Acquiring Justice.

Acquiring Justice.
By Jake Salo.
(Author’s note: This story is described from the point of view of Captain Jack Howell of the Plebasin, Utah Police Department. He is a 42 year old man who is a father of two and happily married for 20 years. He has gray hair and stands with an important looking posture.)

Prologue.
Some say that everyone has a few skeletons in their closet. For those of you that don’t know what that means, it’s a way of saying that everyone has a few dark secrets that no one else knows about. I know of a town that has quite a few. Plebasin is the one I’m talking about. It’s a relatively small town in Utah, only has a population of about 9,000. Well, I guess 9,000 is pretty high when you think about it. It might have been a little higher though, at least by 1 if it weren’t for the death of Clara Johnson. Clara was a little 10 year old girl who disappeared in ‘79. Her parents were devastated when it happened. It didn’t help them much that there were no leads, no ransom note, no phone call. The Johnsons weren’t even all that rich. Back then, I was a young hot-shot rookie who had just joined the force. I didn’t pay too much attention to the case, I let the detectives handle it. Only time I ever remember talking about it with someone else was during the break room with the chief and some FBI agent who’d been called in to help. Clara was gone for about a month before they finally found her in the landfill. I was called out there to provide some security. It took a team of forensic experts about 2 hours to find all the pieces of her. There were legs, hands, arms, two pieces of a torso, and a few pieces they couldn’t identify. By the time her parents got there, they had just found the head. I don’t think I’d ever seen anyone scream and throw up at the same time before Clara’s mother. There probably wasn’t a single dry eye in all of Plebasin for the next few weeks. I even saw some of the hardened veterans just burst into tears when they heard the news. Everyone wanted to find out who did it. The one person everyone suspected was this guy who was a former sex offender who had just gotten out. He probably got the crap kicked out of him every time he walked out of his house. I even think someone tried to shoot him once. Of course, DNA evidence eventually proved that he didn’t do it, and that was it. We checked out her parents, but other than them, we had no other suspects. The case was finally closed and declared unsolved in ‘89 after no other suspects were named. As for her parents, Mrs. Johnson “ate a shotgun” as we described it soon after the case closed. Mr. Johnson lived, but he recently filed a lawsuit to have the case reopened, I’m guessing he’s about 58 now. I’m a captain now, but not a day goes by when I still think of the torment he still goes through and wonder what sick person would ever do something like that to an innocent little girl. People used to think that the case would never be solved and the perp probably skipped town. That was before Detective Harry Barnes came to town.

Chapter 1:Detective Barnes.
When I first saw the guy, I didn’t think much of him when he came into the precinct one day. He had to have been at least 30 years old, 29 maybe. Looked old for his age. He was a few feet taller than me and had black hair. I thought he was a new detective, so I decided to go up and talk to him.
“You new in town?” I asked him. He turned towards me with a cold stare and simply said,
“Uh, huh.” I thought he was really depressed or something like that. Then, he offered his hand to me. “Harry Barnes, pleased to meet you.” He said. I shook his hand and said,
“Captain Jack Howell.” I asked him if he was joining the precinct, but he said no.
“I’m just here to do a small investigation on one of your old cases.” He said. Barnes then walked away and he entered the room where they keep the records of cases. I went into the chief’s office and asked about him. The chief told me he was from one of the precincts up in Salt Lake City. He’d been suspended because he got a little rough with an abusive father. Okay, rough was an understatement, he pistol whipped the guy until he’d pretty much broken his entire face. Barnes got suspended for the incident and the guy he whipped tried to sue the city, but the judge tossed the case out of court. No one had any sympathy for an asshole who beats up his kid. Well, Barnes then heard about Clara Johnson’s case and decided to come down here in his free time to look at it. Then the chief dropped the bombshell on me, I was going to work with him.
“What?” I protested.
“You’re the most experienced person on the force, and you’re familiar with the case, so I decided to pick you.” The chief said.
“I’m not partnering up with some flatfoot who’s been suspended!” I yelled.
“Calm down, you’re not partnering up with him, you’re merely to assist him in the investigation. He’s been hired by Mr. Johnson and the city thinks this is a good way to settle the lawsuit about the case.” The chief said in a calm tone. “Besides, if it were you in Barnes’s situation, you would have done a hell of a lot more than just pistol whip him.” I didn’t have a reply to that one, I knew the chief was right.
“Okay,” I asked, “I’ll do it.” I exited the chief’s room and went over to records to let Barnes know I was his secretary. When I told him, he smiled at me, picked up a folder labeled with the words “Clara Johnson Homicide, 1979,” and said, “Let’s go find the piece o’ shit who did this.” With that, we walked outside and entered his car.

As we were driving in his car, I looked at Barnes. His face was straight, completely stone cold. His black trench coat made his appearance look even more imposing. His black hair was perpetually uncombed. I must have looked like a happy person next to him in my blue police uniform with my graying hair. It wasn’t until after we’d been in the car for about 10 minutes that I actually worked up the courage to say something.
“So, how’s the weather?” I couldn’t believe I had asked such a stupid question.
“It’s a little colder in Salt Lake, I’m not used to this climate yet.” He said. Barnes didn’t seem to care that my question wasn’t exactly well thought.
“So, where are we going anyway?”
“Returning to the scene of the crime. Clara Johnson was found in the landfill, so we’re going to the landfill.” Barnes said.
“Good detective work.” I said.
“You know, I bet it doesn’t seem like it around here, but the Clara Johnson case is actually well known nationally. It’s kinda’ like that Martha Moxley thing and Michael Skakel.”
“Why though? Do you have any reason for wanting to find out about this?” I asked.
“All I have is my police work, so if I didn’t do something, I’d go insane,” his tone then changed to very serious, “I also came down here seeking something.”
“What’s that?”
“Justice for that little girl.” Barnes said. I had a feeling in my gut that this wasn’t going to be a normal, routine investigation. It was going to be something more than that.

Chapter 2:The Investigation Begins Anew.
We arrived at the landfill at about 12:54 p.m. on the sunny April day. We pulled up next to the entrance and walked inside. Barnes and I walked in and went up to the main office. The guy that ran the landfill was this old guy who’d been born in Plebasin and hadn’t left once. He was a crotchety old bastard that gave us a lot of trouble every time we came to ask him about anything, probably worried we’d rat him out to the IRS for not paying his taxes, which he most likely didn’t. I had a feeling that this time wouldn’t be any different, but with Barnes here this time, we might get some information out of him. As soon as we walked in the door, we saw him at his desk.
“Willard Mallace?” Barnes asked.
“Oh great, not you pigs again. What happened, the donut shop go out of business?” Willard asked in an annoyed tone.
“Cut the wise ass remarks, Willard, we’re just here to ask you some questions.” I said. “Do you remember when Clara Johnson was found in here?”
“A bunch o’ cops already asked me that the day it happened.”
“Just answer the damn question.” Barnes said. He had his hands in the pockets of his trench coat, like he was holding onto something.
“Fine. Some o’ my employees found an arm in a trash pile, so he called the cops and got ‘em out here, so they wasted all our time while those egghead forensic guys came out here and searched through all the trash. Took us forever to get back on schedule.” Willard didn’t even look up from this thing he was working on at his desk.
“Yeah, real inconvenience for you, finding a dead little girl in your landfill, stupid inconsiderate guy who killed her and dumped her there.” Barnes said in a sarcastic tone. I could tell he wasn’t very impressed with Willard’s attitude. Willard got up from the desk and walked over to us.
“That’s all I know, so if you’re done, I have a lot of paperwork to do.” Willard said.
“Okay, thanks for your help, Willard.” I said. I turned around and Barnes followed me.
“She was asking for it, you know.” Willard said. We stopped and turned around to face him. “Her parents were always dressing her up in those nice little dresses. It was only a matter of time before some psycho found her, raped her, and then tossed her. Little bitch got what she deserved if ya’ ask me.” I was going to tell Willard to shut up, but before I could, Barnes ran across the office, leapt over the desk, and tackled Willard. I ran behind the desk and found Barnes punching the crap out of Willard.
“Barnes! For cryin’ out loud, you’re gonna’ kill the guy!” I pulled him off and drug him back in front of the desk.
“I bet you’re not gonna’ say anything more are you?!” Barnes yelled. I finally let go of him.
“Come on, let’s get outta’ here.” I said.
“Eat this!” Willard stood up from behind the desk, holding a shotgun. He moved the barrel toward both of us.
“Oh shit!” We both yelled. Barnes and I dove to the side and landed on the ground. Willard fired the shotgun, shattering a window. I pulled out my .357 magnum and unlocked the safety. I saw Barnes take his gun out of one of his trench coat pockets. It was a standard issue 9mm handgun. I didn’t think we would have to shoot Willard. I could smell booze all over his breath when we came in. Willard was also a lousy shot anyway, which I had noticed at the department’s public shooting range. He could fire a gun at point blank range toward a fat man and still miss by a mile.
“Get outta’ my landfill you sons o’ bitches!” Willard yelled. He fired another shot, at the same place he hit the first time, of all places. I motioned for Barnes to crawl forward. We both moved behind the desk. Willard fired another shot straight in the air and yelled “Where’d you go?!” While he was looking around for us, Barnes jumped up and grabbed the shotgun. I tripped Willard and brought him down and slapped some handcuffs on him.
“Nice job, Willard. Shooting at cops isn’t a good idea.” Barnes said.
“Willard Mallace, you are under arrest for attempted murder. You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right, anything you do or say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you.” I said. I then helped Willard up. I was hoping that no one would notice that bruise on his face when we brought him back.

Back at the precinct, Willard was being interrogated by one of the detectives. He was mad as hell and cussing up a storm in that room. I think he might have flipped off the detective once as I was watching him through the one-way glass. Barnes was in the chief’s office, giving a report on the situation. I got bored listening to Willard swear, so I decided to go see how Barnes was doing. Before I went in, I noticed him and the chief come out.
“Willard’s pretty angry.” I said.
“Yeah, he is.” Barnes said.
“Harry told me about how he opened fire on you guys after Harry attacked him.” The chief said. I was shocked that Barnes actually told the chief about what happened.
“Internal affairs catch on yet?” I asked.
“No, and they aren’t going to find out. Willard most likely isn’t going to try and sue because of his tax evasion problem, and there’s no need to report this to anyone because technically, you’re not part of the precinct.” The chief said to Barnes.
“Thank you, sir.” Barnes said.
“You’re welcome, but try not to pummel anyone if you can help it. Be glad I appreciate honesty.” The chief walked back into his office. Barnes walked over to an empty desk and sat down in the chair.
“Why did you tell the chief?” I asked Barnes.
“I told my superior about the incident where I pistol whipped that one guy. Your chief is a lot more forgiving than mine was, I’ll tell you that.” Barnes laughed after he said this.
“Yeah. Well, Willard was a dead end, what are we going to do now?” I asked.
“We’re out of leads for now, may as well go report to my employer.” Barnes said. He stood up from the chair he was sitting in and walked toward the exit. I followed him.

It was about 2:30 when we arrived at a large condominium in the city. I recognized it as the residence of Mr. Johnson. We pulled up next to the curb, got out of the car, and walked into the lobby. The clerk was playing a game of solitaire at his desk. He looked up to notice us.
“Can I help you?” He asked in a polite tone.
“Yes, is Mr. Johnson here?” Barnes asked.
“Not at the moment, could I take a message?”
“It’s okay, Alan, I’m right here.” Mr. Johnson entered the building. He was dressed in a suit and tie and had gray hair. “Hello, Harry.” Barnes and him walked up and shook hands.
“Mr. Johnson, a pleasure to meet you in person.” Barnes said.
“Please, call me William.” He looked at me. “Captain Howell, nice to see you again.”
“Likewise, William.” I walked up and shook his hand as well. William Johnson and I had become friends shortly after his wife’s death. We met with each other to talk about random things. I remember him even coming to our house for dinner once. My girls really liked him, as did my two sons.
“Please, come up to my apartment and we can talk.” William walked over to the elevator and pushed the button. Barnes and I followed and went up to the top floor.

In William’s apartment, I sat in a chair while Barnes was on the couch. William came over and sat down in the chair that was right across from mine.
“Coffee, Tea?” He asked.
“No, thank you.” I said.
“I’m good.” Barnes said.
“Okay. Anyway, let’s get down to business. How is the search for my daughter’s killer coming along?” William asked.
“We don’t have any more clues at this point. If there’s anything else you can tell us, it might help.” I said.
“Hmmmm, were you living in this condo at the time of your daughter’s death?” Barnes asked.
“No, we used to own a house on the east side of town. I moved out after my wife died.”
“Any reason?”
“I had two choices, Harry, one was to stay in that house and drink myself into an early grave because of the depression. The other was to move out and focus on my work. I’m not a bitter old man, but it still pains me whenever I think about it. Success as a businessman can’t bring happiness.” William looked at the ground.
“I’m sorry.” Barnes said.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
“William, is there any other family you have?” I had never thought of asking him that before now.
“Only one person. My high school girlfriend, she cheated on me and got pregnant. She said that I was the father, but I knew that wasn’t true. I think she did too. I left that town, and her, behind and married Jodie. Crap, what was her name? Mary, that was it. Her daughter probably has to be at least 30 something now.”
“Do you have a key to your old house?” I asked.
“I tossed it into the river, I would have done the same to that house, but an employee of mine offered to buy it for $1,000. I decided to take it and came here.”
“Interesting. Okay, we’ll check out the house and get back to you on that.” Barnes said.
“Thanks for chatting with us, William. Sorry we have to get going so soon.” I rose from my chair and shook William’s hand.
“You’re welcome, and also tell your chief that I’m dropping my lawsuit to have the case reopened. I hope to hear from you in a few days.” William said. The two of us walked out. In the hallway, Barnes started talking.
“I hope I can restrain myself when we find the guy who did this, I might end up shooting him in the head.” Barnes said.
“Easy there,” I said, “Wouldn’t want to be doing anything too drastic.”
“You’re right.” Barnes took a deep breath before speaking again. “So, are we going to the old house or are we gonna’ run some info on the high school girlfriend?”
“What good would she do?” I asked him as we walked into the elevator. I pushed the button to go down to the bottom floor.
“Well, from what it sounds like, she was pretty pissed off about this whole pregnancy thing, so she might have a motive to go after Clara. I’m just using logic on that one.” Barnes said. The elevator reached ground floor and we walked out towards the door.
“Come again.” The clerk said.
“We will.” I said. We walked out to the car, I opened my door and watched Barnes as he walked over to his. “If you want to check out the high school girlfriend, I guess we could always go do it, but it would be a good idea to check out the house first.” I got in.
“All right, let’s go.” Barnes got in and we started off toward the direction of the old house.

Chapter 3:New Suspects.
It was about 4:30 by the time we reached the house. It looked very rundown and the grass hadn’t been cut in years. We both got out of the car. I walked up to the grass and noticed a dead racoon in it. It stunk so bad I had to cover my nose. Barnes walked up to the pathway, put his hands on hips and looked around.
“What a dump.” He finally said. We walked across the pathway and up to the porch. I knocked on the door. The doorknob fell off as I did.
“Interesting woodwork.” I said.
“Shit, who lives here, circus freaks?” Barnes said. The door then opened. I nearly jumped at the site of the person in front of me. It was a man who had a long scraggly beard, the only hair on his head was a wig that was put on backwards. He was wearing a white tank-top (a wife beater for those of you who know it by that name). I don’t mention anything else because that’s all he was wearing, completely naked from the waist down. He had a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand.
“Can I help you?” He asked in a slurred voice.
“You can start by putting some pants on!” Barnes yelled, shielding his eyes.
“Wha?” He looked down. “Oh, sorry about that.” He closed the door and walked away before coming back, this time with a pair of jeans on. “What can I do for ya?”
“Um, are you busy at all?” I asked, desperately trying to get the image of him naked out of my mind.
“No, whatcha need?” He asked.
“You bought this house from William Johnson, correct?” I asked.
“Oh yeah! I used to work for him. I needed a place to live, so he gave it to me for a great old deal.” The man said.
“Do you mind if we have a look around?” Barnes asked.
“What for?”
“It’s for a police investigation.” Barnes said.
“Oh, okay. Sure, go ahead. I ain’t got nothing to hide.” The man at the door then fell backwards onto the ground and started snoring.
“You know, there’s something very hilarious about a drunken man falling asleep almost instantly.” Barnes said.
“Good thing he gave us permission before he went down.” I said. We both walked into the house. Barnes walked upstairs. I decided to pick up the man and put him on the couch in the living room.
“Hey, Jack!” Barnes yelled from upstairs. I rushed up the stairs. Barnes was in a room to the left of the stairway. I walked inside. It looked like it was the man’s liquor room. There was a closet in the room that was full of cases of beer, wine, and margarita mixes. A child’s bed sat, almost untouched, next to the window. Barnes was kneeling on the floor next to the bed. It looked like he was examining the floorboards.
“What are you looking at?” I asked.
“This.” He pulled up a section of the floorboard that was next to the wall.
“What is it?”
“This section was kind of going up on the wall. Well, here’s what I was looking for.” Barnes pulled the floorboard completely over. Underneath was something I never expected to find. It was an ammunition clip for a 9mm.
“It’s an ammo clip.” I said in a surprised voice.
“Uh, huh. We got some evidence now. There’s also another place I have to check outside. Could you put that in a plastic bag for me?” Barnes got up and walked outside. I took out an evidence bag I had in my pocket and put the clip in it. I also wondered to myself how the hell Barnes had noticed that floorboard the Crime Scene team had missed. He must have been an extremely good detective, though he still was. I thought to myself that if anyone could probably solve this case, it would be him. My train of thought was then broken when I heard Barnes’s voice yell for my attention outside. I walked over to the window. Barnes had moved an old lawnmower aside and dug underneath the dirt that it was over. It looked like he had found something.

I went outside to see for myself what buried treasure Barnes had dug up.
“What did you find?” I asked. Barnes held up a knife. It had a fine edge with several teeth. It looked like a hunting knife, and resembled the kind of knife that Sylvester Stallone had in the second Rambo movie.
“Geez, how did you find that?” I asked.
“Simple, I moved the lawn mower and noticed that the grass underneath wasn’t growing. The dirt looked like it had been moved, so I brushed some of it aside and found this in there.” He put the knife in a plastic bag.
“So, we’ve got a 9mm clip and a knife. Let’s get both down to the forensic office and have ‘em tested.” I said.

Down at the forensic office, we were waiting in the lab for the results of the test. The doctor that was doing the tests on them was a young guy, but he definitely knew what he was doing. He finally walked up to us.,
“Well, I did some fingerprint testing and some blood recognition on the knife. I got nothing on both.” He said.
“What? You didn’t find any prints?” I asked.
“Nope, and no traces of blood on the knife either. I could do some more tests on them. Do you want me to?”
“Uh, no. Just bag them both and send them to the precinct. Thanks for your help.” I said. I glanced at Barnes, he didn’t look very happy.
“No problem. If you get any more evidence, just give me a call.” The scientist said. Barnes and I then left the office.
“Shit, and I thought I had something there.” Barnes said.
“The chief might send a CSI team there to comb the rest of the place, so it’s a good start.” I said, reassuring Barnes.
“Yeah.” Barnes pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. He dialed a number and started walking toward the exit. I followed him.
“William? It’s me, Harry. I was wondering, do you know where your high school girlfriend lives? It’s just for a check.” Barnes said into the phone. I could hear William’s voice on the other line. I couldn’t understand what he was saying. “Mountra, okay, thanks. See ya’ later.” Barnes turned his cell phone off. “Let’s go.” He walked out to his car and I followed.

It was about 8:30 by the time we reached Mountra. It took us about half an hour to get there. Mountra was about the same size as Plebasin, except it didn’t have any tall buildings and the only police department it had was a group of the worst cops I had ever seen. Every single one of them were dirty enough to fill a bathtub full of disgusting water. I think the only place that had a higher crime rate was probably Los Angeles. Anyway, we reached the address William had given Barnes and we got out. The only car that was in front of the apartment was a van that was decorated with bright colors. Barnes noticed it and made a joke about it.
“While we’re here, want to bust potheads?” He said before laughing.
“Nah, that’ll just waste our time.” I said. We entered the apartment. The desk clerk was too busy doing her nails to answer our questions, so we just walked over to the door number that William gave us. I knocked on the door that had the number 123 on the front in gold letters. A voice came from the other side.
“Who’s there?” The female voice said.
“Is there a Mary here?” I asked.
“Yes, just a second.” I heard about 10 different locks turn before the door opened. The girl who answered was probably in her mid-20s. She said before walking back in, her brown hair trailing behind her. Barnes walked in first, and I followed. The apartment was dark, lit completely by candles. I could smell incense everywhere. I hated the smell of it, but Barnes didn’t seem to mind. There was a kitchen to the left of the entrance, and a living room. A door on the other side of the living room probably led into the bedroom. Sitting on a couch was an old woman and another girl, this one with red hair.
“Mary?” I asked.
“Yes, what do you want?” The old woman rose. The girl who had answered the door came up next to her.
“They appear to be police officers, mother.” She said.
“Thank you, Catherine. You may go back to what you were doing.” The girl left the room and went into one of the bedrooms.
“May I help her?” The red haired girl asked.
“Yes, Aralc, you may.” Mary said. Aralc also went into the bedroom. “Now, officers, what can I do for you?” Mary walked over to us.
“You are Mary Gamira, correct?” Barnes asked.
“I already answered that, yes I am.”
“Okay, we’d like to ask you some questions about Clara Johnson.” I said.
“Oh, yes. The little girl they found in the landfill. I hope that William hung himself in his closet, and that’s why you’re here.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but he’s alive and well. His wife was the one who killed herself.” Barnes said.
“I already knew that. She couldn’t take the pain of her poor daughter’s case being closed, so she gave up.” Mary said in a very uncaring tone.
“Could you tell us about your relationship your William?” I asked.
“He got me pregnant with Catherine when I was only 18 and ran out on me. He went and married that slut Jodie, almost like I never existed.” She picked up a cup of tea and sipped it.
“We were under the impression that you cheated on him with another man and that Catherine was not his child, also, who is the other girl?” I asked.
“The other girl is Aralc, and orphan we found on the street and raised as my own. As for the thing about me cheating on him, this is what I say about it. IT’S A DAMN LIE!,” She started yelling, “That son of a bitch had sex with me and got me pregnant. He ruined my scholarship chances and to top it off, he married another woman and had a child with her! I hope his bitch of a wife burns in hell for taking William away from me!” Mary yelled. Catherine and Aralc came out of the bedroom to see what was going on.
“Hmmmm, jealousy. Is that the reason? Did you kill Clara just to get back at William?” Barnes asked. I looked at him and noticed the emotionless look on his face as he spoke. “He doesn’t want to give your child support for a baby he never fathered, so you kill the child he actually did father, perfect plot for revenge if you ask me.” Barnes said. Mary ran up to him and slapped him across the face. Barnes moved his head back toward her.
“I didn’t kill his daughter, but I’m glad he’s had to suffer! I’ve answered your questions, now get the hell out of my apartment!” Mary pointed toward the door. Barnes turned toward the door, but he said, “Can’t keep up the charade forever,” before walking out. I looked at him and then back at the three angry women in the room.
“Uh, here’s my card, give us a call if you know anything more.” I dropped my card on the coffee table and walked out the door.

On the way back to Plebasin, Barnes and I started talking. I was the one who initiated the conversation.
“How’s your face?”
“It’s fine. Damn, for a psychotic old lady, she hits hard.” Barnes said.
“Notice that she got pretty pissed off when you said that she killed Clara?” I asked.
“Yeah, that means one of two things. She either did kill Clara and she’s lying, or she resented being accused.” Barnes said. “If you ask me, I’d go with choice 1 on that question.”
“We don’t know that for sure, so it won’t do any good to make accusations without evidence. Let’s wait until tomorrow to go look for more clues.” I said.

We reached Plebasin at about 9:45. Barnes dropped me off at the station and waited while I got my stuff before he then dropped me off at my house.
“Hey, Harry, you want to come in and stay the night?” I asked.
“Nah, I’ll be fine. I got my car. See you tomorrow, captain.” Barnes said. He drove off into the night. I waved goodbye and walked inside my house. My wife was sitting on the couch, waiting for me.
“How was your day, honey?” She asked.
“Okay, I got assigned to the Clara Johnson case.” I said.
“They reopened it?” My wife asked.
“Yeah, I’m working with a detective from Salt Lake. Name of Harry Barnes. We didn’t find any leads, but I think he has an idea who might have done it.”
“Well, it just pains me to think that we have two children and poor William lives all by himself.”
“Speaking of that, the kids in bed?”
“Yeah, let’s go to bed also.”
“You’re right, I need some rest.” And with that, we went up the stairs and into bed.

Chapter 4:Sniper Attack
Later that night, I was asleep when I was awakened to the sound of a car pulling up next to the house. Suddenly, a loud shot echoed out and the sound of glass breaking downstairs. I leaped out of my bed and grabbed my .357.
“Jack, what was that?” My wife asked frantically.
“I’ll check it out. See if the kids are okay. I’m going downstairs.” I said.
“Be careful.” My wife said.
“You too, stay low.” With that, I carefully walked down the stairs. I poked my head into the kitchen and looked around. The window was shattered and there was a bullet hole in the fridge. I ducked down and crawled along the wall. I used a shard of glass to look outside the window. I could see a car out front. It was red, but I couldn’t make out who was in it. Suddenly, another shot rang out, shattering the glass shard I was holding. The person in the car was rapidly firing off more shots. I stuck my gun up out the window and fired all six rounds in my gun before loading more in. I picked another glass shard, and noticed another car slam into the red car. I immediately recognized the other car as Barnes’s. The red car then sped off down the street. I ran outside and noticed Barnes get out of his car and fire off his handgun at the fleeing car.
“Come back here, I got a slug with your name on it, bitch!” Barnes yelled.
“Barnes, what the hell happened?” I asked.
“That asshole tried to kill me! He fired a shot and broke the window on my car, so I decided to go after him!”
“Tried to get me too, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. How about you?”
“A little shaken, but the rest of my family is okay.”
“Call the P.D. and get ‘em out here. I’ll go after our mysterious sniper.” Barnes got into his car and took off after the red car. I watched as he drove away, then I went back inside and called the precinct.

Later that morning, I was at the precinct, going over some documents. I asked my wife and kids to go stay with my sister in a town north of Plebasin. A lieutenant then came up and started talking to me about what happened when Barnes burst in the door. His hair was very messy and he looked very stressed.
“Barnes, any luck?” I asked.
“I chased that damn car all over town for 4 hours and the son of a bitch still got away. What a waste of ammo.” Barnes sat down at the desk in front of me. “So, your family okay?”
“Yeah, they went to stay with my sister.”
“Any luck with more information?”
“No, but they did some ballistics tests on the bullet fragments from your car, and my house. Perfect match.” I said.
“Do you think this might have something to do with our investigation?” Harry asked.
I looked up from the paperwork, “At this point, I’m not sure what to think. From what I’ve seen, however, there is definitely something about this that someone is desperately trying to hide.” I said. Barnes nodded before walking over to the vending machine and getting a soda. He opened it and took a drink before pulling out his cell phone, which was ringing. He answered it and held it to his ear.
“Hello? Oh, hey, William. You heard about that huh? Uh, huh, we’re both fine.” I had no idea what William was saying, but I had a feeling it involved the attempt on both our lives. “Really? Okay, we’ll check it out. Thanks, goodbye.” Barnes hung up his cell, walked over to the chair he was sitting in and got his trench coat on.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“William just gave us another lead. I’ll explain on the way.” And with that, we both left.

Chapter 5:Roger Anderson.
Barnes said that William had told him about a homeless man that used to always hang around their house. He just sat on the side of the road and stared at them, Clara in particular. He introduced himself once and only stopped after Clara was found in the landfill. His name was Roger Anderson and his so called home was somewhere in the subway station. We pulled up next to station entrance and walked down the stairs. I had decided to change out of my police uniform, just for the sake of not alerting him. For some reason, the homeless people in Plebasin were angered very easily and didn’t take kindly to police coming to answer their questions.
“So, you think this guy might be the missing link we’re looking for?” I asked.
“Not sure, but he might have some information on him.” Barnes said. We walked into the main area, near the tracks. I looked around and noticed a bearded man with an overcoat standing in front of a fire barrel, which was stupid because it was about 79 degrees outside, though it might have been colder down in the tunnels. I recognized him as the man Barnes had described. He and I approached him.
“Hey, Roger! We need to ask you something!” Barnes yelled out. Roger looked at us. Then, with a look of horror, dumped the fire barrel, sending embers, flame, and bits of fiery wood toward us before running through the station. Barnes and I dodged the flames and ran after him, guns drawn.
“Freeze!” I yelled. Barnes ran ahead of me and followed Roger, who jumped onto a track that was being repaired. Barnes also went down onto the tracks, as did I. It was difficult to follow Roger, due to the dim lights in the tunnel. Eventually, Roger went up onto an abandoned platform. Barnes leaped up and continued the chase. I had some difficulty getting up the platform because I didn’t climb stuff much. Barnes and I finally chased Roger into another section of the old platform. Several homeless people were around fires, some were eating, others were asleep. Barnes finally leaped forward and tackled Roger. Roger got back up and tried to run, but Barnes grabbed him, slammed him into the side of the wall, and put his 9mm against his head.
“Come on, I don’t know nothin’.” Roger moaned.
“Shut up you dirty son of a bitch! I don’t appreciate having hot flaming embers thrown in my face. I oughta’ pound the shit outta’ you right now.” Barnes said in an angry tone. He then threw Roger on the ground and slapped some cuffs around his wrists. “Roger Anderson, you’re under arrest for assault of a police officer, and evasion of law enforcement. You have the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. An attorney will be provided for you since I know your poor ass can’t afford one.” Barnes then got Roger up and we brought him back up to the surface.

“He didn’t know anything?” I asked. We were back at the precinct. Roger had been interrogated by a criminal psychologist because he wasn’t cooperating with us.
“Nope, I’m sorry. The only place he remembers Clara from was the time he introduced himself to them.” The shrink said.
“Could be lying.” Barnes said.
“He suffers from severe short term memory loss and he’s basically half-retarded. He isn’t capable of killing an ant. Sorry, guys.” The psychologist then exited the room. Frustrated, I walked over to the interrogation room window and leaned against it.
“Damn. Well, I guess I could call up William and ask if he has any more leads.” Barnes said. I then turned around and faced Barnes.
“Don’t you get it?!,” I yelled, “We aren’t going to find any leads! We aren’t going to find any more suspects! This case is going to stay unsolved!” I yelled, slamming my fist down on the desk. Barnes then got up and faced me. He was also angry.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked.
“The person who did this is either dead or left town. This is a cold case, someone doesn’t want to us to solve it. I am not risking my family’s life or my own for some little girl I never knew!”
“So, you’re just going to give up? Just let this go unsolved, never having justice be properly served?”
“There are plenty of other new cases that can be solved! Ones that have real evidence, real suspects, not just ghosts from the past!”
“This is a little girl, Jack! A little girl who was killed for no apparent reason, no motive at all. Some sick bastard came into her house, took her away from her caring family, killed her, and dumped her body in a landfill, a god damn landfill! Now, we have a chance to solve this and you don’t want to because it’s too difficult!” Barnes then dove forward, took a swing and punched me, sending me into the wall. I landed on my ass. I looked back at him and prepared to get up and retaliate, but then I noticed something I thought I’d never see. Barnes was just staring at me with that same angry look he had before, except he had tears streaming down from his eyes.
“Barnes...” I started but then couldn’t think of anything.
“If you won’t solve this case, then I will. I’ll go back up to Salt Lake, bring another detective down and do this myself.” Barnes then turned around and walked out of the interrogation office, slamming the door behind him. I got to my feet and felt the spot where head punched me. It stung and was bleeding. In all my years as an officer of the law, I had never seen anything like what had just happened. That is, a tough cop like himself shed tears like that.

Chapter 6:Renewed Faith.
Later that night, I was at the precinct. I had stayed late to catch up on some paperwork, when I decided to take a break and call up my wife. I picked up the phone, dialed the number, and waited for the pick up.
“Hello?” Her happy toned voice answered.
“Hi, it’s me.” I said.
“Oh, Jack. I’m glad to hear from you. How are you doing?” She asked.
“Not so good. You know that guy who was working with me? Well, I said something today about how I wanted to get off this case and he got mad and says he’s going back to Salt Lake to get another detective to help him.”
“Oh, that’s terrible.”
“I shouldn’t have got mad. It’s just that this case is frustrating. It seems that all the clues we have just don’t seem to add up.”
“If it were one of your children, would it matter? I know that you would work as hard as you possibly could, even without a single lead.”
“You know what, Tracy? You’re right. Thanks for the help.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Well, I gotta’ go now, and thanks again. See you soon, honey.”
“Bye.” My wife then hung up and I put my phone back on the hook.

I was still at the precinct at about 2:28 A.M. I had looked through the case file for a grand total of four hours and still hadn’t found any more than I already knew. I then remembered something about the old house where the Johnsons used to live. I quickly got my coat on and left the precinct.

The night air was cool, or it maybe it only seemed cool due to the heat wave we had gotten earlier in the day. I got out of my car at the old house. The lights were on inside. I knocked on the door and a gentleman wearing a suit and a tie answered the door.
“May I help you?” He asked.
“Yeah, I’m Captain Jack Howell, is the person who lives here available?” I asked him.
“That’s me.” He said.
“Really? Uh, I don’t recognize you from earlier.”
“Oh, that? Yeah, I get like that during the day. Of course, now I’m trying to get my life back together. I’m having an interview with an employer right now.” He smiled as he said this.
“Good for you. Anyway, I was wondering if I could have a look around the yard.”
“Sure, that’s fine. I have to get back to this interview now.” He said before walking back into the house. I then walked over to the area where Barnes had uncovered the knife earlier. I had noticed a stocking cap there with a lot of stray hair on it. I assumed it belonged to the man living in the house, but I remembered he wore a toupee, so he wouldn’t need the hat. I found the hat, picked it up and walked back to my car. I glanced down the street and noticed a red car sitting next to the curb. I made eye contact with the driver before he/she started it and went down the street, passing by me. I didn’t pay attention to it after that, but I realized when I got back to the precinct that the car I had seen belonged to our mysterious sniper.

Chapter 7:Barnes’s Story.
That day at about 9 a.m., I was sitting at my desk, anxiously waiting a call from the lab for results on the hair from the cap. Several other officers had come into work and were working at their desks. I then noticed Barnes enter the locker room. I walked in after him to try and speak with him.
“Hey, Barnes.” I said.
“What do you want?” He asked in an annoyed tone, not even looking at me as he was packing things from a locker into a backpack he had with him.
“I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I want to help you solve this case.” I said. “I really mean it, man. I don’t want you to leave.”
Barnes stopped putting things in the backpack and turned around to look at me. He could see that I was sincere. He then turned back to the locker.
“The reason I feel so strongly about this case is because it involves a child.” He said.
“I kinda’ figured that. What is it with you and kids?”
“It was this time when I was still an officer. I pulled over to give this one car a parking ticket. However, when I noticed the owner coming back, I realized that it was an expectant mother with a little girl holding her head. I yanked the ticket off and gave them a break that time. Later that day, I was on patrol when I spotted the same car from before. It was in front of a laundry place. I looked inside and saw the same mother and little girl. However, another person was in there. It was a man who looked like he was arguing with the woman. I got out of the car and walked over to see what was going on. All of the sudden, the woman walks out of the Laundromat and opens the door on the car. However the husband runs out of the Laundromat, goes into an alley and comes back out with a gun. He fired a shot and shot the mother in the chest. I pulled out my gun and ran over to the crying child. I kneeled down, put my shoulder around the girl and helped her into the car, where she would be safe. This guy had to be insane or something, because he fired every shot he could into the car, trying to hit the little girl. I ducked behind the door and waited until he had to reload before taking my shot. I hit him right in the forehead and he goes down instantly. I was glad the little girl was laying on the floor of the car crying because I thought seeing a person’s brain matter splatter out of the back of their head would probably mess up a child.”
“Did the mother survive?” I asked.
“Yeah, she was okay. As it turns out, the guy shooting at her was an insane drug dealer who somehow thought she owed him money. After that, I realized that children just aren’t meant to go through something like that. They are the ones who are going to be running this world someday. They might even do a hell of a lot better job than we have.” Barnes took a moment to sigh.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, now let’s go find out who killed Clara Johnson.” Barnes got up and looked at me. The two of us then shook hands. Another officer entered.
“Phone call for you, Captain Howell.” He said before exiting. Barnes and I went out to my desk. I was expecting to be answered by the forensics doctor, but instead it was a female voice.
“Is this Jack Howell?” The mysterious female voice asked.
“Yes, may I ask who’s calling?” I asked.
“I have some information about the Clara Johnson case. Go to the cemetery and compare a hair sample there with a sample that William Johnson has.”
“Wait? What does that have to do with....” The female caller hung up. I checked the caller ID, but it was from a payphone.
“Who was that?” Barnes asked.
“I don’t know, but we just got our first tip on this case.”

Chapter 8:Shocking Discovery.
Out at the cemetery, the undertaker let us look at Clara Johnson’s folder.
“Here it is.” He handed us the folder in his office. Inside were pictures and a big chunk of hair that was tied together with a rubber band.
“Could we...” I started.
“Don’t worry, Jack. I already told William about it. He said he’ll drop off the box of Clara’s hair at the precinct lab for comparison.”
“He already gave his permission for you to take the hair here. I hope this will help the investigation.” The undertaker said.
“Someone, somewhere obviously thinks it will.” I said.

At the lab, we were speaking with the technician about the hair.
“Well, our tests are complete. I have some shocking news for you.” He said.
“Well spit it out.” Barnes said. The technician walked over to his computer and flipped on the screen of the two hair samples. The two of them looked very different.
“What does this tell us?” I asked.
“The one on the right is the hair William Johnson dropped off earlier today, the on the left is from the cemetery.”
“Then that means....” I started.
“Son of a bitch, the girl buried at the cemetery isn’t Clara Johnson.” Barnes said in a surprised tone.
“I compared the samples to previous records, and the one from the cemetery actually belongs to a girl known as Edwina Sarason. She died of pneumonia in 1979.”
“Same year that Clara Johnson disappeared.” Barnes said.
“So, someone kidnaped Clara, dug up another body that just happened to look the same as Clara Johnson, and put it in the landfill. Clever. Very creepy, but clever.” Barnes said.
“We gotta’ tell William!” I said.

At William’s apartment, we had told William the knowledge we had learned.
“Are you saying there is a possibility that my daughter might still be alive?”
“We’re not entirely sure, but we are working on it.” I said.
“Don’t get your hopes up, that’s the best advice I can give you.” Barnes said.
William got out of his chair and walked over the window and looked out it.
“Ever since that day happened, I’ve waited for someone to come and tell me this.” He turned back around and faced us again. “Do whatever you can.” He said.

We had just arrived at the precinct when the chief called us into his office. We walked in and noticed that the forensic expert was also in the room.
“What’s up, chief?” I asked.
“We have some more shocking data for you.” The forensic expert said. “The hair in the stocking cap that you found at the old Johnson house matched a hair sample found at the crime scene of a bank robbery a few years ago. What happened was that, ah hell, we got the security tape, we’ll just show you that.” The expert put a video tape into a TV that the chief kept in his office. We saw a black and white video camera footage of a main bank area. Suddenly, a woman holding a rifle entered the bank. She fired several shots out of the rifle. The different tellers then put money into a bag she had with her. The woman then turned around and walked out. I then pushed the pause button on the tape and looked at the woman.
“Is that who I think it is?” Barnes asked.
“Mary Calderoy, and that rifle she’s holding is the exact same type that was used to try to kill you and me.” I said. Suddenly, the door burst open and an officer wearing sunglasses came in.
“I’m looking for Harry Barnes.” He said.
“This is a private meeting, you knock to come in!” The chief yelled.
“I’m with Internal Affairs and want to talk to Mr. Barnes about an excessive force complaint.”
“I’ll give the SWAT team a call, we’ve got to go to Mountra right away and arrest her.” The chief went over to his phone and dialed a number on it.
“Sorry, I don’t have time right now. I have to go with the SWAT team to make an arrest.” Barnes said.
“Apparently you didn’t hear me. I wasn’t asking, I was telling you. Now come with me or I’ll have to take you by force.” I then stepped in front of the officer.
“Back off, or I’ll make your life a living hell.” I said. “Let’s go, Harry.” I walked past him and Barnes followed me.

Chapter 9:Going After Suspects.
In front of the apartment at Mountra, Barnes and I got out of his car. The SWAT van pulled up also and the team got out. They were all equipped with body armor, helmets, and machine guns. Barnes and I had Kevlar vests on underneath our clothes. The SWAT team moved into the apartment, but Barnes stopped to look at something.
“What are you looking at, Harry?” I asked, running back over to him. I then realized what he was looking at. It was a red car that had a large dent in the side parked in an alleyway next to the apartment building.
“That look familiar?” Barnes asked.
“Yeah. Let’s hurry and get up to the door.

In front of the door to Mary’s apartment, we were poised and ready to bust in. With my gun drawn, I knocked on the door.
“This is the Plebasin Police Department, open up or we will force our entry inside!” I yelled. No response came from inside.
“Probably didn’t leave a key under the doormat.” Barnes said.
“Okay, break it down.” The SWAT commander said. An officer with a battering ram came in and smashed open the door. With their guns drawn, the officers ran inside and searched the apartment. Barnes and I rushed toward the bedroom door. We opened the door and turned on the light. There were only two beds and a closet inside.
“Bedrooms clear!” I yelled.
“Check this out.” Barnes walked over to the closet and opened it up. There were tons of various firearms stored inside on racks. A few of the racks were empty.
“There’s the same type of rifle that Mary was holding in the security tape.” I pointed to it. Barnes walked back over and picked up a note. It read:

The police are onto us. We are going to go take down that bastard William once and for all. Then it will be just me, Catherine, and Aralc.
“Damn it! They’re going to kill William!” I yelled. Barnes turned over the note. On the other side was a list of four names that had check boxes next to them. They read Clara Johnson, Jodie Johnson, William Johnson, Jack Howell, and Harry Barnes. Our names looked like they had been added recently, Clara’s name was etched out, and a check was next to Jodie’s name. William’s name had yet to have anything done to it.
“Shit, this is a hit list.” Barnes said.
“First time I’ve ever been on one.” I said. “So, I guess Mrs. Johnson didn’t kill herself after all.”
“I’ve lost count how many I’ve been on.” Barnes said. “Hmmm, turn over that note again.” I turned it over and Barnes took it from me and seemed to be fixed on the girl named “Aralc.” “Just as I thought. I just needed to see it spelled.” Barnes took out a pen and wrote the name “ Clara” underneath “Aralc”. It read something like this:
Aralc
Clara
“I get it, so Aralc is really Clara spelled backwards.” I said.
“And that means that Aralc the orphan is really Clara Johnson.” Barnes said. Just then, the SWAT commander came in.
“Hey, guys. The house is clear, but we gotta’ go. Chief says that he needs all units to the Johnson Condominium.”
“What for?” I asked. Barnes and I turned around to face him.
“They’re dealing with a hostage situation.” He said before leaving. Barnes and I looked at each other before darting back outside to the car.

Chapter 10:Hostage Situation.
Back in Plebasin, we arrived at the Johnson Condominium. A large crowd of people had gathered and police barricades were set up. Barnes and I went over to the command center. The chief was inside.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Three women came in, shot the clerk in the shoulder and went up in the elevator to the top floor. They only have one hostage up there.”
“Is the clerk okay?” Barnes asked.
“He’ll be fine, but they say they’ve got the front lobby wired with explosives and if anyone tries to go in, the whole building will come down.”
“We have any sharpshooters ready?” I asked.
“All around on the buildings, but it’s going to be difficult because there’s three hostage takers, and we’re not sure if there is really only one hostage. We need to get someone inside.” While I was speaking to the chief, Barnes looked behind him. He noticed the same Internal Affairs officer from before. This time, he had a few more officers with him.
“Oh, shit, IA’s at six o’clock.” Barnes said. I looked behind me and noticed them too. Barnes and I then moved our way past the barricades and walked up to the lobby doors. The chief turned and noticed us.
“What the hell are you two doin’?” He asked.
“We’ve got this, don’t worry!” I yelled. I then turned my attention to the wires on the door. They were connected to explosives that were powerful to cause some serious damage.
“My old man saw some of these in Vietnam, I know to take care of them.” Barnes pulled out some wire cutters and started cutting the cords on them.
“He was in Vietnam? How’s he doing right now?” I asked.
“Pretty well. He got drafted, but was only there for about a month.” Barnes said as he cut the wires.
“Really? Was it close to the end of the war?”
“Nah, it was about ‘72 when he went there.”
“So, why did he come back?”
“He paid a Vietnamese soldier 150 bucks to shoot him in the ass.”
“Okay then.” I said.
“Hey, you get out of a war and get an award in the process, it’s all good.” Barnes cut all the wires and the two of us busted inside the lobby. Both Barnes and I had our guns drawn. We moved over to the elevator and pushed a button, but nothing happened.
“Damn, they cut the power to the elevator.” Barnes said. I looked around and noticed an entrance to a stairway.
“Guess we’re gonna’ have to do it the old fashioned way.” The two of us ran over to entrance and started climbing the stairs.

After reaching the top floor, we looked in the hallway that led to William’s room. I could see the girl known as Catherine standing in front of the door. She had a rifle with her.
“Great, how do we get by her?” I asked.
“It’s about time I broke this out.” Barnes took an Uzi out of his trench coat pocket and put an ammo clip into it.
“Let’s try to get through this non-lethally if you please.” I said.
“Fine.” Barnes and I ducked behind the door that led into the stairs. He made some kind of bird call. Whatever it was, it must have sounded suspicious, because Catherine walked into the doorway. Barnes then hit her in the back of the with his Uzi, knocking her unconscious.
“Goes against my nature, but it worked.” Barnes said.
“Okay, let’s move.” I said. The two of us moved toward the door. Inside, I could hear Mary and William talking.
“Please, Mary, why are you doing this?” William asked.
“You ruined my life, so now I’m going to ruin yours. Prepare to meet your wife.” Mary said, a gun click following her.
“No!” William yelled. Barnes and I kicked open the door and we burst in, our guns drawn. I pointed mine at Mary, who flipped around to face me, her 9mm pistol pointed at me. Barnes had his gun drawn on Aralc, who was unarmed. William was sitting in a chair.
“I thought I might see you two again.” Mary said.
“Put the gun down. Let’s end this peacefully.” I said. I didn’t want to have kill anyone, but I wasn’t afraid to.
“Never! I won’t stop until he’s dead!” Mary screamed, pointing her finger at William.
“I don’t know what your problem is, but you can’t blame other people for your stupid mistakes.” Barnes said.
“He never helped me raise a child that was his! He has deserved all misfortune he has gotten!” Mary screamed. She raised her gun arm into the air and started firing shots. I rushed forward and tackled her to the ground, the gun flying out of her hands. Barnes looked at it, giving Aralc a chance to kick the Uzi out of his hand and rush forward to grab Mary’s gun laying on the ground. William ducked behind his chair. Aralc pointed it at Barnes and opened fire. Barnes ducked behind the kitchen counter, grabbed his Uzi and returned fire towards Aralc. Most of his shots missed her, only one actually made contact, which clipped the side of her ear.
“Harry, no offense but you really suck at using machine guns.” I said, struggling with Mary. Eventually, she kicked me off, stole my gun, and forced me, William, and Barnes to get next to the door.
“You all are going to die here and now.” Mary said.
“Great, we’re screwed.” I said.
“Not yet, do you have still ammo for your Uzi, Harry?” William asked.
“I dropped my last clip when I rolled behind the counter.” Harry said.
“Oh, then we are screwed.” William said.

Chapter 11:Mary’s Downfall.
“I think I’m going to let Aralc finish you off. Come on, honey, take them out.” Mary stepped aside and Aralc walked forward, pointing her gun at us. I wasn’t going to die here, so I decided to make one last ditch effort to try to save my life, and William and Barneses’.
“Clara, don’t do it. You’re not really going to kill your own father, are you?” I asked. Aralc stopped and stared at me.
“What?” She asked.
“Come on, shoot him!” Mary yelled.
“William is your father. This man raised you when you until you were ten years old, don’t you remember?” I asked.
“But, I thought I was an orphan, and my parents were dead.” Clara said, lowering her gun.
“One of them is, and that’s because of her.” Barnes pointed at Mary, who was getting very worried. “That woman right there kidnaped you, took you away from your loving parents, then killed your mother for no reason.” Barnes said.
“That’s not true!” Mary yelled. Sweat beads were forming on her face.
“You’re right. You killed Jodie out of revenge, and also because she was catching on to your little plot. She came to talk to you, and knew too much, so you snuck into her house, and while she was sleeping, put a shotgun in her mouth to make it look like a suicide. Worst of all, you dug up the body of another little girl, cut it up, and put it in a landfill, making it look like Clara was dead, because you didn’t have the guts to take the life of a little girl.” I said, defiantly stepping forward.
“No! That’s a damn lie, it’s all a lie! Aralc, I took you in, I raised you as my own daughter. Besides, they wouldn’t have treated you as well as I have, Jodie and William were terrible people.”
“No, Mary. You’re the terrible person.” Clara said, looking at Mary with anger in her eyes. Mary, stunned, backed away. “You are the only person who’s done anything wrong here. You shot that clerk, you killed my mother, you even tried to kill these two police officers.”
“And my family.” I said.
“And my car’s window!” Barnes said. William and I looked at him with a confused expression. “What? That shit ain’t cheap to fix.” Barnes said.
“Mary, you even admitted to me that you cheated on me with that other man. Even you know that Catherine isn’t my child.”
“Nooooooooo! I won’t let this happen!” Mary pointed my .357 at us and prepared to fire. Clara dove in front of us, ready to take the bullet. But then, something completely unexpected happened. Two shots echoed from the doorway. Both hit Mary in the chest. She then looked at the place from where the shots had come from.
“No, it can’t be.” She said before stumbling back and crashing through the window. Barnes and I ran forward and looked out the broken window. Mary’s body fell straight down the 20 stories and then smashed into the pavement below. I could hear several people scream as her body made impact.
“Damn, that’s gonna’ be a bitch to clean up!” Barnes said.
“And a hell of a lot of paperwork.” I said.
“Oh, my.” We heard William say. The two of us turned around and noticed two women standing in the doorway, holding handguns. One of them was Catherine, while the other was an older version of Jodie Johnson.
“Mother?” Clara asked.
“Jodie?” William asked.
“Holy shit!” Barnes and I said in unison.
“That’s right, honey. I’m okay.” Jodie walked forward, dropping her handgun on the ground. I recognized her voice as that of the mysterious caller who gave us the tip.
“But how? I saw your body, your brains were all over the bed.” All of the stupid ass things to say, I said it.
“Mary wasn’t the only one who could use dead bodies to her advantage. She didn’t bother to check for a pulse, I knew she wouldn’t.” Jodie said. “I was onto her and went into hiding after she thought I was dead. I was secretly working with Jessie here in order to help you crack the case.”
“Let’s go.” William, Jodie, and Clara then all left the apartment. I walked over to Catherine, who was looking down at Mary’s body.
“Catherine, are you okay?” I asked.
“She spent her whole life telling me that William Johnson was an evil person. You know what the bad thing is? I actually started to believe her at one point.” Catherine then spit off the side of the building and walked away. “What a waste.” She said as she walked out of the apartment. Barnes then walked up next to me.
“I guess this would be a bad time to ask her out, right?” He asked.
“Probably.” I said.

Chapter 12:Case Closed.
Back down at the command center, we were talking to the chief about what happened.
“Well, that was a very interesting twist. The only person that actually died in this was the culprit herself. Very good job on this, Jack, you too Harry.” The chief said.
“Is anyone going to be charged here?” I asked.
“Well, we might charge Clara and Catherine with the hostage taking thing, but they’ll get off on extreme emotional distress. As for Mary’s downfall, I think that the last thing the Johnsons need is to be separated again, so we’ll let Jodie plead self defense.”
“Well, I guess we can declare the case solved.” Barnes said.
“Yeah.” The chief started to leave, but turned back around. “Oh, and Harry, your transfer papers are almost done.”
“Thanks, chief.” Barnes said. The chief then walked out.
“Transfer papers?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ve decided to come to your precinct. I like it better down here than in Salt Lake. Meet your new detective, Captain!” Barnes stuck out his hand and I shook it.
“I’m gonna’ go call my wife and ask her to come back down here, it’s pretty safe now.” I said.
“See ya, man.” Barnes said.
“See ya.” I walked out of the command center, but I took one last look at the parking lot of the condo. William, Jodie, and Clara were near an ambulance and Catherine was talking to a police officer. I then went over to the place where Mary had landed. A pool of blood had formed where she used to be. The examiners had already gotten my .357, but they said I’d have to pick it up tomorrow, which was okay because I requested that it be sterilized. All in all, this was the most difficult case I have ever worked on, but also the most successful. I would have preferred that no one had gotten killed, however. I can only hope that the Johnsons may find peace now, and that detectives like Harry Barnes will continue to serve and help the citizens of this city.
THE END