A Matter of Justice - Chapter II

This story was inspired by actual events.

Chapter II

6:30 AM

         His head felt like it was about to explode.  When he opened his eyes, the overhead light bulb was shining directly on him from the ceiling.    He could see bars on his window.
 
         Bars?  Where the hell am I? 

         He was alone in a cell.  He tried to sit up, but the pain in his head was horrendous.  He thought back to see if he could figure out how he got here.  Nothing would come.
 
         “Alex Hammond?”

         A man was standing in front of the cell.  He was wearing a tan jacket and looked the size of a mountain. 

         “Yes?”  OK, at least I know my name.

         “My name is Detective Tom Hawkins.  Can you tell me what happened last night?”

         “I’m sorry sir, but I can’t remember anything.  I was just sitting here worrying that I didn’t know my name.”

         “OK.  What’s the last thing you do remember about last night?”

         “I was at a party with some friends.  We were playing ‘Trivial Shots’.”

         “Trivial shots?”

         “Yeah, you know.  If you don’t get the answer right, you have to down a shot.  I guess I was wrong a lot.”

         “Do you remember parking in the Davis’ yard and entering their house through the back door?”

         “Who is Davis?”

         “Mr. Davis is the man that you allegedly attacked last night.  He was stabbed six times.  What were you wearing at this party?”

         “Wearing?  You mean my clothes?”

         “Yes.  What were you wearing?”

         “This.  What I’ve got on.”

         “You weren’t wearing a black T-shirt, jeans, baseball cap?”

         “No.  I don’t like baseball caps.  And it was too hot last night to wear jeans.  That’s why I wore shorts.”

         A uniform came down the hall.  “Detective, his parents are here with his lawyer.” 

         “If you aren’t going to charge him, Tom, we’re out of here.”  Jonathan Ball was a well respected attorney in town and didn’t come cheap.

         “You know I can hold him for 72 hours, Jon.”

         “Yes, you can.  But according to the police report, he doesn’t even match the description of the perp.  So why are you going keep him here?”

         “OK kid, you can go.  Just stay where I can find you.  By the way, forensic needs his clothes.  Did his folks bring other clothes for him?”

         “I’m his mother.  I brought other clothes for him.  Why do you want his clothes?”

         “Evidence ma’am.  His clothes may be able to prove his guilt or his innocence.”

         Alex changed his clothes in the men’s room, under the watchful eye of a uniformed cop. 

         The car ride home was very noisy and his head still hurt.
 
         “You want to explain to me what this is all about?”  His father, Martin Hammond was not known for his patience. 

         “I don’t know.”  Alex was in no mood for conversation.

         “The cops said they picked you up off the sidewalk where you evidently passed out.  What, you were drinking?”  His voice was getting louder.

         “Can’t we talk about this later, Marty?  Alex doesn’t look very well.”

         “No he probably doesn’t, not if he was drunk off his ass a few hours ago.”

         “Look, Dad, I was hanging out with my friends, that’s all.  Gimme a break!  The next thing I knew I woke up in jail.”

         “Well, I hope you had a real good time, cause that’s the last ‘hanging out’ you’re gonna do for a long time.  Those bums you hang out with are just that – bums.  I never liked your choice of friends to begin with.”

         Alex closed his eyes, trying to block out the drone of his father’s voice.  He seemed to be going out of his way to hit every pothole, and Alex was feeling like he would hurl.

         I swear I will never drink again, God.  Just please let me get through this.

* * * * *

9:15 AM

         Nurse Calloway was working on some charts and looked up in time to see a teenage boy walking toward her.  She thought he had come out of Mr. Davis' room.  He looked startled when he realized she was looking at him, but he nodded and smiled at her, and then broke into a jog.

         Hmm. I wonder who that was?

         She didn’t have time to dwell on it, as it was time for Mr. Carmichael’s medication.  She was alone at the nurse’s station until Sue got back from her break.  She was mildly annoyed that Sue was late getting back again.

9:20 AM

         I hate hospitals.  Harold Davis was groggy from the medication, but alert enough to remember that he hated hospitals.  In his mid 40’s, he was in fair shape.  He worked out pretty regularly and the doctor told him that he would heal just fine.  Someone came into his room, and he had a vague idea it was his nurse.  She was injecting something in his IV. 

         More drugs.  Good.  Maybe I can sleep through visiting hours. 
 
         He closed his eyes and drifted to sleep - permanently. 

9:25 AM

         The alarm from Mr. Davis’ room went off, just as Nurse Calloway was heading back to her station.  She went running into his room, noting that Sue was back and right behind her.  Assessing the situation, she pressed the call button for Code Blue, and immediately the room started filling up with people.  The doctor on call tried CPR then defibrillation, to no avail.

         “Time of death 9:42.”

10:30 AM

July 12

          Hawk was exhausted.  He hadn’t been to bed in more than 24 hours.  Coming out of the shower, more than ready to fall into bed, he heard his phone ringing.  He thought about not answering. 

         They can leave a message.  Probably a telemarketer anyway.

         Because he’s a cop, the demanding ring got the best of him and he picked up the receiver on the 6th ring.
 
         “Hey, Hawk!  I thought you’d never answer!”

         “Hey, Perk, this better be important.  I need sleep, not chit chat.”

         “I figured I better call you. There’s been a new development, you might say, in the Davis case.”

         “You picked up another suspect?”

         “No, but I’d like to go pick up that kid again.”

         “Twenty questions, just what I need.  Perk, get to the point!”

         “OK, sorry.  It’s like this.  Davis died this morning – about an hour ago.”

         “So now it’s murder.”

         “Yup.  But it’s probably premeditated.”

         “And you came to this conclusion how?”

         “I just got the preliminary tox screen from the coroner.  Davis died of an overdose of insulin.”

         “What? Who ordered the tox screen?”

         “I did, as soon as I found out that the floor nurse remembers seeing someone who looked like the kid, at 9:15 this morning.”

         “What, on Davis’ floor?”  Hawk was trying to focus.

         “Yeah and she thinks he had just come out of Davis’ room.”

         “What the hell…?  OK, pick me up in 15 minutes.  I’m way too tired to drive.  You’ll have to be my chauffeur today.”

         “You got it boss.”

10:40 AM

         “That nurse saw me, Mike.  I am in so much trouble.  My Dad’s gonna kill me when he finds out I snuck out of the house.”

         “Alex, why did you sneak out of the house?  Aren’t you on house arrest or something?” 

         Mike had come in through Alex’ window.  The Davis stabbing was in the paper this morning, along with Alex’s picture – the Polaroid.

         “I haven’t been arrested!  I was grounded by my Dad, which is probably worse.  Meanwhile, I just wanted to see the guy that got stabbed.  I thought maybe I would remember something from last night.”

         “Did it work?”

         “No.  I swear I never saw that man before this morning.  When I left your house, did I say where I was going?”

         “I think you said you were going to spend the night at Kevin’s house.  You were so drunk, I don’t think you had a clue.  I was drunk too, so I may not have heard you right.”

         Alex’s door slammed open.  His father stood there looking mean.

         “Did you leave this room this morning?”

         Alex suddenly found it hard to breathe.  “Why?”

         “That detective is downstairs and he wants to talk to you.”

         Alex felt like he was going to the gallows.  He meekly left his room and went downstairs.

         “Hey, Alex.  What’s up?” Hawk noticed the kid was looking terrified.

         “Hey Detective um, uh.”

         “Hawkins.”

         “Right.  Sorry.  What’s going on?”

         “Alex, Mr. Davis died this morning.”

         “DIED?  You mean he’s dead?”  Alex was still a little fuzzy.

         “Yup.  Seems someone went in and killed him.”

         “You mean when they stabbed him.”  This was a statement.

         “No I mean when they went in and killed him this morning, at the hospital.  Funny thing though, the floor nurse remembers seeing someone who looked like you, coming out of his room just before he died.  What do you have to say about that?”

         Alex felt like his world was falling down around him.  He looked at his father, who resembled Mt. St. Helen’s just before her eruption.  Alex knew that the law could not do anything to him that would be worse than his father.

         My life is over now.  They’ll never believe the truth.  I am so stupid!  Why couldn’t I just stay in my room?  NO, I had to go to the hospital.  DUH!

         “Alex, you’d better start explaining, and I mean now!”  His father’s face was getting redder by the second. 

         Hawk wondered how hard this guy was on his kids.  From the looks of it, Alex was terrified to open his mouth.  He decided to make it easier on the kid.

         “Alex, would you mind coming down to the station with me?”

         Alex felt relief wash over him.  “By myself?”

         “Sure, just a few questions is all.”

         “Sure.  No problem.”  Anything to get away from his father.

         “You can’t take my boy down to the station without his parents!”

         “Actually, I can and I’m going to.  He’s 17 and for all intents and purposes, he is an adult.  You can call his attorney if you like.  Come on Alex, let’s go.”

         The ride to the station was quiet.  Hawk didn’t want to ask him anything, until he could record it.  He wondered about the relationship between Alex and his father.  The mother looked like she wanted to hide in the closet.  When they reached the station, Hawk took Alex to an interrogation room, complete with tape recorder, and asked him to sit down.
 
         “You want a soda?”

         “No thanks, I’m all set.”

         “Alex I need to ask you some questions and I’m going to record your answers.  Is that OK with you?”

         “Sure.”

         “Would you rather your attorney be present during the questioning?”

         “No, I’m good.”

         “OK, please state your name and address for the record?”

* * * * *

1:30 PM

         Perk was leaning on the edge of Hawk’s desk, listening to the recorded interrogation.  Hawk was not happy.

         “So the kid admits to being at the hospital at the time of the murder?”

         “Yeah, dumb kid. He said he thought that if he saw Davis, maybe he would remember something.”

         “You think he did it?"

         "Maybe."

         "OK, so how did he get the insulin?”

         “Perk, kids can get anything they want on the street and you know it.  He just doesn’t seem the type.  OK, I want a background check on all of the Hammonds’, and the Davis’ too.  Let’s see if there are any skeletons in their closets.  I have a list here of all the kids that were at that party with Alex.  You take half and I’ll take half.  We’ll have to interview them all.  Meanwhile, I’m going to forensics to check the results of the kid’s clothes and see if the coroner finished the autopsy yet.”