Extra Credit

The Real Killer

I spent some time resting when my father took me home. I knew I was going to need it since I had a lot of research to do in order to figure out if Mark was truly guilty or not. That next day I woke up and found my mother's autopsy report sitting on my desk. I smiled loving how serious my father was about helping me find out the truth. I just prayed that he didn't end up being in the middle of it.

I slid into a satin robe and then took a seat at the desk. I took a deep breath to prepare myself to see the photos of my mother's mutilated body. I slowly opened up the report and quietly read the details and checked the crime scene photos. I must have spent at least an hour or so looking through it thoroughly until I spotted something that Mark never mentioned. I picked up my cell and called my father.

"What did you find?" he asked upon answering.

I smiled, "Well…it turns out that the stab wounds aren't what killed mom. In fact, they were placed there postmortem."

"In English Aria." He said.

I sighed, "It means whoever stabbed mom multiple times did it after she died."

"Ok so how did she really die then?" he asked.

"Poison…there was rat poison found in her liver and stomach." I said with a frown.

"Someone fed this to mom and then stabbed her repeatedly."

He sighed, "Jesus…well why weren't the police told?"

I checked the file again and found the answer, "Because you opted for mom's autopsy report to be sealed dad. The police would have known if you would have let them check her records."

"Damn…so I guess Mark really is innocent."

I sighed, "Not completely…I'll have to find him first to know for sure."

"How are you going to do that?" he asked.

I got up from the desk and wandered around the room, "By letting the real killer come to me."

"No…I don't fucking think so." He snapped.

"Dad if we're going to end this we'll have to do it this way. Mark clearly wanted me to run away for a reason…and this is it."

He sighed, "I'm coming home."

"You can't you have a match and I'm starting to think that this killer wants me alone if he's going to make an appearance."

"You won't be alone…I already texted Bryan this morning and told him to come check on you."

I rolled my eyes, "Dad!"

"Aria I'm not going to let anything happen to you or that baby. Now as soon as I can, I'll be coming home."

"But dad-"

CLICK.

I sighed heavily and put down my cell phone. I couldn't believe my father was about to allow me to live in fear of a killer who will only come for me when I'm alone. I rubbed the back of my neck and walked back to my desk to close the file on my mom. After that, I headed downstairs to make myself some breakfast.