The Murder Of 1998

Chapter Forty

(A/N) Horray for lengthy chapters, amirite???

There was no emotion that Walter was feeling. He was completely numb. He didn't feel sad or mad. Just numb. He thought that maybe he was weird for not feeling an emotion. But he had an impulse to blame himself for not noticing sooner that his partner was acting irrationally. He was taking the blame, just so everyone else could have someone to put the fault to. Especially his family who were counting on him to also be there for him.

"Are you still there, Walt?" Nancy asked.

Walter blinked and lifted his head back up to look at Nancy who was giving him a concerning look. Walter didn't want anyone to worry about it. Something about that just felt odd to him and unnatural.

"Yea, I'm fine," he replied as he straightened out his back. "Um, keep going."

Nancy nodded and pulled down the blue sheet, revealing Seth's face. Walter felt a jolt in his chest upon seeing his dead friend on the autopsy table. It was so weird to see him like that.

"Other than the obvious, everything is normal. No signs of foul play. Everything points to..." Nancy clenched her hand into a ball of fist, trying to push the word out of her mouth. Walter noticed Nancy's troubled expression. "Suicide..."

Walter was secretly hoping that she would say it was foul play. That someone had murdered him and that he didn't actually do something that Walter could have potentially prevented. It only made him blame himself more.

"How do you know?" Walter asked.

Nancy didn't make a smartass comment to Walter like she always did. She was serious and so was her tone. "Gunshot residue was found on his dominant hand," she quietly said. "There are no defensive wounds on his body, and I couldn't find anything under his fingernails." Nancy looked down at the floor, wanting to look anywhere but Seth's body. She had been staring at him for several hours, combing through his dead body for evidence. It was hard not to break down. "The bullet to the head was what killed him."

The words drifted into Walter's ears, making him swallow his pride. He could have stopped it had he payed more attention to his partners behavior. "I see. And what about his tox screen?"

"It came back clean. He was completely sober at the time of his death. He also had a stomach full of what seems to be breakfast. Pancakes, fruits, and coffee."

"That's what he normally has. But, you sure there isn't anything weird?"

"No. Nothing at all."

Walter frowned and thanked Nancy for the information. He looked down at his partner, seeing the bullet wound at the side of his head. He heaved a pensive sigh and reached over to gently push the dead body's hair behind his ear. It looked like he was just sleeping. But it was just a vacant body.

Nancy watched the young detective with sad eyes, noticing his lack of emotions. "Are you ok?" She asked.

"I'm fine. It's just his family." Walter ran his thumb against his dead partners cheek before walking over to the exit. "Thank you, Nancy," he whispered.

-x-

Evelyn looked over to Sarah who was sitting at the dining table. They were staying at Evelyn's mother's house until they had officially finish processing the crime scene and cleaned it up. No one was talking since they got the news. Sarah was sitting quietly in her seat, staring at the shiny wooden table. Her mother was gently holding onto Evelyn's hand. And Ervin wasn't even in the room. He was in an upstairs bedroom, shutting himself out from everyone else.