by Lee Sau Woon
Sheriff's office, Castle Rock, Montana
"Cows suck," Jessie repeated again, as if he was trying to hammer this fact into the agents' brains.
"What happen after that? Did you go anywhere else before going home? And the rest of the kids?" Vanessa asked.
"Nah, it was getting late, and Mom always like to have dinner on time. She gets gastric when meals were not on time. "
"So you went home and had dinner with your parents," Martin said.
"Well, not really. Dad had to stay back in the office, and I had a simple dinner with Mom. Mom got this habit. Whenever Dad worked late, she would eat with me first, just to stop those acid juice. Then she would have another dinner later with Dad. Its their routine - to have dinner together no matter what. Herding cows is tiring business, and after dinner I went up to my bedroom, had a bath and went to sleep."
Jordan looked at the file in his hands, and then slapped it shut with disguist. There was no mention whatsoever about the time of the murder in that sheet of paper.
Zenya folded her arms and stood straight from her position against the wall.
"One question, Jessie. When and how did you find out about your parents' death."
Jessie looked at her, as if puzzled by that question. It took a few seconds for him to coordinate his thoughts, and then he answered.
"It must be some time after I fell asleep, when I felt someone shaking me. I woke up, and saw the Sheriff Dolan, and Mr Prentice, looking at me. And then they told me that my parents were dead."
He looked down at the table, and then looked up again, tears in his eyes, clearly agitated.
"I swear, I really didn't kill them. I would never ever hurt Mom and Dad. Never."
After letting the young man went back to his cell, Jordan decided to talk to the sheriff about the finer points of report-writing. In the meantime, Jim volunteered to go back to the airport to get two more cars.
"It would be easier for us to move about, even though this is a small town. Anyway, I don't all of us need to be around to interview the kids." He reasoned.
"You're right." Leo agreed, as he glanced at the direction of the sheriff's office, its door wide open.
"But there's no need to write down everything. I remembered them!" Dolan protested.
"Maybe you do, Sheriff, but human's brain is not perfect. You might forget things. And I definitely do not want call you up 2am in the morning just to discuss the details of the case." Jordan informed him.
"Its such a waste of time and effort," Dolan continued.
"Take your time though," Leo told Jim, "I think you might return in time for the second interview. It sounds like its going to be a long conversation between the two of them." He chuckled.
"Wana come along?" Jim asked Vanessa. "I think you need to get out of this smelly town."
Vanessa smiled alittle, slightly embarassed. Prentice had, after being requested by them, called a cab for them, and the two agents walked out of the office to see it waiting for them. The cows were no longer crowding the driveway, and she was glad for that. Throughout her life, she had been living in the city area, and rural life were not really her cup of tea. They got into the cab, and made their way back to the airport. There was no one trailing after them.
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[nrpg : insert ted cross' arrival here]
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By the time they had rushed back to town, the team had finished interviewing the remaining two children, and were discussing the cases with the sheriff's office.
"Ready to go?" Jordan spoke the moment they walked into the office.
"To where?" Vanessa asked.
"The one and only motel in this town. They have only ten rooms, and had graciously allowed us to have six of them."
"Hey, don't look so sad, its only ten minutes away." Martin chipped in, already brightened at the thought of calling Emily in the privacy of his room.
"Come on, let's go," Jordan shoo-ed them out.
Before they left, they said their thanks to the Dolan and Prentice, and promised to call the moment they had any progress.
They walked out, and almost had a 'human accident' when Jordan, who was at the very front, stopped suddently.
"What's wrong?" Leo asked, curious.
"Two Suzuki Swifts?" Jordan turned to Jim and Vanessa, and asked.
Jim shrugged.
"We ruined the last two Tauruses they had. It was a very popular car." He explained.
Jordan looked at the two cars in front of him, murmured something, and then got in.
----
By the time they had arrived at the motel, it was almost dinner time. The owner, a married couple called De Mornay, was very glad to see them, and promised them "home-cooked food like they had never tasted before" in half an hour's time.
The agents went to their individual rooms, glad of a chance to bath and unpack before dinner, with the promise of more serious discussions after that.
All the ten rooms were situated on the second floor of the motel. Vanessa had a big brass key labelled '6', and she soon found the correct room. The moment she entered, she threw her travel bag on the bed, sat on the bed, hugged her legs, and closed her eyes.
And remembered the looks in Jessie Colquitt's eyes as he told them that he would never hurt his parents, much less killed them. It was as if she was seeing herself, telling herself over and over again that she was not responsible for Chris' death, yet knowing that she was.
She drew her legs closer to her, and felt her eyes got wet, as she rocked herself on the bed, the same way Chris had hold her tight on certain nights, and rocked her to sleep as he sang to her, his baby.
"Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock ..." she sang to herself, as her tears fell. She knew that after she finished crying, when she went downstairs for dinner, she would be able to smile, and function normally for the next few days without breaking down, without a single miserable thought. She would need that peace to finish this case. Right now, though, it was enough that she had herself, and Chris' memories to keep her company.