Chapter 36

"Hi Danny. We appreciate you seeing us. I'm Charlie, this is Anna, and that is Rex," Charlie said as he sat down at the table where Danny was already sitting. Anna sat next to the detective and Rex went to Danny. The German Shepherd put his head in Danny's lap. Doctor Kley had found a room that did not look like an interrogation room at the hospital. He was hoping that the three of them would have a constructive conversation in relative quiet. Kley had found a drug regimen that was helping with Danny's addiction, anxiety, and PTSD. There was no cure for those conditions but the medications had made him more lucid and a little more open.

"Hey buddy. You're a handsome fella, aren't you?" Danny asked Rex as he petted him.

"Don't fill his head with ideas," Charlie teased.

"Rex likes to get in trouble, doesn't he? Our bomb sniffing dog was the same way," Danny smirked, referring to the dog that had been overseas with his Army detachment.

"Yes, he does. You don't mind if he sits with you, do you?" Charlie asked.

"Not at all. Tim thought a service dog might be a good idea. Even Chloe was warming up to it," Danny gave a slight smile.

"When you get out of here, I may be able to help with that," Charlie told him. Danny smiled some more.

"So, we don't want to ask you about anything that might upset you but do you remember Richard's mom, Debra?" Anna wondered.

"She was a nice lady. I don't think she knew what…" Danny paused.

"We don't think she did either, but we do think she found out. Fact is, we may have found her but…" Charlie didn't get a chance to finish as Danny said,

"She's dead."

"You knew?" Anna asked, surprised at his response.

"You're going to hate me," Danny grew worried and Charlie hoped they hadn't blown their chance to talk to him.

"No. No one hates you. We hate the person who did this to you. All we want is justice. For you, for Lynn, and for Debra," the detective tried to reassure him. Danny heaved a sigh and looked down at Rex who licked his hand.

"Dogs never hate you, no matter how you treat them," Danny said.

"Very true. They love, even if it hurts," Charlie told him. Danny shifted gears and took them by surprise as he started to go into what happened.

"There was a loud noise upstairs and then a shout. Mr. Moffat… he stopped what he was doing and told me to stay quiet if I ever wanted to go home. He rushed upstairs and then there was shouting. He and Richard were arguing. I tried to find a way out of the basement, but the only way was back up the stairs that I'd gone down. Suddenly, he came downstairs and grabbed me. He pulled me upstairs… Mrs. Moffat's car was in the driveway. She'd come home early, I think. She didn't see me but…" Danny swallowed hard. Charlie and Anna just sat there, letting the man speak, not wanting to rush him.

"He told me that if I breathed a word of any of this, I'd be next. Tim told me that I need to go to the police. I told him, I couldn't. Richard was still around. He'd killed once already," Danny admitted. There it was but they needed more and Charlie felt a little guilty for pushing.

"What happened when you got upstairs?" Charlie pushed.

"He forced me through the kitchen and into the living room. The carpet was soaked in blood and it was coming out of Mrs. Moffat's head. He didn't even check to see if she was alive. He yelled at Richard. Kept asking him why he did that. That's when Lynn came in the front door. He grabbed her and me and stuffed us into the coat closet. We were too afraid to open the door but we heard them clean everything up. Scrubbing and plastic bags. When the closet door opened, Richard was standing there. He yanked Lynn out of the closet and slammed the door on me. I don't know what happened to her after that but not long after, I was pulled out of the closet by Mr. Moffat. He repeated his threats about opening my mouth. I never thought about telling anyone. I knew that if he didn't get me, Richard would," Danny said.

"You told all of this to Tim?" Anna inquired.

"He said we had to get to the root of the cause of my troubles. He knew that I was holding back. I suppose most vets don't open up right away. Tim was a good man but that day… That's when I went looking for my dealer," Danny admitted. Charlie nodded. He wanted to block it all out again. No one in the room could blame him.

"You said you think you found her?" Danny asked.

"We found someone but the identification is going to take a bit," Anna explained.

"I didn't know what they did with her and I didn't ask," Danny conceded.

"We just need a couple more things from you. We need you to be patient with the system but we also need you to get better. Take care of yourself. I know Chloe wants you home," Charlie told him.

"I hurt people. They deserve justice, don't they?" Danny asked.

"They do, but that doesn't mean you need to go to jail. Maybe that means you stay in here for a while. Ok?" Charlie gave him a look.

"Ok," Danny nodded.

"Thank you, Danny," Anna smiled at him. The two law enforcement officers stood from their chairs and Rex gave Danny one more lick before heading to Charlie's side.

"You serious about the service dog thing?" Danny asked before they left the room.

"Yes, I am," Charlie smiled at him before they left the room. Once they were down to the Charger, Anna said,

"Please tell me we aren't waiting to speak to Richard."

"He's lawyered up, but I'll call Joe to get his lawyer to come in first thing tomorrow. Hopefully by then, we'll have more information on the body. Meantime let's check in with Mika and Jesse," Charlie said. Anna nodded as they hopped into the car.

To Be Continued…