Chamberlain
The Sun Times ran the headline in bold print: Officer Gunned Down at Ball Fields: Assailant Unknown.
As he’d sifted through the paper while eating his breakfast, the image of Reilly, head rolled forward, blotch of red covering his chest, wouldn’t leave Chamberlain’s eyes.
When he arrived at the station, it seemed everyone had to come up to him and let him know how terrible he or she felt. He was tired of it all. Reilly’s death wasn’t upsetting to him on a personal level. It was more the loss of a brother officer that got him. He knew some people would find that ironic considering his last big case, but it’s what he felt.
He and Reilly had been partners for two years. And that had been the long and short of their relationship. They respected one another, he respected Reilly’s intelligence and drive, and Reilly respected his history of success within the department. They shared lunch every day for two years, and that was as intimate as they got.
Sure, Chamberlain would spout off with complaints about his wife or little things about aging. Reilly, would smile at the stories, but never include any of his own personal vignettes.
Chamberlain knew Reilly was unmarried. He also knew he’d come to Central Falls from Eustis, not too far from the Canadian border, ten years ago. He thought he knew from somewhere Reilly didn’t have any family in Eustis. Parents had died, maybe, if he was remembering the rumor right?
He didn’t know if Reilly had any friends outside the department. He’d go out for beers with some of the guys after their shift, but he’d never said anything about any other, personal, buddies.
He had no idea if Reilly was seeing anyone and had never had any real desire to know, though it would have been nice to have someone to ask about Reilly’s extracurricular activities.
As he sat at his desk, he mulled over how nice it would have been to know what Reilly was mixed up in that would have caused him to be out at the ball fields in the middle of the day.
As of right now, an unanswerable question, and not one he was responsible for answering, despite what he’d told Mary once he arrived home.
She’d been gentle with him. Kind. He’d promised he was out after Reilly’s killer and the Levesque robbery/homicide were solved. He’d even shown her the paperwork.
He wondered once more if it was his fault Reilly was dead. If he’d just been more patient with him, hadn’t sent him away.
He pushed the thought away. There was enough guilt on his conscience. This one wasn’t his fault.
He pushed the thought from his mind and turned his focus to the Levesque robbery. There was something about Levesque’s story that didn’t sit right with him. He also didn’t like the coincidence surrounding the date of the robbery and Levesque Sr.’s disappearance. Details like that meant something. He just didn’t know what, yet.
He decided to go pay another visit to young Levesque and see if he could shake any new details from him.
