“Have you found my wife?” he asks in a rush.
“Yes, Sir, and I’m sorry to inform you…” I start, and the man breaks down crying.
“No, no,” he cries out as his knees hit the floor and his face in his hands.
Both Nora and I stand there, looking down at the man as he breaks down. I look over at Nora, and she has this look on her face that I can’t decipher. It’s not sympathy, but it’s not happiness either, it just is.
She looks at me and shakes her head before turning away. I look back down at Mr. Fischer.
“Sir, let me help you up,” I tell him as I grab the underside of his arm, helping him to stand and walking him over to the couch.
“Is there someone we can call for you?” I ask him as he sits down.
He shakes his head no, unable to stop the tears.
“Here is my card, on the back is the number to the morgue. Dr. McBride is who you will speak to in order to make arrangements for your wife,” I tell him.
“Thank you,” he whispers before asking, “How did she die?”
“She was found in the river,” I tell him, not going into more detail.
He cries out, and the lady who led us in, comes in to offer her support. I give her a nod.
“Sir, if you need anything, call the number on the front. I promise we will continue working your wife’s case until we have answers.”
The man continues to cry as Nora and I leave the residence.
When we get in the car, I look over at her, “What was that about?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” she sighs. “I think since Ben was killed, I’ve become desensitized to people’s emotions, or maybe because I have been where they are, I don’t allow myself to feel their pain. Where it used to gut me, and I would want to help them feel better, now I know there is nothing anyone can do,” she says.
I don’t quite understand, but I get what she is saying. Losing her husband was tough on her, and then not knowing what happened to her best friend, I can see her point of view.
We make the drive over to the Fields resident, and the notification was just as devastating. Mrs. Fields almost passed out, and we had to get her calmed down. Again, Nora was standoffish, but now I understand why.
When we get back to the precinct, Mya is there talking with Commander Doyle, and I watch as he smiles at something she said.
He sees us walk in and says, “How did the notifications go?”
“About as well as can be expected,” I tell him.
He nods. “Well, you should all head out, there is nothing more that can be done tonight, and I think Agent Morgan here needs to eat,” he says, smiling at her.
“Thank you, Commander,” she tells him softly.
“Yeah, I could eat as well,” I say, then look at her, “Do you have everything?”
“Let me grab my laptop, and then we can go,” she tells me.
“Nora, do you want to eat with us?” I ask her.
“No, thank you. I think I’m just going to go home and relax a bit,” she responds quietly.
“Make sure you get some sleep,” Commander Doyle tells her, and she nods.
Mya walks out of the conference room as Nora heads for the door.
“Is Nora okay?” she asks.
“Yeah. I just think today was a little much for her. She’s going home to rest,” I tell her.
“That’s probably a good idea. I don’t think she gets enough sleep, though it’s understandable,” Mya says thoughtfully.
We walk out of the precinct, and I ask her, “What are you in the mood for?”
“How about Chinese takeout? We can get it and go back to your place. There’s something I need to watch, but I need to bring you up to speed on what I found out today,” she tells me anxiously.
We get in the car and drive toward my house, where I know of a really good Chinese takeout.
“While you were on the phone with the jail this morning, I did a search into Courtney White. I found out that two weeks before her trip, she went to see her physician. When I pulled the report, I was shocked to find that she was pregnant.”
“What? Nora never mentioned that Courtney was seeing anyone,” I say, shocked by the news.
“I know, so then I wondered if Nora even knew. I took the opportunity to see Courtney’s mom, hoping that she could shed some light. Speaking with Mrs. White, she told me that Courtney often complained about not having time to date with work and schooling. Apparently, Courtney was getting a business degree so she could get promoted inside the company she was working for,” Mya tells me.
“She had to have been seeing someone,” I say.
“Someone she didn’t want to tell her mom about,” Mya admits.
