Lies Left Unsaid

Detective Brandon

The moment had finally arrived. I had enough evidence to get a judge to issue a search warrant of Dr. Terry Patrick's office and home. I had to admit that Martìnez had done good work. I was pleasantly surprised that he had turned out to be less of a pain in my ass than I originally suspected he would be. In fact, some of his brash interrogation methods, and the evidence he discovered, were what had enabled us to get a search warrant, although I would never acknowledge that to his face. The kid had grown on me over the course of our investigation, but I wasn't going to let him get cocky. He needed to earn my respect. A good partnership takes years to form. It would be a while before I saw him as an equal, but he was off to a good start. 

In the morning we were going to head down to the hospital and search Dr. Terry Patrick's office. I couldn't wait to see that smug smirk wiped off of his face while he watched us rifle through his belongings. So far the evidence against him was mounting. We had surveillance footage showing his close relationship with Caitlyn, the cards he sent to her with a positive identification from the florist, the large sum of money that he withdrew a week prior to Caitlyn's disappearance (which had been confirmed by his wife) in addition to her admittance that Terry often went running in the park late at night which placed him at the scene of the crime or at least the scene of where Caitlyn's remaining items and body parts were found. There was also Caitlyn's journal in which she detailed her love for Dr. Patrick and that he was, in fact, the father of her child, however, that was unlikely to hold up in a court of law given the code name she used. We had enough to get a warrant, but not enough to prove that he had committed a crime. We desperately needed to discover some sort of evidence to connect him to Caitlyn's disappearance, or her murder, and that's just what I was hoping we would find once we searched his home and office. 

I hardly slept at all the night before we were to confront him. I even said a little prayer and I'm far from a religious man. The case continued to be in the forefront of the evening news and I knew that if we found something that connected Dr. Patrick to the crime, that there would be a media frenzy. The sharks would swarm and Dr. Patrick's life would never be the same, whether or not he was truly guilty. The accusation of a crime can be just as damaging as a conviction. Because of this, I knew we needed to be very careful. If we messed up, Dr. Patrick's lawyers would be all over us and we'd lose the case. One thing was for sure; I knew he would pay for the best lawyers in town. A guy like Terry Patrick doesn't go down without a fight. Good thing I was prepared to give him one.

In the morning, when I awoke, I immediately hopped in the shower. I cranked the water to cold to wake up my senses. I needed to be wide-awake and have my 'A' game on in order to take down Terry. We decided to search his office first, mainly because I knew he would be there. I wanted him to know that he was caught, that we were on to him. The embarrassment of having us turn his office upside down in front of his colleagues would enrage him and that's when people slip. Emotions create blinders, tunnel vision to only see what's happening in the moment. That's when things are said that people often regret, words they realize they can't take back that have only made their situation worse. Terry was a smart man. Smart men know to keep their mouths shut when the police come snooping around. But he was also arrogant and conceited, which I knew meant there was the possibility he wouldn't be able to control his words and actions given the right scenario. I needed him to snap, just like he no doubt did when he discovered Caitlyn's pregnancy.

After I toweled myself off, I put on the pants, shirt and jacket that I had ironed and laid out the night before. I didn't usually dress that formal but as the captain, not so politely reminded me, we needed the department to look good on this one, not just in our work but in our presentation to the outside world. The police weren't exactly in the publics' good graces lately and the captain knew that the media would be analyzing our every step, especially if an arrest was made. He also reminded me to keep Martìnez, who he considered to be a bit of a hot head, reigned in. I told him I'd try my best, but if there was one thing I'd learned about the kid, it was that he was extremely determined and had a mind of his own. He would get what he wanted, one way or another, and often times without following the rules. It was one of the things I liked and loathed about him.