experience. Does that make sense to anybody?”
Moira and Tim were both taking notes again.
“Eamon did not have his older brother’s artistic talents. He tried to draw, and it’s weird because he tried to draw some of the same things as his brother—”
“Like what?” Tim asked.
“Houses. Most of William’s drawings were of houses.”
Interesting. Tim had said something about Billy Rosselli drawing houses over and over. Moira inched forward in her seat.
“William was his mother’s favorite. Siobhan was constantly telling Eamon he should be more like his brother. That had to hurt like hell,” Evan said.
Tim nodded.
“So here’s Eamon. He has no relationship with Dad, spends all his time with a bully of an older brother and a mother who can’t be bothered with him.
“Eamon told the police that William frequently beat him up. But the police file indicates no residual bruising or scarring when doctors examined him after the massacre.. So William hadn’t touched Eamon for at least a few days, maybe longer, before everything went down.”
Nancy returned to the room. She beamed at Evan, who smiled back. Moira could tell they were deeply in love, very at ease with each other.
“Am I allowed to listen in?” Nancy asked.
“You’ll have to clear that with them.” Evan pointed at Tim and Moira.
“Please,” Tim said.
Nancy sat on the recliner across from the sofa. She put her feet up and crossed them.
“My wife can probably help here.”
Tim looked at her.
“I work with teen-aged girls,” Nancy said.
“Her advice will cost you extra.” Evan laughed. “So, here’s what I think happened … Dad has another long day at work, grabs a few drinks with a friend on his way home. When he gets home, something sets him off. He hits Mom. William tries to intervene.
“The forensic team thinks William grabbed the knife first, tried to attack Dad. Dad has defensive wounds on his forearms. The fight between Dad and William starts in the kitchen but goes into the dining room. Dad is able to disarm William and tries to attack him. Now Mom intervenes. She is grabbing at Dad’s arms, trying to hold him back so William can run away. But William doesn’t. For thirteen years old, the kid has got balls.
“Dad throws Mom away from him. Her head hits the dining table. She probably loses consciousness.
“Meantime, William is coming after Dad. He makes a grab for the knife, or puts his right hand up to defend himself. There is trauma on the hand suggestive of either one of the two scenarios.
“There’s a struggle for the knife. Dad gains control and sticks it into William’s midsection. He pulls it out and stabs him several times.
“Mom regains consciousness but she’s suffered serious head trauma. She tries to crawl into the kitchen, to get away from Dad. Forensics was able to verify that Dad grabs her, probably by an ankle, and drags her out of the kitchen back into the living room. He plunges the knife into her.
“William surprises Dad from behind. He’s on death’s doorstep but finds the strength to get another knife out of the kitchen. One of the last acts of his life is to slash his father’s throat. Dad dies where he falls, half on top of Mom. Their blood collects in a puddle near the kitchen threshold, in the dining room.
“This is conjecture but it lines up with the evidence.”
Evan finished and sat back.
Moira said, “Where was Eamon the whole time?”
Evan said, “According to him, he was in the family room on the sofa, watching all of this happen.”
“What?” Tim asked.
Nancy chimed in. “There’s little to no chance of that happening. That kid would have either joined in or ran away. He was in no imminent danger.”
Evan said, “I don’t buy it either.”
“Who called the cops?” Tim asked.
“Eamon. But here’s the tricky part. John would have gotten home around eight. The call was put through at nine-seventeen. Forensics thinks everyone was dead by
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