The Senator's Murder

beyond human endurance

She walked slowly to the window and moved the curtain aside, watching as the uniformed officers climbed into three marked cars curbside, while Walsh and Barlow stood talking in front of an unmarked Dodge Challenger. Neighbors had started to gather and there were about a dozen people staring in the direction of her house and talking about what they were witnessing. It would be a matter of minutes before all of this began appearing on social media. She released the curtain and sat down on the couch. Her phone rang and she could see from caller ID that it was Adam Lucas.

“Adam?”

“Hi Ellen. Steve is being arraigned this afternoon at 3:30 in Department 19 of the Criminal Courts Building downtown.”

“I’ll be there and I’ll call Jack.”

“I’ll be meeting with Steve in about an hour to talk about what’s happening, but first I’m going to see the District Attorney and try to get a feel for what they have on him.”

The nightmare continued. Ellen struggled to find words for the thousand questions that flooded her mind. The only thing she could say was, “Thank you, Adam. Please help us.”

Jack walked into the house as she ended the call. Ellen ran to him and threw her arms around him. “My God, Jack. I don’t know what to do.”

“Is there an update?” Jack asked. “What in the world is happening?”

“I just heard from Adam Lucas. Steve is being arraigned in Department 19 of the Criminal Courts Building at 3:30 this afternoon.”

“Let’s go together,” he offered. “How are you holding up?” he asked, taking her hand.

“I’m shaken. We have to show them that Steve didn’t do this, Jack. It’s crazy.”

“We’ll try to find a way to help Adam make that clear.”

She was quiet for a moment and then she said, “I’m scared that they might not let him come home. If he doesn’t get bail, he’ll have to wait for trial in jail.”

The same thing had occurred to Jack, but he preferred to offer some reassurance. “Adam will work hard at getting him released. And you and I will support him any way we can.”

“Yeah, okay.” She sounded less than confident. She began to cry softly, and Jack wanted desperately to find a way to relieve her fear, but he was also having trouble digesting all this. His brother was being charged with murder. The detectives believed that he was the only one to visit the senator’s house. They didn’t know that he had been there to return the top-secret files. If they knew, he might well be the most logical suspect. Even though Jack found the Senator dead when he got there, how could he keep that information to himself while his brother sat in jail. Should he reveal that he was at the Senator’s house to take the heat off Steve? If he did, would it help, or would it simply make both brothers suspects in the Senator’s murder. Would it be beneficial to Steve if there

“I have heard rumors to that effect.”