His knowledge of her earlier circumstances was vague, most of it he learned from a case worker’s notes from her foster placement. As a professional he could access those records. There wasn’t a great deal of information included on the mother’s murder or of Alan West. He’d decided, after sensing a threat so subtle he continued to second guess himself, that he needed the straight facts.

Patricia Stratton’s death was clearly a domestic homicide. In most cases the warning signs were there. With this though, there had been nothing on record. No visits by police to deal with violent arguments. No assistance requested in fact from any government body.

Shepherd contacted a cousin in the police department, who helped with accessing records. He attempted to gain as much corroborative detail as he could with a patient’s history. While he treated Nem, he sensed she thought of him as an enemy and so this was his way of protecting himself.

He stopped.

Doctor, are you seriously thinking that a fourteen-year-old represented a threat? Really? You need to settle down.

Okay, he decided, after this he’d take a break, schedule vacation time. Get his head straight. The last few days, he’d felt unwell. Off. A virus perhaps? A rest was what the doctor ordered. After completion of this research, he’d put young, troubled Nem behind him, just another file with a coded number.

The details of the case were interesting and sad. Human beings’ potential for violence, while fascinating, always left a bad taste in his mouth. Sadly though, it came with this job, so he’d seen and heard more than his share of terrible, heart-wrenching testimonies of man’s inability to control his darker emotions.

Four years ago, Patricia Stratton, thirty-seven, died at the hands of Alan West, thirty-eight. The man had a violent history, with a long list of misdemeanors. Bar fights, drunk and disorderly conduct, speeding, assault, and a DUI charge.

West must have attempted to get his life back on the right path with no convictions or charges recorded against him for the year before the murder. Not unusual in these cases. Self-medication with alcohol or drugs was the go-to choice for most when dealing with anger issues. Below the surface though, they’d slow simmer until a random event caused them to boil over into a catastrophe. In West’s case, explode, leaving a devastating mess.

Whatever set West off that night wasn’t noted. His statement was that he didn’t understand what came over him. That he’d had something akin to an out-of-body experience.

“Suspect overwhelmed by a thought, but he doesn’t remember what,” the interviewing detective noted.

Again, not unusual. Domestic murders did not result from logical reasoning. Swept away by their emotions was a common excuse. After pleading guilty, incarceration followed for West, with an eighteen-year sentence.

The irony, considering his own interview with Nem, was West never served the full sentence. This information was new to him. He’d presumed it was an open and shut case. To a degree it was closed, only not in the way you’d imagine.