Blind Justice

 

“No, please don’t kill me!”

“Kerry, wake up! You’re having a nightmare!”

I opened my eyes to find my husband by my side.

“Is it the same one again?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe we should make an appointment with a therapist.”

“No, I don’t need a therapist; I need to know that my parents’ killer will remain behind bars.”

“I’ll try my best, but there’s so much that even I can do.”

“If he gets out, I’m killing him.”

“Sawyer’s just six years old; I don’t want him losing his mother right now. Besides, the man has been inside for 25 years now.”

“Yes, Roy, but I also know that I won’t be able to rest until he’s dead.”

Roy sighed, getting to his feet.

“There’s no point talking when you’re like this,” he said before leaving the room.

I tried closing my eyes, but that man’s face still crept into my head. I got off the bed and went to Sawyer’s room. Roy was sitting beside him as he slept.

“He’s smiling in his sleep. You think it’ll be the same if you were in jail?”

I didn’t answer. I stayed with them for a couple more minutes and went to make some tea. It didn’t look like I was going to sleep, so I decided to finish my writing. But I couldn’t focus; I only became more frustrated. I went through some of Roy’s files on the case—about recent evidence suggesting that a cop called Perera had planted evidence at the crime scene. He was said to have confessed to it in a letter and then committed suicide. However, Perera was the one who helped put me in a foster home, so I found it difficult to believe that he was dirty.

Later that day, I called the station and asked for Perera’s partner, Connor. He agreed to have a chat with me after work. At our meeting, Connor told me he didn’t believe that Perera had done it; he said something was certainly bothering Perera, though he did not mention what it was. I met Perera’s wife the following day. According to her, one of the higher-ups had been pressuring him to help them release the killer. She suspected that he may have stumbled across something he wasn’t supposed to find and was murdered afterwards. Perera may have been forced to write that letter before that. I asked her if he told anyone at work about the matter; she said he tried talking to the Captain about it, but he was in a meeting that day. When I spoke to Roy about this, he was hesitant to believe it.

“I don’t know what’s going on anymore, but I’ll look into it,” he said.

As he was the Police Commissioner, Roy launched an investigation into the matter, but it hit a dead end. A few weeks later, my parents’ killer was released. I promised Roy that I wouldn’t go after him; the fear of Sawyer losing his mother gripped me tighter than my hatred for that man. However, I continued to look into the matter. If I couldn’t kill him, at least I’d send him back in.

A month passed, and I finally caught a break. I was spying on the killer at a coffee shop when I overheard his phone conversation. He was going to meet someone a couple of blocks over. I tailed him and stopped across an old house. After he entered it, I took the gun from my glove compartment and slowly sneaked inside. The place was dimly lit, so it was easy for me to move around without being noticed.

“Welcome, dad,” the host said.

Wait, this voice… It can’t be!

My hands began to shake the second I saw who was there to greet him.

“Roy?” I said, pointing my gun at them as I walked into the light.

Their eyes were agape. Neither of them said a word.

“What the hell’s going on?”

“Kerry, he’s my father.”

“So you were playing me all this time?”

“No, I only found out when my mom died three months ago.”

“It doesn’t matter; he’s a murderer!”

“He had acted out in rage when he found out that your dad and my mom were having an affair.”

“And what about Perera? Was that also in rage? In any case, it’s too late for you now.”

“What do you mean?”

“This entire conversation is being recorded right now; and I sent an SOS to Connor with this address before barging in, so expect some guests soon.”

I impatiently held my gun at them without moving a muscle. Five minutes felt like an eternity as I waited for the police to arrive. I leant against the wall and sighed in relief as they were escorted out. It was finally over.