Thank you Hollie for always leaving such lovely reviews!
A week of newlywed bliss had passed already. The new Mr and Mrs Stone had foregone a honeymoon for now, considering how quickly they had planned the wedding they didn't have the leave left for a honeymoon. But they didn't care. Because they were married now and that was all that mattered. It still took Jess a while to realise that when people said Mrs Stone or PC Stone, they were actually talking about her, but she loved it.
A few days after the wedding, Callum had fulfilled his promise to Jess and booked himself in to see a cousellor, and he had also seen the doctor, who had prescribed him with sleeping pills as a just in case. Life for them was amazing at the minute; nothing could make it better than it already was.
There is a house built out of stone
Wooden floors, walls and window sills
Tables and chairs worn by all of the dust
This is a place where I don't feel alone
This is a place where I feel at home
With only two weeks until Christmas, the couple had begun to decorate their house. The Christmas tree had been erected in the corner of the living room next to the fireplace, and they had gone to a little Christmas market just outside of the city to buy some gorgeous new decorations for the tree. Tinsel and fairy lights had been wrapped around the banisters of the staircase, and Jess had draped pieces of tinsel over all the pictures in the house. The big mirror in the hall had been decorated with glittery baubles and multi-coloured lights. The house was beginning to look more and more like Santa's grotto until Callum persuaded Jess to stop decorating.
"But Callum!" Jess whined, tinsel surrounding her feet.
"Darlin', don't whine! The house looks lovely as it is! It doesn't need any more decorations...it could become a fire hazard. Safety first!" Callum said with a wink.
"Stuff safety! I want a grotto." Jess said, twirling the tinsel around Callum's neck, kissing him as she spun around him and started to walk towards the kitchen. Callum turned and snuck behind her, catching her waist and swinging her up into his arms. He was about to carry her up the stairs when the phone rang. Jess wriggled in Callum's arms, reaching until she grabbed the phone off the cradle.
"Hello?" she said shakily; Callum was nuzzling her neck, and it bloody tickled.
"Jess? It's Inspector Gold here." Gina said, wondering what the background noise coming from Jess' end was.
"Ma'am, how can I help?" Jess asked, batting Callum away.
"I know you and Callum aren't supposed to be in today, but I don't suppose you fancy some overtime? Loads of people have called in sick with this winter sickness bug, and I'm short on numbers." Gina asked gingerly.
"Let me just ask Callum." Jess said brightly. She covered the mouthpiece and quickly repeated to Callum what the Inspector had just said to her. "Ma'am? When do you want us in?"
Gina smiled, "Thank you both. As soon as you can please. See you soon." Gina rang off, leaving the couple to go and get ready to get to the station.
And I built a home
For you
For me
They were halfway through the shift. Smithy had been one of the officers to call in sick, so Callum had to catch up on Smithy's paperwork as well as his own. He hated paperwork with a vengeance. He was a police officer, not a bloody admin clerk! It frustrated him, because paperwork took up too much of their time which could be spent fighting real crimes, rather than just writing about them. But he grinned and beared it, because he was a Sergeant and had to show his officers that even if something was boring, they still had to do it as part of their job. But still, he had been called in for bloody admin work. As he sat down heavily in his chair, a mountain of paperwork in front of him, he took a deep breath and dug in.
Jess had been partnered with Will for the shift, something which she was happy about. Working with Will was never boring, and on dreary December days like these, that was just what she needed. They had just finished their hot drinks when a call came in. A woman had rung in concerned about her elderly neighbours, whom she hadn't seen for a few days, which was rare. But the woman was mainly concerned because she had heard loud crying a few hours before, and she was worried about their welfare. So Jess and Will dumped their empty cups in the bin, grabbed their hats, and made their way out to the patrol car.
Out in the garden where we planted the seeds
There is a tree that's old as me
Branches were sewn by the colour of green
Ground had arose and passed its knees
Jess and Will bowed their heads against the drizzle and the wind. They hurried up Amelia Hancock's front path, knocking on the door. The door was quickly opened by a middle aged woman with short brown hair and kind eyes.
"Come in before you freeze to death." she said with a smile.
"Thanks. PC's Fletcher and Stone from Sun Hill." Will said gratefully. Amelia led them into the kitchen, signalling for them to take a seat.
"You're here because of Bill and Martha?" Amelia asked politely.
"Yes, you rang in because you were concerned for them?" Jess enquired.
Amelia nodded, "Yes, you see, I see them most days, either on their way out into town, or quite often they come over for a cup of tea and a natter. But the past few days I haven't seen either of them, except for Bill, I saw him once, but he didn't stop to talk when I said hello, which is strange. And normally I wouldn't be worried, but every time I've been around, no-one's answered. And then a few hours ago I could hear him crying, really crying his heart out. I tried knocking, but nothing. So I'm very sorry if I'm wasting your time, but I didn't know who else to call."
Jess smiled at the woman, "Thanks Ms Hancock. Could you tell me Bill and Martha's surname please?"
"Grady, Bill and Martha Grady." Amelia answered.
"And how old are they?" Will asked.
"Bill has just turned 75, Martha is 73. They've recently celebrated their golden anniversary. Wow, imagine being married to someone for that long!" Amelia exclaimed. Will shot Jess a cheeky look, which she responded with a rolling of her eyes.
"Ok, thank you very much Ms Hancock. We'll go round now, see what's going on." Jess said as she stood up.
"Thank you officers. Will you let me know if they're ok?" Amelia asked.
"Sure. Bye." Will said with a small wave as they left Amelia's house and crossed the grass to get to Bill and Martha's house. Amelia shut her front door, and Jess proceeded to knock loudly on the Grady's front door.
By the cracks of the skin I climbed to the top
I climbed the tree to see the world
When the gusts came around to blow me down
I held on as tightly as you held onto me
I held on as tightly as you held onto me
"I'll go and try the back." Will called over the wind as he walked up a small pathway round the side of the house.
Jess carried on knocking, but there was no sign of life in the small semi-detached house. She peered in through the front window, but she couldn't see anyone in there.
"Jess!" Jess ran round to where Will had gone, finding that the back door had been unlocked.
"Hello? Police! Anyone home?" Jess called as she shut the back door behind her and Will. They looked round the tidy kitchen, placing their hats and gloves on the table.
"Hello?" Will shouted as he walked through the kitchen into the dining room. Jess followed him through, and then quietly walked up the stairs.
"Mr and Mrs Grady? It's the police! Are you here?" Jess called as she ascended the stairs.
"There's no-one down here Jess." Will shouted to her.
"Ok, come up here with me then." Jess shouted back. She got to the top hall and went to the door directly in front of her. She opened it slowly, but the spare room was empty. She didn't like the feeling of this, of whatever was going on here. Will walked around her and opened the next closed door. He paused and looked over his shoulder, catching Jess' attention. She walked to his side and looked into the main bedroom. Will pointed in the direction of the bed, and Jess moved slightly so that she could see what he was pointing at. And then she saw it.
And I built a home
For you
For me
Lying on the bed were Mr and Mrs Grady. They had met in the summer of 1959 and instantly fallen in love. Bill was the youngest of five children, Martha the oldest of three girls. Bill was a trainee accountant; Martha was starting her nursing course when they met. They had started courting a few weeks after that first meeting in a bank. After only four months of courting, Bill had proposed at their favourite restaurant. Martha had accepted, and they had married a few months later.
They had raised three beautiful children, two boys and a girl. Their marriage had been one of laughter and love. But now, it was over. Bill was cradling his wife against him, sobbing into her hair. He seemed to be oblivious to the presence of the two police officers at the door. Will and Jess quietly backed out the room into the hall.
"Do you think she's dead?" Will whispered to Jess.
Jess nodded sadly, "Looks like it. Better call an ambulance."
"Are we going to arrest him?" Will asked.
"We have to. Look at all the pill bottles around the bed. Perhaps a joint suicide gone wrong? Or maybe manslaughter." Jess whispered.
"I'll ring the ambulance, you talk to him. You'd be better at it than me." Will suggested, pulling out his radio. Jess nodded and walked back into the bedroom.
Until it disappeared
From me
From you
"Mr Grady?" Jess said quietly. Bill looked up, startled.
"Who are you? Who called you?" Bill demanded, his voice shaky.
"My name is Jess Stone; I'm a police officer at Sun Hill. Your neighbour rang us; she was concerned about you and your wife Martha." Jess said, inching forwards slowly.
"Damn nosey woman. Why couldn't she just leave us?" Bill said, shaking his head. He stroked Martha's curly hair, shutting his eyes.
"Is Martha ok Bill?" Jess asked, approaching the corner of the bed. Bill shook his head quickly. "Is she dead?" Bill nodded, tears dripping down his creased, frail looking skin. "Can I check?" Bill nodded again, and Jess slowly walked to the right side of the bed where Martha was. She pressed two fingers against Martha's soft, cold neck. Nothing. No pulsing under her fingers to show that Martha was still alive.
"She was ill. So, so ill. She didn't want to live anymore." Bill said softly, pressing his lips to his dead wife's forehead.
"What happened Bill?" Jess asked, sinking onto the bed.
Bill looked up at her, his eyes filled with so much grief and hurt and despair that Jess could hardly bear it, "I killed her. But she wanted me to." Bill said with a nod.
"You killed her?" Jess asked.
"Yes, that's what I said isn't it? You see, Martha had cancer in her lungs. I always told her that smoking would kill her, but she didn't bloody listen, daft woman. But in the end, it wasn't the fags that killed her." Bill said, his body shaking as tears cascaded down his face. "She asked me a while ago to end it. She didn't want to live anymore, not when her body was attacking her, not when the doctors couldn't do anything else for her anyway. She wanted to go while she could, she told me she didn't want to wither away into nothingness. I told her no, that I wouldn't watch her kill herself. It was a few days before our golden anniversary the first time she asked me. I ignored her. But then when I asked her what she wanted for her present, she said she wanted me to kill her."
"So she specifically asked you to kill her?" Jess confirmed.
"Yes, on many occasions. A few days ago, I told her that I'd do it. Her face lit up, like it used to before she got ill. I told her though, that there was a catch. If I was going to end her life, I would end my own as well. I can't live without her. I just can't. She argued with me, telling me that I was healthy and shouldn't leave our children and grandchildren alone. She said it would be hard enough on them that she would be dead, let alone me as well. But I told her no. If she wanted me to help her end her life, I would end mine. She finally agreed when she realised it's what I truly wanted. So this morning, we decided it was time. She put on her best dress and did her hair and make-up. I put on my suit. And then we lay in our bed, and I helped her with the pills. She was very weak you see, so I placed them in her mouth and gave her the water to wash them down with. I held her in my arms, counting each breath. And then suddenly, there weren't any more breaths." Bill said quietly, trailing off at the end.
Jess was finding it really hard not to cry, for the life that had been lost, and for the man who would never be whole again.
"I'm really sorry Bill." Jess said sadly.
Bill offered a watery smile, "It's ok love, it wasn't your fault. In that drawer next to you is Martha's letters to each of our children and grandchildren explaining everything. Would you be able to get the letters to them please?"
"Of course I can." Jess said, getting the seven letters out the drawer. She noticed another letter underneath them all. "Who's this for?"
Bill squinted, trying to see it properly, "Ah, that's for you."
"Me?" Jess asked, confused.
"Well, it's for the police, not specifically you. It's her suicide note. I don't know what she wrote, but she said to leave it next to us, just in case things went wrong and I ended up like this; alive while she's dead." Bill explained, casting a longing look at his beloved wife.
"I'm sorry Bill, but I'm going to have to arrest you." Jess said sadly. She didn't want to arrest this man. In her eyes, he wasn't a criminal. He was a man so in love that he would end his wife's suffering when she asked him.
"I know love, it's ok. I knew this might happen. Just make sure Martha is ok, and that my family gets those letters. I shall die a happy man in jail, knowing I did what she wanted. Thank you PC Stone." Bill said with a nod.
Jess got up slowly, watching as Bill cradled his wife tightly against him, kissing her lips one last time. He gently pulled his arms from under her body, and laid her tenderly against the cushions. He brushed his lips against her forehead and struggled to get off the bed. Jess immediately offered him her hands, and helped to pull him up. He extended his hands for her to handcuff him. She shook her head,
"I don't need to use those Bill." She took a deep breath, "Bill Grady, I'm arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Martha Grady. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court, anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?" Jess asked gently. Bill nodded, and Jess led him out the room, past Will and out the house to the car.
And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust
As soon as their shift was finished, Jess hurried to get changed. Callum had seen her earlier to tell her that he would be a bit late, but only half an hour or so. So she got into her car and drove home alone to a dark and empty house. She kicked off her shoes, dropped her bag onto the floor and shrugged out of her coat. She walked through to the living room, flicking on the Christmas lights, looking straight at the photo which had pride of place on the mantelpiece. It was one of the wedding pictures, taken at the reception when Jess and Callum had been stood out the front of Frank's. They hadn't realised that the picture had been taken until it was printed off.
In the picture, they were stood against the backdrop of the small side street, lit up with fairy lights, their foreheads touching, their eyes closed, their hands clasped together between them like a secret. It was a beautiful picture. Jess gently held it in her hands and sat down heavily on the sofa. She just stared at the picture, looking at her and Callum. She couldn't imagine what she would have done in Bill's situation. If it was Callum who was terminally ill and he asked her to kill him, she wouldn't know what she would do.
But as she thought more about it, she knew exactly what she would do. She would do what Bill did. She would have done what he wanted, and then she would end her own life, simply because, as Bill had reasoned, she couldn't live without him.
Oh, a time to die
When Callum arrived home an hour later, at first he thought that Jess wasn't home; the heating was off and there were no noises to suggest that she was at home. It was only when he heard a quiet sniffling that he realised she was in the living room.
Before he had left work, he had seen Will to ask him if Jess was ok. When he had asked her himself, she had plastered a smile on her face and said that she was fine, but he knew her, he knew she was lying. Will told him the truth though, that Jess had been severely affected by Bill and Martha. So now, when Callum walked into the living room to see Jess just staring at their wedding picture, not realising that her tears were dripping on it, he immediately understood.
"Jess darlin'?" he said quietly, sitting down slowly next to her. She turned and looked at him, and as soon as their eyes locked, she burst into tears. "Hey, you're ok now."
"It was so sad Callum. He did what she wanted him to do, because he loved her so much he couldn't bear for her to suffer anymore. And now he's going to die in jail, which he doesn't deserve." she said, the words becoming mixed with her sobs.
Callum kissed the top of her head, stroking her hair, just as Bill had done with Martha, "You did the right thing according to the law. What he did was illegal, no matter how much he loved her. That's our job darlin'. Personally, I think he did what he thought he had to do."
Jess placed the photo of them down on the coffee table. She turned to Callum, placing both hands on either side of his face, "Never leave me. Never get ill. Never let us get into that situation. I can't lose you Callum, not ever. If you die, I will break and won't ever be fixed." Callum took Jess' hands from his face, holding them between them.
"Remember what vows I made to you?" Callum said gently, "I promised to be with you forever and always, and I promised that you would never walk alone. I give you my life to keep." She nodded, smiling at the man she loved. He bent forward, his lips grazing against hers. They would be together forever, that was a cosmic fact.
Song- The Cinematic Orchestra: To Build a Home