Robert Andrews - A Murder of Justice

Her daughter and Martin.

“Virginia,” Titus Phelps said, “they’re here.”

Osmond opened her eyes.

“I can see that, Titus,” she said in a thin, papery voice. She smiled at Jose. “You have a handsome, handsome son.”

She raised her hand a fraction off the quilt.

“Come closer,” she whispered to Jose and Frank.

The two men stepped to the side of her bed. Jose put his hand over hers.

Virginia Osmond smiled. “I want to give the two of you an old woman’s blessing… My Martin didn’t die a bad man.”

Jose bent close to her. “No, ma’am,” he said, “he died a hero.”

“I knew,” Osmond said. “I knew.” Her eyes searched Jose’s. “I waited to see… I knew…”

“Yes ma’am.”

She slipped her hand from under Jose’s and gestured to the night table. “In the drawer.”

Jose hesitated, then opened the drawer. Over his partner’s shoulder, Frank saw the pistol.

Glock 17.

Jose and Frank exchanged glances, then turned to Virginia Osmond.

“Night they killed Martin… after I called the ambulance… I went back to him,” Osmond said. “I saw the gun on the seat beside him.”

Her voice strengthened, tapping some last reservoir of energy.

“Heard the sirens… don’t know what went through my head… I knew the gun was bad. Took it. Hid it in the little shed I have for my garden things.”

Osmond was quiet for a moment. “They said Martin died of drugs. They said heroin.” She shook her head.

“But I knew Martin. I knew he had nothing to do with drugs. Later… I went through his things. I found an envelope with my name on it and a note inside.”

Osmond’s eyes drifted away as though she were trying to see the note again.

“All it said was, ‘Anything happens to me, go see Mr. Kevin Gentry. Don’t tell police.’ ” She shut her eyes, then opened them. “I read the papers and saw on the television… Mr. Kevin Gentry was killed the same night as my Martin.”

Osmond looked at Jose as if seeking confirmation.

“Yes, ma’am, this was so.”

Seemingly relieved, Osmond nodded.

“I knew… all that time… that Hodges boy had something to do with Martin’s death. And that white man’s too. But I didn’t trust anyone. Not you police. I guess I’d a done nothing except pray for Martin, hadn’t been for that Hodges boy coming over here to Bayless Place, sitting in that car with that loud music. Him and his friend, that Crawfurd boy, looking us over.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jose breathed, knowing what was coming next.

“Then I got the cancer. Like it was a signal from the Lord. I had to right things before I joined Martin.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And so I did.”

The last of her vitality draining away, Virginia Osmond gestured feebly toward the night table.

“Martin…”

Jose picked up Martin Osmond’s graduation photograph and placed it in Virginia Osmond’s hand. She clasped the frame to her breast, then looked up at Jose and Frank.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

And so she died. http://dc.gov/index.asp

News for Immediate Release Government of the District of Columbia

Citywide Call Center: (202) 727-1000

TTY/TDD Directory John A. Wilson Building

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004

August 29, 2001

Mayor Announces Police Department Retirements

(Washington, D.C.) Mayor Seth Tompkins announced today the retirements of Police Chief Noah Day and Police Captain Randolph Emerson. * Retirements of such men,” the Mayor said, “are always occasions of mixed emotions. Such men will be missed. They have long been law enforcement institutions. I wish them happiness and godspeed in their well-deserved retirements.”

THE WASHINGTON POST

Thursday, August 30, 2001 METRO

In Brief THE DISTRICT DCMPD Under New Management? Mayor Seth Tompkins, having announced the surprise retirements of Police Chief Noah Day and Homicide Captain Randolph Emerson, is about to pull another rabbit (or two) out of his hat. Insiders say that Tompkins is preparing to nominate Detective Josephus Adams Phelps as Chief of Police and Franklin Delano Kearney as Chief of Homicide. Phelps and Kearney, longtime partners in… * This document is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF). A PDF reader is required for viewing. Download a PDF Reader or Learn More About PDFs