Riverside Bench

Silence Isn't Always Good

"Alan Brender, please head to Sam Finald's office." The overhead speakers blared as Alan walked through the hall. The police station was a dread expected place. It was all the truth. It was filled with determined officers. The detectives were restless, as they examined Jessie Myers' case. Alan Brender may have been fired, but he still felt like a detective. He wanted to prove Sam Finald wrong, and let Jessie move on. 

The hallway was dark. He tightened his tie and rubbed his mustache. Good impressions always go a long way. Sam Finald waited in his office, tapping his pen. Sam waited impatiently to tell Alan crazy news about Jessie's case. Sam knew a secret, a very dark secret, that would change everything.  Alan heard the faint sound of pen tapping. The station was silent. With only the clacking of the computer keys, and the heavy breathing. The light taps of people's feet on their desks. almost combined in harmony.

When he walked into Sam's office a minute later, he saw utmost horror. It was Sam Finald, with a slit in the throat, and a sharp bloody knife on the ground. His first thought was to call the hospital, and how this happened. His shock overdosed on his fear. 

Indistinct voices talked over the sirens. How he wished those sirens would stop. They reminded him of Jessie and his wife. Alan was not even the slightest bit sure that Sam would survive. It would take a miracle. The doctors said that he was in a very critical state. Alan wondered who would want to hurt Sam. The chief of police may have been rude, but he's still a man who deserves to live. 

Miracles are rare and mistaken. But Sam Finald surviving a deadly slit on the throat was a miracle. His eyes so slowly opened. His forty-year-old daughter, Lisa, stood by his side. Alan Brender stood in the corner, watching a thank-goodness moment. But he felt scared, to know a killer was out there. 

"Sam, he's very weak. He will need to rest for a few months. He'll need to do a physical exam in three months. He may have to quit the force. His vocal cords were bruised severely. He may never talk again, but we will see through his recovery. He has some swelling in-". Alan ignored the rest of the doctor's words. It didn't matter, he needed to find this killer, or whoever it was.  

Sam Finald's first words when he woke up were, "she said tie your shoelaces". Then his eyes turned white and he had a seizure.  The doctors held him down, as this unexpected seizure had Alan wondering. What did Sam mean? She said tie your shoelaces, what did that mean? 

He barged into Vice Chief Calim's office. "I have a lead on Sam and Jessie's case", Alan smacked papers on his desk. "Alan you are not on the team anymore, save it for someone else", Calim rolled his eyes. "Just hear me out. Sam said, "she said tie your shoelaces". When you found Jessie's body, her shoelaces were untied. So were Sam's. What if Jessie was murdered." Calim stared at Alan, "Find me evidence on Jessie's case, then we'll talk."  

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Alan was determined, his heart set on finding evidence. He had to convince himself that he was doing this for Jessie, not himself. But a small part of him felt like he was doing this for his job. 

He first searched the bench, the nearby rocks by the river. On the bench hung a gold sign, Dedicated to Jessie Myers. He rubbed his palm on the shiny plaque. A tear dripping from his eye made him see something in the corner. By a tree laid a damp picture of a bench. He knew it was Jessie's picture, she loved taking pictures. This was the only evidence he could find. 

Vice Chief Calim had a surprised look on his face when Alan handed him the evidence. "Take a look at this, examine it", Calim said. Alan had a told-you-so smirk on his face. 

He turned on the red lights and dipped the picture into the water, then hung it up. He noticed an astonishing little detail in the picture. Jessie's shoe, but her shoelaces were tied. And a blur of a stranger passing in the background of the picture. The killer could've tripped Jessie or cut her throat. 

That's when Alan realized something, the knife found in Sam's office could've been the same weapon used to kill Jessie. He just needed to do tests on the knife. He told the Vice Chief his theory, but he just laughed at him.  

If only someone would believe him?