1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 88 Mother
Chief Widek didn't leave until the early hours of the morning.

The homicide detectives are still working hard.

The director's emphasis placed on them made them feel a heavy burden of pressure.

When Wenner returned, Bernie and Theodore were exchanging their findings with the homicide detectives.

He returned to his office, opened the drawer, and rummaged around for a while, only to find his hand full of wrapping paper.

…………

The next day.

Theodore and Bernie went to the Black neighborhood. With the help of a Black police officer, they found the deceased's registered address.

It was an old, single-person apartment building, just two streets away from the community school.

After confirming the room number several times, Bernie pried open the door.

The apartment has a very simple structure, like an enlarged version of a motel. Except for the bathroom, which is separated, the living room, bedroom and kitchen are all in one place.

Theodore stopped the black police officer who was about to enter and handed him gloves and shoe covers.

The first impression of the room is that it is clean and tidy.

Apart from the unmade-up blankets on the bed and the pants left by the door, the whole room looked as if no one lived there at all.

Bernie touched the floor but didn't feel any dust.

He held up his finger and looked at Theodore in surprise.

"Someone may come here to clean regularly."

Theodore gave his assessment, stepped into the room, and headed straight for the trash can.

There were a few crumpled sheets of paper in the trash can, which, when unfolded, turned out to be rugby tactics diagrams.

Theodore opened the bedside drawer and found more toilet paper inside.

Besides tactical diagrams, the document mainly consists of records of player training, occasionally interspersed with opponent analysis, concepts about free fighters, and so on.

At the very bottom of these sheets of paper was a photograph, a picture of Leroy with the deceased.

Theodore handed the photo to the black police officer and asked him what the relationship was between the two men.

The Black police officer hesitated before telling them that the deceased had always taken good care of Leroy, often treating him to better meals, buying him equipment, and nail shoes.

Leroy also respected the deceased and listened to his words very much.

Many people jokingly say that Leroy is the deceased's illegitimate son.

Bernie's gaze turned strange as he thought about what had happened on the field and Leroy's denigration of the deceased the day before.

Theodore also thought of Leroy, but not only in terms of the denigration of the deceased, but also in his behavior of constantly mentioning "what the coach said."

He guessed that Leroy was raised by his mother.

This was confirmed by the Black police officer. The officer also told them that many people here didn't even know who their fathers were.

Theodore handed the photos to Bernie, who put them in a paper bag along with the scrap paper.

Theodore opened the wardrobe, where underwear, socks, pants, and coats were neatly arranged and categorized.

He finally went into the bathroom and confirmed that there was indeed only one person living there.

After leaving the deceased's home, they went to the hospital.

The number of people guarding this place is more than double that of yesterday.

Under the silent gaze of these people, they entered the hospital and went to the floor where the injured players of the team were located.

Here, they were stopped.

The black police officer and the gang leader argued for a long time at the end of the corridor before they were allowed to pass.

The Black police officer looked rather grim as he explained to them in a low voice.

Last night, a white man attacked these people's boss and almost stabbed him to death.

Theodore asked if anyone had died, but after receiving a negative answer, he lost interest in the matter.

When they arrived at Leroy's hospital room, Leroy's mother was also there. She was a plump woman who was about to help Leroy to the toilet.

Leroy, limping against the wall, saw the three enter, lowered his voice, and stiffly pushed his mother away: "No need, I can manage myself."

The Black police officer stopped the woman who was about to help and introduced them.

After learning Theodore and Bernie's identities, the woman immediately became alert:

"Leroy is the one who got hurt."

"He did nothing."

Leroy, who was about to urinate, seemed to feel ashamed of his mother's behavior and turned back.

He pushed past his mother, sat on the bed, and, mimicking the seriousness of an adult, asked them, "What do you want from me again?"

Bernie and the black police officer were already panting heavily.

Theodore asked him why he thought the deceased was a 'traitor, a liar, who betrayed their trust'.

Leroy repeated the same words as yesterday.

However, while he was saying these things, his gaze frequently drifted towards his mother.

These actions were so obvious that even Bernie and the black patrol officer noticed something was amiss.

Theodore, however, seemed not to notice. He took out the woman's card and asked Leroy if he had seen her at the deceased's place.

Leroy's face twisted in mockery: "He just loves these white bitches, he says they xxx in bed..."

He spoke very loudly, spewing out all sorts of vulgar and insulting words.

"Shut up!" Leroy's mother suddenly slapped him on the head.

This woman, who had always appeared delicate, finally revealed a side that matched her physique.

She was pulling at Leroy's head with one hand, as if playing with a roly-poly toy, while her other hand was on her hip, head held high, like a proud rooster.

"I slept with Emos! So what!"

"Which woman in this community hasn't slept with him?"

"How am I supposed to support you if you don't sleep with him?"

"Do you think it's easy to raise a thing like you?!"

"You're still living in my house! If I hear those words again, get out!"

The woman had a loud voice, and her shouts echoed throughout the entire floor, immediately silencing the previously noisy corridor.

Theodore compared her to Kahor in his mind and felt that she was slightly inferior to Kahor.

Kahorna was a loudspeaker that could carry a shout throughout the entire precinct.

Leroy's face turned bright red; he felt so ashamed. He stood up and tried to push his mother, but was stopped by a black police officer.

He was yelling and shouting, swearing, when a black police officer slapped him so hard he fell to the ground.

She is your mother!

The Black police officer shouted angrily.

Knowing how formidable the black police officer was, Leroy dared not meet his gaze and turned his head toward the door.

Several gang members stood at the entrance. They had originally come to watch the commotion, but now they all wore stern faces and indifferent expressions.

Leroy felt wronged and looked up at his mother.

His mother's eyes were full of disappointment, and she did not come over to help him up.

Theodore felt the time was right. He had Bernie take Leroy away, took out the photograph, handed it to Leroy's mother, and asked her:
"Is Leroy Emos Williams' illegitimate son?"

The woman looked at the photo, returned it, and nodded calmly: "He's just like his father; he doesn't understand what responsibility is at all."

The Black man looked at the woman, then at Theodore, and was utterly shocked.

(End of this chapter)