The Answer

Chapter 4

As he stormed out of the station, Gerard's mind was at a million miles a minute. Nothing about what he had learnt today gave him any conclusive leads about the case, except that it definitely had something to do with him. He and Travis had put away a lot of bad guys back in their glory days, it could be any of them or even their near and dear ones who could've snapped and done this. But why wait so long?

He turned on his heel and walked a few paces back up the street and yanked Kevin out of his hiding spot.

"Captain and I have reason to believe this has something to do with me," he said to a startled Kevin, "I'll need your rookies to see how many of the people Travis and I put away were released recently."

"H-how recent?" Kevin asked, astonished by what had just happened.

"I don't know, I'll say maybe date it back to as far as released two years prior."

Kevin nodded, quickly grabbing his notepad and jotting down the details.

"I'll also need to know if any of their buddies from jail got released within that same time period."

"Alright, I'll have James on the job right away. Philip is working on getting security footage of the bus."

Gerard nodded thoughtfully, "I don't think we can rule out the possibility of a suicide bomber, I want details on all those who were present at the time the bomb went off."

"On it." Kevin shut his notepad, tipped his hat and began to walk away.

"Oh, Kevin! Almost forgot," Gerard called out as Kevin turned back to face him, "I may be rusty but I will always catch you following me, I don't appreciate it even if Captain gave the order."

Kevin nodded and walked away, his pace much faster this time.

Gerard sighed and hailed a taxi.

He shifted in the backseat, trying to compose himself  before he had to do the worst thing he could imagine. It was a physical effort to drag himself to the front desk, where a nurse and receptionist were chatting in hushed tones.

"Good afternoon sir, how can I help you today?" The nurse said, turning to face Gerard with a smile.

"Which way to the morgue?"

Her face fell, "Oh, I'm so sorry, can I have your name please?"

"Gerard Sanders."

A few clicks on her computer and she'd found his reference, "Please head over to the basement level, the second door to the left. Doctor Weiss will assist you there."

"Thanks," he walked as quickly as he could to the lift, unsure of when his legs might give way.

He entered the lift and once the door closed, he pressed his floor and collapsed to the ground, heaving. Gerard knew none of this was going to be easy, he'd been to the morgue before but only on cases. It was an overall depressing experience even then, he was worried this would tear him apart.

He took a deep breath and stood up slowly, dusting himself off. He stepped out of the lift and walked to the door.

He hesitated.

Gerard's hand hovered over the handle as he closed his eyes and tried to compose himself.

"Are you Mr. Sanders?" Asked a frail voice from down the hallway.

Gerard looked up to see an old man with a white lab coat and scrubs.

"Y-yes."

"I'm very sorry for your loss," the old man said, approaching Gerard and shaking his hand, "I'm Doctor Weiss."

"Nice to meet you."

Dr. Weiss smiled, "I suppose you don't remember, I've assisted you in a few cases before."

"Sorry, I hadn't realised we'd met before," Gerard smiles sheepishly, "a lot has happened since then."

"I see."

Dr. Weiss and Gerard walked quietly into a dark room. He put on a weak bulb to reveal what seemed to be stacked drawers on all the walls of the room. The doctor gingerly leafed through his register, "their names were Carol and Max, yes?"

"Yes," Gerard managed.

The doctor nodded and proceeded to open the bottom left drawer in the back of the room. Gerard looked away, unsure of how to remain calm.

"This isn't going to be easy, but can you positively identify this as Carol?"

Gerard turned slowly, to find a charred body. Tears welled in his eyes and he tried to find anything proving it wasn't her, but her face had taken minimum damage and Gerard knew it was. He nodded slowly, inhaling sharply in an attempt to hold back the tears.

"It is alright to cry," said Doctor Weiss gently, "there is strength in being able to express yourself."

Gerard collapsed to the ground, sobbing softly. It was as if he had just needed the permission to fall apart and there he was- a mess again. The doctor knelt beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We cannot change the past, we can only mould the future. Just because they've left their physical form, doesn't mean they've left you."

Gerard nodded, wiping his tears with the tissues the doctor gave him. He stood up, and whispered "And my son?"

Dr. Weiss nodded, quietly closing the drawer and opening the one next to it.

"Is it him?" The doctor asked.

Gerard looked at the body, more charred than Carol's. It was harder to identify and Gerard struggled to find a familiar feature.

"I don't know for sure." Gerard said.

"We checked his dental work to help us identify him," said the doctor, pulling up a small file from behind his desk, "it's a match by our records."

Gerard observed the file and frowned. He felt a growing sense of numbness well inside of him as his instincts kicked in. It was obvious from the file that something was amiss.

"How old would you say he was based on the dental results you've got?"

"I'd say about eight or nine, why?"

"My son isn't this tall."

Dr. Weiss looked at Gerard, bewildered. "But the dental work matches."

Gerard looked at the report, searching for a name. A certain doctor George Wallis conducted the autopsy and probably knew who gave him the fake set of teeth. His stomach churned at the thought that someone had plucked out his son's teeth for this.

"Maybe I haven't been paying attention," Gerard said sniffling for effect, "he must've grown and I never even noticed."

"There, there." The doctor pat him on the back, placing a calling card in his hands, "this is a good funeral home, they will take care of everything. I suggest you get in touch with him."

Gerard nodded, shaking the doctor's hand. As he heading for the elevator, Gerard thought about his son. He frowned, knowing full well that this case was targeted at him and that the only thing that mattered was getting a lead of the sicko that was doing all this.

Dr. Weiss watched him go, once the elevator door had shut he called a number from his phone.

"He's onto you." He whispered into the receiver.

"It's what I was hoping for," said the voice on the other end, "I'm just dying to see what he does next."