"Final Words: The Liberating Power of Deathbed Confessions"

Synopsis

As we age, we often find ourselves reflecting on our lives, sometimes even recalling the most trivial of moments and cherishing them as cherished memories that we can look back on and laugh about. Over time, our recollections take on a more innocent tone, with negative events often glossed over or even erased from our memories altogether, while the warm and fuzzy memories become more significant.

For some couples, this reflection on their past brings them closer together, while for others, it causes them to drift apart. Some couples stay together out of comfort, while others develop feelings of hatred for one another.

An elderly woman has lived a fulfilling life, having been married to a loving, devoted, and responsible husband, and raising six children who have all successfully established themselves in the world. Her memories of her family and her life are precious to her, and she is proud of what she has accomplished.

However, everything changes when her husband confesses to a terrible crime on his deathbed, leaving her world shattered. It is unclear whether his confession is the product of a dementia-ridden mind or an attempt to seek absolution before his passing. If the confession is brought to the attention of their loved ones, it could have significant ramifications, and the woman wishes to keep it from her grown children so as not to taint their memory of their father.

Will this revelation destroy the close, loving family, or will they find the strength to overcome the shock of the confession? Only time will tell.

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As we arrived at Missus Tierney's house, we showed her our ID cards, and she peered at them through the insect screening. She appeared nervous and refused to let us come in, despite us identifying ourselves as police officers from the Murder Squad. She expressed her concerns about the government letting in immigrants, whom she said "don't look like us" and "don't believe in God as we do". She also talked about her fears of being a victim of crime as a vulnerable elderly person living alone.

We reminded Missus Tierney that she had called Crime Stoppers to report a suspected murder, and we needed to ask her a few questions about that conversation. She was surprised and worried that we had traced her call and obtained her address, and questioned whether we were really police officers. Eventually, she agreed to let us come back next Monday at 10 a.m. to discuss the matter further.

As we were leaving, Missus Tierney shared with us a shocking secret that her late husband had confessed to her on his deathbed: that he had killed someone. She was clearly struggling to come to terms with this revelation and did not want her children to know about it. We left her house feeling skeptical about the truth of her allegations, and wondering if we were wasting our time investigating her claims.

As we walked down the front path towards our unmarked police car, Missus Tierney's daughter looked at us.

"I don't know what I would have said if she had told me. I couldn't help but wonder how the old woman would have reacted when her daughter found out something that her mother had kept hidden since the death of her husband and father. We didn't want to burden the family with something that might not be true, and if it was, it could tear them apart after all these years of ignorance. I suspected that religious people would want to save the old woman's soul, so we used that as an excuse to knock on her door, a tactic that had worked before.

a man greeted us and said his mother-in-law had gone. For a moment, I thought he meant she had passed away over the weekend, which would make our investigation impossible. I didn't know what to tell this stranger, so my colleague and I showed him our ID cards. We were unsure how to proceed, especially after what the old woman had muttered to us the previous week. We both felt that it wasn't our place to disclose anything related to her claims.

The man recognized us as police officers and said his wife had told him we had visited last week to ask about someone being murdered. He said his mother-in-law had no idea about it. We asked where she was, hoping she could assist us in our investigation. The man wiped plaster dust from his face, took a sip of water, and revealed a distinct outline where his mask had been moments ago."

about I give you Missus Tierney's new address now? She's at 56 Seaview Avenue, Southport, Queensland. Sorry for getting sidetracked there."

"Thank you for the information," I replied, jotting down the address. As he spoke, I couldn't help but notice the nostalgia in his voice as he talked about the old house and his late father-in-law. The description of the house reminded me of my childhood home with its big, dimly lit rooms and small windows with lead-light glass.

After he provided the address, I asked, "When was the last time you saw Missus Tierney?"

"I saw her about a month ago when we were finalizing the move to the Grannie Flat. She seemed happy with her new place and all the new furniture. But she's getting on in age, and her memory's not what it used to be. My daughter suspects she may have dementia, but I'm not so sure."

I nodded, noting down the information. As the conversation came to an end, I couldn't help but wonder what other memories and stories were hidden in that grand old house.

The man spoke of his retirement plans, rejecting the idea of filling his days with fishing and gardening. He had been a local builder for his entire life, and his two sons now ran the family business. He was currently renovating the original kitchen of his house, which had not been updated since the sixties or earlier. He believed that knocking down a wall or two would add value to the property and considered subdividing the land to build another dwelling. However, he did not want to cause conflict within the family by financing the project himself and making a profit. He complained that the rest of the family only wanted the property sold and that he was doing the work and paying for it himself, with no expectation of getting his money back. He considered it a typical family situation.

When asked about Mrs. Tierney, the man commented that she had not fully settled in and that most of her belongings were cluttering the triple garage. He provided her mobile number and wondered if she had witnessed a murder since we were from the murder squad. We explained that we wanted to talk to her about a possible sighting but did not have any additional information. Our suggestion of an overnight stay was met with opposition from the boss, who frowned at the idea. However, we pointed out that the drive would take four hours each way, making it impractical to return the same day.

said it would take about three hours to get there, but the road has improved since the old days. However, he suggested that we first look at the case at hand. An eighty-three-year-old woman had contacted Crime Stoppers a week ago, reporting a murder that occurred fifty to fifty-five years ago. The victim's name was unknown, but the woman claimed that her husband had an affair with the victim, who refused to accept that the affair was over. As a result, the husband shot and buried her.

The Boss then went on to question the plausibility of the story. He pointed out that the husband had confessed to the crime on his deathbed, suffering from severe dementia, which raised doubts about the reliability of the story. He also wondered why it took the woman close to a year to come forward to report the crime. He suggested that we look into missing persons reports from fifty to fifty-five years ago, specifically for a woman in her twenties who vanished suddenly with "foul play" as the coroner's finding.

We agreed with the Boss that we had more questions than facts at this stage. However, we suggested that we should give ourselves at least two days to investigate the case properly. The woman in question was eighty-three years old and may tire easily. We may need several interviews to get to the bottom of her claim.

The Boss agreed that we could check the missing persons records for the relevant time frame, but he also informed us that he and his wife were building their retirement home in Tuross Heads, which was down that way. He suggested that we check for a missing woman between the ages of twenty and thirty who disappeared suddenly with "foul play" as the coroner's finding. He ended the conversation by instructing us to stop and desist before we organized a trip to investigate the case further.

The man leaned back in his executive chair and stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. "First, do this," he said, his voice serious. "Make a list of every missing person case from 1960 to 1970. It doesn't matter how long the list is, take it with you. I suspect the person we're looking for had dementia and died in a facility for dementia patients. It may have come on rapidly, or he may have been there for some time. Check near his home address and interview the nursing staff. They may have heard him talking nonsensically before he died. His wife was with him when he passed, and he whispered this information as an act of atonement. It's been about a year since his passing."

The man's tone didn't inspire much confidence. I let out an audible moan, and he managed a smile. He was clearly doing this on purpose, loading us down with countless missing person cases from that time period just to make us work for our little trip south. I wanted to call him a "fucking bastard," but I held my tongue, knowing he could take the case away from us at any moment. Our workload was light, consisting only of a few cases awaiting trial or preliminary hearings. We were going over loose ends and tying up some loose ends for preliminary hearings and future court cases. It was frustrating.

The man sensed my frustration, and his smile grew wider. "Don't get too hung up on those dates," he said. "Widen them if necessary. Also, find out where the Tierney family lived during those years and what Mr. Tierney did for a living. Let me know what you find before I approve your proposed trip."

I sulked out of his office, disappointed that our country trip was now weeks away. The woman we were looking for could die in the meantime, taking her secret with her........

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