17.

57 1 3

by leftforgotten

by leftforgotten

"Maybe some coffee?"
"No, thank you very much" said Cal." Tim?"
"No, thanks. We've just drunk. We came to talk to you about your daughter. And her marriage to Andrew Martins."
"What do you want to know?"
"How was the marriage doing.? What do you think?"
"We don't know much I'm afraid. When our daughter married that man we almost lost contact."
"Why's that?"
"Because he was a devil himself" said the woman who didn't even say the word by this time.
"What do you mean?"
"He separated her from us when I started asking questions."
"What kind of questions?"
"Why is she so sad, why can't she visit us...I asked once when is she going to make me a granma and she started to cry and said quietly 'never I hope.' "
"Maybe that's because she was young?"
"No. When she finally saw him behind his mask she was already married- no education, no job, no friends and no family. He didn't let her come here, go away with friends at her age.."
"Was she abused? "
"I....I..don't know. I never noticed anything but we rarely saw her."
"Beaten maybe? " The woman started to cry.
"TIM!" Calleigh said "My colleague is only trying to get the facts, I'm sorry for that questions"
"Yeah... I didn't want to hurt you mrs. Jacks. Sorry"
"Why is this a police matter?wasn't our daughter's death an accident?"
"No no, it was. But Andrew Martins abused another woman in Miami, over a year ago. We want to find out if this also appeals to your daughter."
"Why was she going to Miami? They've been living in NY for the past year right?" I asked.
"I don't know...She acted strange. She got a letter before she left.
I was surprised receiving it, 'cause it was addressed to her maiden name and her home address."
"What's inside?"
"I don't know...never opened it."
"Could you..." Cal asked him
"Yes. I guess.." Mr. Jacks opened the envelope. There were some papercopies inside. And a CD.
"I don't understand it...I don't know what it is..."
"Can I have a look?" Cal said
"Yes... Maybe police knows more...I'd swear it's her handwriting on it."
We had a quick look at it - there were two doctor obductions- one dated a week before the accident, and one older, a copy of the marriage act, a photo of a hand, a broken hand, and a birth certificate...of a stillborn being delivered 1 month ago. A premature pregnancy terminated in fifth month... We exchanged looks and Calleigh asked- "did you see your daughter 1 month ago or so?"
"No. She was here nearly 6 months ago- she looked so happy. Didn't tell us why, but we thought she finally made out with him. They argued a lot."
"Mrs Jacks the documents state that your daughter gave birth to a baby... Stillborn baby" Said Calleigh
"What does it mean?"
"It means that the baby was dead when was delivered. I'm very sorry." I said. "But if that matters to you it was a boy. "
"Was he too small to live? "
"Probably died inside the womb."
"Why?"
"It sometimes happens from medical reasons... We don't know why."
We actually suspected why but had no intention to tell them that.
"Mr Jacks do you own a computer?" I asked instead.
"Yes."
"Can I use it ?" I asked while Calleigh was comforting the woman
"Go on."
I turned it on and put the cd into it. The grey and black picture appeared and I realized what I'm looking at.
"Mr and mrs Jacks , here's your grandson. That's a recording of the USG scan. Maybe you want to have a look.. he's moving- look, sucking his thumb." I stopped it. "Here's a proof it's a boy" I smiled to them.
They were dumbfounded and visibly touched.
"Can we ... Can we keep it?"
"Yes. I'll make you a copy on your computer. She named the boy Matthew in the death certificate"
The woman started crying.
"We'll make you copies of all the documents, ok? We'll be back in few hours".
"Yes, thank you" the man was visibly touched." Thank you"
"Thank you " Cal said "this can be very important for the case we're on."
We said goodbyes and went outside. I stood there waiting for her.
"So..."
"So.. "I said "do you think he terminated this pregnancy?"
"I don't know. Let's find out at the hospital... Geez I'm hungry"
"Let me take you for lunch Duquesne to show you my appreciation"
"O...k. You pay, Speedle." she smiled
"Ok. Let's go."
We grabbed a quick lunch. I wasn't hungry at all, but she made me eat it.
Then we went straight to hospital
"Speedle, Duquesne MDPD. We want to see dr Johnson."
"Wait a while I'll page him"
We were sitting there, going thru the documents when Johnson appeared.
"Can I help you?"
"We're here about the case of Andrea Jacks. We'd like to ask you few questions."
"About?"
"About her terminated pregnancy"
"I cannot tell you anything behind my patients back. "
"She's dead. A car accident. And we suppose the pregnancy termination was caused by some criminal reasons."
"Actually" he said " I had similar thought. She came with her husband, bleeding heavily. We tried to stop it, but the faetus was already dead. We needed to save the woman's life. "
"What happened?"
"She ...fell of the stairs. That's what he said. He had a badge, so I assumed he couldn't...."
"Beat her?" I said angrily- "why didn't you report it, huh?"
"Stop it Tim"- Said Calleigh-" dr Johnson it appears this woman was abused. My friend is saying, that maybe she would be alive
If you reported this."
"If you have some proof for that, sue me. Now I have to go." Johnson left and we got up.
"Shit! What an asshole..."
"Tim you can't react like this, you're a police officer...patience."
"Sorry Cal. You're right. Now let's find a place to copy the documents."
We went outside and walked to the nearest xeropoint.
When we were waiting for the copies to be done, Cal invited me to a cafe nearby. We were sitting there when the waiter came. He looked at me strangely. Brought us the menu and left. Coffee and cake were ready in 10 minutes. We were eating apple pie and drinking coffee, when someone stood next to me. I turned around and saw a young man looking at me
"Tim???? Is it really you???"
He looked shocked
I got up and said " you're taking me for someone else, mate".
Then I took Calleigh's hand and left the cafe. The man was still there.
"Tim ? Tim!!! Wait!!!"Calleigh shouted
"What??!!"
"Who was that?"
"... My brother."