Page 21 of Having HIs Back

Brian stood and leaned over the table, pressing his advantage. “So, you lured her into the garage with threats of trying to take Phillip away from her and then strangled her. You had a plan, but you didn’t count on the dog attacking the hell out of you. And once you were done, you strung up her body to try to make it look like she hung herself.”

“That damned bitch was going to ruin my life…,” Charlie said, and that sounded close enough to a confession that Brian only stood there waiting to see what else he said.

Charlie’s hands began to twitch as the realization of what he’d said must have sunk in.

“Sit down!” Brian snapped just as a knock on the door followed by a man in an ill-fitting suit with a battered briefcase entered. The guy looked about twelve, with the harrowed look of a man much older. Brian almost felt sorry for him.

“I’m Joshua Parker, Mr. Westerly’s attorney,” he said with little energy. “The questioning of my client stops now. And unless you are arresting him, we’re out of here.”

“See, that’s just the thing. He waived his right to an attorney. But he can assert it now, since you’re here.” Brian was more than happy for that at the moment. “And as for arresting your client, we’re going to do that now. Charles Westerly, you are formally under arrest for the premeditated murder of Caroline Sutherland.” An officer came into the room, put handcuffs on Charles, and then plopped him back down into his chair. Then he retreated to the corner as additional muscle if needed.

“On what grounds?” Mr. Parker asked.

“Well, we can start with the confession he gave just before you walked in. Then there’s the DNA evidence. See, your client was attacked by the victim’s dog.” An officer handed him a set of papers, and he passed them over to the attorney. “This is a warrant giving us the right to take samples of Mr. Westerly’s injuries, as well as a DNA sample. A nurse will be in shortly to take care of that.” He kept his expression neutral, though he wanted to grin.

“You can’t use any of that since it was garnered without him having been read his rights.” Mr. Parker said.

“Please. He was read his rights last night at the victim’s home when he was first arrested for disturbing the peace.Besides, he confirmed he knew his rights when he first asked for you.” Brian was pleased. “And once the DNA comes back….”

Mr. Parker chuckled. “What is taking samples from my client’s wounds going to do? Match them to himself?”

Brian grinned. “No. We’re going to match DNA from his wound back to the dog that bit him. The victim’s dog.” The tests hadn’t come back yet from the lab. He thought of bluffing, but there was no need.

“That’s a stretch,” the attorney said. “It sounds to me as though you’re getting desperate.”

Brian shrugged and waited a few more minutes for the nurse to come in. She had Charlie open his mouth, and she swabbed his cheek. Then she carefully swabbed down the wounds on his leg, using multiple swabs before closing the samples. She turned to the attorney. “You might want to get your client some medical care. Those wounds are infected. Dog bites are particularly prone to infection.” Then she left the room, closing the door behind her.

“I’d say we’re done here. We have everything we need.” Brian packed up his folder. “A second officer will be in to help escort you back to your cell.” He left the room and closed the door, then went to the observation room. “Are the microphones off?”

“Yes. He’s with his attorney,” Janine told him.

“Good.”

“Can you really get Pebbles’s DNA from his wound?” Kerry asked him.

Brian shrugged. “I’m not sure. But we’re going to try. That will only help solidify the case. We don’t have a signed confession, but we do have a confession of sorts.”

“Of sorts,” Janine echoed as the phone rang. She answered it and grinned, listening before hanging up. “That was the lab. They were able to get blood off Pebbles and material fromPebbles’ teeth to match our suspect. Pebbles attacked him and we can prove it. His confession also gives us the basis for first-degree murder, which means he gets life in prison.”

Kerry slumped slightly, his shoulders dropping. “So, it’s over?”

“I’d say so. Yes. There may be court, but I suspect that they are going to try to plea bargain. But either way, he’s going away from a very long time, and as soon as we alert family court that he’s been arrested and what the charges are, his custody claims for Phillip aren’t going to go anywhere. Chuck the Fuck is going to go away for a very long time.”

Janine brought a chair, and Kerry sat down, his face in his hands. Janine excused herself quietly and left the room.

“God,” Kerry said. “I don’t know how I expected this moment to feel, but it’s nothing like I thought. I mean….”

“I know. There’s a sense of justice, but that doesn’t bring Caroline back. There is nothing that will do that. But this part of the ordeal is over. We have caught the person who took their mother away from Henry and Phillip. That is all that we can do.”

“I know. It just doesn’t feel the way I thought it would.”

“How did you think it would feel?” Brian asked, trying to help Kerry put words to what seemed to be bubbling up.

He lifted his head, his eyes watery, opened his mouth, and nothing came out. “I don’t know. I’m a psychologist. I should have words for this. I should know.” Frustration joined the hurt in his voice.

“No. You shouldn’t. This isn’t my first case like this, and I can tell you that everyone feels this way. I think it’s because there are no words for a time like this. You think you’ll have some kind of vindication or some sense of finality, but all that’s truly final is that Caroline is gone. You are never going to feel better about that.” He sat with Kerry. “It’s also okay to be angry, because that’s normal too.”

“You should be the psychologist.”

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