Only Time Will Tell

Part 2

"Tom, over here." Tom turned at the sound of Harry's voice, seeing the older man standing at the driver's side of a department issue blue Crown Victoria at the opposite end of the secured department parking lot. Tom jogged over to the parking lot and instantly regretted making the effort. The Florida heat was tolerable while sitting on a patio eating lunch, but the extra exertion of the walk and subsequent jog seemed to make the temperature rise another fifty degrees.

"It's gonna be a scorcher, huh," Harry commented, looking at the perspiration which had gathered on his detectives brow.

Tom nodded, "Yeah, I didn't think it was too bad until I had to start walking in it.

"Why didn't Cassy drop you off at the station?" Harry asked, thinking it unusual that Tom was on his own in the middle of the day.

"She didn't want to be late for her lunch appointment," Tom said, being careful not to clue Harry in to the romantic nature of her disappearance.

Harry gave him a sly grin, "A date, huh?"

Tom matched his smile, "You think you know us pretty well, don't you."

"I do, Thomas, I do." Harry unlocked the doors to the vehicle. "Let's get going. Our DB awaits."

Harry pulled the sedan in front of the large colonial home. An ambulance was parked in the driveway, while the coroner's wagon was parked by the curb in the street. Two police cruisers were also parked in the drive, as well as one unmarked county vehicle.

Harry and Tom nodded to the young officer guarding the entrance to the home, "Hi Zack," Tom greeted.

"Hello Sgt. Ryan, Captain Lipschitz," the man responded pleasantly, but making sure his tone was official. He straightened his body just a little more, hoping that Captain Lipschitz would notice his efforts.

"What's it look like, Zack?" Harry tried to peer over the officer's shoulder to catch a glimpse of what was going on inside, but could see nothing.

"We have a little bit of a blood bath in there. Wife says that the husband tried to stab her with a butcher's knife. They struggled over the weapon. Wife stabbed him in the heart. He bled to death within minutes." The officer shook his head, a slight grimace on his face, "It's not pretty."

He stepped aside to let his superiors into the home. Tom could hear activity coming from the living room, but could not see what was going on. Tom cringed internally. He hated, with a passion, domestic violence cases. Harry must have felt the same way because the older man paused at the entryway, shook his head and took a deep breath before entering the room. Tom followed close behind.

Zack had been right. It was a blood bath. Morton and his assistant were standing in a puddle of blood-soaked carpet, trying to examine the corpse. The lifeless body was flat on its back, his head near the corner edge of the hearth of a large, white brick fireplace. Blood drenched the chest of the once white dress shirt. One uniformed officer was talking with the medical examiner, while another was labeling a plastic bag containing a large butcher's knife. Harry approached Morton and leaned over the body, being careful to avoid the stained carpet "So what's the story?"

Morton looked up and nodded to Harry and Tom. "A single stab wound, to the heart. I place time of death at about 11:30 this morning."

The officer standing next to Harry nodded, "That matches with what the wife said and the time her call was logged into 911."

Harry nodded. "Identity?"

"Mitch Cardinal. Wife's name is Janet. She's in the bedroom with Brooks and Maloney. The EMT's are treating her." Morton answered.

Harry looked at the ME with curiosity, "Why?"

"Looks like husband got in a slice of his own. Caught her in the upper arm."

"But she's okay?" Tom frowned.

"Yeah. Stabbed her in the fleshy part. I think they intend to take her in for stitches as soon as she has calmed down a little. Every time they tried to take her to the ambulance, she went into hysterics. Said she didn't want to leave her husband."

Harry looked at Tom over the rim of his glasses, "You have a way with people. Why don't you see if you can calm her down. I want to hear her side of story," he looked at the dead body, "since that's the only side we have to hear."

Tom nodded in agreement. "Where's the bedroom?" Morton pointed up the stairs. "It's the second door on the right."

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Tom could hear sobbing coming from a room down the hallway. He approached it slowly, preparing himself for the questioning of the woman that would have to be performed.

He gathered his resolve, stepped around the corner into the bedroom. He immediately caught sight of the mourning wife, head resting in her right hand, a white bandage wrapped around her upper left arm, her dark hair falling over her face. Officer Brooks was sitting next to her and her partner, Maloney, was taking notes. One EMT was kneeling on the floor, the other standing behind him, both packing their equipment away.

"How's it going in here," Tom said gently. The four official personnel looked up at the new arrival, but the distraught woman remained bent over her hands. Tom could hear the tiniest hitch in her breath. She swallowed the tears and her dark brown eyes rose to meet Tom's hazel. "Tommy?"

Tom was taken aback. He knew this woman. He knew her well. "Janet?"

The woman jumped from the bed and ran into Tom's arms. The force of her tall body hitting his caused Tom to have to take a step backwards to keep his balance, "Oh my God, Tommy, it's you. I had hoped it would be you. That you'd be here to help me." The woman cried into his shoulder, soaking his dress shirt.

Tom, startled at the woman's sudden reaction, laid his hand on her back and patted it gently. The two officers who had been questioning the woman, looked at the Sergeant curiously. Tom shrugged his shoulders, dumbfounded.

The woman gripped him tightly, holding on desperately to his strength. Tom's mind tumbled back to the night he had last seen her. . .the night he had held her in his arms. A night in which she had cried like this. He shook his head slightly. That had been over three years ago, right after Cassy had filed for divorce.

"Oh my God, Tommy. I can't believe what I've done." Janet looked up at Tom's face, her own filled with guilt. "I killed him. I didn't mean to. . .but I. . .but he came at me. . .he tried to kill me." Her words were disjointed, the shock of what had occurred clearly muddling her thoughts.

Tom eased her back to the bed, pushing her into a sitting position, "Janet, take it easy. Tell me what happened." He sat on the bed next to her, and nodded for the officers and EMT's to leave them.

"I'm not. . .I'm not. . ." her voice cracked as she tried to complete the sentence, "I don't know. Mitch. . .he was angry. I don't know why. . .he wouldn't tell me why. He sometimes hurts. . .he gets mad. . .at me." Each phrase was separated by her gasp for breath as she tried to calm her sobs.

"He attacked me. . .with the knife," she continued. "He hurt me, Tommy." She held up her left arm, as if taking comfort in the fact that Tom would know that she was not lying about being harmed. "I fought back. I was so scared. We struggled for the knife. . .and I. . .and I. . ." the words broke upon her cries, once again, and she collapsed into his arms.

"Calm down, Janet. It'll be okay, just take your time. Tell me what happened." Tom, seeing movement at the door, looked up to discover Harry observing the exchange between the two in the bedroom.

Janet didn't raise her head from Tom's shoulder, causing her next words to be muffled, "We fought for the knife. I grabbed his wrist and pushed against him with all my strength. He fell backwards. . .he must've tripped. I. . .I landed. . .," she stopped talking, her eyes closing, her mind reliving the event, "I landed on top of him and the knife went into his chest. I killed him, Thomas."

Tom looked at Harry, but said nothing. Harry motioned for his detective to come out into the hallway. Tom gently pushed Janet out of his arms, "Janet. It's okay. You've told us now. Lay down and rest. I'm going out in the hallway to have the ambulance take you to the hospital. You need to get your arm checked out." Tom spoke to the woman as if speaking to a small child. She nodded meekly and laid down on the bed.

Tom followed Harry into the hallway. Harry turned to the younger man and whispered, "I take it you know her?"

Tom nodded. "She's an old friend. I didn't know she was married. I haven't seen her since Cassy and I were divorced. I thought she had left town."

"Well she's back. . .and she's killed her husband, by her own admission. But it sounds like self-defense," Harry reasoned.

Tom nodded his agreement, "She needs to go to the hospital. I'll stick with her and see if I can get any other information from her."

"Agreed. Check in with me later. Let me know her status. I'm going to talk to the DA and see how they want us to proceed. I'll fill Cassy in, presuming she's back from her lunch."

Tom glanced at his watch, it was after 1:30. "Fine. I'll call you in an hour or so."

Harry motioned for the EMTs to return to the room and assist the injured woman.

End Part 2