Disclaimer: I don�t own any of these characters.
"He�s dead?" Danny asked, his gaze fixed squarely on Frank�s face.
"Yes Danny. Dr. Wesley is dead," Frank answered.
Michelle let herself slide down the side of Danny�s body until she was sitting on the concrete of the porch. She stared out into the yard and said, "I think I�m going to throw up."
Danny and Frank helped Michelle to her feet, and ushered her inside the house. Frank sat down in the living room, while Danny walked to the bedroom with Michelle.
"I�m o.k., Danny," Michelle said. "I�m just going to splash my face with some cool water."
"Are you sure?"
"I�m sure," she replied. "Go out there and talk to Frank. We have to find out where to go from here."
A few minutes later, Michelle emerged from their bedroom, looking considerably better than she had earlier on the front porch.
"Better?" Danny asked.
"Better," Michelle answered.
Frank looked at Michelle, as she sat down on the sofa next to Danny and said, "Michelle, I was just telling Danny that Dr. Wesley�s death does not necessarily mean that we cannot clear up this matter. There are still ways that we can prove Mick�s death was a suicide, and you can take his death off your conscience."
Michelle nodded slightly, grateful for Frank�s reassurance, but Danny wanted more answers.
"You keep saying there are �ways�, Frank," Danny said. "I want to know exactly what kind of ways."
"We still have the original autopsy report, which contains Dr. Wesley�s hand-written notes," Frank replied. "That�s pretty incredible evidence. And also, it seems that whoever was responsible for changing the report in the hospital computer system, was unaware of the original file, otherwise, Michelle would�ve never found it."
"So you�re saying that is enough?" Michelle asked.
"Well, it�s certainly a tremendous start, Michelle," Frank said. "When you go in to the hospital today, I need you to very nonchalantly make sure that the original file has not been tampered with."
"Alright, Frank," Michelle said. "But why don�t you just subpoena the record? That way, we�ll know for sure that it�s safe."
"Eventually, I will. But first, I want the two of you to be sure you want to proceed," Frank said.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked. "Of course we want to proceed. We want to know the truth."
"It�s a little more complicated than that. The process of officially declaring Mick�s death a suicide will be very involved," Frank countered. "It�s likely to� how shall I say this� unearth some very ugly secrets."
"Frank," Danny began. "I know that we�re going to have to dig into my mother�s past. I understand that she�s not going to be happy about it. I don�t care, Frank. Do you hear me? I don�t care."
"Listen to me," Frank said. "Both of you listen very closely." Frank looked directly at Michelle and began speaking. "Michelle, I know how hard this has been for you, believing that you killed someone. I can�t even begin to imagine what you�ve had to deal with because of it. But, you were never in any trouble with the law, because you were defending yourself. Dredging this up again will not be easy for anyone, least of all you and Danny, so I want you to understand that if you decide not to go any further, you can take comfort in the fact that you were not responsible for Mick�s death. What is said in the police report won�t change, but neither will it affect you in any way."
"Frank, I can�t believe you�re saying this," Danny said, shaking his head in disbelief. "If we know that Michelle did not kill Mick that night, why in the world would we not want to put things right, so that the whole world can know the truth?"
"Because Danny, this is going to get incredibly ugly," Frank said. "It�s true that we have enough evidence to get the proceeding underway, but to officially declare Mick�s death a suicide, we will have to examine the body again." Frank was desperately hoping that his words would sink in.
"I feel sick again," Michelle said.
"What do you mean, Frank?" Danny asked.
"I mean that Mick�s body will have to be exhumed."
Several hours after Frank headed back to the station, Michelle left for her shift at the hospital. She assured Danny that she was composed enough to go to work. Life wasn�t going to just stop while they searched for the truth, and she told Danny that they were going to need all the normality they could get, during the next few weeks. He knew she was right.
He sat on the front porch as Michelle drove away. Things at the "Journal" were fine, and he was glad, because he just couldn�t bring himself to go to work today. For a long time he sat there, on the steps of their front porch, letting the ideas and the images sink in. He didn�t cry, or scream; he just sat there, staring off into nothing.
Finally, he stood up and walked in the house. He picked up the phone to call Frank. Frank had said that he wouldn�t make the next move until he heard from Danny and Michelle.
"Frank, it�s Danny."
"Have you made any decisions?" Frank asked.
"Michelle and I want to know the truth. We deserve to know the truth. But before we go digging up Mick�s body, let me see what I can find out."
"Don�t put yourself in danger, Danny."
"I won�t," Danny said. "My mother is leaving for San Cristobel tomorrow, so she�ll be out of the country for a few days. I�m going to look around the house, and see if I can come up with anything."
Dietz drove slowly past the house, and saw Danny inside, on the telephone. He hated toying with his life this way. He�d always hated it. Danny was a good kid, and Dietz had always liked him, hell respected him even, in a much different way than he respected Carmen. He didn�t understand why Carmen seemed to love Danny more than Mick. If she�d given Mick the same amount of attention and affection that she�d given Danny, perhaps he wouldn�t have grown up into such a louse. In the end, Mick could no longer contain his anger towards Carmen, and Dietz suspected that he may have even been blackmailing her with something. Carmen had been heart-broken the night Mick died, but his death had given her a kind of freedom, and Dietz had never been sure why.
Dietz�s feelings for Carmen had kept him on her string for a long time, and prevented him from doing the right thing. But, looking at Danny now, he just wasn�t sure he could go on messing with his life anymore.