The Roger Bernard Case

 James Kennedy was a tall, well-built man of thirty-six years of age. He kept his head shaved smooth because he had started getting a bald spot on the top of his head while still in his mid-twenties. He figured that it may have been hereditary because his father had a receding hairline, but he did not rule out that it could have been caused from the stress from his occupation. He was a detective at the Southside Police Precinct where he had worked for the past fourteen years. He had worked the streets for the first ten years before getting his detective shield. His work wasn’t always pleasant, but he felt pride in knowing that he had always done his best to keep the town safe from the bad guys. He had been married once but the marriage only lasted five years after which his wife left him and filed for a divorce citing incompatibility. He wasn’t quite sure what that meant as he had thought they had a good marriage. There were no children produced from their marriage so once the divorce was over James had no ties to his ex. After the divorce he just absorbed himself into his work. 

There was one particular case that Detective Kennedy had solved from a year ago that had recently come back to the surface and for some odd reason had left the detective with the thought that perhaps something was missing. It had been kind of an open and shut case that had not been too hard to solve. It involved a man named Roger Bernard who was found guilty of murdering his best friend and given the death penalty. This was not the only case Detective Kennedy had ever solved where the suspect had been found guilty and the death penalty was returned as the punishment so he was sure he wasn’t experiencing remorse due to the jury’s verdict. At the time he was working the case he was sure he had investigated thoroughly and was satisfied with the guilty verdict as well as the punishment rendered by the jury. After all, the murder had been a case of cold-blooded murder without even having a reasonable motive. Perhaps this was one reason the case was bothering him. Had he missed something during the investigation? 

 Detective Kennedy opened his filing drawer and pulled out his file containing all the reports of the case. He slowly began reviewing each page. There were pictures of the body showing a gunshot to the head at point-blank. There were signed affidavits from witnesses saying the suspect had been seen entering the residence and then exiting the victim’s home shortly after a gunshot had been heard. The pistol, a 9 mm, had been found in a trashcan outside the home and the suspect’s fingerprints had been identified as being on them. The gun had belonged to the victim. There was even a signed confession from the suspect stating that he had fired the shot that killed his friend. During the trial the suspect had never given a motive for the killing of his friend. Even the wife of the victim could offer no explanation as to why Roger had killed his best friend. The victim had been going through some tough times and had been depressed for some time before the killing but that did not seem to be relevant to the case. Roger had only tried to help his friend overcome his depression. Could it have been a mercy killing? The jury did not think so.

Detective Kennedy opened an envelope that contained a letter from the state prison psychiatrist and some reports pertaining to the inmate’s mental status and a brief history of his life. He had read the letter and briefs a few times already but began reading them once more. Perhaps there could be something in the reports that could shed light as to why he had suddenly turned cold-blooded killer.

There was nothing unusual about his mental status. He had normal intelligence, had no past records of any kind of violence or dual personalities. Nothing that would indicate a violent person.

There was a report which told that Roger had been born of a set of twins. He had a brother who apparently had died of a gunshot wound at the age of nine. According to old police reports Roger and his twin sibling had found their father’s pistol in the bedside nightstand and Roger had taken it out. The gun accidentally fired and the bullet struck Roger’s twin brother, fatally wounding him. For a long time Roger carried the guilt around with him. Even after growing up Roger was an adversary about gun laws, always speaking out for stricter gun laws.

Detective Kennedy sat at his desk mulling over the reports for an hour before realizing the late hour, and put everything back into its folder. He tucked the folder under his arm and headed for the door. He shut the lights out in his office and left for home. He thought he might look over the reports again at home. Although he felt uneasy about something he was glad that after 10:00 pm tonight he could put this case behind him as that was the time set for the execution. 

On his way home he stopped by the local KFC and picked up one of the Colonel’s chicken meals to go. When he arrived home he retrieved a cold beer from the refrigerator and sat down in his recliner in front of the TV. He took the remote control and clicked the TV on and began to scan the guide for something interesting to watch. After settling on a program he opened his box of food, took out a piece of chicken, and began to eat. At least for a while his mind was cleared from work.

After he finished his meal he drank down the rest of his beer and reclined back in his chair and dozed off to sleep. 

Suddenly the detective jerked awake. For some reason he suddenly realized what it was that had been bothering him so much about the Bernard case. The gun. Roger hated guns! He would never be capable of killing someone with a gun. Perhaps by any other method, but never a gun. If he had not killed his friend who did? Why did he confess to a crime he did not commit?

He opened the file and carefully began going through the pages once more. One of the pages revealed a clue. Roger’s friend had been suffering from manic depression. He also had a life insurance policy of a hundred thousand dollars with his wife as the beneficiary but the policy would not pay off in the case of suicide. Apparently, Roger’s friend had committed suicide about the time Roger had arrived to visit. Upon seeing his friend dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound he knew the spouse would get nothing from the insurance so he took the gun and disposed of it in the trashcan outside. After the gun was found with his fingerprints on it, he confessed to the crime to protect his friend. It wasn’t only that he was protecting his friend but it was also a way of him ridding himself from the guilt he had carried most of his life for the death of his twin sibling.

The detective realized he must call the prison and have the execution stopped. He grabbed for the phone. In the process of grabbing the phone he accidentally knocked the clock off onto the floor. He picked it up and looked at it. The time was 10:01 pm!