The Murder Of 1998

Chapter Twenty

Richard closed the door to his bosses office behind him. His eyes wondered over to the two detectives standing in front of the dek. His boss, Keith Williams, was sitting behind his desk, his eyes rising up to meet Richard's green eyes that flickered between confidence and nervousness. The two detectives looked behind them to look at the man. His neatly combed light brown hair fell in front of his eyes. He moved a hand to brush it to the side to look at them more clearly.

"Um, sir you called me?" He said.

Keith nodded his head, gesturing for him to take a seat in front of the door. Richard bit his bottom lip, closing the door behind him as he shuffled his brown shoes over to the chair and sitting down in it.

Like always, Walter had his red notepad ready in his hand.

"Where were you on Thursday, July thirtieth?"

Richard looked over to his boss who made a hand movement for him to speak.

"I was here—"

"Lies!" Keith shouted to Richard, startling him when he stood up and slammed his hands onto his desk. "You never came in for work. I called you four times and no answer."

Seth held up a hand towards Keith. "Lets settle down. Shouting won't get us anywhere." He cleared his throat. "Listen, we checked your timecard. You never came in for work that day. Why? We want the truth."

Richard tapped his foot against the floor. His cheeks turned red, wondering if he should even truly tell the detectives the truth. But what was the point? He sighed and gripped onto his jeans at his knees.

"I was..."

Walter raised a brow. "Come on, tell us."

"I–I..."

"Holy shit just tell us!" Walter shouted, getting impatient.

"A strip club."

Seth and Keith both looked uncomfortable. They didn't peg Richard as a man to go to a strip club and enjoy that type of stuff. Keith especially since he knew him better than the two detectives. He knew that Richard was a very respecting person, especially towards women. Not to mention he had a girlfriend as well.

Walter snickered and quickly covered his mouth. He was trying to keep it professional. But the thought of someone like Richard being at a strip club was hilarious to him. He looked like your average goody two shoes boy in school.

"Sure you were," Walter said. He grabbed the arm rests of the chair that Richard was sitting in and pulled it closer to himself. Richard let out a yelp as he felt the chair move. Walter's face was up and personal in Richard's face. The tips of their noses touched as well as their foreheads. Walter could smell the minty freshness breath on Richard. "I want the truth."

"And that is the truth!"

Seth crossed his arms, wondering what kind of tactic Walter was using.

"You don't seem to be telling the whole truth."

"B-but I am!"

"So then tell me, what did you do at the strip club?" Walter smirked, leaning in closer to Richard. Seth and Keith both looked at each other awkwardly. They thought Walter was leaning in to kiss Richard on the lips. Thats how close he was to him.

"Nothing!"

"Is that so?" Walter let out a low chuckle. "You went to a strip club and saw some girls there. Maybe you went and hooked up with one or multiple of them." Walter decided to make a complete spin in his next words. "Or, maybe you went to murder Emily, and perhaps you went to a strip club to take your mind off of it."

"No! I didn't murder her!" Richard cried. He pushed Walter back away from him. He felt uncomfortable from how extremely close Walter was to him. He trembled a bit.

"Really? You loved her, Richard. And Raymond stole her from you."

"No, I never loved her! Plus, I wouldn't hurt my brother like that. I'm not psychotic!" Richard clutched on tightly to the arm rests of the seat, taking in deep breaths. He didn't want to cry in front of anyone. Otherwise he would feel weak. And he didn't like that feeling.

Walter felt his partners hand on his shoulder, raising a brow and looking behind him. He could see Seth shaking his head and then pointed back to Richard who had tears in his eyes, but was holding them all back. He was secretly pinching his nail into his thumb to try and suppress the feeling of wanting to cry.

Dont cry, they'll think you're weak.

"I was never in love with her, and I didn't murder her."

Walter saw a single tear falling down Richard's cheek before he quickly wiped it away. But he wasn't easily fooled.

"Oh boy, I'm not that dumb, dude," Walter scoffed.

Seth furrowed a brow and gently tugged on Walter's arm. "I really think he didn't do it," Seth whispered. Walter clutched on tightly to the pen in his hand. His ocean blue eyes stared intensely at Richard.

He did it. I know he did. And I will prove it.

-x-

"My mother covered it all," Raymond said while lifting the spoon of food towards his mouth. His appetite wasn't really there as much. He wasn't eating a whole lot. It was like his teen years all over again. Depressed as hell, under–eating, and drinking twenty–four seven.

"Nice, so they'll finally be able to clean up the house? And you can finally leave?" Russell—Tanya's husband—said. Tanya nudged him but Raymond let out a soft chuckle.

"Yea." He set his spoon down on the edge of his plate. "I'm sorry I've been such a bothersome for  you guys. I–I know its been a lot and I promise that the moment they finish up cleaning inside my house, I'll move back there."

Tanya's eyebrows lifted, her hand reaching across the dinning table to grab onto her brothers hand. "Oh, Ray. Its ok, really. I don't expect you to make a complete one–eighty turn."

A part of Raymond wanted to move back into his house. Its where he built a life inside of. Where he got to have a beautiful family. It was a place he could truly feel like he could call home. But another part of him was terrified to go back into that house. He didn't want to see inside the bedroom where he found his dead wife, stabbed to death. It felt like everything was taken away from him. His entire world was taken away from him. The love of his life, gone.

"Ray, you take as much time as you need," Tanya whispered.

The lonely man nodded, biting down his bottom lip. Russell reached over the dinner table to comfort him by holding his hand as well. He felt bad for him too.

Raymond looked down at the spoon full of food. He picked it back up again and just stared at it. He knew he was going to have to go back into that house soon. But he didn't feel ready. He wasn't sure if he could handle looking at the room again. He lifted the spoon towards his mouth, with Tanya and Russell watching him, wondering if he would eat it since they barley saw him consuming anything except alcohol for the past several days. But he finally moved the spoon into his mouth and it made Tanya smile as she saw him eating.