Until Proven Innocent

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

AFTER
Detective Gerard Sullivan
Sunday May 21, 2016

I came to the station early this morning, couldn't sleep at all last night. So many questions racking my brain, all of them without answers.

Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps Rosella Collins had nothing to do with Emerald's disappearance and this is just one big coincidence that she turns up dead. And what about this so-called daughter of hers? Where is she? We put out an APB for a Clementine Collins last night, but we don't have much to go on. Did someone kill Rosella and take her daughter?

I grab another coffee and head over to Younger's office. Perhaps she can be of some assistance in finding out who exactly Rosella Collins was. Then maybe I can try to piece together her death.

"Hey," I say as I tap on her door.
"Hey Ger," she spins around in her chair. "Heard you had a hectic night,"
"That's an understatement."
"What can I do for ya?"
"I need you to find out as much as you can about the deceased woman – Rosella Collins. Get me anything and everything on her."
"I'm on it," she smiles at me, then spins back around to her computer.

I return to my office and pull out my notepad, flipping through the notes from the beginning. As of this moment, nothing is adding up or making sense and we still don't have any idea as to where the child is. I had a notion that Weston could have been in on it with Rosella; kidnapped the child and planned to run away together. Then something goes wrong and he kills her. But that doesn't make sense either, especially with his genuine need to find his daughter. I've seen men fake things before, and his desperation to find Emerald is not artificial. He doesn't know where she is. Which means that the kid is still out there somewhere. Doesn't necessarily mean that Weston is innocent, though. If he did kill his mistress, then I will prove it. But that still leaves the baby. Where on earth is Emerald?

I return to the original theory that Cordelia had a psychotic break and killed her daughter. Does that scenario still make sense? Perhaps. I must admit that I let my suspicions with Rosella Collins take me on a detour from our original theory. Should I return to that? Try to focus on the mother?

There are so many possible scenarios going on in my brain, so many questions and suspicions regarding everyone in this case. I worry that we won't find her. I worry that Cordelia killed her and we're too late. I worry that Rosella Collins took her and got rid of her before she was murdered. I worry that Weston is a much bigger part of this than he is leading on.

The worst part is not knowing. The uncertainty is what keeps me up at night. And because I don't have many clues or leads to go on, it's difficult to try and pin-point what the real story is. Who is lying? Whose story do I believe? It makes it a lot more difficult to solve a case when you can't trust anybody you speak to.

I lift the cup of coffee to my lips and take a long gulp. I need to stay awake. I need to figure this out. Today. Because if Monday rolls around and the child still isn't found, well, I don't know what I'll do. I can't let it get to that.

I decide to clear my head and start from scratch. Forget everything I know or any biases I may have towards certain people. Let's start from the beginning: the minute we got the call.

We went over to the Waters' home. Weston is pacing back and forth, frantically talking to Holden and Ashby. Honest or suspicious behaviour? He seemed genuine. I've seen people fake concern before, and I do admit, people have been good at it. But his reaction was real. I can tell that, if anything. Could he have known something more at the time? Well, yes, I know that now. He knew of his wife's meltdown earlier that morning and chose not to say anything. Perhaps he thought her psychosis was enough evidence to go on that she was to blame? He told us what happened: he got home from work, went to check on his daughter, found the empty crib.

Moving to Cordelia. She was sitting on the couch, looking stunned as she stared off into the nothingness. I brought her coffee and asked her questions. She seemed hazy, out of it. Possible behaviour for someone who recently had a psychotic break and murdered their child? Perhaps.

She did seem to be in shock. But then again, that's a mother's typical reaction when her child goes missing. They're either crying hysterically or frozen still. It was almost as though she didn't believe it was true. Weston was in a panic. Cordelia was numb.

I wish I could gauge a better reaction based on her past experiences. But unfortunately, I didn't know her at the time of her psychosis, and can only go off of what Doctor Wyatt has explained to me.

The days that followed don't help me much. All I can gather from Friday morning until now is that everybody lies. And I'm at the point where I'm not even sure who to believe anymore.

____

I'm sitting in my office staring at the blank computer screen when Holden rushes into my office. "Cassidy's here to see you. Says it's urgent."

Cassidy is the medical examiner in charge of performing the autopsy on Rosella Collins. I stand and hurry down the hallway, Holden at my heels.
"Cassidy," I say upon reaching her. "What are we dealing with here?"
"Well," she takes in a small breath. "Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the frontal lobe. Looks to me like she smashed it off the counter, perhaps. And I estimate time of death to be approximately thirty hours from the time she was found. That gives us an estimate of around Friday afternoon."
"Okay, so definitely after the child went missing."
"Right. But that's not why I'm here, Gerard. There's something else."
"What is it?"
She stares at me for a moment, trying to form her next words. "Rosella Collins was six weeks pregnant."