“Well yes, who hasn’t, why?”

“Well our main suspect right now is Sarah’s son.” Rossi
looked for her response.

“Max?” She looked pensive.

“Is there anything you can tell us? “Rossi asked.

“Sarah…Sarah was always worried about him, Max saw
everything you know…he used to visit us until his father started poisoning his
mind about homosexuality and how a woman should be subservient…we had to stop
his visits when he hit his mother.”

Reid looked surprised, “He hit his mother? Why?”

“She told him no,” at their questioning looks, she
continued, “he asked his mom to come home and live with his dad like she was
supposed to and when she said no, he punched her.  He was thirteen and quite big for his age. He
hurt her; broke her cheekbone and I told her I didn’t think it was a good idea
for him to come back.  So he didn’t”

“Ma’am, was that the last time he was over?”

“Yes, she saw him infrequently after that, once she told him
no, he didn’t want anything to do with her.
I was very surprised when he became a police officer”

“Is there anything else you can think of that might help
us?”

“No, I mean Sarah told me about the abuse, we actually met
at the hospital, I was a nurse and saw her in the emergency room.  She was so embarrassed by the abuse, she
didn’t speak about it much, but she was always worried about Max.”

“What was she worried about?” Reid asked

“She was worried about his future, she had high hopes when
he became a police officer, but his father had poisoned him, against her,
against women.  She worried he would
never be happy.”

“Do you know if Detective Rodriguez is close to his father?”

“Well yes, up until last year, he still lived with his
father.  I don’t know if he still does
though” Both men looked at each other, they knew Rodriguez had an apartment but
if he was close to his father then its very likely he would have contact with
him as well.  They needed to let Morgan,
JJ and Detective Rizzoli that his father’s home is likely a haven for him.

“Thank you ma’am, that’s been very helpful.” Rossi got up to
leave, but Reid had a question, “One more thing, ma’am, was Detective Rodriguez
at his mother’s funeral?”