Knocking On Death's Door

Chapter 5

"Now, Mr. Spier, I need you to be very, very precise. What did you see that night?" the man sitting behind the table says, his arms rest on the table and his grey eyes stare directly into mine, I avert my eyes and stare at the ground.

"I saw my brother, Lachlan, lying limply at the bottom of a cliff near my home" I say, I repeat this in my mind, it's still mind-blowing to me that he's really gone, and that he's never coming back. The man nods and writes something down on his notepad, he promptly leaves the room. I sit in silence, feeling grief swallow me like a wave, Lachlan was only seventeen, he had plans and things he wanted to accomplish in life, but now none of those things would ever happen. The man returns to the room and sits in his chair again, facing me.

"We've concluded that Lachlan's death was a suicide, he was obviously feeling pain and hurt" I gawk at the man, he seems entirely convinced of the polices' decision that Lachlan killed himself.

"My brother would never do something like that, not when he knows that people in his life need him and love him" I snap, I knew Lachlan better then these people ever did, who are they to say Lachlan killed himself.

"It makes the most sense, based on the story your mother gave us, he was angry at her and your father. So, therefore leading him to jump off that cliff" the man finishes, he acts like he's already figured everything out and that no one should question his and the other officers authority, because they were right.

"You'll still investigate it, right?" I ask hopefully, I want the police to find the person who killed him to be brought to justice, but apparently, he killed himself. The man shrugs and looks back down at his notepad, scribbling a few more things down.

"We see no reason to investigate a suicide" he says, then seeing the sadness in my eyes, he reconsiders. "But, I can see if I can get a few cops to dig up anything else, but I assure you son, no one killed your brother." I nod, despite feeling a massive urge to punch this man in the face, he gestures for me to leave the room and I gladly do.

I shove my hands in my pockets and walk out of the room, I turn a corner and pass a few officers in uniform, I nod to them out of respect but keep walking, I don't understand why they would think that Lachlan just killed himself, I mean they didn't find any bullet holes or stab marks anywhere on him, but who knows what someone could have done. I round another corner and see Mom, sitting in the main lobby, her legs shaking as she waits for me. Once she sees me, she stands upright as I come over.

"What did they say?" she asks with eagerness, her eagerness is sad and fearful.

"Just that they think Lachlan's death was the cause of a suicide" Mom stops, her face falls and she freezes.

"It's my fault" is all she says, she sits back down in the chair and holds her head in her hands.

"Mom? Do you seriously think that Lachlan killed himself?"

"It's my fault, I-I pushed him and made him angry, and-and he got mad and I. . ."

"Mom, calm down" I soothe, sitting beside her and trying to minimize the amount that she's shaking.

"Mom, do you honestly think Lachlan would leave us like that?"

"Well. . . If the police say its true then. . ."

"Oh my God, are you for real?!" I demand, "am I the only person here who doesn't believe that?"

"Honey, what did you expect Lachlan's death to be?" Mom asks, her voice questioning and sort of angry.

"I don't know. . . Maybe someone. . ."

"Don't! Finish that sentence" Mom says, her voice dripping with fear. She gets up and walks towards the door, then turns back to look at me.