The Perfect Family

Day 2 of new Investigation

Sabrina:

Mikel and I had been staring at the same file for over an hour, and there was no mention of the third detective. They didn’t know who he was, or where he was. They found the other two detectives with ease.

“ We need to talk to the original detectives?” I said.

“ I’ll let Chloe and Andrew know what we found” Mikel said.

I typed in Maxwell Quinn information as I looked through the file for a current address. When I hit the button, the protected message popped up. I got up and went to the director's office.

The door was opened so I stepped inside.” Mr.Jefferson”

“ How can I help you?” he asked me.

“I need the password for the Maxwell Quinn file for the current address”

“ What does Maxwell Quinn have to do with the case?”

“ He was one of the original detectives”

“ Bree Benson case”

“Yes sir”

He typed on the computer for a few minutes before writing something on a piece of paper. He handed me the paper and said” don’t forget the paperwork”.

“ Thank you “ I said as I left the office.

When I was back at my desk, Mikel was there.

“Chloe said that since we found the information, that we will follow through with it.”

“'kay" I said, handing him the paperwork. “ Fill this out.”

“Okay “ he said as he filled out the paper. When he finished, he went to give the director the paper. He handed him another paper.

When I went back to my desk, Mikel said “He’s retired.”

“Is he still in the area” I asked.

“Yes” he answered. So I grabbed my jacket.

We went to Chloe’s desk where Andrew and Chloe were talking.

“Ya’ll going to talk to Maxwell Quinn” Andrew asked

“Yes” I answered.

“ Be careful. Most detectives don’t like to be questioned about cases like these.”

“ We’ll be careful” Mikel said as they left the office.

When they reached the detective, Mikel looked through the front window while I knocked on the door.

“Hello”, Maxwell answered to answer the door

“I’m Special Agent Levettey and this is Special Agent Weatherly, from the FBI cold case division. We want to ask you a few questions about the Bree Benson case.

“Oh, I don’t really remember that case. It was a long time ago” he said.

“ About 12 years ago, it was the last case before you retired”, Mikel said.

“I’m starting to remember it” he said.” I wasn’t able to solve the case” he continued, as he shook his head and looked sad."Why don't you come inside and out of the cold."

“ Why weren’t you able to solve the case?” I asked.

“There weren’t any witnesses and everyone we suspected had an albi. ”

“ Do you know Detective Lane?” Mikel asked, trying to read him.

“No”

“Why is there a Detective Lane on the case file if he didn’t work the case?”

“No, Detective Lane worked the case just me and Detective Hart.”Mikel looked at him with distrust.

“I still have a copy of the report” he told them.

“Would you mind if we had a look at it?” I asked gently.

“Sure no problem missy” he said to me, taking his eyes off of Mikel.

He went to look through some paperwork on his desk.

“Is there a chance someone from another jurisdiction has looked into Bree’s case?”

“No no chance it was in our jurisdiction and I would like to think that we would have been notified.”

It took him a good minute before he found the file. Mikel held out his hand for the file. Maxwell looked at him before turning around and giving the file to me. I handed Mikel the file.

“ Thank you for your help” I said as we were leaving the house.

“”No problem, missy” he said, before he turned towards Mikel and said “ I have a partner like you, a good detective but with a bad temper”. Mikel ignored him and left the house.

We went back to the station. Andrew and Chloe were still at their desks.When Chloe saw us walk in she called us over.

“What did you learn from Maxwell?” she asked.

“I don’t know what but he was hiding something” Mikel said,

“Why do you say that?” Andrew asked.

“ He said that he didn’t know Detective Lane who worked on the case but when we asked him about it his facial expression changed.”

“ Why would he lie about not knowing about Detective Lane?” Chloe asked.

“He gave us the copy of the file he had”, I said as Mikel was paging through it.

“ Is it the same file we have or is this a different copy?” Andrew asked.

“ It’s the same file ,but why does he have it?”

“ Maybe he still wanted to solve it” Chloe said.

“ He’s retired”

“Still, some detectives can't let go of a case they were unable to solve."

“ What about his partner Leann Hart?”

“ We haven't spoken to his partner yet.”

“ We spoke to Maxwell first because he was senior detective.”

Just then, Chloe's phone rung. She looked at the caller i.d. She answered and then immediately put it on speaker.

“Did you find anything?” she asked.

“ Yep, all the info that you wanted”

“ That’s great. “

“ It sure is do you want the good news or the bad news first?” he asked her excitedly.

“Bad new”

“You’ll get good news.”

“Okay”

“Charlie Brookson lives in Hopeful Valley. That’s the next county. Theodore Brookson lives in the same county as Charlie. They live across the street from each other.”While he spoke Chloe wrote what he was saying.

“ Addresses?” she asked

“1721 Hummington Drive for Charlie and for Theodore 1727 Hummington Drive”

“Bad news?”

“ The youngest one is dead Mitchell Brookson, who died at the age of seventeen. He was run over by a drunk driver.”

“Okay”

“The oldest one can’t find a paper trail for him. It’s like he doesn’t exist anymore.”

"None at all." She said, confused.

"None"

“ Thanks for the information. Keep digging”

“ Before we speak with the brothers we need to speak to Maxwell's partner Leann Hart”, Andrew said, looking at Mikel and I,” Is she retired?”

“No, she’s not retired” I answered.

“ Do you know if she is working today?” he asked me.

“I don’t know but I can call Edward back and ask ” I said, picking up my phone and walking away.

"Hey Edward, does LeAnn Hart work today? If not, can I get her home address?"

He wasn't answering but I did hear the keys on his keyboard clicking.

"She doesn't work today and her home address is 1718 McFowell Street."

"Thank you" I said before I hung up.

“ She doesn’t work today, and I got her home address” I said, holding my notepad out to Andrew.

He looked at it before saying “ This is you and Mikel. Chloe and I will have to talk to the brother while you handle the other detective.”

“Okay” she said.

Within a few moments, both teams of agents were in different locations. Mikel and Sabrina drove to Leann Hart's house. When they got there, Leann was sitting on the front porch. She watched them as they got out of the car and walked toward her. She met them halfway.

“Special Agent Levettey and Special Agent Weatherly how nice of you to stop b”

“You knew we were coming?” Sabrina asked.

“Maxwell called me” she answered.

“ So you know what we are here for?”

“Yes”

“Was there a Detective Lane working with you guys?” Mikel asked.

“ Yes, but he was a rookie just training.”

“When did he start working with you on the case?”

“The second day we started the case, we were with search parties and thought that three detectives were better than two.”

“ Was there anything unusual about him?”

“No , but he did get on Maxwell's nerves.”

“Why did he get on Maxwell's nerves?”

“ He clinged to him”

“ There wasn’t much information in the file.”

“ It started as a missing person but when we found the car and the blood, Maxwell suggested we start looking for a homicide.”

“Did you agree?”

“Not a first, but eventually, yes.”

“ Why didn’t you agree at first?” Sabrina asked.

“ I mean sure there was a lot of blood but she could’ve been alive just in bad shape, but after a day I thought if she wasn’t in the hospital she was or would be dead.” she explained.

“ Why did you decide to close the case?”

“ We had cases piling up,”she said,.

“ Thank you for your help” Mikel said.

Meanwhile, Chloe and Andrew went to go talk to Heather Benson's brother. When they got to Charlie’s house there were 2 little kids playing in the front yard. They went to the front door and knocked, but there was no answer.

Chloe walked up to the little girl.” Where are your parents?” The little girl pointed to the side of the house.She took her brothers' hands and ran to their father. They followed the children.

“Who are you and why are you following my kids?” he asked.

“I’m Special Agent Scott and this is my partner, Special Agent Adam. We are with the FBI cold case division.”

“Charlie Brookson” he said

“We are here with your sister Heather's daughter, Bree Benson”, Andrew told her.

“You found her” he asked?

“No, I’m sorry we did not.”

“Where were you on October 12,2004”Chloe asked.

“”I’m i a suspect?” Charlie asked confused

“Just answer the question” she said.

“I was with my wife” he answered.

“ Can anyone confirm your whereabouts?”

“My wife can”

“The man who took your niece called himself her uncle”. she told him “ "Do you think any of your brothers would want to hurt your niece?”

“ No, why would anyone want to hurt B?”

“ B” Andrew asked

“It’s Bree's nickname” he said.

Andrew wrote that down in his notes.

“Are you alright?” Andrew asked.

“Just shocked”

“Do you know where your brother Mark Brookson lives or stays?”

“No, I haven’t seen him in 24 years.”

“ Thank you for all your help”

“Did I give you something useful?”

“Yes,you did something very important”, Andrew told him. Chloe was already on her way out of the front yard.Andrew ran to catch up to her. When he did catch up to her, he turned her around.

“Hey, Are you OK?”

“I’m fine”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, i’m sure”

“You can tell me if your not”

“Later please” she pleaded. He looked at her and opened his mouth before quickly closing the door.

They continued to walk across the street and knocked on Ted Brookson's door ,but instead of a man, he answered with blue and black hair.

“ Hey, I'm Special Agent Adam and this is my partner, Special Agent Scott from the FBI cold case division, who was here to speak to Ted Brookson.”

“ He isn’t home” she said as she started to shut the door. Before she could fully shut the door, they heard a male voice saying” Who is it?” At that instant, Chloe put her foot on the door to stop it from closing. She pushed the door open.

“Hello, Are you Ted Brookson?”

“ Yes, I am”

“ Okay, hey, I'm Special Agent Adam and this is my partner, Special Agent Scott, from the FBI cold case division.”

“Okay” he said

“We're here to ask you questions about your niece Bree Benson”

“Okay”

“ First I would like to know who you are?”

“I’m Elizabeth Brookson” she said, hiding behind Ted.

“ She’s my wife”, Ted added.

“ Why did you lie about Ted being here?”

Elizabeth stood silent.

“Do you have something to hide about his niece?”

“No,of course not” she said. “ I just don’t think he should talk to the police or law enforcement without a lawyer.”

“ Do you have something to hide?” Chloe asked, turning toward him.

“No” he answered.

“ Do you mind if I ask you questions about your niece?”

He answered no again.

“Okay then”

“ Where were you on October 12,2004?”

“I was at work. I didn’t get home till about 10 o'clock”

“Can anyone confirm that?” Andrew asked, taking over the interview.

“My boss”

“ Have you heard from your brother, Mark Brookson?”

“ I talked to him a couple of months ago”

“ Do you still have his phone number?”

“Yes, but it was disconnected.”

“ Do you know where he is living and where he is staying?”

“No,. I don’t we just talk on the phone.”

“ Can we have the number?”

“Yes,” Ted pulled out his phone and rattled off the number.

“ Were you the only one who talked to him?” Andrew asked, looking at Elizabeth.

“We were closer than our other siblings”

“ Do you think that any of your brothers would want to hurt Bree?”

“No”

“Thank you for your cooperation” Andrew said as him and Chloe walked out of the door.

When they got back to the offices, Chloe went straight to her desk and collapsed on the chair. Mikel and Sabrina were already gone by the time they had got back. Andrew went to his desk and gathered his things. Chloe got up to walk to the door with him.

When they were alone together outside,Andrew got close to Chloe and hugged her.” Tell me.”

“I missed you”

“I missed you too.”

“Tell me what was wrong with you earlier.”

“ I just felt sick”

“Felt sick?”he asked. " Like vision sick or I'm going to throw up sick."

" A little of both,"she answered his question, "because I've been tired lately. It's probably just a cold" she said, trying to ease his worries.

" Do you want me to drive you home?"

"No, I'll be fine. Tell Christian and Christian. I said hi."

Anabelle

I looked at the clock and Andrew should be home any minute now.I have been very upset ever since my daughter died. Andrew had been busy with work. It's been 2 years since she died. He was starting to move on with that girl, Chloe.

I definitely didn't like that. I always thought that he and Chloe spent too much time together, even when my daughter was alive. I thought that he was cheating and I told my daughter that. She wouldn't hear that because she thought that I was meddling in her marriage.

Andrew walked through the door as I snapped out of my thoughts.

" Hey" he said, taking his gun out of his pocket and putting it on the top shelf as he took off his coat. When his coat was off, he hung it up and took the bullets out of the gun and put them in the safe.

"Hello Andrew"

"How were the kids today?"

"Good they are in bed."

"Okay thank you"

"You're late again.Were you with her?" I asked.

" We were working, so yes, I was with her, and the other detective working the case."

"Well, you missed putting the kids to bed."

"Yes, I know thank you for watching them seeing you can go now."

"You just gonna say I can go?"

"Yes, you want to argue and I don't."

" I don't want to argue, I want you to realize that this isn't good for the twins. She isn't good for the twins.

"Me working is good for the twins." he asked like he was confused.

" Not as a detective, you have no control over your hours. You need a desk job or a less dangerous job. What if you died, then what?"

"You can die from anything."

" So why try and rush death" I said to, trying to reason with him. " What about Chloe?She isn't there, mother. She can't replace their mother."

" She isn't trying to replace their mother. She's my girlfriend so she, going to be around. You don't have to like her, but you will have to respect that she will be him in the twins'lives."

"I don't need your speech about her being in the twins'lives. I'm leaving."

"Okay then,but she's not going anywhere."