“Wait, doesn’t the police department have to answer to him or anyone else in the FBI for that matter?”
“No, not at all. That’s not how the FBI works. See, baby, the police don’t even have to collaborate with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and the FBI doesn’t get involved with cases like this unless the local police is believed to be incompetent or can’t handle the case for some reason. For many police departments, if the FBI shows up, there’s resentment, instead of relief and teamwork. And this situation is no different. It says to them, ‘You failed. You didn’t do what you were supposed to do, so now the big dogs are coming to clean up your mess.’”
“Okay, I understand now.”
“Walt said they were inept based upon his own research after you spoke to him, so he decided it was best for him to call a few people and suggest that the FBI move forward with their own investigation concerning Chad’s murder.”
“You’d think the police department would want to help regardless of all the bad blood, put their pride aside, and get to the bottom of this if they were on the up and up.”
“You just answered your own question. So now that the crap has hit the fan, they’ll probably find any and every excuse to try and harass me. I’ve been labeled the resident menace.”
“This is ridiculous.” She sighed loudly on the other end. “I hate this for you, but in my gut, I can’t explain it, I really think the FBI is going to help you. What else did he say, if anything?”
“He also said not to go to any specific areas and explore anymore. Like the old, abandoned cabin, or Chad’s apartment that he’d moved into when this all happened.”
“Oh, Chad had his own place? I thought he had lived with you?”
“He did, but he’d just moved out a few months before he was killed. I had helped him pay his deposit and the first year’s rent in advance, so I had access to the place well after he died, and I didn’t want anyone in there. Nobody should have been touching his stuff, not even the police who looked around trying to see if they could find anything after he died. I let them search, but I watched them the entire time. They did a half-ass job with that, too. When the lease was up, I had to pack up his things.” He hung his head and closed his eyes for a moment.
“I can feel you… the pain. Baby, I wish I could hold you right now…” She sounded so sad. He wanted to comfort her for feeling so troubled about his agony.
“You can hold me tonight. I’ll be by when you get off work.”
“I’m looking forward to it. Since you brought up him telling you to not go to any more places, like the apartment and cabin, did you tell him about the knife you found there?”
“Well, here’s the funny thing about that. I didn’t tell him I had been to that cabin, Kim, but he knew.”
“What? How?”
“I’m sure the police told him about that because when I was at the police station last week, I told them that they’ve got that cabin easily accessible for any John, Dick, or Harry to just go rambling through. It’s a murder scene, for Pete’s sake, and it’s being treated like some dumping site for derelicts and drifters instead. If I could get inside so easily, everyone else can.”
“Yeah, they must’ve put two and two together. I asked you about the knife, too. Does he know?”
“So, since he already knew about my latest cabin visit, I went on and told him about the knife and handed it over to him, just in case. I also let him know I’d already had it tested. I had brought it to work today, figuring the topic might come up. He says it can’t be used for evidence now, naturally, because there’s no evidence it had been there during the crime, and it’s been compromised now, but he took it anyway. I don’t know if that weapon had anything to do with this or not, but I can tell you one thing: I’m not going to stop trying to find the truth.”
“Jack, I understand how you feel. Well, actually I don’t. I’ve never lost a child, and I can’t even imagine the mental and emotional anguish you are going through that you’ve kept bottled inside for so long. But what I can tell you is that you need to take a step back from this, just for a second, and let these people do their job. You’ve been driving on E for a long time. I know it’s difficult but give them a chance.”
“A chance? Not on your life. I don’t care if the FBI, CIA, the A-Team, X-Men, Superman, Spiderman, Aquaman, Batman, The Black Panther, PJ Mask, Teen Titans Go, and Wonder Woman with her magic lasso join the fight. I’m still going to be involved, Kim, because you can’t trust these people. It’s all a bunch of bullshit. A bunch of lies.”