Chapter 4 - New Responsibilities—Tommy

Tom Murphy stood on the sidewalk in front of his home. The place where he'd lived for the past sixteen years with two parents and a sister. A place where, today, only his former foster dad and his wife waited while he stood outside with his sister. His father was dead, and his mother was in jail. He had made his first decision as head of household. He was leaving Desiree, his sister, with their maternal aunt and uncle for the duration because he couldn't supervise her appropriately, deal with his mother in jail, and try to keep up with his studies. Their aunt and uncle were great and would support her emotionally and physically. He girded his emotions into steel as they walked to the front door. He hadn't spent appreciable time in the house since… he swallowed at the thought, since his father's murder.

He turned his thoughts to his slight and trembling sister. He wouldn't be talked out of his plan by tears or begging. Desiree Murphy was a handful, but she was also sensible. She knew no one would allow a sixteen-year-old girl to live practically unsupervised.

Tom touched Desi's shoulder and propelled her up the walkway. His stomach dropped as he pressed the lever on the front door to open it, knowing nothing about this house would ever be normal again.

"Hello?" Tom called into the disturbing quiet of the house.

"Hi there!" Natalie bustled down the hallway from his parents' shared office.

"Desiree, this is Dr. Monk; she's helping us to get Mom out of jail. Her husband is a detective, and she's a uh, um…"

"A forensic psychologist."

"Right. Right. What is that exactly?"

"Forensic psychologists offer professional expertise to aid the judicial system in civil and criminal matters. Sometimes, we're called in as expert witnesses in trials. Sometimes, we psychologically assess individuals in the legal system. It's kind of a catchall phrase." Natalie extended her hand to the worried-looking teen in front of her.

"Desiree, it's nice to meet you. I'm sorry it's like this."

"Hi, Dr. Monk. Nice to meet you," the girl said timidly.

Desi was not easily intimidated, and Tom had to subdue surprise at her deference to Dr. Monk.

Adrian walked down the hall toward them, engrossed in a file. "Natalie, look at this…"

He looked up and realized the kids were there. "Um. Hi Tom. This must be Desiree." She nodded at him.

"Yes," Natalie replied quickly, trying to cover in case what he found was bad.

"Adrian? What's in that file?" Tom asked curiously.

"Nothing bad, Tom. From what I can see, your parents are meticulous record keepers. No financial problems or insurance issues, and they had their wills in order. They had your family living well within your means with the occasional splurge, but from what I can tell, there is no motive for your mother to murder your father. She had nothing to gain and much to lose with him dead."

Desi's eyes grew huge and filled with tears. Apparently, she was happy that someone outside their family believed that, too. She flung herself at Adrian, who caught her and dropped the files he'd been holding. Being a husband, a dad, and now a grandfather had better prepared him for emotional outbursts, but not outbursts from strangers. He raised his hands tentatively to her back as she sobbed into his lapel, patted her, and said, "There, there. It's going to be okay," over and over.

Natalie smiled ruefully, knowing how difficult this was for Adrian and how sad this poor girl was as she clung to a stranger, a man who believed in her mother and simultaneously represented a father figure. The thing Adrian never imagined he'd be good at, the thing he had been most afraid of his whole adult life, was now where he was best. But Natalie never verbalized that to him. She let him believe that his detective skills were his best ability when, in fact, she knew him to be the patriarch of their large extended family. The one that all the children and grandchildren looked to for sound, calm, rational advice and who was trusted with secrets large and small. The man his friends and family admired for his intelligence and his recently uncovered kindness. Seeing him now, knowing that fear lived with distaste, right beside compassion, and watching the compassion win out, made it ever more apparent that he was the man she always believed he could be, even before they were a couple.

Tom pulled Desi away from Adrian. "Okay, Desi, let's go sit down."

Desi composed herself and retrieved a wad of tissues from the pocket of her hoodie. She was prepared. Tears had come on fiercely and unpredictably since her father's murder.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Monk," she sniffled, "I didn't mean to–"

"It's- it's fine, Desiree. I'm sorry we're meeting under these circumstances, but Natalie and I are happy to meet you. Tommy is very special to both of us. Did he explain why we're here and what we hope to accomplish?"

Desi smirked a little when Mr. Monk called her brother Tommy. He hadn't been called Tommy in years. She understood how the Monks knew Tom, but the coincidence still amazed her. A detective should be someone their family needs and, no less, almost be a part of the family.

"Uh, yes. You and Dr. Monk will ask me some questions, and I will try my best to remember anything helpful."

"That's the gist," Natalie smiled at the girl with dramatic black eyeliner and the pixie haircut. She was not looking forward to this phase of Emery's life. "Can we go to your room, Desi?"

The girl looked to her brother, and at his nod, Desi led Natalie down the hallway. Natalie closed the door behind them.

"She'll be fine with Natalie," Adrian answered the unasked question.

"I'm sure she will. I'm just so worried. Worried about Desi. Worried about my mother. Worried about myself. What are we going to do without my dad, Mr. Monk? He was the strength and the center. I don't know if I can be what they need, take his place."

The detective made way for the father in Monk to come out then.

"No one expects you to take his place, least of all your mother, Tom. She wants you to put your schooling first. She is worried about you and Desiree, too. Natalie and I are here to help get your mother released on bail and try to find out who really did this. Show me around the rest of the house."

So, the two men embarked on a house tour while Natalie and Desi spent time talking.

When Tom and Adrian got to the garage, Adrian asked, "Is this the mudroom your mother mentioned?"

"Yes."

Adrian rifled through the crime scene photos. Soon, a smile spread across his face. The kitchen floor had faint, dirty footprints in what looked like reddish dirt and one bloody footprint. They looked to have been made by an athletic shoe. He could see the victim would have been wearing dress shoes for work but was lying on the floor in socks.

"Your mother always left her shoes here?"

"Yes. In fact, when they arrested her, she had slippers on."

"Can you point out her sneakers?"

"Um… those Reeboks. With the flowers and the pink design."

Adrian reached into his pocket for a pair of nitrile gloves. He picked up the new-looking sneakers. When he turned them over, they were reasonably clean. No reddish dirt.

"How about your dad's? What would he have been wearing that day?"

Tom pointed to a pair of shiny brown lace-up wingtips. Just as Adrian had assumed. Dress shoes.

"Can we look in their cars?"

"Sure." Tom grabbed the keys from hooks, and they walked through the mudroom into the garage. First, Monk looked into the driver's side of Lisa's car. No reddish dirt. Then he looked into Hank's. No reddish dirt.

"Tom, can you pull the cars out?"

Still puzzled, Tom simply nodded and pressed the garage door opener on the wall. He pulled Lisa's Kia out first and then Hank's Acura. Adrian lifted his hands and spotted some faint reddish footprints near the back wall of the garage.

"Tom, I need a flashlight or some other light source. These overhead garage door opener lights are useless."

"No problem."

Tom ran over and flicked a switch on the wall, and a set of recessed lights came on. Monk looked into the furthest corner, one lost to the shadows until the lights went on. He saw more footprints in the shadowed corner where the killer had stood. There was also a fragment of a leaf in the dirt and what looked like the skin of a piece of fruit.

"Call the police officer in charge of your father's case. Tell them I've got a new lead for them. Your mother did not kill your father."

They both hurried back into the house. Tom went for the phone, and Adrian yelled for Natalie. Adrian felt relieved because he knew Lisa Murphy would be out of jail before the day ended.