I could still hear Marvin sobbing, as I was too. I cried for him, I cried for my dad, and I cried for myself a little too.
I ached to go and hug Downey and even Marvin, as well.
"Marvin, I'm so sorry..." I heard Downey speak with more passion this time. I could tell Downey did feel bad for him.
"Th..thanks, Robert. I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't know I would lose control like that." Marvin said, getting himself back together.
"Marvin, it's alright. This is hard to do... I can understand that. Do you think you can tell us who would have killed your brother if Tyler hadn't committed suicide?"
"Whenever you're ready to start talking again, that's fine." Downey added with a more heartfelt tone in his voice.
I could tell now that they did have sympathy for Marvin now. I wasn't sure at first if Perry or Downey really believed that his brother didn't kill himself, but I think now they are beginning to understand the story a little better. To be honest, I wasn't all that convinced either. But, this story... How could someone that was so happy and had everything going for them, kill themselves? I mean, sure things happen behind closed doors that no one is truly aware of besides themselves. This story of Tyler, though... It didn't sound like he would commit suicide.
"I feel like a f*cking fool. Sorry guys.. I'm okay now. I'll get to exactly why I wanted to speak to you today, and hopefully... Hopefully this can help with the case y'all are working on cause as we spoke on the phone I understood that Tyler was a suspect in your case."
"Yes. He was the first suspect, and he had been released the very same day of Mr. Shannon had, and he died that night. We have evidence to believe Tyler and John Shannon knew one another in jail. Tyler's finger prints were in John's home." Perry told Marvin.
"Yeah, I vaguely remember hearing of that... His fingerprints? Shit. I didn't know that."
"I need to be getting to work asap. I got no more time to waste --"
"Let's cut to the chase then, shall we...?" Perry interrupted.
"I will... Um.. So, like I told y'all I picked up Tyler the day of his release date. I was so happy to see him, I was about an hour early of his release time. I was standing out in front of my truck when I saw this woman, that gave me this nasty stick eye expression -"
"What does this lady have to do with your brother?" Downey had cut him off this time, with much interest in his voice.
"Hear me out for a minute... So I obviously didn't think much of her after I got to see Tyler.. That lady never crossed my mind again... So, a few days later Tyler had called me... Well, he called me everyday but this was an important call. Tyler had sounded real angry and a little frightened. It worried me. Anyways, he told me this crazy gringa was followin him, and spitting nasty words at him. You know, talkin trash. He didn't tell me specifically what the conversations were, but it didn't sound good, not at all. Tyler has briefly mentioned a weird gal giving him a nasty look at a restaurant before he called me. So, it's like she knew who he was..." Marvin took a deep breath, and started to sound exhausted.
"Could this have been an ex girlfriend of Tyler's?" Downey asked.
"No. Definitely not. Tyler said he had never seen her before."
"So... she gave him ugly looks, said some mean things to him... Did anything else happen?" Perry chirped in.
"Oh, yes, yes, yes.... Another thing happened... But this time, she came up to me instead of Tyler. This was at Tyler's memorial yesterday afternoon."
"The same woman you saw when you were waiting for your brother to be released from jail?" Downey questioned.
"Yes, same crazy gal. But she acted quite different when I saw her. We held Tyler's service in the park. Just close family and friends. No priest or anything. I didn't know this lady was even there until I looked over to the parking lot. She was just standing there in the parking lot with her hands covering her mouth, like she was in shock or something, I dunno... She was crying pretty heavily from what I could see. It's a very small park, so she wasn't that far from us. Anyways, I decided to walk over to her and ask if she knew Tyler, and as I walked over to her I realized this was the same girl I saw picking up Tyler that day, and then I remembered everything Tyler had told me about the crazy lady that followed him... I knew it had to be her. I just knew it. So I started walking a bit faster over to her. I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to know who the hell she was and why she was there. When she made eye contact with me, she started to run to her car. I started running faster. I got to her, right as she was opening her car door. I grabbed her by her wrist, pretty hard but I just wanted her attention. I wasn't trying to hurt her."
"Did you talk to her?" Downey asked, sounding like he was on the edge of his seat.
I was definitely on the edge of mine too, thinking I was going to fall off the seat at any moment with so much intene things being spoken.
"I did.. I saw the mascara on her face dripping down her cheeks, and I asked if she was the one who followed my brother -"
"What did she say?" Downey's voice had become more rapid.
"She whimpered for a moment... Like she was scared or hurt... I'm not too sure. And she tried her best not to make eye contact with me. When I first grabbed her hand she got very scared, but didn't scream. It's like she knew she deserved to be sternly grabbed by the arm like that. It was so weird, man. Anyway, she cried for a few seconds, not in sorrow, but more like frightened whimpers. And then she spoke only two words. She said 'I'm sorry', and then ripped her arm out of my grasp. My fingernails got caught on her skin and she started bleeding. I never meant to hurt her, ya know. She gave me the most scared expression before slamming her car door shut and driving away. I didn't do anything else but stand there, in awe. I was getting scared myself. It was so weird, so... -"
"Suspicious." Perry finished Marvin's sentence.
"Yes, man. Suspicious is what I thought as I stood there. I didn't like it, and the way she said, 'I'm sorry' didn't sound like she was saying she was sorry for my loss, but more like she was sorry for something else. Something she had done." Marvin stopped talking and the room went silent.
At first I thought the speakers had stopped working in here because silence filled the room I sat in. There is a dark and eerie feeling that echoes off the walls. A sense of gloominess. However, the speakers were still working because Perry had disrupted the silence.
"That is...creepy." Perry spoke loudly and for the first time that I had met Perry, he sounded out of words.
"Alright, can you give us details on what this woman looks like?" Downey had asked after many moments of silence.
"Yes, I can do my best sir." Marvin replied.
"First off she had a personality of a, 'see you next Tuesday' kinda gal. You know?" Marvin softly laughed.
"A cunt?" Perry replied with no hesitant.
I began to giggle at that saying, "C U Next Tuesday." It was always a humorous expression to me, and how Perry had replied made me chuckle even more. He flat out said it, which didn't shock me. That's precisely how Perry is. Most people wouldn't say it quite like Perry. I've used that saying myself quite a lot referring to my cousin... Jamie.
My heart almost stopped.
Jamie.
She was there to pick my father up that day in jail. Just like Marvin had been there to pick up Tyler... That same day they both had been released.
My heart felt like it had been shocked with electricity and began beating rapidly with more speed than normal. I never could remember anything else that had happened or spoken after Jamie's name sank through my mind like a horrific day dream. I thought I had only blinked but I hadn't. My eyes fluttered and shut like I was tired and in bed ready to sleep. And then darkness wrapped itself around me.
It was almost just like that night I had passed out in the alleyway before Downey saved my life. The next time I opened my eyes was to Downey's beautiful face, just like the time before...
