Outburst

Chapter 23 - Trust, But Verify

Surprisingly, Uncle Luke took the interrogation call very calmly. Grant told him after the dinner, and he said he would come the next day. I saw confidence on his face. I did not kill them, it was saying. He already told me that and I believed him, but without proofs, it didn't mean anything. Of course, the police depended so much on proofs. No matter how many times he said he didn't do it, how many times I defended him, they would not hear it until they found the proof.

They did, but even though it wasn't enough to prove him guilty, it made the police's job much easier—to focus only on my uncle, his outburst, and the damage it could cause.

I asked my uncle if I could go with him to the station. I was expecting he would say no, but when he nodded, I could make myself sure that he really had changed.

So, after school, I found myself sitting in the same waiting room at the police station. After dropping me at the station, Grant had to take care of something at the office.

"Hi, Callie!"

The voice sounded so familiar because I just heard it yesterday. Lola Dean. I smiled, even though my face probably showed her that I was surprised.

"I didn't think I would ever meet you here again," she said while sitting next to me.

Here? Again? Oh, I was right. Detective Banks also called her in yesterday.

"I'm just... accompanying my uncle," I replied.

"Yeah, he really needs a support."

There was a quick silence between us.

"Uh, Miss Dean—"

"Just Lola, please," she cut.

"Okay," I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry about your sister. I know you come here to testify against my uncle, but, uh..."

"Against?" Lola shook her head. "Sweetie, I come here to defend him."

It made me blink.

"I was heartbroken over my sister's death. She didn't deserve that," she said. "But then they linked it to Mr. Mercer. I was eager to find out why would anybody want to do that to my sister, but Luke Mercer never crossed my mind. They loved each other.

"Margot was a spoiled young woman. I said this because I knew her better than anybody. When I first introduced her to Mr. Mercer, she tried so hard to change her manner to get his attention. She finally did—but I knew Margot couldn't maintain to be the woman she was not, and she was probably showing her real nature," she continued. "And since I've been working with Mr. Mercer for almost two years, I knew he didn't like that type of person." She chuckled. "But don't get me wrong, Margot also irked me sometimes. You probably know that your uncle loves his job so much that he will forget other things around. Well, Margot was craving for his attention more than she should have. That's why he asked me to meet him that day to talk about her."

"You were meeting him on the day they found your sister?" I was quite surprised.

She nodded. "He loved her, but he couldn't stand her if she kept bothering him like that," she said. "So, he asked me how he should react. He also told me that he was sorry for yelling at her the day before—but he just couldn't tell it directly to her yet."

"If I may ask... Where did you meet him?"

"At the hospital," she replied. "He said he couldn't leave the hospital because his niece was sick. It was you, right?"

I didn't know why but I was relieved hearing her say that. I wasn't the only witness for Margot's case. It was probably why Detective Banks didn't need to ask the hospital because there were two people confirming the same timeline.