Mother's love 2

When the policemen arrived, the ambulance was already there and the paramedics were about to leave.

“She was right,” one of them informed the officers.

“There was nothing we could have done. The man must have been dead for at least an hour when she called.”

Officers thanked him for the information and while the younger of the two walked with the paramedic towards the door, further inquiring about the deceased, the other carefully approached the young woman who had called them. She was still crying, obviously in shock. He had to shake her shoulder to get noticed after she had ignored him when he had spoken to her. He could see her jump a little when he touched her. She didn’t notice his arrival at all in her grief.

“Ma’am, is it okay if I ask you a few things? I promise to be quick and considerate,” the officer spoke to her slowly and let her process for a minute. His only answer was a hardly noticeable nod, but as a person who have dealt with many difficult cases and people in similar situations, he knew it must have taken enormous amount of energy on her part. He helped her to a glass of water which she kept sipping slowly and patiently waited for all of her answers.

After talking to her for almost an hour, he had hardly obtained the information he needed, but he could see the woman was in no condition to continue the interrogation. While he called her family and made sure she will be expected and taken care of at her sister’s, the younger officer was asked to help her pack clothing for herself and her one-year-old, who was then sleeping peacefully in his cradle.

“Well, that was quick. Looks like we’re done here,” the older officer informed his colleague when he appeared in a doorway.

The young man stood there baffled. He had been gone for barely five minutes, helping the deceased’s girlfriend and their child get into a cab. While he knew that his colleague had been a police officer for decades and was a renowned investigator respected by the whole police force, he couldn’t help feeling surprised and a bit sceptic. He considered his exclamation both bolt and arrogant, the body hasn’t even been seen by the coroner yet.

“Don’t worry, boy, when you’ll have been doing this your whole life, you’ll have a nose for those things too,” the older officer laughed as he noticed his partner’s unimpressed look.

“Trust me, it doesn’t get any simpler than this. Look at the man. He was a druggie. They say he was clean for some time now, but you know what I say? Guys like him, they don’t change. Oh trust me, I’ve seen plenty of guys like him. They get clean, months later, they’re back where they were. Just like him. Go take a good sniff, will ya? Smell the alcohol? And he’s been snorting, too, the paramedics noticed that the second they saw him and they were right. They think the drugs killed him. They’re right, ya know? Textbook clear, just look at him!”

The young officer looked as he was told, but he couldn’t see it. What he saw was just some guy, no different from him, lying on a couch in his home. He saw a boyfriend, a loving father to a baby boy. He saw a man with tattoos from his darker past, who now had a new life, nice home, and loving family. Man who was clean, shaved, whose hair was cut, clothes well-kept. He really couldn’t see the hopeless drug addict his colleague kept describing.

“How can this be all? We barely did anything. That man just had a kid, I find it hard to believe he would do something like this, it just doesn’t make sense. And there are so many things we haven’t considered! The coroner hasn’t even seen him, this can’t be it,” the young officer protested, incapable of letting it go. He became an officer to help, as lousy as it sounds. He couldn’t help himself, he felt like wasn’t doing enough. He felt like he didn’t give the man a chance.

“Really, we’ve been here for hours, called in the middle of night… what else you want to do? And who are you that you think you know what he would do? You don’t know a thing about him, I’ve seen dozens of them druggies!”

“We didn’t even search the flat. And we should contact his girlfriend, she barely told you…”

“Are ya serious? Have ya seen the poor woman? She’s alone with her kid, she doesn’t need to be bothered by your stupid questions! But yeah, sure, ya want keep working, be my guest. I’m going home, to bed, like a reasonable person. You’re staying right here, since you’re so eager, and waiting ‘till they come for the body. Good night!"