Patrick was sitting in front of his computer at his desk, going through the day's reports when he had a loud knock on his door.

"COME IN!" He says with a voice that would generally quiet anyone down, but it didn't work on this person; whoever it was just kept yelling.

"Patrick! I got important information!"

It was Claire's voice, he's been working with her for a few months now, and she tends to be a little over-enthusiastic about everything.

"Claire, I'm in the middle of something right now. Can this wait?" He says, knowing she'll most likely say no.

"Two kids just witnessed their dad murder their mother, and right now they're at the station giving their testimony; we gotta go before someone else grabs it!"

"Fuck! Alright, I'm coming!" Patrick stands up and grabs his jacket. "I want you driving. I don't even feel like being in a car right now."

Claire nods, and the two head to the parking lot.

They arrive at the station and find the two children in an interview room. They're brother and sister, the boy looking to be around nine or ten, and his younger sister is probably around six. In front of them is a woman in her mid-twenties; she's most likely their cousin from her features.

"Are you the detectives?" The woman asks.

"Yes, are you their sister?"

"No, no, my name is Hanna, I’m their cousin and these are the kids that I was telling you about, find the guy who did this, and you'll be doing me a great service."

Claire walks up to the children while Patrick sits down across from their cousin.

"What's your name?"

"Lars." The boy says with a hint of fear in his voice.

"How old are you, Lars?"

"I'm nine. I'll be ten next month!" He exclaims with a nervous smile.

"What's your sister's name?"

"Amanda, she's six."

"Do you remember what happened this morning?"

"Yes." He says with a shaky voice.

Claire grabs a cup of water and sits down next to the boy. "Take your time, don't worry, I won't leave your side."

"Okay..." Lars says before taking a deep breath. "I woke up early this morning and went into Amanda's room; she sleeps in my parents' room because she's afraid of the dark. My dad was still sleeping, which was weird, and my mom was on the phone; she was crying."

"Do you know who she was talking to?"

"No, the phone was on speaker, and there was a lot of static."

"Okay then."

"Then my mom said that Amanda had to go with Uncle Jack. I got really scared and asked why. She said it was because dad was in trouble and Uncle Jack was going to take care of it, but we had to be really quiet because he was still sleeping."

"What did you do?"

"I asked if I could go too because I was scared. My mom said no and kissed me goodbye. Mom told Amanda to be really quiet when she left because dad was still asleep. Then Amanda hugged me goodbye. I gave her my teddy bear to hold and went back to bed."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"What happened next?"

"My mom turned off my light and closed the door. I heard her and Amanda walk down the stairs. Everything was quiet for a few minutes until I heard a really loud sound like a car backfiring. After that, my dad yelled, 'what the fuck are you doing?!', a girl was screaming and then another loud noise."

Detective Patrick laughs, "You shouldn't say that word, kid, but it's okay. Go on."

"I was really scared, so I got out of bed and went to the door. I grabbed the doorknob, but I couldn't open it, and it was really heavy. Then I heard footsteps coming upstairs, so I hid in the closet, you know the one next to my parents' room?"

"Yes," The detective says as she takes out her notepad.

"I heard a man yell, 'Jesus Christ, what the fuck is going on here? It was my dad."

"Does your dad have an accent?" The detective asks.

"Yeah, he sounds like this, " Lars says slowly and methodically. "Yep, that's him."

"What happened next?"

"He said, 'I'm calling the laws, someone broke into the fucking safe,' and my mom was crying and saying it was an accident and that she had to get out of there. He got mad and said that she had ruined everything, and then I heard a loud boom."

"A gunshot?"

"Yes."

"Then what happened."

"My mom, she was still crying, but she said she had to go anyway and that I had to lock the door and not leave my room. Then she told me that I loved her and that she loved me too."

"Then?"

"That was it; I haven't left the closet yet."

The detective smiles and says, "Thank you for your time, Lars. I will have my partner take Amanda next door; you stay here until the social worker comes. She'll know what to do with you."

Lars nods and turns back to playing with his stuffed animals.

"Come on, kid." Detective Patrick motions to Amanda, who has been listening to the entire story unfold.

They walk out of the room and into the one right next to it. In this one, there is a single table and nightstand with a small lamp on it. There is no closet in this room, only a bare wall where one would expect there to be one.

"I know this is scary, Amanda, but I need you to tell me what happened with your mom and dad. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes." Amanda squeaks.

"What happened, Amanda?"

"We were having breakfast, my dad was still sleeping I think, and I was eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch."

"Go on."

"I don't know, there was a loud noise, and then my mom started screaming. Then there was another loud noise, and my mom stopped scream-" Amanda pauses as her lip quivers, "and dad said we had to go before..." Amanda stops again as her sobs interrupt her story. The detective waits patiently for her to be able to continue. After a minute, she does.

"Before what, Amanda?"

"Before it happened again."

"It?"

"He shot himself too."

The detective is at a loss of what else to ask. He has heard enough. The rest of the questions are better suited for a psychiatrist rather than a homicide detective.

"Thanks, Amanda, you've been very helpful."

Detective Turner leaves the room and heads downstairs, where he finds Datyal Jackson waiting at the bottom with his arms crossed and tapping his foot.

"What the fuck took you so long?" He asks. "Why are you on this open and shut case when you should be finding out what the fuck happened to Alice."

"Sorry about that sir, we've had a lot going on recently."

"What do you mean?"

"My partner, Lewis, was killed in the line of duty last night."

"Shit, I wasn't aware. Was he working on this case?"

"No, a case of his own. Unrelated."

Patrick Turner is lying in his bed after a long day. They still have no other leads on the Alice case, and he is starting to question if he's losing his touch. 30 years with the department, and permanently closed every case within a week. Hell, even as a beat cop, he would go above and beyond to solve petty crimes. He couldn't bear to leave a case unsolved. After his wife died of cancer, he threw himself into police work and made it his life. After getting his promotion to detective, he got even more involved in solving crimes, typically murders.

Now with Lewis dead, he has no partner. Lewis has been his partner for nearly 15 years. Always having each other's back until getting thrown on the Alice case with a rookie, Claire Masters. She has the heart, but she is too eager, and with this job, eagerness will drain you to the point where you're better off suited as a desk jockey. Thoughts of Lewis creep back into his mind, and he can't help but feel like it's his fault he died. He should have been there. In the last 8 hours of his life, he was distracted. If he was there, maybe he could have saved him. If he was there, then perhaps Lewis would still be alive. With those thoughts in mind, he quickly grabs his keys and heads out of the house. There's one person who can help get his mind off things, Theo. He decides to go to Theo's house and stake it out. Maybe he'll get lucky and catch him out late.