About Last Night

30 Years

Patrick was sitting in front of his computer at his desk, going through the day's reports when he had a loud knock on his door.

"COME IN!" He says with a voice that would generally quiet anyone down, but it didn't work on this person; whoever it was just kept yelling.

"Patrick! I got important information!"

It was Claire's voice, he's been working with her for a few months now, and she tends to be a little over-enthusiastic about everything.

"Claire, I'm in the middle of something right now. Can this wait?" He says, knowing she'll most likely say no.

"Two kids just witnessed their dad murder their mother, and right now they're at the station giving their testimony; we gotta go before someone else grabs it!"

"Fuck! Alright, I'm coming!" Patrick stands up and grabs his jacket. "I want you driving. I don't even feel like being in a car right now."

Claire nods, and the two head to the parking lot.

They arrive at the station and find the two children in an interview room. They're brother and sister, the boy looking to be around nine or ten, and his younger sister is probably around six. In front of them is a woman in her mid-twenties; she's most likely their cousin from her features.

"Are you the detectives?" The woman asks.

"Yes, are you their sister?"

"No, no, my name is Hanna, I'm their cousin and these are the kids that I was telling you about, find the guy who did this, and you'll be doing me a great service."

Claire walks up to the children while Patrick sits down across from their cousin.

"What's your name?"

"Lars." The boy says with a hint of fear in his voice.

"How old are you, Lars?"

"I'm nine. I'll be ten next month!" He exclaims with a nervous smile.

"What's your sister's name?"

"Amanda, she's six."

"Do you remember what happened this morning?"

"Yes." He says with a shaky voice.

Claire grabs a cup of water and sits down next to the boy. "Take your time, don't worry, I won't leave your side."

"Okay..." Lars says before taking a deep breath. "I woke up early this morning and went into Amanda's room; she sleeps in my parents' room because she's afraid of the dark. My dad was still sleeping, which was weird, and my mom was on the phone; she was crying."

"Do you know who she was talking to?"

"No, the phone was on speaker, and there was a lot of static."

"Okay then."

"Then my mom said that Amanda had to go with Uncle Jack. I got really scared and asked why. She said it was because dad was in trouble and Uncle Jack was going to take care of it, but we had to be really quiet because he was still sleeping."

"What did you do?"

"I asked if I could go too because I was scared. My mom said no and kissed me goodbye. Mom told Amanda to be really quiet when she left because dad was still asleep. Then Amanda hugged me goodbye. I gave her my teddy bear to hold and went back to bed."

"What happened next?"

"My mom turned off my light and closed the door. I heard her and Amanda walk down the stairs. Everything was quiet for a few minutes until I heard a really loud sound like a car backfiring. After that, my dad yelled, 'what the fuck are you doing?!', a girl was screaming and then another loud noise."