Wilde at Heart (Completed)

Chapter 7

For a minute, Canon just stared at the page, willing it to not be true. It was somebody's cruel idea of a joke. He blinked and the awful truth still stared him in the face. His heart constricted. He didn't want to believe what Layla Kelly had been through. His own memories slapped him in the face as he read. He sighed loudly and swiped his hand over his face tiredly. The woman had been institutionalized in a mental hospital for a year. The file read that she had been an outpatient and had not lived there but still. He flipped through the rest of the file but couldn't find any more information about why she had been receiving such heavy therapy. In fact, he realized that there was no information regarding her past life further than three years. It was almost as if she didn't exist until three years ago and she popped on the scene. He frowned confused.

His cell phone rang as he sat there and wondered what Layla was hiding. "Canon Wilde speaking," he spoke briskly, setting the file to the side.

"Hey Canon," said a serious male voice, "You busy?"

"No," answered Canon, "What's going on Jason?"

Jason Wolfe was a private investigator and personal friend of Canon's. A few weeks prior, Canon had asked him to start looking into his mother's murder that was never fully solved. The evidence had disappeared along with the the guilty ones right before the trial. No one was ever convicted and no justice was ever served. "I've just started some digging," said Jason, "I had to finish a case I was working on. But it seems like our best bet is to start with the District Attorney at the time. I believe his name is Stone."

"Okay," Canon sighed, "Do you know where to find him?"

"I believe so," answered Jason, "He moved out into the country when he retired. Lives there with his wife. He's going to be at that social function tomorrow night."

"Good," said Canon, "We will talk to him then."

"You want to talk with him?" questioned Jason.

"This is very personal," said Canon in a low voice, "I'm talking to him."

When he hung up, Canon sat and stewed a moment. Blindly, he swept the contents on his desk to the floor and started slinging stuff all over the room. He upturned his desk and smashed the replacement vase for the one broken earlier. Then he slammed his fists into the wall again and again, wincing in pain as his knuckles became a bleeding bloody pulp.

Carter, who was never far away burst through the door, his gun at the ready and asked, "Everything alright sir?"

"Get out!" yelled Canon, "Get out!"

Carter pocketed his gun calmly and left the room.

Canon groaned and sank down on the floor by his whiskey cabinet. Groaning again, he grabbed a bottle and took a long drink, feeling a lot better.

......

Jester walked into the living room, all dressed up for his date and asked Layla, "How do I look?"

Just then Layla's phone started buzzing and she grabbed it looking down. "Hold that thought," she said, holding up a finger. It was Rose.

"Hey," she said, answering the phone.

"Hey, I'm coming over. Now. Give me your address," demanded Rose.

Layla chuckled and said, "Okay."

Rose hung up as soon as she got the address and Layla stared at her phone. Well that was nice.

"Layla," Jester whined, "I need you to tell me if I look okay or not."

"You look fine, Jester," assured Layla, getting up from her seat in front of the TV, "Now help me clean up this place a little before you leave. One of my coworkers is coming over."