"You promised me I won't have to go back there" Sara reminded Doc the promise he made to her other day.
Doc stands there with a straight face and a girl, Doc's colleague was holding Sara by one of her hand. Sara was screaming for not going through the test again.
"Melisa takes her inside" Doctor said to her colleague.
"She is being stubborn Chris" Melisa (Doc's colleague) said to Chris (Doc).
"Don't give excuses!!! Just do it" Chris replied with irritation.
"Wow. How very supportive!!!" Melisa retorted back. Melisa forcefully took Sara inside the room for performing the test once again. Sara started screaming more profoundly and aggressively. The room was dark and only the bed where she was made to sit every time was the only place lit. Chris watched Sara to forcefully lie down and tied to the bed as she was restraining the process. Sara called out to Chris for help, for support but Chris didn't move a single muscle. When Melisa was done with the preparation, Chris decided to let Melisa handle the experiment for today and turned to went back. Sara kept screaming and shrieking upon watching Chris leaving but that also went away with Chris the departure.
**********
Harry and Samuel rushed towards the hospital as soon as they get the news. The doctor was standing outside the ICU ward as they came in. The doctor seemed worried and also the whole staff was acting weird. They all had been gathered around, they looked guilty.
"What happened suddenly?" Harry asked while taking his breath.
"The patient was not breathing. We tried CPR and everything we could but it was dead end. Sorry!!" Doctor in-charge replied with guiltiness clearly seen in his voice.
"When does that happen?" Harry inquired.
"We told you right after we found out" Doctor informed.
"But, why suddenly? There has to be some explanation" Harry asked. Disbelief could be clearly seen by his face.
"Sir, it seems like he suffocated!!" Doctor said.
"What?" Harry didn't quite understand what the doctor meant.
"Suffocated? Are you suggesting foul play?" Samuel suspected.
"It seems like that sir" admitted Doctor.
"I am sorry. How can you say that?" questioned Harry.
"Sir, he was okay when we checked him half an hour ago. By the way we can only say things for sure when the autopsy report comes in" informed Doctor.
"Who was in there? How could you let that happen? Where was the security?" asked Harry once again.
"Who went into his room last?" Samuel asked.
"His mother" answered Doctor. "I talked with the staff and they inform me that he was last visited by his mother only"
"What?" Harry disbelieved on hearing this.
"Mother!!! Mrs. Parker came in last" Samuel confirmed the information.
"Yes sir" Doctor corroborates Samuel's last words with his approval.
"And where is she now?" Samuel asked again.
"She left" Harry spoke first.
"When?" Samuel inquired.
"We don��t know" Doctor said with an apologetic look.
"What do you know?" Samuel asked in aggressive manner.
"Who went after her?" Harry questioned everyone. Everyone looked puzzled by the detective question
"No one sir. I mean after that we found him dead" Doctor informed once again.
"Are you trying to tell me that a mother killed her own son?" Harry inquired for confirming their doubts.
"Sir, we don't know" Doctor replied plainly without any other explanation.
"Did you inform her about this? She should have been here?" Harry asked.
"They did try to contact her but in vain. She is not picking her cell phone. I tried too" Samuel said at last. Samuel informed Harry.
"This does not make sense" Harry said in denial.
"Did anything else do until now?" Samuel asked Harry. "Send the body for autopsy and we want results as soon as possible" Harry directed the staff.
"Yes sir" Doctor said as reply.
All the staff and doctor dispersed towards their duty. They went for their respective jobs. Harry was stunned with turn of events. He sat in the nearby chair.
"What do we do now?" Harry said in wonder.
"We will catch her. She cannot run too far and too long" Samuel told Harry.
"Do you really think she killed her own son?" asked Harry.
"Prima fascia, yes I do" Samuel answered. He was amazed by Harry reaction.
"But why would she do that?" Harry was not sure of this discovery to be true.
"I don't know. We will find out as you say" Samuel tried to encourage Harry.
"I think we are missing something. It's not supposed to be like that. There has to be some explanation. May be she is in danger" Harry speculated.
"Why are trying defend her?" Samuel asked in bewilderment.
"I am not. I am just saying that's not usual, something is definitely fishy" answered Harry.
"Yes, that woman is and it's not going to be the first time when a mother turns out to be the killer of her own child. We have seen such cases before" told Samuel.
"Yes, but not like this. Everything is so twisted, so unclear" Harry said confusingly.
"I know. It has been nebulous to begin with" confirmed Samuel.
"I think we are making mistake by jumping into the conclusion of Mrs. Parker to be killer" suggested Harry.
"We are not jumping on the conclusion; we are taking it into consideration. It's important and wise" informed Samuel.
Harry huffed on hearing that and chuckled sarcastically. "What?" Samuel asked knowing exactly why Harry did that.
"Nothing, just remembered something" Harry said to ignore the topic.
"Oh really!!! And what's that? Samuel was not the person one can run away easily.
"You have always been so adamant about her being the culprit rather than a victim from the beginning" Harry accused Samuel.
"Yeah!! May be because, I am too smart" Samuel answered sarcastically.
"Yeah!!! If you say so" Harry chuckled again.
"What is it?" Samuel was irritated with Harry.
"Nothing" Harry answered.
"Say it. Say it now. What's in your mind?" Samuel asked once again.
"You never liked her" Harry said as he was complaining.
"There is nothing to like about her. I am here to work not to like her" Samuel explained.
"It's not like that. I think you were waiting for her to fall in any noose so that you can blame her" Harry laid blame on Samuel.
"I don't have any personnel grudge with her" Samuel retorted back.
"Ohh!!! Yes!!! I believe you. But I cannot deny the fact that you were a bit attacking during our last encounter. I think you took it personnel that she left her kid as a kid" Harry impeached Samuel.
Samuel was fuming by hearing Harry's remarks he could not believe his ears. He took a stand for himself and said "May be you are right, may be you are not. But one thing is sure she is not a saint. I now a criminal when I see one and I don't believe her a bit or the tall stories she told or the crocodile tears she shed. And another thing you must remember, last time I check liking her as I don't or defending her as you do, both the things does not fall into my job profile so I am good in the way I am. Now, if you will excuse me I need to visit my friend to update myself on Sara Parker photo (Mrs. Robinson lost daughter) and catch a murderer"
Harry regretted on his words. He tried to say something to pacify the situation but Samuel left. This case was getting on his nerve or may be his court hearing was coming near so he was losing it again and again. He does not know what's wrong with him. He thought of giving some time to Samuel and then talks later. He went for Jared to take his statement. When Jackson's death news broke, both Harry and Samuel went straight to the hospital leaving Mrs. Robinson and Jared right there. They thought to question him together but right now Harry thought that it would be better if he does this job alone for now.
**********
Mrs. Robinson's residence:
"How is your son, now?" Harry asked Mrs. Robinson.
"He is good. All thanks to you. I am sorry Detective. Earlier, I was very offensive and I didn't treat you well. Even I accused you. I don't know what happened to me. It was like my mind was not working. I just needed to bring my frustration out and you were right there and it just came out on its own" Mrs. Robinson makes an apology.
"It's okay Mrs. Robinson. I understand that you were very worried and you didn't mean the things you said" Harry said reassuringly.
Harry remembered how Samuel stood for him and felt guiltier. It was this morning only and few hours back instead of saying thank you, he was saying mean things to him.
"Can you call Jared? I need to question him" Harry said to Mrs. Robinson.
"Yes, sure" Mrs. Robinson called Jared and he came downstairs. He got stiffed on noticing the presence of Detective. Mrs. Robinson instructs him to come closer and he went to sit with his mother at a safe distance from Detective.
"How is your leg, Jared?" Harry asked.
"It's fine. Thank you" Jared answered.
"So, you were hiding right here all this time?" Harry questioned Jared.
"Where else would I go?" Jared asked Harry and then smiled.
Harry smiled back on Jared reply. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Where did you find that knife Jared?" Harry asked Jared.
"The crazy lady left it when she heard mom's scream" Jared answered with his lowered head.
"Why did you grab it?" Harry asked again. He felt that he was acting like a father scolding his son.
"I don't know. Just like that" Jared said clearly not pleased over his actions.
"You were there when it all happened, right" Harry questioned Jared.
"Yes, I was hiding from mom" Jared answered.
"Do you see anything else? Like where did that crazy lady go?" Harry questioned Jared more earnestly.
"No, but she left when Julia shot Jackson" Jared replied.
"Who is Julia?" Harry thought he knows this name.
"It's Mrs. Parker's name. She was there" Mrs. Robinson spoke this time.
"Yes" Jared confirmed Mrs. Parker's presence at the time of attack.
"She shot her son!!!" Harry was not sure if he was asking or repeating the same thing. He was remembering Samuel's words.
"More and less" Jared confusingly responded.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked again.
"She was fighting with the crazy lady and suddenly Jackson was shot" Jared finally explained.
"By her hands?" Harry inquired once again for confirmation.
"Yes" Jared verified the information once again.
"So, Mrs. Julia Parker shot her son. She is the killer after all" Harry said to himself.