I did notice that an impression of a footprint was seen within the oil that had pooled by the door."

"Det. Asher, do you have any idea who might have wanted to kill Alma Johnson?"

"I do, but, have no proof. I believe that it was Norma Harrison."

"Can I ask why you believe that?"

"Of course. Alma messed up with what she said to Mrs. Harrison at the hospital. There is also a report of an unidentified nurse that doesn't work for the hospital entering Mrs. Harrison's hospital room on a few occasions, and, after what happened today, I believe that nurse was Norma Harrison. And, with that being the case, then it would have been Alma that aided Norma during that time." Asher paused at this point as his captain asked what had happened at the hospital today, and, Asher explained what had occurred and what had been said.

After that explanation, he continued, "There is also a record of an outgoing call from booking from Alma to Norma Harrison with Alma being overheard demanding for help to get the hell out of jail. So, if you follow up with that line of investigation, I think that you'll find that it was Norma Harrison that got Alma out."

"Thanks for all of this information. You've helped to clear up a lot of questions that seemed to have no answers and was leading to nowhere."

The captain had remained silent, for the most part, during the exchange of information between his two detectives until that moment. He summed up everything by saying, "So, what you're saying is that Norma Harrison is guilty of murder in both cases. But, Det. Asher, how can you say she's guilty of killing her brother when it was the wife that shot him?"

"Sir, if you look over the coroner's report, you'll find that not one, but, two shots were fired and it's the coroner's opinion that it was the second shot that was the fatal one that killed Frank Harrison. Evidence has been collected recently that has led to proving that it was Norma Harrison that fired the killing shot."

After a bit more discussion, the captain dismissed the two detectives, so each could continue the necessary follow up work needed to conclude their separate cases.

The D. A.'s office was a stickler for accurate details with no surprises.

XXXXXX

Back at the hospital, Carlisle, Esme and Alice were all sitting in the surgical waiting room wanting to hear news concerning Edward. Everyone else was in Bella's room firing questions at her, wanting to know everything that had happened.

After hearing the whole story, from start to finish, everyone started offering their own opinion and advice. It was becoming an overly excited madhouse that was starting to give Bella a headache.

She saw her father and quietly motioned for Charlie to come to her side. Once he was close enough, Bella leaned into him and quietly asked for him to go see if any information was available as yet concerning Edward's condition. He nodded his head and promptly left the room to go find the Cullen family.

Renee noticed Charlie slipping out of the room, so she walked over and asked Bella where he was going. Bella told her mother and watched as Renee nodded her head. But, before turning away from her daughter, Renee had to ask, "Honey, are you sure that you're okay? You weren't hurt by that woman any more than you have been in the past? Bella, why in the hell didn't you tell us, your dad or me, what was going on? Didn't you think that we would have done something to protect you?" It seemed that with Bella being awake and threatened once more with near death that the dam had broken Renee's reserve of staying quiet and letting her daughter handle things as Bella saw fit.

"Mom, please, I really don't feel like going into all of that, right now. Just thinking about any of it gives me a headache and makes me want to retreat back into a place that removes me from having to face all of what has happened over the years. Please, allow me time to get through what is happening at the moment and then I'll discuss things with you later. Please?!"

Renee nodded her agreement as she reached out to pat Bella's hand and said, "Of course, dear, but, we will be talking about it once all of this current nonsense is behind you. I mean that, Isabella."

Bella knew her mother well enough to know that when she called her 'Isabella', then it was something she wouldn't forget about. Renee might be scattered brain most of the time, but, she was also very perceptive. And, add to the facts that Bella was sure that her mother had been told everything that had been told to Edward and the others, there was no way in hell that Bella's silence on a great many things would be allowed to slide for long.

XXXXXX

It seemed to be taking forever to get any information concerning Edward's condition. For each minute that ticked by everyone was getting more and more nervous and started thinking the worse case scenario about how Edward was doing.

Charlie walked in to see how things were going with Edward and was rewarded with seeing nervous pacing, drawn faces that seemed to be filled with a hopeless sadness. He could understand how they must be feeling since he had just recently gone through the same thing where Bella was concerned.

As Charlie had entered the waiting room, everyone paused and looked up hoping it was the doctor treating Edward, but, saw that it was only Charlie. The disappointment was evident on their faces, however, they greeted Charlie and told him nothing new was known just yet.

With that said the doctor entered and then walked over to Carlisle and Esme. He shook hands with Carlisle and without hesitation introduced himself, Dr. Jarvis, and then went ahead to tell them about Edward and his condition. "Your son is going to be just fine. There was more blood lose due to him hitting his head on the floor when he fell.

"However, the gunshot wound was nothing more than a flesh wound. The bullet missed all of the vital organs. We've managed to remove the bullet and have since sent it over to the police.

"But, I'm pleased to say that your son will have a full recovery with nothing more than a small scar to remind him of the experience.

"Now, with that being said, you should be able to visit with him shortly once he has been moved from recovery to his room. The nurse will come to get you once he has been moved." And, with that said, the doctor turned and left the waiting room.

Next Charlie left after letting them know that he would meet with them later after he had informed Bella of Edward's condition and after they had had time to visit with Edward.

XXXXXX

Asher and Martin left the captain's office and stopped at Asher's desk to discuss the cases a bit more. Det. Martin asked, "If you were in my position what would you do to solve this case concerning Alma Johnson?"

"That's easy, follow the trail that I've already spoken and gather all of the evidence that is there. I don't believe that a search warrant would bring you anything at Norma's home since she would have had time to get rid of her shoes."

"You're talking about the pair that would have oil on them?"

"Correct. But, honestly, I do believe that you will find enough evidence every place else that will be enough to bring you a conviction of Norma Harrison for murder."

"Thanks. You've been of more help than what you know." After saying that and thanking Asher, Det. Martin left to go follow the advice Asher had given him.

Asher sat down to do all of the paperwork that was required for filing the charges against Norma Harrison for the incident at the hospital. It was too early to file charges against her for killing her own brother. He had to wait for the DNA test results,

With the paperwork finished he needed to talk with Norma Harrison and then to return to the hospital to get Isabella Harrison's statement concerning the night she shot her husband.

A/N: All of the evidence is coming together against Norma and all of her crazy plans are starting to fall apart. Edward was lucky. Renee is determined to find out for herself why Bella endured all of the abuse instead of getting out.

This story is quickly coming to an end with only about two or three chapters left which does include an epi.

Thanks for reading and looking forward to your reviews and thoughts.