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34.48% Igor Yevtishenkov / Chapter 10: Chapter 10. Justice Hurts by Igor Yevtishenkov

Capítulo 10: Chapter 10. Justice Hurts by Igor Yevtishenkov

CHAPTER 10

On orders from their superiors, the team left to the psychiatric clinic without him. William walked around the office, trying not to think about the medication he'd been taking. His hands were trembling, his eyes began to twitch and he was sweating from excitement. William was lucky to have such a clever assistant. Bridget sorted his papers without asking any stupid questions, although he saw her cast disapproving looks at him every so often. She was nice to him and Carol too and the three of them had a good relationship. However, William's thoughts had soon turned to other matters - he needed to find a way of getting into the clinic. Tom was in the office though, and William couldn't leave without his permission.

'Listen, I can't stand it anymore! I have to be there,' William blurted out from the threshold, bursting into the office. Tom gestured to a chair. 'I'm sure the problem is there, and the trail leads there, so we must interrogate everyone. I'm concerned our guys won't.'

'They will,' Tom answered. 'Or are you gonna ask them stupid questions? They have worked with you for ten years, they know their job and they also want to figure it out. Plus, there are two more assistants with them, and they're gonna be watching staff reactions from the side. If they notice anything, they'll tell us. I wish we had got permission to shoot video, but they can do it later again. For now, they need to take formal statements.

'No video? It's a pity. Have you spoken to the prosecutor?'

'Yes, and the judge. They don't mind. Formalities take a lot of time, as everything's so complicated. Carol's girlfriend Tina Laiton has testified and whilst the transcript of her phone conversation with your wife confirms that you and Carol didn't have an argument on that day, it's only that day. It seems that Carol felt sorry for you as she was frightened you might end up arguing with her mother. By the way, some things with this haven't happened yet. The prosecutor will come and pick the body up, she's banned the autopsy. She's an awkward woman.'

'Have you spoken to her?' questioned William.

"Yes. She believes you're the one to blame for everything and has even hinted that you killed Carol, or at least set it up." Tom looked over the documents again. "Relax, William. We can't just speed through everything. You're unsettling people with your nerves. I too see something's up. At the moment, we've got to get Huston's reports from the clinic and hopefully we'll find some useful evidence there. There is another problem emerging however. Mayor Schaaf and Governor Newsome predict state quarantine and even along the coastline. Everything might take longer as a result.'

'This is just surreal. Is it really that serious? What about the virus though? The police have to keep working.'

'Yes and no. This emergency is no joke and if introduced, you'll have to wear full PPE uniforms while controlling the city's movements rather than investigating this case, believe me. Besides, from tomorrow, everyone must wear a mask.'

'It sounds really bad,' said William with an air of doom.

'Yes,' confirmed Tom. 'Plus, we have to deal with your daughter's death as soon as possible. Especially with her hair being in the house. They can't find Woodruff anywhere either.'

Nothing happened till six. The department worked by the book. William, with Tom's permission, requested a document from an archive in New York showing all Woodruff's cases. It turned out that this wasn't an easy task, especially due to the fact that the archive promised to give an answer 'in the order of priority'. This seemed quite strange considering that the archived documents had been digitised and obtaining the right ones would only take a short time. It appeared that New York was also short staffed. It seemed like everything was going against William, as if people knew his every move before he'd even taken them and that he was being slowed down by some divine intervention. William understood that this wasn't true and that these were just circumstances beyond his control. It didn't fit in his head that a virus could cause such a moral panic. However, the chain of random events didn't end there.

Sergeant Huston called closer to six. His team returned to the office with a large amount of preliminary data. They needed to process and sort everything so that in the morning they could make up a kind of a mind map for initial analysis and preliminary conclusions. It determined the further plan of their investigation.

'Don't worry, Jimmy, you've got two reliable assistants — me and William - and we'll prepare the documents for you properly, no arguments. Don't be a martyr. You have a wife and two children. Bill and I have an office and two rooms, so who will cope better with your piles of paperwork?

'I agree,' admitted Jimmy.

'Didn't you notice anything strange?' asked Tom, not taking his eyes off the sergeant. 'Posters on the walls, toys on the tables, monitors, all sorts of random stuff?'

'Everything's just white and cold and stuff is laying around everywhere. That's understandable though. Sure, they're now able to mobilise staff, but they're a private clinic. There's nothing else left to say about it really, apart from the fact they're at complete peace, like in 'The Silence Of The Lambs'. When I went, I saw flowers in pots on the windowsill in just one room and just one large flower at the entrance, a bit like a palm tree, but without a trunk. Is this strange?'

'No', Tom answered, with a wide smile. 'Talk to him,' he nodded towards William, raising his finger.

An hour later, handing over the documents and answering many questions from William, Sergeant Huston was about to leave, but he suddenly stopped and added in a serious voice:

I'm sure an exhumation is our number one priority, even without obvious evidence and the opposition of Tory Blackhouse. I have already requested samples from the repository and as luck would have it, some hair remained. For some reason, they thought that hair would be enough to store DNA. There are no nails, no ash, no bones, nothing, but Sam Bryson from the examination department advised us to compare the hair with our samples. It may be that they are different and then we'll have enough reason to apply for an exhumation. Besides, if they match, then it's witchcraft. The truth is out there, as the saying goes! Justice will prevail,' he grinned.

'Told you he's cool', the inspector added when Huston left.

'Justice hurts,' William muttered, his mind elsewhere. 'Hey Jimmy!', he shouted, but the man was nowhere to be seen. 'Why did he say that?' he asked, turning to Tom. The inspector simply shrugged and raised his eyebrows.

'That's odd, that's one of your sayings,' Tom sighed and began reading the documents Huston had left. 'Sit down at the computer. Evidence has been compiled into the database. We've got work to do, so get the coffee, it's going to be a long night.'


Capítulo 11: Chapter 11. Justice Hurts by Igor Yevtishenkov

CHAPTER 11

The phone rang unexpectedly. It was the lawyer Simon had mentioned - the one that helped out last time. Previously, the amount that he called would cause Fred to choke on his Coke, but he'd gotten used to it and didn't flinch at the ringing. Much like Danny, Fred had learnt to be a problem solver and he felt like he was succeeding. However, during their discussion, it turned out that Sofia was once again the problem. Fred could move to another state with Lisa, get a new job and tender his resignation from the hospital, but Sofia's documents would prove a mighty stumbling block. Last year, verification of all IDs with the new chipset had begun. However, as two-thirds of documents didn't meet the requirements, its introduction had been postponed. Nevertheless, all the documents would become part of one database and it proved impossible to add new ones. The last thing left for Fred to do was buying the rights of a dead body from Mexico, so that Sofia could then legally get married and apply for citizenship. The problem was that all migrants had to pass a test on arrival and then it would be decided if they could get a visa. Therefore, the original test results had to be replaced in the database, which had proved impossible so far.

The conversation with the lawyer took almost an hour, and during this time Fred missed two calls. The lawyer's figure disappeared in a taxi, taking with him a thousand bucks and leaving behind complete disappointment. It was time to go home, but the phone rang again and Fred immediately sank back onto the bench, feeling glad that this conversation would be outside.

Danny's familiar voice said 'Hi! Are you too busy to talk? Are you okay?'

'Yes. I was copying some documents,' he finally said in a hoarse voice.

'Great, well done! Are you okay? You sound sick and they say the new virus is transmitted via contact,' Danny spoke calmly, showing concern for Fred.

'No, no, that's all right. Don't worry. Thanks! I'm... we're... well, in short, I want to try living with Sofia in a different place.

'No, I'm fine thanks, don't worry. I'm…we're…well, in-short, Sofia and I want to move.'

'Yes, I know. You told me before.'

'I discussed how to do this with Simon and his lawyer. Hope you don't mind. Sofia's changed so much and not just because of your medication. The pills are strong, but it's obviously not them,' Fred was very worried and constantly shifted the phone from hand-to-hand and sniffed, not knowing how to wipe his nose. The spring air was cold, but he decided to stay on the bench.

'You helped too', said an encouraging voice through the receiver. 'There's no doubt that your kindness cured her. Is this a surprise to you?'

'Do you really think so?', Fred smiled for the first time and his face lit up with joy. A couple walking by smiled at him and he waved back. 'I've already found another place since my skills are vital, especially given the current virus situation. Although, I think it's exaggerated in my opinion. I'm a bit worried, but just want to take Sofia and Lisa out of here where it'll be calmer.

'Don't worry about it. I'm not against it.'

'Come with us?' it was hard for Fred to hide the hope in his voice, but cursed himself for it. The soothing tones of Danny put him completely at ease.

'No, I can't, how could I? Everything's okay at the clinic, I'm completing courses and I hope I'll get a raise soon. We'll be under quarantine soon and we'll be involved.'

'Yes, yes, I know,' said Fred, wiping sweat from his forehead.

'Have you spoken to Sofia about her parents?'

'Yes, I said we'd postpone for now and after we move, we'll have time to come back to that then. I want to make an ID for her, a real one.'

'Fred, are you serious? Have you spoken to Simon?'

'Yes. He says it won't work out. So for now, we just leave it.'

'She'll never calm down. How are you going to explain the problem with her parents to her? After all, at some point she'll raise the question,' when Fred heard the words, he bit his lip. 'Also, remember she believes Lisa is her daughter and doesn't know about the adoption. Did you forget that bit? What are you going to do about that?'

'No idea,' said Fred in despair. He didn't want to think about that now. For the first time in his life, he felt lucky and didn't want to jinx it.'

'Seems you were so carried away by moving and your future plans that you didn't think about these small details. Are you going to hide her entire life away? If it ever emerges that you were complicit in the forgery, you'll get…I don't even know how long…but you won't see here again. Without you, she'll die as it was you who taught her how to look after herself.' Fred nodded in agreement. 'Your idea to introduce her to Father Roger and the good work she's done helping others, is all down to you.'

'Yes,' he breathed, thanking Danny for such kind words.

'Then you must understand that you are not allowed to tell her that - how she got to the clinic, who her parents are and what we have to do with Lisa. Never. Do you understand?'

'Yes, I do.'

'How will you leave the hospital when there'll be an emergency there soon?'

'My lawyer advised me that it's even easier than before to quit without going to work,' Fred told Danny what he had to do. His friend whistled when he heard about the thousand dollar fee for the consultation, but this gave Fred confidence. In his life, there'd always been small hitches, but he found them easier to solve now he had money.

'Well done! By the way, are you watering my flowers?' Danny asked.

'Uh... yes, of course!' said Fred, although he had not done it for more than a week.

However, when Fred entered his apartment, all his dreams were left at the door. The kitchen was a complete mess and Sofia's bare feet stuck out from under the table. She sat underneath it, her back pressed into a corner, with her head laying on her chest and not breathing. Beside her lay a syringe and a towel that she had injected her hand with.

'Oh no!', Fred gasped. Danny's words whirled in his head 'There's no such thing as a former drug addict.'

Lisa sat unaware watching cartoons on the TV. Fred slumped in a chair, staring at the table covered in plastic bags and boxes. The decision had been made. He must quit his job, stay at home with Sofia for a week, find out the cause of her breakdown and then leave once and for all.


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