by Neal Davies
Sebastian doesn’t know why he’s dissatisfied with the outcome but he feels there’s something missing and it keeps eating away at him. Cynthia knows that he’s better left alone when brewing over issues, so she tells him she’s heading over to a friend’s place to discuss a fundraiser they’ve been working on for one of their many charities. Not listening and cognitively inane to what Cynthia has said and planned for herself for the day, he’s a little perplexed when she arrives home that evening and asks him if he missed her? Sebastian responds innocently by saying, “Yes of course! But where have you been?” Cynthia and her friend had, had a great day together and instead of seeing his remarks as ignorant, she grins and thinks to herself, ‘I wouldn’t want him any other way.
There are times when she’s sensitive to his nonconforming attitude but overall she loves him for who he is and doesn’t take his eccentricity personally for too long. Cynthia spends the latter parts of the evening talking about her day and trying to distract Sebastian from his troubling enigma but this is to no evail. So she leaves him with his thoughts, kisses him goodnight and goes to bed. All through the day and now late into the evening he’s continued to go over and over different scenarios. He knows there’s something missing but can’t seem to put his finger on it. His intuition is telling him that the solution is buried deep in his memory and is adamantly refusing to surface.
It’d been a restless night for Sebastian and he’s up early and ready to leave long before Cynthia stirs. He writes her a note telling her he’ll be spending the day at the police station. Sebastian wants to get the files from Jim regarding Sam’s death but he knows he won’t be in yet, so he pulls into a service station to fill up. While he’s at the pump he hears a feint tingling sound and looks up to see a tall fellow wearing a leather jacket with the buckles undone at the side. “Of course! I get it now!” he bellows, and the guy with the leather jacket turns around and looks at him as if he’s some sort of lunatic. It convinces the poor fellow even more when Sebastian pulls a very strange smile which is one part elation and an even larger part embarrassment. He walks away mumbling and each time he looks back Sebastian smiles again, freaking the other guy right out. Sebastian now knows the reason why he’s been so unsure of Sam being the killer. The deep seeded reason for his doubts has finally surfaced and now he realises he’ll need to find enough evidence to prove to Jim that Sam didn’t kill Frank. He pays for his petrol, grabs a cup of coffee and heads for the station.
After parking his car he grabs his cane in one hand, his coffee in the other and paces up the steps like a man on a mission. He then marches straight toward Jim’s office. As he moves at pace through the building and past the detectives, he notices a major change in their attitude. All the way through he’s bombarded with, “Good morning Sebastian!”, “Hi Sebastian how are you?” And wonders what’s come over them. He doesn’t think it’s got anything to do with him buying the new chairs as he’d asked Jim not to mention it.
Even when he enters Emily’s office, she welcomes him with a smile. “Good morning Sebastian! Jims not in yet, is there anything I can help you with?” He hesitates. The last time he’d spoken to her she’d called him Mr Cork.
“Thanks Emily, I was wondering if I can see the files on Sam please.” She reaches into her top draw, pulls them out and hands them to him, “Jim thought you may be in early. He also said you might want to look at the report on Sam’s suicide. The policemen who found the body and the detectives that were at the crime scene finished writing their reports yesterday. As you know the full coroner’s report won’t be out for some time but you are welcome to have a word with him and see if there are any further developments.
Jim actually made a special trip in last night to organise everything for you and that’s why he’s late this morning. He asked me to introduce you to the detectives that were at the crime scene if you wanted to but they’re both off duty until tomorrow.” Sebastian is overwhelmed by the assistance he’s getting from everyone regarding the case.
“That won’t be necessary, thanks Emily. Although I may have a word to the coroner a little later on, if that’s ok?” Emily scribbles something down on her note pad, tears it out and hands it to Sebastian.
“The coroner’s name is Cameron Buckley. I’ve jotted it down so you won’t forget it. You can either take the elevator or the stairs down to the basement and you’ll find him there.”
“Thanks Emily. Oh, just one more thing…..”
“Name it.”
“Would there be a spare whiteboard anywhere?” She rises from her seat and walks around to his side of the desk.
“Normally no, but one of the cleaners was tidying up one of the store rooms the other day and ironically found a large one at the rear of the room, under an old sheet. No one wants it. Come on, I’ll take you to it.” Emily powers ahead and Sebastian isn’t far behind. He receives even more smiles and acknowledgement as he passes the detectives and begins to wonder if he liked it more when they ignored him. Emily shows him the white board and once he agrees it’s the size he wants, she wheels it back to the dust pit for him.
As they arrive at his new office, he’s quite overwhelmed when he sees a brass plaque on the door that has his name on it. He’s even more astonished when he opens the door and a waft of fresh paint leads him to his newly decorated room. “Who did this?” Emily smiles at Sebastian and starts to explain.
“When we all received new chairs, we knew the budget had been cut and we thought the money for them had come out of Jim’s pocket. This made us even angrier with you. So he had no other option than to tell us the truth. Once we found out you had done this for us, we began to feel a little guilty about how we’d been treating you. So everyone pitched in a few bucks and some of our time to give your office a nice new coat of paint. After all what’s the point of having it cleaned and furnished if it hasn’t been painted. Oh by the way, you’ll find all the stationary you need in the drawers of your desk.” Sebastian stands there dumbfounded and has no idea that all the detectives have gathered behind him.
“What can I say?”
“How about thanks!” one of the detectives bellows from behind him. Sebastian almost spills his coffee and his neck near breaks as his head spins around at the unexpected comment.
“You just scared the shit out of me!” Everyone laughs out loud, including Sebastian. “Thank you so much, it’s a wonderful gesture!” They’re all smiling and chuckling as they head back to their desks.
“Is there anything else I can help you with Sebastian?”
He grins at her and says, “No thanks Emily, you’ve done more than enough.” She smiles again, happily turns in a bouncing manner and strolls back toward her office.
As Sebastian stands there gazing at the now light beige room, he finds himself in awe of how well it matches the new furniture. He finally sits down and takes a sip of his coffee and opens the file Jim’s left for him. Everything Jim had said in his phone call was verified by the reports but Sebastian now knows it can’t have been Sam. He also knows it’s going to be hard to find proof to the contrary but if he doesn’t Frank’s killer won’t be brought to justice. He takes another sip of his coffee, snatches up the whiteboard marker and gets busy drawing up geno grams of Frank’s family, friends and enemies until he believes he has it narrowed down to two suspects.
Sebastian is so focused on his work; time seems to have slipped away from him. So he’s a bit startled when there’s a short rap on the door and Jim enters the office and greets him cheerfully. “I hear you got here early. Is there anything I can get you, or help you with?” Jim notices the geno grams on the white board and points, “What’s with that Seb? I thought I’d already explained to you that Sam was the murderer!” Sebastian doesn’t want to push his luck, especially after the ordeal of Jim ripping shreds off him regarding the cleaning and furniture for the dust pit.
“Oh, you mean the geno grams, I just like to keep track of the killer’s life, their connections, etcetera. “By dr
awing geno grams on my whiteboard I can transfer them later into a journal and compile trends that coincide from one murderer to another. This will help me for future profiling.” Jim’s initial scepticism of Sebastian’s intentions is soon converted to admiration. He responds with, “Good thinking! Oh, by the way, when you wrap up what you need to do I’d like to see you regarding another case, only this time you’ll be on our payroll.”
Jim’s about to leave the room when Sebastian asks, “Sorry to hold you up Jim,” but have you notified Tony who his brother’s killer is yet?”
Jim looks over his shoulder, “Not yet. I thought you might like to break the news.” Sebastian is hoping this would be his answer.
“Thanks Jim, I’ll let him know.” Jim leaves the room and Sebastian thinks to himself, “In good time Jim, in good time.” He then heads for the coroner’s office where Sam’s body is still being kept.
Chapter 12
THE CORONER’S OFFICE
Cameron Buckley is alone in his office when Sebastian knocks on his door. “Come in, the doors open.”
“How are you, sir? My name is Sebastian Cork and…”
Cameron looks up from his paperwork, “Yes I know. You’re the new consultant, I’ve heard a lot about you. Grab a seat, and enough of this sir business. Call me Cam.” He reaches over the desk half- in- half- out of his seat and shakes Sebastian’s hand.
“Thanks Cam, you can call me Seb.” he says, as he’s taking his seat.
“So Seb, what brings you down to the dungeons? From what Jim’s been saying, you were an integral player in solving the case of Frank Portola’s murder.” Sebastian is still being careful about how he responds, as he doesn’t want it to get back to Jim that he hasn’t accepted the outcome of the murder at this stage.
“Well it’s this way Cam, I’m still new to homicide and I’ve a lot to learn, so I’d be very interested to see your side of things.” Cameron sits back in his chair and smiles.
“Well I must say that this is a real honour, Seb. I don’t know of anyone in the medical or psychological field that hasn’t heard of the great Sebastian Cork. So to have you come down here and want to learn something from me has made my day, oh, by the way Seb, congratulations on your award.”
He is humbled by Cameron’s response and replies, “Thank you for those kind words, I really appreciate it.”
“My pleasure. Now where would you like to start?” Sebastian pulls out a note pad and pen from the inner pocket of his jacket.
“Well I have the file but is there anything more you can give me that wouldn’t be in it?” The entirety of Sam’s autopsy has a long way to go before completion so Cameron reels off what he has learned so far.
“The details in the detective’s reports; that you have no doubt read, cover almost everything. He died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Ballistics shows that the gun that killed Sam is the same gun that killed Frank. There was gunpowder residue on Sam’s hand, which was indicative of him holding the gun to his own head and firing. There was no sign of a struggle in the form of someone holding the gun to his head, or forcing him to write the suicide note. We noticed scarring on his wrists from past attempts at suicide, and we have comprehensive medical records dating back to five years ago, which tell us he’d overdosed using prescription drugs in an attempt to kill himself. He had signs of sleeping pills in his system, but they coincided with the prescription and doses prescribed by his doctor.”
Sebastian thinks for a moment and replies, “So, let’s look at what we have here; rather than overdose on sleeping tablets, he wakes up in the morning and shoots himself in the head after a good night’s sleep?”
Cameron frowns, “What are you trying to say Seb?”
Still trying to remain inconspicuous about his intent on finding the truth he reinforces, “There’s nothing to say, just paraphrasing that’s all. Oh, by the way Cam, how many suicides have you encountered that have occurred in the early morning?”
“To be honest with you Seb, I can’t remember any. This is my first. Why?”
“No reason, I just thought that it was odd. My studies of suicidal tendencies have always shown it’s statistically rare for someone to commit suicide in the morning. Anyway I’ve taken up enough of your precious time and look forward to working with you on the next case.” Sebastian shook Cameron’s hand and left.
This whole thing with Sam being the killer is totally consuming and confusing Sebastian. All the evidence points to murder suicide, yet he knows he couldn’t have murdered Frank. There are questions that still need to be answered and he isn’t going to stop, until he’s the one that gets those answers.
On his arrival back upstairs he heads to Jim’s office and let’s him know he’s going to be away for a couple of days. “Nothing wrong I hope Seb?”
“Not at all, I just have to tie up some loose ends with the business so I can be ready for the next case.”
“Great! I’ll see you in a couple of days then.” He grabs his coat and cane from the dust pit and scurries out the door. On his way to the car he gives Cynthia a quick call and tells her he’s heading to the cemetery. She can’t help but feel curious.
“Why are you going to the cemetery?”
“I need to talk to Gina and its Sam’s funeral today.” Cynthia pauses and can’t believe what she’s hearing.
“Seb, it’s a funeral! You can’t interview people at a funeral! Think about what you’re doing, for god’s sake!” Sebastian, a little short of breath as he reaches the car, jumps in.
“Phew! No you’ve got it all wrong my love. I’m going there to make an appointment with her, for tomorrow.”
“Why don’t you just call her?” He places his phone to his other ear and puts the keys in the ignition.
“Well the last time I spoke to her we didn’t part on the best of terms. If I ring, she probably wouldn’t answer. I have to speak to her in person.”
Cynthia mumbles, “I’m sure that’s going to go well.” Sebastian can barely understand a word she’s saying.
“What’s that Cynthia?”
“I said, I’m sure when you finish, you’ll give me a bell.”
“Definitely darling, but I have to go now. I’ll talk to you later.” He starts the car up and drives out of the lot toward the cemetery.
Chapter 13
THE CEMETERY
The previous two weeks had been wet and cold, apart from the odd day or two; and today is no exception. Sebastian pulls into the parking area alongside Gina’s car and waits until the ceremony is complete. He wants Gina to be on her way back before walking out and approaching her. It’s not long before he sees a blurred image of her returning through the misty rain with three young men who are comforting her. He assumes they must be her remaining sons. Sebastian grabs his cane, gets out of the car and walks toward them. Gina, still teary, spots him straight away; she angrily opens the palms of her hands and attacks, “What the hell do you want now?” Two of the men move forward and begin pushing Sebastian backward.
“I just…. hey, go easy! I just need two minutes of your time!
Gina’s hands are now shaking and she screams, “Get the fuck away from me! Look what happened to my wonderful boy the last time I let you speak to me. I’ve lost a son, these boys have lost a brother and my sweet Sam has been buried as a murderer!” She clenches her fists, raises them above her head and screams at him, “Get away from me, you fucker! Get away! Get away!”
Her sons move forward to shove Sebastian again, only this time he turns his cane upside down and begins wielding it like a machete, fighting a way through dense undergrowth. Her son’s backs are arched like matadors avoiding the gouging horns of a bull and Sebastian doesn’t know how long he can keep them at bay. He tries desperately to plead with her, “Listen to me and give me a chance to explain why I’m here! I don’t believe Sam murdered Frank! And I also don’t believe he killed himself. I think he was murdered as well! But I need your help to prove it! That’s the only reason I’m
here!” Her sons are about to make another lunge toward him so he flings the cane up to his shoulder like a pro batter about to knock it out of the park. Gina takes a couple of steps forward,
“Wait!” Her boys stop in their tracks. “Are you telling me Sam was set up and then murdered? I’ll kill the bastard. How do you know?” Sebastian eases the cane down to waste height and pauses to regain his breath.
“I don’t know for sure…..but something….isn’t adding up. If I can see you tomorrow…..together we may be able to make sense of this whole thing.”
She pauses, and glares at him before replying, “10 am sharp at my place Mr Cork. And no more smart- arse comments about my son like the last time! Do you understand?”
Still gasping for air he responds with incredible difficulty, “You can …count on it…I don’t want to…go through this again.” Gina’s sons bump into Sebastian as they pass. After they drive off, he hunches over, holding his cane across his knees and then throws up. “My God, I really need to do something about my fitness!” He begins throwing up again. Once Sebastian regains his composure he gives Cynthia a call and tells her he’s on his way home.
That night, he and Cynthia go to the study to discuss everything that’s happened up till now. As Sebastian moves toward the liquor cabinet to pour them drinks, he tells her he’s still not convinced that things unfolded the way Jim thinks they did. Cynthia lazes back in the leather recliner, elegantly crosses her legs and runs the palms of her open hands up the arms of the chair. She’s concerned for Sebastian and believes he may be overreacting.
She tries to convince him of it. “Don’t you feel you’re taking this all a bit too far, Seb?”