LOVE LIKE HIS - Chapter 31 - MADMAN VS. MADMAN?

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“Are you kidding me? What does any of this have to do with me?” Cromwell shouts back at Mr. Swier.

“Don’t tell me that you are without sin, Detective.”

“Well I’m certainly not like the rest of you filthy rats!” Cromwell sneers.

“But haven’t you ever told a lie?” Gary begins.

“Everyone has told a few, you know that. It doesn’t make me a liar though.” Cromwell scoffs at the accusation. This religious nutjob is starting to cross the line.

“Detective, why are you even after me?” Gary begs.

Cromwell pauses at the sudden change of direction. Is Gary swerving and trying to work his way out of this another way? It doesn’t really matter… it’s over for him anyway.

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“Because you had your wife murdered!” Cromwell bellows his answer back with a boom that sounds too loud to have come from such a frail, empty shell of a man.

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This is the stuff that the detective lives for. To be able to call out the scum in his guilt and make him pay. What a fool Gary was to trap himself on this island.

“C’mon man, it was only once.”

What? Cromwell becomes fully alert and his eyes widen at this. With unhindered anticipation Cromwell has his full attention completely focused on Gary. Was that a confession?

“Excuse me, you’re going to have to repeat that,” he states his request slow and calculated. Everything is hanging on this response.

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“It’s not like you think I had a whole bunch of people murdered. It’s just one, right?”

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Was Julie only the first? Is this creep actually a serial killer? How many others were there?

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Suddenly this had gotten a whole lot more interesting for the detective.

“Well let’s say that I only had Julie murdered. Surely that isn’t that big of a deal. If she was the only one, then you probably don’t need to take me in, right?”

This man has lost his mind. He’s either crazy or just plain evil. Who knows? Maybe he’s a blend of both.

“Gary, do you really think that 'only one murder' isn’t that bad and should just be overlooked? If you’re confessing, then confess, and we can talk about this downtown. I really think that I could help you if you’re honest with me.”

Perhaps an offer to help the man will coax a real confession. Who knows what this guy is capable of?

“You mean that you would try to arrest me just for having one person murdered, Detective? Where is the justice in that?”

“Look, if you do the crime, then you’ll do the time. Whether it was one or an hundred, it’s still murder!”

How can this man not understand this? Cromwell is suddenly wishing that he had backup. At least so someone else could hear what Gary was saying. This is the type of stuff that comes in very handy in court.

“How is that possible, Detective? How can killing only one person make me a murderer?”

Cromwell is about to lose his patience. This had graduated from peculiar to outright absurd. He begins to explain it nice and slow, humoring his prey for now.

“A murderer is someone who murders. You only have to commit murder once in order to be considered a murderer.”

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“Aha! So you are guilty then!”

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Gary’s response throws Cromwell even further off. Is this another dream? What is going on here?

“Me? What in the world are you talking about man?”

“Earlier, you said that although you had told lies, you weren’t a liar. How is that possible? If someone only needs to commit murder once in order to be considered a murderer, then shouldn't you only need to tell one lie in order to be considered a liar?”

“Whatever you may think about me, it is irrelevant at the moment. It is your guilt that you should be concerned about, Gary. That much should be obvious.”

“Don’t try to change the topic, you liar! You can’t run from the truth. Admit it, you’re a liar, aren’t you, Detective?”

“Even if I did tell some lies before, that is all in the past now. You need to be thinking about what you can do in the present to help you in the future. Unless you cooperate, you’ll be going away for a very long time.”

“Not this time, Detective. Even if having only one person murdered can make me a murderer, that was over a decade ago. What is done is done. It’s all in the past. I’ve changed my ways!”

“Look, if you’re guilty, then you’re guilty! That doesn’t just pass away. The law doesn’t forget what you did. You still need to pay for it!” Cromwell’s head is beginning to hurt and he is long past needing a drink. This is insane. Perhaps he just needs to arrest Mr. Swier and sort the rest out later. He can’t run if he’s locked up in the back seat.

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“You’re such a hypocrite!” Gary spews.

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“I’m a hypocrite? Looks who talking!” Cromwell’s finger is clicking the safety on his pistol on and off again.

“Are you that blind, Detective?’

Cromwell pauses and tilts his head like an old hound dog that had just been whistled at. Is Gary making fun of him now because of his ever-present sunglasses?

“How is it that you think that the law of man matters when you have no regard for the law of God? Where do you think that morality and right and wrong come from? Do you really think that they just evolved? Murder should be welcomed and encouraged in a survival of the fittest scenario. Why protect the weak? No, detective, God says that we should not murder! He says that breaking the law once makes us guilty. Now, you’ve already admitted to being a liar, what else have you done? Have you ever stole anything, Detective?”

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“Never!” Cromwell is insulted and infuriated.

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“Really? Do you think that I’m going to believe you after you already told me that you are a liar?”

“Whatever I’ve stolen doesn’t matter. It’s not like they were big things anyway. I’m no bank robber, if that’s what you’re after!” Cromwell erects his stance a little more in his attempt at justification.

“So now size matters? Wasn’t Julie small enough not to really be considered a murder?”

“What? That’s the worst excuse I’ve ever heard. Are you mad?" Cromwell laughs at how preposterous that attempted excuse sounds.

“It may be the worst excuse that you’ve ever heard, but it’s your excuse. Don’t you remember ‘small things?’”

This banter back and forth has become dizzying for the detective.

“What are you talking about?” Cromwell growls.

Slowly, Gary takes a few slow steps towards the detective. Softly, he begins to speak in a most serious tone.

“Let’s step back and evaluate this situation once. You’re good at your job, very good. We both know that. You run circles around a lot of other detectives and solve the cases where they don’t even have a clue where to start. I’m not sure how you do it, but you do, and you’ve done a very good job at it for a very long time.”

As Gary begins, Cromwell enjoys what he is hearing.

“Yet, you’re hot on my tail. The problem there is that I’m innocent. So what are we going to make of it? Both of our wives were believers in Jesus Christ, and they are both dead. That means that they are both in heaven, and I’m already on my way. You, however, are still rejecting Jesus. You deal with enough of the worst that the world has to offer, so it must be hard to see your own guilt, but you know that you are a sinner. You’ve already told me that you’ve lied and stolen, and we only looked at two out of ten of the ten commandments. How did you do on the other eight?”

Gary pauses, but only to catch his breath and then continues before Cromwell can interject.

“Do you realize that it doesn’t even matter? Just like it doesn’t matter if you’ve murdered two people or ten people, either way, you’re guilty of murder. It’s the same with God’s law. You’re already guilty, so what are you going to do about it? You can’t point to the guy next to you and say ‘he’s worse.’ That never works in the courtroom though, does it? You can’t say that it was only once, or that you’ve stopped, or that it was just something little. Sin is sin and guilt is guilt. Detective, I’m not sure how much time you have left, but each of our days are numbered. All I know is that you’re going to die one day and so far you are still guilty. You know that ‘the soul that sinneth will surely die’ and that God will ‘by no means clear the guilty.’”

“Wait a second!” Cromwell begins.

“No! You may not have another second left! The only way that any of this makes sense is that you are following me and Ray around because this is your chance to repent.”

Gary takes another step closer to the detective.

“You need to be honest and figure this out. Detective, hell awaits those who reject the Lord. Don’t do it. It’s not what He wants.”

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“Gary, you’re going to need to come with me,“ Cromwell begins again but is cut off abruptly.

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“Detective, you know how to get a hold of me if you need me. Right now you need some time to think. Don’t be afraid of your conscience, and don’t run from your sin any longer.”

With that Gary returns to his vehicle and starts the car. Cromwell is temporarily frozen. Is he being held spellbound by an unseen being? Is this just too much for him to process? Is he heeding Gary’s instruction?

Whatever it is, it keeps the detective in place while Gary sneaks his car off the bridge behind his.

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THE END OF CHAPTER 31

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Thank you, and stay tuned for LOVE LIKE HIS : Chapter 32 - Coming soon to a steemit near you!

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Until next time…

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