Dishonorable Conduct

Chapter Four

The next day was a Friday, so Rosa didn't have any homework. Latrelle, however, did. And a lot of it, to boot. As soon as he got home, he went up to his room and began working, and by four, he got all of it done.

Once he was finished, he turned on his gaming system, but soon got bored with that, and chose a book from his vast collection. He had barely begun reading it before he grew bored once more. So, he grabbed his phone and texted Kevin, asking him if he wanted to work on the class project they had been given.

Ten minutes later, Kevin was knocking on the front door, then running up the stairs and into Latrelle's room.

"I thought you would never call!" Kevin whined playfully. Latrelle threw the book he was holding at his friend, who avoided the object by ducking. The book hit the wall with a dull thud, and Latrelle took out his laptop.

"Let's get to work."

* * *

This was it. This was the last time they'll see their uncle Richard. In a casket, plastered with make-up and positioned as if sleeping.

Hordes of people crowded the funeral home, proceeding past Richard's bed in silent solemnity. Now and again, people would cry --even Mitch shed his crocodile tears-- or a veteran would place a piece of time in with the cold body. Such went the procession of death.

Gunshots echoed through the rolling cemetery, hushing the weepers and snifflers; gunshots so loud, they seemed to make your ears become bells with their incessant ringing; veterans pounded metal eagles into the casket, showing a sign of their gratitude of having the dearly departed's comradeship; roses thrown in with the box as it was lowered into the ground; the sound of heartache over the loss of a dear friend.

Latrelle sat in the back of Michael's Cadillac, between Rosa and Mitch. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mitch looking out the window with a glazed look in his eyes.

Was he actually crying? Or was that just for appearances? he thought.

* * *

Latrelle's phone vibrated in his pocket, and he turned it on to see a text from Kevin:

Come over to my house after work. You need to see something.

* * *

"What did you want to show me?" Latrelle asked as he walked into Kevin's room. His friend sat in front of a computer, pointing to a single line of text:

Bruises around the wrists and ankles suggest the victim was restrained. Lethal amounts of mercury were also found in his bloodstream and lungs.

"Are you trying to say that Richard didn't die on accident?" Latrelle asked.

"No. What I'm saying is that it's a possibility," Kevin replied coolly. "Not that it was."

Latrelle paced around the room, then realized something.

"You didn't steal your dad's files again, did you?" he asked dubiously. The look on Kevin's face looked like he had told him someone had shot his puppy. Latrelle shook his head. "Fine, I won't ask again."

Latrelle walked to the door, stopping with his hand on the doorknob, and turned back to Kevin.

"Keep me updated, alright?" Kevin flashed him a thumbs up and he left.

* * *

Latrelle sat in his desk chair, mulling over the M.E.'s report Kevin had shown him.

Mercury is a toxic metal, so it wouldn't take much to kill someone. Added to the fact that it was found in his lungs, and it sounds like he was forced to drink it. Or he drank it himself. Latrelle shook his head. No. He wouldn't have bruises from restraints if he willing drank it. So it's more conceivable to think someone killed him.

Latrelle's thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked on his bedroom door.

"What?" he said, loud enough to hear through the inch-thick wood.

"Lunch's ready, Relle," Rosa said. Latrelle could hear his sister's footsteps as she descended the stairs.