CHAPTER SEVENTEEN #3
"No." Shelly turned her head against her husband's chest.
"Who shot who?" Matt asked as he held his wife to him.
"It appears the father shot the mother, but we're still investigating everything.
It's too soon to know anything for sure.
Right now, we are concerned with what the children might have seen or heard.
" Franks tried to redirect the grandparents' attention off the fact their son might have shot his wife.
"Yes, of course." Matt stared back at the kids. "You said Avery saw it happen?"
Amy nodded. "You're welcome to sit with us while we talk to him."
"I'll stay with the girls while you and Avery talk to the police. I'll find out what the girls know." Shelly pulled away from her husband and dug around her purse before pulling out a small package of tissues.
"Is there a place where we can go sit outside so we can talk to Avery?" Amy asked.
"There's a table in the backyard. We can sit there if that's okay. Where are the bodies?" Matt asked. "I don't want Avery to have to see them again."
"They're in the living room. Is there a way to get in back without going through the house?" Franks asked.
"Yeah, there's a side gate." Matt gestured to the side of the house before turning and hugging his wife. "Send Avery over to us. Let those girls know everything is going to be okay. They'll come live with us."
Franks hoped it was that easy. He didn't know the family dynamics and if there would be other relatives wanting custody of the kids or if the parents had a will that would state who got custody.
He watched as Shelly made her way to the porch and hugged Avery first before pointing toward where they waited for him.
With a single nod, Avery headed toward them.
"Please be gentle," Matt told them.
"Of course." Amy nodded.
"Hey, Av." Matt hugged his grandson as soon as he was close enough. "We'll get through this."
Avery just nodded. He was tall for his age, with brown hair that touched his shoulders. His eyes were red from crying, but he swallowed hard and nodded to Amy and Franks.
"We just have a few questions about what you saw," Amy said softly. "Let's go in back and sit down."
Franks followed the others around the side of the house to a chain-link fence and waited as Matt opened the gate.
He let the others go through, then shut the gate once he went through.
The backyard was large with several huge shade trees.
The sun was starting to set and bright light came from the west, warming the space.
A long bench picnic table sat on a small patio, and Franks glanced to make sure the bodies weren't visible from where they were. He was pleased to see the sliding back door opened to the kitchen and nothing more was visible past that area.
"Avery, I'm so sorry about your parents. I know this is hard, but we need to know exactly what you saw." Amy's voice was gentle as she took a seat on one side of the table while Matt and Avery sat on the other side, their backs to the house.
Avery nodded but didn't say anything. He glanced at his grandfather and took a deep breath.
"I know it's not easy to talk about, but we need to know what happened to cause this." Amy's soft tone was gentle, not pushing or rushing Avery to speak. "Tell me how things got started?"
Avery's eyes filled with tears. "They were fighting when I got home from picking up Lilly and Rose from school.
I heard them when I walked in, but as soon as they heard us come in, they stopped.
At least for a bit." The young man took another deep breath.
"Lilly and Rose got snacks, then went to their room.
I stayed in the kitchen, trying to write a report for my English class.
I could tell something was wrong. I mean, Dad was home early.
He usually doesn't get home until after six. "
"When did the arguing start again?" Amy asked.
"When Mom started to pull stuff out for dinner.
Dad made a comment about how she should go cook for someone named Jeff.
That's when I started to pay closer attention.
Mom said something about Tiffany and then they started yelling at each other.
" Avery closed his eyes for a long moment.
"What I got from it all is that they are both having affairs, and I don't know if they just found out about it or if they've known, but that's what they were fighting over. "
Franks took notes as he listened, leaving the conversation for Amy to handle.
"Did you know about the affairs?" Amy asked.
"I didn't know for sure, but I thought Dad might be having one.
He's gone a lot more often than he used to be.
He used to be home all weekend but has been going out with the guys more often than usual recently.
Said he's playing golf, but Dad is a horrible golfer.
We went when I was younger and we both didn't like it.
I didn't think Mom was having one, but she would probably do that while I was at school so I wouldn't have noticed anything odd.
" Avery used his shirt sleeve to wipe his eyes.
"I can't believe this," Avery's grandfather said.
"It got really bad. They didn't even care that I was sitting there listening.
I'm not even sure they noticed me because they were yelling at each other so badly.
" Avery fisted his hands on the picnic table.
"I got up and when the girls came out of their room to see why everyone was yelling.
I managed to get them to go back into their room and stay there.
When I came back out, Mom and Dad were in the living room fighting.
Mom pushed Dad, Dad threatened to hit Mom but didn't. I wanted to get between them and make it stop, but they just kept going at it.
The things they were saying to each other were so mean. "
"Where did the gun come from?" Amy asked.
"Dad walked away from Mom and I thought the fight was over, but then he came back in and had his gun.
He keeps it in a lockbox by the bed. Before I knew what was happening, he shot Mom, then put the gun to his head and killed himself.
" Avery's voice caught with emotion and tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Hell." Matt held his grandson close, his own eyes wet with tears.
"Did he say anything before he shot her?" Amy asked.
Avery shook his head. "Nothing. He just walked out of the bedroom and shot her. I'd barely had time to realize he had the gun before it was done."
"Okay, for now, this is enough information, but tomorrow, we're going to need to sit down with you again and get a formal statement from you." Amy glanced at Franks. "You need anything more?"
"Not at this time," Franks told her, but already his mind was working on what questions he would ask the kid tomorrow once the emotions had calmed down a bit and he wasn't so upset. Not that talking about this would ever be easy, but right now, everything was fresh and raw.
"You're going to stay with your grandparents?" Amy asked.
"Yes, the kids will be with us. Anna's parents are in Montana. Will you call and tell them or should I?" Matt asked.
"We'll call them and inform them what happened. Are you okay if I give them your number so they are able to talk to the children and speak to you about arrangements once the medical examiner releases the bodies?" Franks asked.
"Of course." Matt still held Avery to him as he gave Franks their contact information and arranged to meet tomorrow.
They let the grandparents take the children and spent the next hour helping to process the scene. Once they finally got back into the car and headed back to the station to make phone calls and write reports, Franks glanced at Amy. "Something feels off. That didn't look like a suicide to me."
"Agree. I've seen enough suicides to know what they look like.
We'll see what the M.E. says, but to me, it appeared the father was shot from a distance.
That gun wasn't against his temple. Unless he held the gun out and shot himself, which I guess could be possible.
" Amy was already typing up notes on her laptop.
"Possible but not probable."
"Sam saw the same thing we did. Let him do the autopsy, then we'll know better what we're looking at." Amy glanced up. "Let's get these reports written, then head over to see Angus. Then I need to call it a day. I'm exhausted."
"You and me both." Franks thought about how good a hot shower would feel.
Then he remembered Gretta was bringing over dinner and his mouth watered.
She was an amazing cook. He just had to make it through the next few hours, then he could relax at home and try and catch up on the sleep he'd missed while worrying about Angus the night before.
Day one was almost over, but how many more would he have to go through before he was sure his partner would make it out of the hospital alive?