Disclaimer:  In first chapter.

 

Chapter 14

 

As Jarod bustled around the kitchen, Miss Parker took a seat at the kitchen table.  Looking around the room she asked, “Where’s Sarah and Josh at?”

 

Grabbing a milk carton from the refrigerator, Jarod grabbed a tall glass from one of the kitchen cabinets.  With his back to her, he poured the milk into the glass an answered back, “I sent them out to get some breakfast.”  Glancing down at his watch he continued, “They should be back shortly, which doesn’t leave us much time.”

 

“Time for what?” she inquired.

 

Turning around, he replied back, “Time to talk about your mother’s death.”  Trying to keep busy, Jarod grabbed his empty mug from the counter, refilling it with coffee.  With the mug in one hand, he grabbed the glass of milk in the other and sat down beside Miss Parker.  Keeping the coffee to himself, he placed the milk in front of her.  Taking a sip, Jarod glanced over his coffee mug, watching Miss Parker curiously as she held the glass in front of her, grimacing in disgust.

 

Setting the glass down, she gave him an incredulous look.  “Are you kidding me with this?” she asked with disgust, waving her hand at the glass.  “I’m not a milk person.  I need caffeine…as in the form of coffee.”

 

A crooked smile appeared on Jarod’s lips.  “I know you’re not a milk person, but it’s supposed to help with ulcers.”

 

“But I’m fine, Jarod…”

 

“I know you are, but humor me, alright?”  Taking another sip of coffee he added, “Hey, it beats the other alternative.”

 

Still looking at the milk as if it was a creature from another planet, Miss Parker asked, “And what’s that?”

 

Leaning forward, he answered in a secretive tone, “I could’ve made you a nice, big glass of cabbage juice.”  The look she shot back at him was priceless.  He couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle as he leaned back in his chair.

 

“Where the hell do you get this information from?  Was it from some deranged lunatic selling idiotic products on late night infomercials?  Claiming to have the next cure for those pesky, troublesome ulcers that seem to be plaguing the world’s population,” she said sarcastically, trying to stifle the smile that threatened to grace her lips at any moment. 

 

Jarod continued to watch her as she folded her arms across her chest, being defiant as ever.  Smirking to himself, he brought the mug up to his lips, trying to hide his growing smile.  With the heavy tension and concern weighing heavily in the air around him, having Parker grumbling over a glass of milk was comical to say the least.  It was a temporary stress reducer that he desperately needed. 

 

“I’m glad you find this all funny,” she commented, glaring at him.

 

“I’m sorry,” he quipped back through the few remaining chuckles he had left in him.  Looking down at his coffee, he realized that ‘fun time’ was rapidly fading away.  Tearing his gaze away from his hands, he had a more serious expression on his face.  “I figured the milk might help you after you hear what I have to say.  I’m sure by the end of our conversation; you’ll need it to calm down the unpleasant storm that may start building up in your stomach again by the time I’m through.”

 

Miss Parker stiffened in her chair as Jarod’s words sunk in.  With her arms still crossed, she leaned forward, resting them on the table.  Craning her neck, she looked over at Jarod, who looked like he was going to become ill as his face lost some color.  With a wary voice she asked, “About the way my mother…died?”

 

Jarod looked away from her, letting his eyes fall back down on the coffee mug he held securely in his hands.  “Yes,” he breathed out.

 

A sudden chill seemed to envelope the room.  Shivering, Miss Parker ran her hands up and down her arms, trying to fend off the cold.  Taking a deep breath Miss Parker said, “So tell me, what do you know about my mother’s death?”

 

Taking another sip of coffee, Jarod looked over at her.  Clearing his throat, Jarod began his story.  “Ever since your mother died twenty years ago, I’ve always had this feeling that something wasn’t right about her death.  Even though your mother suffered with bouts of depression, I know she could never kill herself, especially with you coming to visit her that week.  She could never be that cruel, having you discovering her lifeless body like that.  She loved Robert and you with every fiber of her being.  You two were her life.  She never wanted to see you both in pain, which was why her death never made sense to me.”

 

Jarod paused, taking another sip of coffee, then continued, “A couple of months after her death, the questions continued to plague my mind, so I asked questions, hoping to get honest answers, but everyone pointed to the evidence, saying without a doubt that Catherine Parker died of a drug overdose.  Even though my gut was telling me the evidence was wrong, I regretfully accepted their answers.

 

“As the months slowly passed by, I decided to drop it and focus more on my studies.  I thought that maybe when I had more time I could research the case more thoroughly.  Well, months turned into years, which turned into decades, unfortunately the promise I made to myself from two decades ago I wasn’t able to keep,” Jarod said with regret.  Quickly standing back up, he placed his coffee mug in the sink.  Turning around, he leaned against the counter, letting his gaze fall back on Miss Parker.

 

“What piqued your interest again?” asked Miss Parker.

 

“Well, it was back in January.  It was a typical Tuesday morning as I headed off to work.  When I walked into my office I found a medium size brown package.  There was no return address anywhere on it.  All it said was ‘Jarod’.  I asked my secretary if she knew anything about it, but she had no clue as to who brought it in.  I didn’t know what to expect when I opened the box.”

 

“And what was in the box?” she asked with slight fear.

 

Pushing himself off the counter, Jarod sat back down in his chair.  Reaching out, he rested his hand on top of Miss Parker’s.  He was somewhat surprised when she didn’t pull away.  Giving her a reassuring squeeze he answered, “It was some of the missing paperwork from your mother’s case that mysteriously disappeared all those years ago.

 

“I sat there for hours, just reading the papers.  I couldn’t believe how much evidence was left unchecked, never investigated by the detectives.  But, one rookie officer did think things were amiss at the scene.”

 

Miss Parker tightened her grip in Jarod’s hand.  “Who was this rookie officer?”

 

Taking a deep breath, Jarod replied back, “His name was Officer Walker…but you know him today as Police Chief Sam Walker.” 

 

“Sam,” she whispered to herself, bringing a hand up to her lips.  Glancing back at Jarod she asked, “What did Sam tell you?”

 

“Sam was the first officer to arrive at your parent’s house.  When he walked into the house, he found you sitting on the floor with your arms around your knees, tears pouring down your face as you rocked yourself back and forth, mumbling incoherent words to nobody in particular.  He was about to ask you some questions when Sydney came bursting through the door.  Deciding that you needed some time to yourself, he decided to go upstairs and investigate.

 

“Since the coroner hadn’t arrived yet to pronounce the body, the medics were waiting outside of the master bedroom.  Of course, Sam asked if they disturbed anything, they said no, they hadn’t.  Satisfied with their responses, he went inside to have a look around.”

 

As Jarod retold his story, Miss Parker felt like she was ten years old again, reliving the worse day of her life.  It was the day her mother was shot and presumed dead in the elevator.  Trying to remain strong with tear laden eyes, she asked softly, “What did Sam find when he walked into my mother’s bedroom?”

 

Heaving a heavy sigh, Jarod rubbed his chin.  “One thing that caught Sam’s eyes right off the bat was the broken lamp by the bed.  When he knelt down beside the lamp, he noticed the cord was missing.  He looked everywhere for the cord, but it was nowhere to be found.  It just didn’t make sense to him.  Why would Catherine knock over a lamp, leaving it on the floor, but get rid of the cord?

 

“Well, the next thing Sam noticed was that the window was slightly ajar.  Since this was March, it wouldn’t be unusual to have the window open on a spring like day, but Sam remembered this day was particularly cold for March.  The temperature only got up to 38 degrees that day.   Later, he found out that the window was open for several hours before you discovered your mother’s body, which only baffled him more.

 

“When Sam went over to your mother’s bed, more things started popping out at him.  First there were the light, fresh scratch marks along her forearms.  Secondly, were her fingernails, two were broken.  He took a closer look at her nails and noticed what appeared to be someone else’s skin, but there was very little.  Thirdly, were her eyes, if she took a whole bottle of sleeping pills, he couldn’t understand why her eyes were completely wide open, plus it appeared that a few blood vessels had popped within her eyes, which usually suggests strangulation.”

 

Miss Parker sat silently in her chair, becoming angry and disgusted by what she heard.  Even she had to admit, from what she heard, it sounded that her mother died under questionable circumstances that deserved further investigation.  “Did Sam find any signs of strangulation?” she asked.

 

Jarod looked at her with solemn eyes.  “Sam told me he was just about to look when the detectives, crime scene unit, coroner, and other officers arrived at the house.”  Jarod paused an added, “Before he was ushered out of the room, he told the detectives and crime scene unit about what he found, hoping they would listen to his suggestions, however, since he was a rookie his words just fell on deaf ears.”

 

Miss Parker slammed her fists on the table, bolting up from her chair.  “Damn it.”  Folding her arms across her chest, she began pacing back and forth.  “Figures they would have police academy rejects working my mother’s case,” she spat out furiously.  “Well, except for Sam.”  As she continued to pace back and forth a thought came to her mind.  Stopping in front of Jarod she asked, “Did they ever find a suicide note?  If my mother did commit suicide, which I think is highly unlikely; she would have left me some type of good-bye.”

 

Standing up, Jarod stood in front of her.  Resting his hands on her shoulders he stated sadly, “There was no note left behind.”

 

Turning her face away, she swiped away the lone tear that ran down her cheek.  Staring out the kitchen window she stated, “Jarod, we have to find her murderer.”  Peeling her eyes from the outside world, she looked back into Jarod’s caring brown eyes.  “We just have too.”

 

Not giving a damn about the consequences, Jarod wrapped his arms around her small, delicate frame. Whispering in her ear with a determined voice he replied back, “We will…we will.”

 

As Jarod still held her, she asked with dread, “But there’s more to this story, isn’t there?”

 

Rubbing his hands up and down her back in a soothing motion he answered sadly, “Unfortunately there is.”

 

XXXXXXX

 

To Be Continued…