Excerpt: The Murder of Jeffry Micheals

Jonathan Wells always loved the hours between five and seven. It was just becoming dark, but there was enough light to be outside. The detective loved to garden, and that's where he was when the other detective came to see him.
He picked up his hose an began to clean his bloody shovel. Detective Chris Morgan walks through the gate. John looks glances over than goes back to his cleaning.
"Don't you knock?" he asked.
"Takes up too much time, besides, I got breaking news," Chris said. John looks up from his gardening tools.
"What?" he said.
"We found a body," Detective Morgan said. "How did you get blood on the shovel?" Jonathan looks down and sees watered down blood running down the shovel.
"Oh, a gopher popped out of the ground and I freaked. Just kept beating it with a shovel until I bashed it's head in."
Chris laughed and said, "That the John I know." Both of of the men laugh.
"So this body?"
"It's downtown," Chris said. "I haven't been there yet, so I'm not sure what's going on." John stands up and wipes his hands on his jeans.
"Your car or mine?" Detective Morgan asked.
"I got to get changed," he said. "You go and I'll meet you there." Chris looked puzzled.
"You sure?" Chris asked. Chris has been clingy with his partners ever since his last one was shot.
"I'll be fine, you go," he said. Detective Morgan walked through the front gate, looking back over his shoulder to check on John. John sighed and went back into the house.
As he changed into a new pair of slacks and a nice shirt he thought about Chris. He was a strange one. Last year, he was investigating the home of a suspect with his old partner, when a buddy of the suspect came in. The buddy opened fire and Chris fired back. Chris's partner was the more of the peaceful type, and Chris was a "shoot now, ask questions later" guy. By some quirk of fate, there had been friendly fire and his partner was shot. It wasn't fatal, but it was bad. John wasn't sure about all the details, but he thinks that he's lost movement in his legs.
It made Chris more cautious, but it certainly didn't make him stupid. Detective Morgan was one of the brightest at the police station. Whenever there was a troubling case, it went to Chris. If something was to be found, he would find it. If someone was to be caught, he would catch them.
Detective Jonathan Wells was to Chris what Natalie Tigger is to Adrian Monk. Chris does most of the work, but he couldn't do it without John. Their energies fed off each other. John taught Chris to be calm in moments of high tension, like shoot outs. Chris taught John attention to detail, something he has picked up amazingly well over the few months they had been working together. Around the office they became known as Chris and John, always together, never separate.
Getting back to the task at hand, Detective Wells grabbed his briefcase and headed out the door. He hopped in his car and headed off to the police station. It was a fifteen minute drive to the station. John liked to be close enough to focus on his work, but far enough away, to distance himself when he needed it most. That was another one of Jonathan's problems. He had trouble distancing himself from his work, often spending long hours at home looking through case files, and doing research. Maybe that's why he did have a wife or family of his own. Years ago he had his mother, but she was no longer alive.