“Why are you treating me like I’ve done this.I told you it was murder suicide.That’s what it is.I even told the medical examiner that’s what it was.”He said they didn’t take the word of a suspect.“I’m a suspect?Since when?I found them.I can’t have done this.They’ve been fighting all the timelately, and I heard it.”
“You still haven’t told me where you were, Mr.Rollins.I’d really like to know.You can answer me here or downtown.In fact, I think I’d rather do this line of questioning downtown anyway.”He said that he wasn’t going anywhere with him.“Then I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way.Mr.Patrick Rollins, I’m arresting you on suspicion of murdering your parents, Mark and Lily Rollins.Cuff him and take him downtown to be questioned.”
The others, one sister and two more brothers, sat in shocked silence.They only looked shocked for about five minutes before they all said that he’d done it.That he’d been about to be homeless again, and that their parents would never do what he said they did.
“He’s always been trouble since he was old enough to drive.Mom and Dad were forever getting him out of one scrape after another.”He listened to Minny, the sister, talk about Patrick.She had no doubt in her mind that he’d killed them both.“I talked to both of them a couple of hours ago.They were both fine and looking forward to having Patrick out of the house.They’d kicked him out before when he was in trouble, but this time was different.Mom thought that he was stealing from them.Dad was just pissed off about him taking advantage of them again.I have no doubt that he read up on how it was done and figured that we were all too stupid to see what was right in front of our faces.He’s always thought that he was smarter than the rest of us.”
“Once, about six weeks ago, he tried to get some money from me.I didn’t give him any.Perhaps had I done that, Mom and Dad would be alive.”Penrod told the other brother, Markus, he might have delayed things, but he wouldn’t have been able to stop him if he had it in his head that they needed to be dead.“We’re all in agreement that he killed them.When he called to say what he’d found, I told Milly that he’d done it.”
After taking their statements about the events leading up to the find, he sent them on their way.The medical examiner said he’d take them down to the office to have an autopsy performed on them and would get back to them.Both of them had been shot in the forehead, another thing that he found suspicious.He headed to the office to talk to the youngest son of Mark and Lily Rollins.Before he even sat down, he was changing his tune about the murders.
“Maybe they were killed.Someone might have come into the house while I was gone and done them in.”He asked if he’d seen anyone hanging around.“No.I told you I was out all morning.I had some things that I had to do with the car.Dad was pissed off about something.Mom leaving the car on empty all the time—just one more thing to add to the reason for them to be mad at one another.”
“You just said they could have been murdered.Which was it?”He washed his hand over his face and looked pissed off again.“Well?Where were you this morning when the murders were going on?Your sister said that you weren’t allowed to use the cars anymore because you never put gas in them.”
“What does she know?She didn’t even live there.”He looked like he was thinking hard on something.“I don’t know what happened to them.They’re dead, and you’re holding me here instead of me going to make funeral arrangements.”
“It’ll be a few days yet before the bodies are released.Why don’t you tell me what really happened, and we can go from there.Did you kill your parents because they were going to kick you to the curb?”
The questioning went on for about an hour before Patrick confessed that he hated them both for the way that they treated him.He also said that he’d forgotten to put the gun in his dad’s hand when he’d put it on the table.
“Mom kept falling over, and I couldn’t get her to keep her head right.Finally, I had to lay her down on the table so that I could make it look right.Fat lot of good it had done me.You saw it right away.Not to mention Minny.She’s been a cop since forever.Christ, I wish she’d been there too.Then it would have looked better.”He looked at him when he realized what he’d said.“I’m not going to allow you to use that against me.”
“I’m afraid it’s too late for that to happen.”He arrested him for the murder of both his parentsand decided that he needed to be kept in a larger jail.The Rollins had been well-liked, and their family had been around town for some time now.
It took him several hours to get the paperwork finished up.After the report, he had to tell his boss what had gone down, and he still didn’t want to believe it.He said that they were a good family and that he couldn’t believe that they’d do something like that.He did acknowledge that the youngest had had problems, but he couldn’t believe that he’d kill them, as they were a good family.
Penrod didn’t point out that usually the good families had the most to hide.He was jaded enough without his boss realizing it, too.As soon as he was ready to leave for the day, having filed all the reports to the right people, Penrod made his way to the sub shop on Main Street to pick up something to eat.He hated to cook, and this would have been one of those nights that he would have had a bowl of cereal and called it a meal.The sub was just what he needed, and he was glad that he remembered to stop and get it.
After eating, he cleaned up his mess and washed up his plate.He usually would have eaten at the counter and not used a plate, but he was exhausted and needed to have a seat.The plate had been a good way to catch the crumbs that he had on his meal, and he only had to rinse it off quickly before putting it in the drainer.He went to his living room to watch a little television before calling it a night.
Of course, the local news wouldn’t have the murders on their opening statements.They didn’t show up at the crime scene until much later than any of the other news organizations.He expected it to be on the noon news tomorrow, if even then.He was pretty sure they only had one cameraman around to report on the news.His brother had been there almost as soon as he was called in about it.Stamos was a good reporter.
Taking a long, hot shower made him relaxed enough that he thought that he could sleep all night.Falling into bed, he was just setting his alarm when Audon called him.Wanting to talk to him about watching his house while he was gone, he sat up on the side of the bed and smiled.
“I’ll be leaving in the morning and will be gone for three days.It might be four, but I don’t think so.If you could get my mail and newspapers, I’ll be thrilled.”He said he had it marked on his calendar.“I appreciate you doing this for me.I would stop my mail, but almost as soon as I got it into the office, I’d be home again and have a pile of mail that I don’t know what to do with.I’m glad that you sort through it for me.”
“My pleasure.Where are you headed?You might have told me, but with today I forgot.”He said that he’d heard about the Rollins.“Good couple.The son confessed to killing them both.”He knew that he’d never say anything to anyone about what he’d say to him.“I’m headed to France.I have a two-day show that will take me three days to get there, have the show, and head back home.I’m not going to be hanging around all week like I usually do.I have two projects that I’m working on that I’m having fun with, so I’ll be home quickly.”
“Good.I’ll get your mail and papers, and the house will be watched.I’ll send out extra patrols to make sure nothing happens while you’re gone.”He thanked him.“It’s my pleasure.I hope you have a safe and fun trip.”
“I’m just hoping for quick.”After hanging up, he went to take a second shower to relax again and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.Tomorrow, he was going to go house hunting with Gilman.If anyone needed a house at the holidays, it was him.He put up the best decorations at the holidays that would outdo any other shop in the county.
Chapter 3
Lori was contacted twice by the Cleveland branch of the Ohio Lottery.Once to verify that she had sent Axel Hathaway to represent her, and the second time to assure them that she didn’t want any publicity when it came to winning.They were intent on it, but she won out in the end.
Her mom was there for the second call.Sheesh, she didn’t want her to know of all the people in the world.She continued talking about her rent while she was on the phone and seemed not to care that it was a private call.Her mother wasn’t a nice person.How did she not see that before now?
“I have five days to come up with the hundred dollars.”Lori asked her mom about it only being fifty.“I was already late, I might as well have some extra at home until my check comes in, don’t you think?”
“Now, instead of owning fifty, you owe him twice that.That doesn’t seem all that smart.What did you do with the other fifty?I’m assuming that you didn’t buy more lottery tickets.”She said that she’d won five bucks.“That hardly seems smart on your part.I don’t have any extra money to give you now.I have paid my rent on time and without extensions.How do you live with yourself in doing things like that?”
“It’s just money.Besides, I’ll get paid on Friday, and I’ll have it then.I just wish I could live someplace that didn’t charge so much for rent.Did I tell you that he’s threatening me with a raise in my rent next year?It’s hard enough paying what I am.It’ll be twice as hard to get that much more.”
“How much is the raise going to be?”Not that she was going to help her, but she was just curious as to how much they could raise ones rent.Then she told her.“Twenty dollars doesn’t seem all that bad, Mom.I mean, the way you were talking, I thought it was going to be at least a hundred dollars.I could do that easily, but not much more than that.”
“Because you have a better job.What was that phone call about?You seemed a little upset?”She said it was a co-worker wanting to trade with her.“I hate trades.They mess me up with my schedule.I’m glad that I have only one schedule and that’s all.If they started giving me more rooms, I don’t know what I’d do.I like cleaning the rooms at the hotel, but I don’t want to do any more than I have.”
