Criminal Case: Grimsborough

Chapter 11: Into the Vipers' Nest-Part 3

After Jones got back all fresh and clean, Marie finished decoding the number and turned it in to Alex to get it analyzed so she can find out who the knife's owner is. Soon, the knife and fingerprint were done being analyzed and Alex called Marie to the tech lab to tell her the results. First, Alex explained to her that he ran the fingerprint through the database and he also cross-examined it and isolated it's patterns and he soon found out that the print belonged to Tony Marconi.

Hearing this news, Marie got shocked when she now knew that Marconi has asthma. She then asked, "What about the knife Alex? What did you get from that?"

"The knife belongs to a certain Samuel Bennett. As it was military issued, it was easy enough to trace. However, the only thing I managed to find on Samuel Bennett was old military photo; I'm sorry I couldn't find out more," Alex explained and then he looked down in disappointment.

Marie then looked down at the picture and she began to wonder where she saw this man recently. Alex then told her that Samuel Bennett disappeared from the system a long time ago; like he completely vanished. Suddenly, it hit Marie like a brick and she thanked Alex and she took the photo to show Jones. Once she was near her partner and explained everything that Alex explained to her, Jones looked at the photo and he soon realized who the man in the photo reminds him of. The face in the photo may have changed a lot since the photo was taken but the smile remains the same; the man in the photo is One-Tooth Sam.

Jones then began to panic and he said, "Marie, this isn't good! I don't think Sam just happened to lose his knife. More likely, he wanted it to be lost for good!"

Marie then hugged Jones from behind to calm him down and when he did, he began to sweat and she said to him, "Sam may be acting like a guilty man, but I suggest we talk to him and hope he has a perfectly innocent explanation for all of this." And Jones took Marie's hand and squeezed it and told her he agrees.

Once they got to the homeless camp and showed Sam the knife, Marie asked him if it was his and he said to the two officers, "Yes, it's my knife but you got to understand, already the Vipers make our lives a living hell! Then Salvador himself comes by and terrorizes one of the girls here at the camp. I had to do something, I'm an old man and my asthma's getting worse so I thought even if I got caught it wouldn't matter. All I knew is that Salvador had to die! But when I got to the Vipers' Pit, I chickened out when I saw him and no matter how much I hated him I just couldn't bring myself to kill a man.

"Truth is, I'm just a weak, pathetic old man and I couldn't do anything right in my life." And soon tears began to swell up in Sam's eyes and he started to cry a little.

Seeing the poor man cry made Marie's heart tighten. She then went over to Sam and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and said, "You're not weak Sam; you're actually the pillar of your community. These people in the camp depend on you!"

Jones was soon right next to her and added in, "And besides, it's our job to take of monsters like Salvador." And Sam wiped his eyes and thanked them for their comfort.

Soon, they were heading back to the station and Jones looked down sadly while driving and he said, "Poor Sam and I thought I knew him well, but there are a lot of elements that incriminate him."

"I just hope he's telling the truth; I would hate to see such a kind-hearted person such as Sam locked up for trying to save his community," Marie put in.

Once they got back to the station they were in the office when Jones began to panic. When Marie asked him what the problem is this time, he said to her, "I just can't believe this Marie, but this might be our first unsolved case! It looks like it's going to be back to car patrolling for me!"