BUILD A BETTER BOY TRUISM #3: Be his Dad, not his friend. If you don't understand the difference, imagine his confusion when you must discipline him.


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Last Time: The Detective unholstered his pistol, and handed his firearm to the guard. In turn, Trigg pressed a button on the Crestron touch screen on his computer. The screen released the secured electronic lock for the door to his right. Jeremiah Brownlee ambled into the spacious corridor. It possessed white walls and a white ceiling with fluorescent panels. Darden followed.


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Once inside the long, narrow, passageway Darden inquired, "Will Drew Larsen ever be moved into an open room, or will he always remain under this tight security?"

"For safety's sake, I'd keep him in here forever," Brownlee answered, "however, I'm not the doctor, so who knows what they will do? Anything is possible."

The Orderly donned a black duty belt around his streamlined waist. There was no doubt about his commitment to physical exercise. His massive upper body, and broad shoulders, testified to the countless number of hours he spent in a gym pumping iron.

Fastened to the utilitarian strip of leather were flexicuffs, a type of plastic hand restraints. Brownlee also arrayed a can of inflammatory pepper spray, an incapacitating Taser, and a hand-held walkie-talkie on his belt. These were all tools of his trade.

They passed through three additional doors. Each possessed a digital, numeric, lock-release keypad and a circular bulls-eye window encased in a metal frame. Darden noticed their double panes of reinforced glass.

"They're shatterproof and there is a protective two-way mirror. You'll see Larsen in one of the consultation rooms," Brownlee informed him.

A three-foot high concrete wall divided the ten-foot room the Orderly led the detective into. Thick glass, in steel frames, reached from the top of the partition to the ceiling. Two rectangular steel grills permitted sound to clearly pass from one side of the double-paned glass to the other.

Located on one side of the divider were two wooden-legged chairs and a small table. On the other side stood a padded chair bolted to the floor. This allowed the boy Darden interviewed to sit down. A ceiling-mounted camera enabled Security Officer Trigg to watch the proceedings. But, he could not listen to their conversation.

Upon his departure, Brownlee told the detective, "Call me on this intercom panel, here on the wall by the door, when you're done."

Darden seated himself on one of the chairs. On the right side of the partition, he watched a wooden door open and Drew Larsen entered into the patient's side of the room. The curly-haired, pale blond towhead wore brown slippers on his feet, no socks, and striped pajamas. He appeared too-innocent looking to be such a vicious monster.

It was obvious the unsophisticated boy's smooth face had never seen a razor. With a blanched complexion, and brilliant blue diamond eyes, Drew Larsen could easily have passed for a Hollywood Teen Star. He displayed no agitation, nor was he lethargic from medication. Confident, and with an abnormal grace, he seated himself on the chair bolted to the floor and sat straight up with his shoulders back.

Upon noticing the unknown stranger on the opposite side of the partition from him, he commented, "You're not a quack."

His tranquil, restrained, voice was crystal clear as a bell.

"What's your name?" he questioned.

"I'm Detective Darden, Drew," he was informed.

The boy chortled in disbelief.

"I already confessed to what I did. You doughnut munchers just don't get it though, do you?" he challenged.

Darden was unfazed by the boy's jibe.

"I know you confessed, Drew. The evidence confirms what you did," he calmly responded.

"So, what do you want from me then?" the accoster demanded.

"To know why a boy like you would massacre his own family," Darden replied.

Drew Larsen cracked a smile of delight. The remorseless assassin provided a grin that made him seem appealing, not evil.

"Revenge. That's all the reason I needed," he revealed.

"What does that mean?" Darden asked him.

Drew Larsen's eyes shined as bright as pilot lights. They seemed to ignite an unknown power deep inside him. Invigorated, he perked up, ready to explain his actions. The burst of energy waned rapidly, and instead, he just shrugged his shoulders. Transfixed in astonishment by the ceiling, he tilted his head as far back as he could, closed his eyes tight, and remained silent.

"Did you plan the murders?" Darden asked him.

The boy rolled his head from side-to-side as if it was a boat tossed on a stormy sea.

"Oh, I planned them a long time ago," he apathetically assured the Detective. Then, he repeated himself by coldly calculating, "I planned them a very long time ago!"

(To Be Continued:)

Cast of Characters:

Detective Sean Darden - Lead Police Officer investigating the murders of the Larsen family.

Jeremiah Brownlee - An Orderly for the sanitarium. Escorted Detective Darden while on the institution's property.

Security Officer Trigg - Security Officer at the sanitarium who monitored the conversation between Detective Darden and Drew Larsen.

Drew Larsen - Thirteen-year-old boy who confessed to murdering his own family. The question remained, did he?