The Fourth Catch

Chapter 5: Drifting

It had been three weeks since the dinner party. Anthony had been rather busy at work suddenly, even going in on the weekends. Working late nights and going in early mornings. A big case had come up the week before New Years. If Anthony wasn't called to help out on the field, he was at the office arranging some paperwork to get the case ready for going to trial. Whenever Melanie and Anthony had tried to have some more time to spend with the three of them, something always tended to come up. Melanie was getting slightly impatient as she was wanting to have some time with her family. She knew it was part of his job. But the times he got busy and she barely would see him, Melanie would start to feel nervous again. With them not being able to spend time together as they should, she was afraid that things would fall apart, that the two of them would drift away from each other. She tried to keep herself busy so she wouldn't allow those thoughts to settle in again. Her daughter Beth certainly helped keep her distracted most of the times. It was the quiet times when Beth was napping that Melanie would allow her mind to wander.

However, with Anthony being gone so much, it had given Melanie and Beth some more opportunities to spend some time together. Melanie felt like she was finally getting to bond with her daughter. Beth was slowly beginning to realize that Melanie was there to stay for good. That she wasn't going anywhere. The two of them had a pretty easy day. Beth had mostly played with her doll as she always did. Once she was starting to get tired, Melanie put on her favorite movie, and Beth had fallen asleep in her playpen as she watched the movie along with playing with her doll. Melanie had just laid her down in her crib for the evening, not realizing how late it was already when she heard the sound of the door opening. She looked over at the clock. It was eight fifteen. Anthony had thought that he wouldn't be home until nine or ten. She gave a small smile. Melanie liked when he got home a little early, so they could at least spend some time together before they had to go to bed.

Melanie glanced over hearing the door open. She just made her way back out to the living room area after checking on her daughter. Who was still sleeping soundly. Melanie gave him a small smile as he approached her. "Hey, you're home early." She said not realizing what she had said. Anthony grinned at her words. He was still getting used to the idea that Melanie was finally starting to see things through. She was getting used to the idea of home and a family with him and their daughter. Melanie let her head rest on Anthony's chest as she felt him wrap his arms around her, pulling her close to him. She didn't tell him, but whenever he had to go out on call for work, she was still worried. Worried that something was going to happen to him, and was always relieved when she saw him coming back through the door. Anthony glanced down at her as he watched her rest her head against his chest with a small smirk. "Well if this is the welcome I am going to get, maybe I should be gone more often." He teased. Melanie pulled her head up to look at him laughing, giving a slight shake of her head.

"How is the case coming?" She asked. "I.. Think this will be one of my most difficult cases that I will have to deal with." Melanie tensed a little hearing his words, glancing up at him. "What do you mean?" Anthony noticed Melanie tensing and let his hand rest against her cheek as he glanced at her. "Mel.. I'm going to be fine.. Don't worry.." She took a deep breath nodding. "I.. Know you will be." "Well. I can't really give a whole lot. But.. It looks like it is one of the cases where I can't exactly decipher yet if it was a murder or someone covering it up to make it look like a suicide.." Melanie nodded as she listened to him speak. "Why do you think that?" She asked.

"The only thing I can say is.. There was potential of this person, wanting to commit.. The note we did a match, was indeed in their own handwriting. But it wasn't just recently dated. It was dated from a couple of weeks ago. So, I think they had in mind set to commit when they wrote the note back then, but changed their mind. I am guessing that someone managed to find them and talked them out of it. So I believe that somebody found the note and planted it there.. After they killed them."