Walking the Gallows ✔️

Chapter 20

Martin POV

Patient #035

Name: Andrew Michael Brooks

Age: 32

Sex: Male

Appointed Practitioner: Martin Hall, Psychiatrist

Entry Log #3:

Though it was Mr. Brooks' third psychiatry session today, it was my first time professionally doing so. In it, I realized Doctor Courtney's suspicion of a possible history of domestic violence was exactly right. He told me about his abusive father figure who would beat him, his brother and his mother.

Although I could see I was over-stepping my boundaries, I further questioned him into his escape. From what I could gather, he and his brother ran away from home when they were fifteen and eighteen years of age. After settling down in an old apartment building that was all but abandoned, they attempted to keep in contact with their mother who had stayed behind with their father. At least thirteen letters were sent to her with no response despite providing a return address.

Soon after, his brother, Vin, was drafted into the Korean War and Andrew was left alone to live in the building for two and a half years. During this time, he was able to do odd jobs around the area to earn some money. He was able to afford bus fare to the town where his mother and father lived after a few months of saving. This was peculiar to me as it should not have taken him so long to be able to afford a bus ticket. When questioned about this, Andy explained that he needed enough money to go to his mother's town and also take him and her back to live with him. He also stated that on one occasion, a good portion of his saved up money had gone missing from his hiding place. No one lived with him at the time and no one knew where the money was stored.

He showed up to the house in the middle of the day, hoping that his father would be at work. He discovered that the house he had run away from over a year before no longer existed. Left behind were the charred bits of rubble from a fire caused by a lit cigarette and made worse by the alcohol left inside the house. He learned this information from people around the town who did not recognize him as he was one year more mature and for the first time, well-fed and not covered in bruises.

Unfortunately, he was also told that both his mother and father ceased in the event. He stated that though it was unusual, it haunted it him not knowing if it were the flames or the fumes that killed them first. Grief is known to affect people in different ways so this particular piece of information was not the part that shocked me most.

He returned to his apartment where he continued to work around the neighborhood and town, saving every penny so that he could buy a house of his own. He got used to being alone but was reunited with his brother soon after the war had ended. Vin had been injured in combat and worked with a permanent limp. Andy kept on working despite knowing that Vin needed to be cared for. Vin had apparently learned to do simple tasks on his own despite being disabled and even managed to hobble to a nearby bar to pick up the alcoholic habit their father had possessed.

Andrew did not learn of this addiction immediately as he was too busy to notice. He figured it out when Vin started to come home reeking of spirits. He counted his money and realized that his brother had been stealing from him to buy alcohol. This would have surely shattered a bond these siblings had developed.  Andy stopped working to watch over Vin and take care of him. Their money started to run low quickly.

Remembering his love for art when he was still in school, he practiced charcoal drawings on their wooden floor until they became good enough to recreate and sell. He was earning less than he had been before but he was able to begin saving again.

Life continued this way for them for almost a decade. He was even able to start making and selling paintings after getting more money to afford the equipment. He called his way of making money "calming" and more of a hobby than a job. They were able to afford a house in this town five years ago and were met with problems from the neighborhood almost immediately. A young girl had gone missing around the point they had arrived and they were blamed for her disappearance. There was never any proof of this. However, they were still consistently ridiculed by the people of the town because of these rumors.

It took over four hours to draw this information from the subject. He was very defensive and guarded to every question I asked. Due to the life he has lived, I can understand why that was the case. I hope to locate Vin so that I may ask similar questions to establish Andrew's answers as factual.

I have a few theories about his case that I can say for certain are possibilities. It is strange that their childhood home had burned down or that some of their money was stolen. It was unusual that a girl went missing as soon as they moved to the town. Based on this new information and the information given by Courtney, I wish to investigate a few kinds of mental illnesses that match up with the symptoms I am seeing in Andrew. I will also have to get into contact with colleagues of mine that work in other states so that they may guide me in their area of expertise.

I have spoken to his lawyer, Arnold Mullins, about this case and he seems reluctant to do much about it. The mayor has reviewed his case countless amounts of times and does not wish for there to be any trial. I hope that I may have some kind of break-through soon so that I can appeal their decision and let Andy have a fighting chance in court. Right now, I believe that if I find the right information to prove my theory, I could help him stay out of prison by making him plead insanity.

In the future, I will be using Doctor Whitfield's session notes as a resource and a guide to asking the right questions. There is no need to say that I will more than likely be working tirelessly until our next session together.

It had been a very long day and it was time to go home. He cleared up his things from the desk he was working on and turned to walk towards the precinct's exit. Most of the people had gone at that point. There were a few people who worked a permanent night-shift. It was difficult to understand why they would want to work at such a scary place during the dark hours. It gave Martin shivers just thinking about it. Every part of him screamed to get out of the building as quickly as possible. Knowing that running would be considered strange, he settled for a brisk walk through the corridors.

Martin had heard of Andy's apparent attack on Courtney before she had left. He didn't express traits that were violent although his past would be the thing to explain it all. It wasn't unusual for cases of domestic brutality to transform children into violent adults. It was a vicious cycle and Andy had gotten caught in the thick of it. Having an outburst didn't prove him guilty, it only proved that he was a deeply disturbed man from all that he had lived through. Who could say for sure that he was capable of multiple homicides?

He hoped to look into more of the case, but he knew he couldn't do it alone. Due to his lack of authority, he knew he would need help, particularly from Detective Miller. It would be a difficult thing to ask of him because of how certain he was that Andy was pure evil. However, Martin knew that he prioritized the safety of the public much more than his own pride. If Andy was the killer, they would help each other to prove it. If he was not the killer then there would be a murderer on the loose, waiting to strike again.

Time was of the essence. He didn't know how much of it he had before it was too late to do anything about it. It could take days before they came up with anything to help the case. It was unfair that the mayor would choose not to go to trial. Only evidence would persuade him and he was going to do his best to give it to him.

When he got home, he knew for sure that there would be a lot of things to take care of.