POV Columbo part 2
Tom was tense. He sat with perfect nonchalance at the table, but there was distrust in his gaze. He didn't feel safe. He felt trapped like a caged animal. Columbo was watching him closely.
Tom wore a good fashionable suit, though a little too expensive for a cop's salary. Tom has always looked after his appearance. Although there was one case where Tom neglected his appearance. After the girl saved by Tom died. Her name was Anne, and Tom saved her from being killed by her gangster father. However, the mafia caught up with the girl in the hospital and killed her. Back then, Tom's suit, shirt, and trousers were visibly crumpled, and his hair was unkempt. Tom blamed himself for the death of this girl, who was the only witness who could bring down her father. However, Columbo noticed the run-down appearance only days after the incident. Before, Tom looked like he always did. A strange circumstance.
Tom felt that Columbo's intentions were not sincere when the lieutenant invited him to dinner. Tom has been cheated on and distrusted people in the past, and Columbo made Tom see him as a threat.
Columbo always knew who killed. Murderers have always been inconsistent. One detail betrayed them. Ray Fleming did not call his wife when he returned. He knew she was not there because he had strangled her before he left. Ken Franklin opened the mail. He was not shocked by the death of the writer because he killed him.
Tom was afraid of Columbo's interest and felt guilty for something from the past.
Columbo suspected that Tom felt guilty about someone's death, but Tom was not the murderer. There was no brazen superiority in his behavior that all murderers have (even those who kill on the spur of the moment and in anger, and not according to a prepared plan). Even if Tom was responsible for whose death it was more of an accident or a moment of insanity. Columbo rather assumes the latter, as Tom had apparent mental problems. Most likely because of his family, which he never wants to talk about.
Family. This is where all Tom's problems begin. Tom has no wife, no children (no wedding ring, no interest whatsoever when policemen talk about wives or children).
So it had to be the parents. Maybe siblings too.
Rich family who didn't care for Tom. Why? Tom is handsome, talented and intelligent. He has all the qualities that rich people value. Interesting secret.
Columbo wanted to gain Tom's trust, but knew it would be a difficult challenge. Tom had trust issues and was constantly afraid that people were trying to hurt him. The lieutenant will have to build trust for a long time. However, it is worth doing. This young man needed at least one kind soul in his life.
Sergeant Wilson was having a dinner sitting next to Tom, and he didn't even notice Sergeant Hiddleston's anxiety. Columbo liked Wilson very much and taught him a few things in their affairs together, but Sergeant Wilson was sometimes not paying attention to detail and making the wrong conclusions.
Of course, Mrs. Columbo, as was her custom, forgot about dinner and made an appointment with her mother. She said goodbye to the invited sergeants on the threshold and left her husband alone with the guests.
The lieutenant decided to give Tom a bit of honesty, not the mask of incapacity he put on before meeting each murderer.
"I remember my first independent case. A woman was found in a rich apartment who had been strangled by an attacker. She in the hospital for a while, but the doctors could not save her. Her husband, Dr. Fleming, returned home from his vacation in Acapulco and did not call her," Columbo said. .
"He killed her," said Tom, his eyes widening slightly.
"Yes," Columbo agreed.
“Sorry, Lieutenant, but there could be many reasons why he didn't call her. How did you know he was a murderer?” Asked good-natured Sergeant Wilson, gesturing lively with his hands.
"I told the doctor that his wife survived. He was not happy that his wife was alive. On the contrary, there was fear in his eyes," replied the lieutenant.
"Do you always recognize monsters?" Tom asked lightly. However, this question was important. Monsters. It meant something to Tom.
"Interesting choice of words. Other policemen obviously told me about your wonderful language. But monster is an interesting term. I would expect a policeman to say murderer, suspect, criminal. Not a monster," Columbo replied.
The green eyes looked at him intently. The game is on.
"Monster. Yes, that's an interesting term. I've always been a diplomat rather than a fighter. I like to read, so I have a good vocabulary and I was born with a silver tongue. But you've met monsters, haven't you, Lieutenant? Tom's words were sharp and precise. He seduced and attacked.
Monster. Key word.
"I don't define murderers as monsters. They are human. They committed a crime but are still human," replied the lieutenant.
"Do you see people in them?" Tom smiled sharply. So sharp as if he wasn't smiling but mocking. From himself.
Not good. Something is missing Columbo. Somehow, Tom had outsmarted him. Something is hidden.
"Of course. Just because they committed an immoral act doesn't mean they have lost their humanity. They are still human," replied the lieutenant.
"So you've never seen real monsters. Interesting," Tom replied and drank his wine.
Columbo has not met monsters in his life. He met imperfect people who, out of greed, passion or fear, killed someone.
However, Tom Hiddleston has met the monsters. Moreover, he considers himself one of them. And it's the worst of monsters.
What happened in his life? Who convinced him that he is a monster? What tragedy touched his heart so badly that he saw in Columbo a monster hunter who wants to capture him, and not a kind man who wants to help him?