Chapter 2 #3
“Once, about six weeks ago, he tried to get some money from me. I didn’t give him any.
Perhaps had I done that, Mom and Dad would be alive.
” Penrod told the other brother, Markus, he might have delayed things, but he wouldn’t have been able to stop him if he had it in his head that they needed to be dead.
“We’re all in agreement that he killed them.
When he called to say what he’d found, I told Milly that he’d done it. ”
After taking their statements about the events leading up to the find, he sent them on their way.
The medical examiner said he’d take them down to the office to have an autopsy performed on them and would get back to them.
Both of them had been shot in the forehead, another thing that he found suspicious.
He headed to the office to talk to the youngest son of Mark and Lily Rollins.
Before he even sat down, he was changing his tune about the murders.
“Maybe they were killed. Someone might have come into the house while I was gone and done them in.” He asked if he’d seen anyone hanging around.
“No. I told you I was out all morning. I had some things that I had to do with the car. Dad was pissed off about something. Mom leaving the car on empty all the time—just one more thing to add to the reason for them to be mad at one another.”
“You just said they could have been murdered. Which was it?” He washed his hand over his face and looked pissed off again. “Well? Where were you this morning when the murders were going on? Your sister said that you weren’t allowed to use the cars anymore because you never put gas in them.”
“What does she know? She didn’t even live there.” He looked like he was thinking hard on something. “I don’t know what happened to them. They’re dead, and you’re holding me here instead of me going to make funeral arrangements.”
“It’ll be a few days yet before the bodies are released. Why don’t you tell me what really happened, and we can go from there. Did you kill your parents because they were going to kick you to the curb?”
The questioning went on for about an hour before Patrick confessed that he hated them both for the way that they treated him. He also said that he’d forgotten to put the gun in his dad’s hand when he’d put it on the table.
“Mom kept falling over, and I couldn’t get her to keep her head right.
Finally, I had to lay her down on the table so that I could make it look right.
Fat lot of good it had done me. You saw it right away.
Not to mention Minny. She’s been a cop since forever.
Christ, I wish she’d been there too. Then it would have looked better.
” He looked at him when he realized what he’d said.
“I’m not going to allow you to use that against me. ”
“I’m afraid it’s too late for that to happen.” He arrested him for the murder of both his parents and decided that he needed to be kept in a larger jail. The Rollins had been well-liked, and their family had been around town for some time now.
It took him several hours to get the paperwork finished up.
After the report, he had to tell his boss what had gone down, and he still didn’t want to believe it.
He said that they were a good family and that he couldn’t believe that they’d do something like that.
He did acknowledge that the youngest had had problems, but he couldn’t believe that he’d kill them, as they were a good family.
Penrod didn’t point out that usually the good families had the most to hide.
He was jaded enough without his boss realizing it, too.
As soon as he was ready to leave for the day, having filed all the reports to the right people, Penrod made his way to the sub shop on Main Street to pick up something to eat.
He hated to cook, and this would have been one of those nights that he would have had a bowl of cereal and called it a meal.
The sub was just what he needed, and he was glad that he remembered to stop and get it.
After eating, he cleaned up his mess and washed up his plate.
He usually would have eaten at the counter and not used a plate, but he was exhausted and needed to have a seat.
The plate had been a good way to catch the crumbs that he had on his meal, and he only had to rinse it off quickly before putting it in the drainer.
He went to his living room to watch a little television before calling it a night.
Of course, the local news wouldn’t have the murders on their opening statements.
They didn’t show up at the crime scene until much later than any of the other news organizations.
He expected it to be on the noon news tomorrow, if even then.
He was pretty sure they only had one cameraman around to report on the news.
His brother had been there almost as soon as he was called in about it. Stamos was a good reporter.
Taking a long, hot shower made him relaxed enough that he thought that he could sleep all night. Falling into bed, he was just setting his alarm when Audon called him. Wanting to talk to him about watching his house while he was gone, he sat up on the side of the bed and smiled.
“I’ll be leaving in the morning and will be gone for three days.
It might be four, but I don’t think so. If you could get my mail and newspapers, I’ll be thrilled.
” He said he had it marked on his calendar.
“I appreciate you doing this for me. I would stop my mail, but almost as soon as I got it into the office, I’d be home again and have a pile of mail that I don’t know what to do with.
I’m glad that you sort through it for me. ”
“My pleasure. Where are you headed? You might have told me, but with today I forgot.” He said that he’d heard about the Rollins.
“Good couple. The son confessed to killing them both.” He knew that he’d never say anything to anyone about what he’d say to him.
“I’m headed to France. I have a two-day show that will take me three days to get there, have the show, and head back home.
I’m not going to be hanging around all week like I usually do.
I have two projects that I’m working on that I’m having fun with, so I’ll be home quickly. ”
“Good. I’ll get your mail and papers, and the house will be watched. I’ll send out extra patrols to make sure nothing happens while you’re gone.” He thanked him. “It’s my pleasure. I hope you have a safe and fun trip.”
“I’m just hoping for quick.” After hanging up, he went to take a second shower to relax again and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
Tomorrow, he was going to go house hunting with Gilman.
If anyone needed a house at the holidays, it was him.
He put up the best decorations at the holidays that would outdo any other shop in the county.