Another wonderful summer day. Jodie and Graham sat in his backyard. He had a coffee and she had a glass of wine. Birds chirped, leaves drifted to the ground foretelling the coming fall. Jodie had been suspended for involving a civilian in a homicide case. She knew it could happen so when it did it wasn’t a complete surprise. But still, after saving so many lives, it hurt to be penalized for it, well, investigated for it at least. Professional standards, the people trying to stick it to Jodie, had been trying to get a statement from Graham. Living off the grid like he did, they had to tramp through the woods to see him in their suits and shiny shoes. Well, the shoes started off shiny but by the time they reached the cabin, they were a muddy mess. Still, they smiled at Graham with their collars sweat-dampened and their expressions hopeful. He told them to leave. He told them he had nothing to say to them. They left with their fake smiles melting from their faces with the promise from Graham that if they showed up again, they would be considered trespassing and he might have to call the local police to have them removed. Jodie had been here when they showed up. She watched the confrontations from the cabin, peering out of the window. She had been spending most of her suspension time with Graham. He seemed tired and moved slower after the incident in the mall, like someone recovering from a stroke. She worried about him. Her best friend. The professional standards people didn’t like her being there and Jodie knew they would be reporting her presence with Graham to her bosses, but at this point, after all she had gone through and what she had done, she couldn’t care less. And that is what bothered the higher-ups the most. That and the media backlash they had suffered for suspending the hero cop.
Graham took a sip of his coffee and said, “So Greg? Lynda’s uncle? He got arrested I take it.”
“Oh yeah. Lynda spilled the beans and after being confronted with her statement and some of the evidence in the bone cave, he gave a full, tear-filled confession.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. But, and this is a big but, he’s saying Ray and Neil forced him to help. Forced him to keep his mouth shut or they’d kill him. He’d been living in terror for years. He had no choice but to do what they said.”
“Will that work?”
“No, no. Lynda is going to be a great witness. That’s the best part of all this. No matter what they say I did to screw up this investigation, Lynda saw Greg, Neil and Ray kill a girl and beat on Bruce. Not only that, they abducted her and held her captive. Greg had plenty of opportunities to go to the police and he didn’t. So…he’s not getting out of anything. Which is good, because I hate that guy. I’m sure he’s the one who killed Kelly.” She put her glass of wine down and pulled her legs underneath her in her chair. It was a position Graham had only seen women do. She looked comfortable. He thought he might try it after she left. He’d rather not give her a reason to laugh at him. Not on purpose anyway.
She said, “So yeah. Greg’s going to jail for a long time. The most his pity-me story will do is possibly keep him from getting on the Dangerous Offender Designation.”
“What’s that?”
“That’s where the court says, after mountains of evidence and years of deliberation, that this person, Greg, is too dangerous to be released. Ever. Paul Bernardo is considered a Dangerous Offender and hopefully, he’s never getting out of jail. It’s the only real life sentence possible in Canada.”
“Huh.”
“Yeah.”
A blue jay alighted on a branch. The branch dipped a little and the bird sang a note before flying off.
“Graham?”
“Yeah?”
“The thing that happened to Ray. Did you do that?”
“Yeah.” He sipped his coffee and said, “I don’t know how. I didn’t try to do it. It just happened. But it was me. I…killed him. I hope you’re okay with that.”
She reached out, grasped his hand, squeezed it and let go.
She said, “You saved my life. It is driving the investigators crazy, though.”
“What is?”
“Trying to find whatever it was that blew his head apart.”
Graham smiled and said, “Yeah. I suppose it would. But that’s not my problem.”
Jodie laughed and said, “No. It isn’t.”