A Jury of One

Chapter 3

The TV murmured in the background as Mathias intently cooked his dinner. The water in the pot boiled lazily as he stirred the ziti around. Using the slotted spoon, he fished out a single piece of pasta from the water. Not quite done, he thought. As Mathias poked the pasta again, willing it to cook faster, an urgent tone sounded from the TV. Mathias looked up at the flashing screen and the reporter as the news station announced BREAKING NEWS in a bold font. He gently set down the spoon on the kitchen counter and walked closer to the TV. He grabbed the remote from the couch and turned up the volume on the set.

"We are sorry to interrupt your usual nightly program with breaking news. Local police have just discovered a man, stabbed in his apartment. Let's now go to Rachel Stanislaus, the reporter at the scene. Rachel?" The news segment flicked over the the female reporter who was covering the breaking news.

"Yes Barbara, preliminary reports indicate that this man was brutally stabbed in his apartment on the second floor. If you look now you can see that the police are moving around and investigating the scene still. The police have no comment yet on the incident but we did manage to see the three people who discovered the body. Let's roll that clip," the reporter in the field said.

The program cut to footage of the three people, an old man, a young man in his twenties and a young woman, also in her twenties. Rachel began a voiceover. "These three people were the ones who were said to have discovered the body. All of them looked pretty shaken up as you can see. The older man, who sources tell me is the landlord of this building, Mr. Ginnetti, wouldn't respond to any attempts to interview him as he was only repeating the same phrase over and over." The footage stopped playing and the station cut back to Rachel. "This seems to be a brutal murder. Whatever those people witnessed, it sent them into severe shock. Back to you, Barbara."

"Thank you, Rachel. And we will have more information for you on the 11 o'clock news. Now back to your scheduled program." The breaking news music played once again and then the TV went back to playing its usual program. Mathias returned to the kitchen, where his pasta was slightly overcooked. A small price to pay for breaking news, Mathias thought. He took the pot off the stove and poured the pasta through a strainer, then into a bowl. He placed a small pat  of butter on the ziti and folded it in precisely. Mathias picked up a thick Manila file and opened it. He really should get rid of it. No point in chasing after old ghosts. He strolled over to the fireplace and placed the folder in among the logs. Gently picking up a match from the mantle, Mathias struck it on the stone and tossed it into the fireplace. The flames engulfed the folder and the wood, burning the name Wainwright into ash.

Daintily picking a ziti from his bowl, Mathias sat down into the big easy chair in the living room. The TV still hummed softly in the background, giving an ambiance to his thoughts. He stared straight ahead, lost inside his own brain. For what seemed like hours, Mathias sat there, stone still except for the chewing of ziti, thinking. Then, without any warning, he stood, placing the empty bowl on the end table and strolling over to his study. The large oak doors gave with minimal resistance, revealing a room lined with many books and files, and amidst the disorganized chaos was a large wooden desk. Just like his office at the Center, Mathias preferred his study to be messy. Or at least, messy to the observer. In reality, everything was carefully organized and catalogued. His goal was to hinder any investigation against him, in the case that he was under scrutiny for some crime.

Mathias pulled another Manila folder from his briefcase. He had taken it home from work the day before. "Any time spent not doing something important is time wasted." That was a motto that Mathias had strived to live by his whole life. And it most certainly applied now, when every second the police were already discovering more about the murder. They had no reason to suspect him, Mathias had made sure of it. John had no connection to the man whatsoever. Except for the girl. But who would put two and two together? Only the best and the brightest. And the local police most certainly were not the best and the brightest. They would know that the murder was intentional, of course it was intentional. There was no way Mathias could just sit by and let Anna be abused by that monster. No way. Any sane jury would see that Anna was in danger. That Mathias acted for the best...

A little boy, around age 10, is tucked in his bed. Terror is visible in his eyes. The boy dares not to move, to make any sound. But he hears it all. "What did I say, Janice? Working late again, but you weren't really working late, were you? You were probably being the whore you are and sleeping around!" A male voice shouts from the other room. The sound of glass shattering is audible. The little boy pulls the covers up further, until they cover all of his face except his eyes. A small, feeble murmur can be heard, presumably Janice trying to say something. "You worthless piece of shit!" The male roars, "You're nobody. NOBODY! When I say I want you home every night immediately, I mean immediately! No hanging around, no working late-- NO! I don't care who your boss is, I want you home RIGHT AFTER WORK!" The sounds of someone being hit and slammed into a dresser is heard through the paper thin walls. The little boy can hear female whimpering from the other room. He pulls the covers over his head and plugs his ears.

Mathias flipped through the folder of Kendra Davidson. Kendra had been a case he had worked for a long time. Five years to be exact. He read through all of his meetings with her, every single one from the first day to last week's meeting. Everything she had told him in a whisper or while she could barely speak, choking with tears. He then shuts this folder and carefully places it back in his black briefcase. Mathias seethes with rage. He cannot, in good consciousness, let Kendra keep on being abused. He digs around in his briefcase for another folder. This one is incomplete, just a fraction of what he actually needs to proceed to phase 2. Timetables are left incomplete. Surveillance of the neighborhood is only half finished. Mathias closes the folder and takes it with him out of his study. He calmly extinguishes the fire in the fireplace and places the dirty bowl in the sink. He picks up the camera in its leather bag on the end table and shuts off the lights. It was time to pay a visit to 100 Sycamore Road.