Mystery: The Coming Back: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) (17 page)

“Come in, Mr. Sands, come in,” Detective Wilson invited him ironically. “For so long you lied to us, don’t you think that it is time to tell us the truth?”

The police officer who was escorting him, used some force to shove him into the chair and then chained him to the table. Timothy sat with his eyes cast downward and his mouth shut.

“You have to speak now,” Lydia spoke for the first time. “We already know what happened, what we want to understand are the reasons behind your actions.”

“You have me, isn’t it enough?” Stanley aka Timothy asked sarcastically.

“No, it is not,” Lydia put her hand on the table. “You played the police and Stanley’s family for more than ten years. You own them that much.”

For five long minutes, Stanley stayed silent, and then… “Okay,” he muttered and adjusted his position on the uncomfortable plastic seat.

“I was Stanley’s friend for many years and all that time I was jealous of him. He had everything I wanted and wasn’t even aware of the fact. He had a loving family, everyone was his friend, and although Stanley had learning disabilities he was the best in everything he was doing. My family was cold, indifferent and not interested in me, I had only one friend, Stanley, and he already had everything. I was feeling like a charity case.”

“And that was the reason to kill him?” Lydia asked, disgusted by him and his behavior. How could a man be so selfish and cruel, and able to take someone else’s life, just because he had something more than him.

“When Stanley came to my home that evening, he was so proud of his new car that I became insanely jealous.” Timothy continued. “When he drove away, I followed him, but I had no intention to kill him. I just wanted to see how he was doing on the road, and then…it started to rain, Stanley started to stop for every person, who wanted to pass the road, or was too close to a puddle of water. His actions made me angrier. So, I ran him out of the road with my car and then went to see, how he was doing. My anger had taken over my good sense, so I killed him and hid the car.”

“Then you disappeared from the town, so that the police would not interrogate you,” David continued for him.

“Yes, I went away and started a new life. Everything was okay for a long time, to the point that I forgot about my old life. But, then my boyfriend left me, I lost my job, started to drink, all my friends started to turn away from me, and I was once again all alone. That was when I remembered my old life and Stanley’s happy family. I made a few calls and found out that they were still searching for their son. The body was still undiscovered and Mr. and Mrs. Douglass hadn’t lost hope of finding him. So, the craziest idea came to my mind. I was aware that we looked a bit alike, some people in college even called us brother, so I decided to use that fact.” Timothy stopped speaking for a few minutes. “The rest you know.”

“Why did you run away?”

“You were too intrusive, I could tell that you would find the truth sooner or later. And what was more, Stanley’s parents started to look suspicious.”

“Do you even realize the trauma you caused to the Douglass family?” Lydia almost yelled at him. “You gave them the false hope that after ten years their son had returned to them. You made them believe and then killed their happiness for good.”

“I did not want them to suffer. All I wanted was to have a happy family, like Stanley did.” Timothy tried to excuse himself.

“But, you killed their son and then went to ask for their love?” Lydia exclaimed. “Do you have any idea how cruel that is?”

Timothy listened to her, but everybody in the interrogation room could see that he was feeling little remorse. Lydia thought that although he was never diagnosed, Timothy must be suffering from some psychological disease. There was no way for a sane person to act that way.

Timothy watched them leave the room and thought that everything was over for him now. Only the memories would stay behind. It was those memories that plagued him. Those memories were bound together strongly at the back of his head. These memories were held together by a thin ribbon, dangling around until they resurfaced like floating objects on the water’s surface.

Timothy had tried to forget. He did try hard to wipe those memories out of his head. But, those memories were stubborn and obstinate. Faces appeared before him. Insulting words floated in his head. Those glares served as a reminder of his failure. Those sneer whispers reminded him of his past.

Those memories reminded him how he was a murderer. A monster. An abomination of the dark. With no light in his path to guide him.

What was the future holding for him? Will he ever be able to rebuild his life, overcome all this pain, find love again and heal all the pain he had caused?

Will he ever find happiness?

A few weeks later Lydia, David, Charles and Vivian were standing on the very spot where the body of Stanley was found. Charles had called the detective and Lydia, asking them to accompany his wife and him to the site, where their son was murdered. “Vivian is still too shaken by the news and I am afraid for her health.” He had said softly.

“Don’t worry, we will come,” David had answered warmly and promised to call Lydia. They drove to the site in David’s car, mostly in silence, but now that they were standing on the place, Charles wanted to talk.

“Tell us everything…” he had asked them, holding his crying wife.

David looked at Lydia and silently asked her to do the talking. Lydia cleared her throat and started carefully. There was no need to cause any more pain to these two good people.

“Timothy was so jealous of what Stanley had and of how good he was doing that he wanted to hurt him. Everything that followed were acts of madness that could not be described any other way. Years after, when Timothy lost everything in his life, he thought of the only happy family, he had ever seen and came back as Stanley, hoping to feel for the first time in his life what love really meant.”

“Oh, God,” Vivian exclaimed, and Charles put his hand on her shoulders.

“He wanted only one thing from you: unconditional love. And I am happy to say that you gave him more than he had ever expected.”

“But, he killed our son!” Charles pointed out.

“Yes, he did,” Lydia agreed. “I haven’t had the opportunity to speak to him, but it seems that Timothy has some psychological problems, caused by his unhappy childhood.”

“If he had told us, we would have loved him as our own son,” Vivian commented through tears.

“I know that now,” Lydia said sadly. “But, I don’t think that Timothy knew how to ask for your love.”

The four of them remained on the site for long hours, crying and making their peace with Stanley and each other. More than anyone, Vivian Douglass was overcome with grief, and they all were afraid for her health. The grieving mother cried most of the time, finally able to let her son go, by accepting the fact that he was dead. Charles stood by her side, trying to support her and be there for her.

Both of them said they were sorry for being so angry at David and Lydia. Charles explained their actions as a defense mechanism against the horrible truth. “Don’t worry, we understand.” Lydia interrupted him. “We never blamed you for your actions. That was why we kept coming back.”

“Thank you, for never giving up on us.”

Both, David and Lydia vowed to stay with them as long as they need counseling and support. “We will never leave you alone.” David promised.

Timothy Sands was convicted for the murder of Stanley Douglass and for his impersonation. During the trial, Vivian and Charles refused to attend the hearings, but David and Lydia kept them informed. They needed another year, but by the next Christmas the Douglass family was considering becoming a host family for an autistic boy. Lydia had helped them with the paperwork and now they all were waiting for the arrival of the boy, who was bound to bring them all happiness.

“They are doing it for Stanley,” Lydia said to David that night, when they were lying together in bed.

“I am sure he is watching them from Heaven and smiling,” David smiled at the very thought of the happy little boy running through the house.

“We did a good job.” Lydia kissed him on the cheek.

“Yes, we did…”

I hope you enjoyed ‘The Coming Back (Mystery Thriller Suspense novel)’ and would love to know what you thought about it. If you have a moment to spare, I would appreciate it if you could leave a review of this book at Amazon. Your opinion goes a long way in helping others decide if a book is for them.

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James Kipling

Author of ‘The Coming Back (Mystery Thriller Suspense novel)’

A list of other mystery thriller suspense books published by James Kipling: