Normalcy II

Previously.

Levi turned to Sam, "How were you able to get the evidence to incriminate Wright?" Levi asked.

Sam smiled, "I told ya before, the dead talks."

Levi shot her an incredulous look, "I got lucky." she admitted after a few seconds.

"How?" he asked, curious.

"I came to pay my respect to Dr. Woods's grave. His wife happened to visit at the same time. We talked." Sam recalls.

Cemetary a few months before.

Sam stood over the late pathologist's tombstone, a bouquet of Sunflowers in hand, she laid it down on the ground looking at the familiar name engraved on the stone.

'Marcus Woods

Feb 17, 1964- Mar 8, 2009

In loving memory of a dear Father, Husband. His absence is a silent grief. His life is a beautiful memory and missed beyond measure.'

Sam turned when she heard footsteps approaching behind her. An ash blond woman in her 50's, wearing a black trench coat over a floral dress. A bouquet of lilies in hand. The aged face looked at her, Sam had seen her before, a photo of her framed inside Dr. Woods office years prior, she'd seen it once when she came for the seminar. The woman was younger then, full of life embracing her husband. She was Mrs. Woods, Time has aged her considerably Sam noted, but there was a soft smile in her eyes.

The woman smiled, and Sam returned the smile offering a hand and introducing herself. Mrs. Woods' eyes widened at the mention of her name. Gray. How could she forget? And tears started to build in her eyes, overflowing. Her old tired legs buckled over, and she knelt before Sam sobbing.

Sam knelt before her, didn't know what to do, she awkwardly tried to calm her. Mrs. Woods apologized minutes later, wiping her tears with a handkerchief from her purse. Then asked the redhead to join her for coffee at her home a few miles away.

If Sam was honest, she'd say she thought the worst of the situation. Her confrontation with Dr. Woods is one of the reasons she reckons why the man killed himself. Maybe, she should have gone straight back to the hotel. She mentally sighed and agreed, Mrs. Woods looked harmless enough.

She reckons if she was attacked, she can easily take the older woman down. She'd break a hip, of course, when she throws her over her shoulder. Old people are breakable after all, if things come to that, then so be it.

Sam scanned the living room while seated awkwardly on the sofa. Family photos hang on the walls, a few store-bought painting here and there. Mrs. Woods came back five minutes later, holding an oval tray with two cups of coffee. After thanking the older woman, Sam gave her a forced smile. Mrs. Woods scanned the redheads face, she was younger than she anticipated. But her husband did mention before the woman was gifted. A smile crawled onto her wrinkled face, "It's really you. you look so young Dr. Gray." she said, as she took the seat opposite hers.

"How old are you if you don't mind me asking, Dr. Gray?" she asks, holding the cup in her hand. "31, Mrs. Woods," Sam answers, taking a sip after. Mrs. Wood's eyes widened in surprise, and she chuckled amused, "You're the same age as my youngest son." she says, a thoughtful look passing her face. Sam recognized it, she reckons it's a universal expression mothers make when they think of their child. She wouldn't know, she grew up without a mother. The look her grandmother made was close, but it wasn't the same.

Sam placed the cup on the center table, turning to Mrs. Woods. "I'd hate to be bold, but I'm working on a consultancy case here in Virginia and I am a bit tired, Maam." she started, "Did you need me for something.?" she asked, wanting to get to the point. She was tired after all, really tired.

Mrs. Woods nodded in understanding, and she vacated her seat. Excused herself for a moment, a worst-case scenario came to Sam's mind. Blame her profession, for thinking of such things. The horror that she sees in her everyday life, the violence of what Man is capable of. And oddly enough how creative they could get, all for the simplest reasons.

For power.

For money.

For revenge

Sam hears the woman approaching, this is the part where the woman holds a handgun and shoots her in her home. Revenge. Sam sighed.

It would be the most boring case she would imagine. Her prints are all over the place, the mugs. The sofa's material is highly absorbent, even a heavy-duty steam cleaner cannot completely remove the bloodstains. Not only that she shared her GPS location to Elle.

Mrs. Woods reenters the living room, not with a handgun as what Sam's imagination had been leaning on. But she was indeed holding something in her hand, an envelope. The older woman took her previous spot and handed the redhead a white envelope. "Please read it," Mrs. Woods says and Sam pulled the paper inside and started to read. It was a letter from Dr. Woods to his wife. She looked at the date, it was a day before he shot himself. But the stamp on the envelope dated just a year prior.

Sam turned to the wife, "I received it a year after his death." she explained, Sam continued, in the letter entailed the details of his 'mistakes', and what led him to do such things. He apologized to his wife and children for causing them pain and for leaving them too soon. And he told them just how much he loved them. At the end of the letter were instructions, and she saw her name, 'Dr. Gray'. Sam turned to the older woman for confirmation, and Mrs. Woods handed her the memory card in her hand.

"Please, do what you think is best, Dr. Gray."

Sam took it in her hand, and with a determined look, she nodded.

Sam turned to Levi and said, "Apparently, Dr. Woods left a memory card for me, sent to his wife a year after his death. All data in their previous cases, a list of all the tampered evidence on the records he had saved." Sam sighed, couldn't help recall her last words to the late doctor. She doesn't regret it though. Incompetence is one thing, but cowardice is another. In the letter, Dr. Woods had revealed that he was pressured to do such things by a list of people. And in no surprise to Sam, that included a few people in the FBI headquarters where she used to work. One of them was the very man she approached with her concerns.

Realization enveloped Levi, "Ah, Steve Devereux'' he muttered, mostly to himself. He reckons she was financing, it wouldn't be a big deal to her after all. He heard from Sutton that the redhead flew Atty. Devereux in a private Jet last minute, simply to represent him for DUI, and file an Assault and Battery lawsuit against Watts. Which ended in a settlement.

Sam also paid for his medical bills, lawyer and bail.

The DUI though, like he expected he made a deal with Anna and he will get community service in the form of taking three cases she asks him to. Whenever, wherever it may be.

Sam chuckled, turning back to her work and said, "Yes. he's representing 8 counts of Planting and Tampering with evidence." She didn't need to tell him that everyone involved is under investigation.

Levi adjusted the magnification of the comparative microscope, then turned to Sam. "He'll die in prison." he says. Confident to the outcome if he, no, when he is found guilty.

Bad cops do not last long in jail.

Sam snorts tickled by the idea, "I hope he suffers before that happens." she confessed.