Going with the Gut

"I've had a very interesting conversation with Melanie. It seems as if I did the right thing by withdrawing from the case and leaving it to someone who was not getting personally involved. What's the latest with our case?" I asked Doug.

"I thought that you were off the case."

"I am but from what I've just been told, I have a connection with it."

"We have eliminated Byron Spencer from the attempted murder because there was no attempted murder. It would appear as if his lovely wife was planning to get rid of him by framing him on a bogus charge and then divorcing him. She had been having an affair with another guy, not you, at least not when this was planned, and using his incarceration as a reason for divorce. Her lover didn't know that she was married, that news came as a shock to him and he has distanced himself from her. He couldn't understand why she had severed contact with him and was shocked to hear that she had taken up with another man. Don't worry, he doesn't know that it is you. We are moving to make an arrest today. I'm giving you the choice, I'll do it if you don't want to."

"I think that I'll enjoy bringing her in myself."

It was mid-morning when I returned home. "This is a surprise," Emma said. She looked up from her laptop, "I've just about finished the first draft of my Thesis. You'll be happy with this because you are recognised as a co-author and we'll split the royalties when it gets published." Her curiosity kicked in. "Why are you here? I thought that you would be out catching some criminal or something."

"I am." I walked over to her and held my arms out to her. She came to me and hugged me. "Emma, I love you very much, you know that. You have brought great happiness into my life at a time when I was seriously contemplating ending it. You have brought great love into my life when I was despairing of ever being in love again. But . . "

"Why is there going to be a 'but'?"

"Because I am here to ask you to come with me to the station."

"Why? Is it something that you need help with?"

"Yes and no."

"Now you've got me confused."

"Doug was about to make an arrest and he thinks that you should be there when it happens. Byron has been asked to be there as well."

"So, he's going to be arrested?"

"No."

"What then?"

"This is hard for me, probably harder than anything that I have ever been called upon to do. I could have chosen to leave it for Doug but I was given a choice, him or me, I chose to do it myself. Emma, I am arresting you for the murder of your sister Julie."

"What? You can't be serious. What evidence do you have?"

"There was evidence that her brakes had been tampered with, but no evidence of how or by whom. This was not followed up on by the investigating officer until now. You have had experience around cars, having been in a relationship with a motor racing driver and spent many weekends with him and his pit crew. We have spoken to some of them and it turns out that you carried some minor mechanical work like brake overhauls, so you would know how to tamper with brakes. The prosecutor believes that he can get a conviction based on the evidence now available." This wasn't entirely true but enough to bring her in. "On top of that, you conveniently neglected to tell me that Byron's first wife was your sister. Now, why would you do that?"

"I didn't think that it was relevant."

"You hoped that we would not make that connection, is that it?"

"That was a part of my thinking, sure. I was hoping that you would make the connection between Julie's death and the attempt on my life but not that she was my sister."

"We did. While our initial thinking was that there could have been a link between the two, that was, until all of the forensic evidence had been processed. That changed everything. Then there was the tiny matter of your qualifications. You claim a degree in Clinical Psychology from UCLA. We wondered about why you should not have got your degree in this country, why overseas? We checked on that and found that you were never a student there. You gained your current job by fraudulently claiming a qualification that you didn't have. Oh, you have some study experience but you dropped out before you could qualify. Now, why was that?"

"You tell me, you seem to know so much about me."

"Because you had realised that you didn't need to do all of that work when a little deception would be more lucrative. You applied for a job with your phoney qualifications and got away with it. Then there is your connection to Byron Spencer. You two were lovers and you came up with the plan to get rid of Julie so that you could marry him. You saw an opportunity with Byron Spencer and jumped at it. You knew that if it went pear-shaped you could convince him that you had enough evidence to have him charged with killing Julie. He went along with the plan and all was sort of fine until you decided that you no longer needed him in your life. That was what the argument was about on the day that you 'went missing'. He had found out that you were having an affair and confronted you."

"If I was having an affair with someone else, why did I allow you to become my lover? And where is this supposed lover?"

"Oh, we found him and, let me tell you that he was just as shocked as I was that we found out about it. You were very clever to allow me into your life so that you could keep tabs on the investigation and steer us away from the truth. You were very clever to not tell him that you were already married. You were very clever when you told him that, because of a bad experience in the past, you were in no hurry to get married again. That bought you the time needed to carry out your plan. I think that you got a little concerned when I used the drone to survey the scene and found the rock that you used to wound yourself. You would have known that we might have been able to get, at the very least, a partial print from it that would punch a hole in your story. You should have wrapped something around it."

"Haven't you been the clever little detective? Now is when I tell you that I don't love you, that I have never loved you, I used you. How does that make you feel?"

"Not as bad as I thought it would actually. As soon as I knew what had happened I used one of the techniques that we had discussed to block the memory of you. I am ready to move on with my life and the thought of you rotting in your prison cell will help me come to terms with my situation. You can call me a callous bastard about now but I am nowhere near as callous as you. It is time to go."

A change came over her with the realisation that her plan had seriously unravelled. "Please Scott, Darling, can't we discuss this?"

"There is nothing to discuss. Don't make it any harder on yourself, I don't want to have to cuff you."

I took her into custody and drove with her to the station. She pleaded with me for several minutes before having to concede that I was not about to give in to her.

I led her to an interview room and Doug arrived a minute or two after us. "Have you been informed of the charges that will be laid against you?"

"Yes." It was a subdued answer."

"We need to clarify several aspects of this matter."

I left them to it and headed for the staff lunchroom. I had no sooner sat down with a cup of coffee when Melanie came in. "So you're not in for the kill."

"No, I chickened out on that. I doubt that I could have held it together given that she had me fooled. I guess that I'll have to learn not to listen to my gut. The facts are the thing, not some fanciful notion of having met the woman of my dreams. I'll give her this, she's good, and she knows how to use men."

"Maybe I should have a word with her so that I can learn a thing or two about how to trap the man of my dreams. That's you in case you haven't picked up on my subtle hints."

"I couldn't see the wood for the trees. There are so many women trying their luck with me that I lost sight of the most likely candidate for my affections."

"Are you coming around then?"

"Coming around in what way?"

"To my charms, for one thing, the other is to my place tonight. You do remember where it is, don't you."

"Yes. Of course I do" I had been to a party there a year or so ago. The memories emerged from the mists of the past, memories of her affectionate goodnight to me and not so affectionate to my lady that I had come with and who I had hoped to come in. She had noticed the interaction between Melinda and me and got her knickers in a twist over it and demanded to be taken home and had not invited me in for 'coffee'.

The Prosecutor decided that there was not enough evidence to get a conviction on the murder charge. Emma was charged with making a false statement, attempting to mislead the police and hampering their investigation. She received a short custodial sentence but, for her, the damage was done. She lost her job, although her thesis was published, and was well-received, even though she did not have the necessary qualifications for it to be taken seriously by the academic world. I noticed that my name did not appear as a co-author so I got no recognition for my input. I did, however, make use of some of her suggested methods to overcome PTSD and some of her findings were put into use by the police force.

As for Melanie and me, things are looking up. While she did not have the practised finesse shown by Emma, there was no valid comparison, two entirely different women and two different motivations as far as making love is concerned. I know which I prefer. Melanie did say that she appreciated Emma's research into PTSD in the workplace and my using her methods because it had a positive effect on my work/life balance, I was no longer as affected by the work traumas, and, she told me that it made me a better, more attentive and more passionate lover. Word had spread around the station that Melanie and I were an item and that we were considering marriage. I don't know where they got that idea unless it was the ring that she was flashing around, and the affection that we shower on each other whenever we're together.

Whatever, I could not be happier than I am at the moment, that fact that Melanie has started calling me 'Daddy' in deference to our future status could have something to do with it.