Murder at the Courthouse Read Online Free PDF Page B

reluctant to give up the spotlight. She smoothed down her hair and started in again about how the man had just been sitting there and how peculiar he’d looked and how she’d suspected something must be dreadfully wrong with him right away.
    â€œThat’s fine, Miss Willadean,” the sheriff put in when she paused to get a breath. He tapped the recorder in front of him. “We have it all right here.”
    Miss Willadean glared at him and spluttered a few more words about what a sorry state the world had come to when a person could no longer feel safe on Main Street. At last she swept out the door Lester held open for her. She hadn’t had much good to say about Sheriff Potter since she reportedher purse stolen last year and he suggested she might have merely misplaced it. The fact that he retrieved her purse from under her regular booth at the Grill hadn’t made her like him one bit better.
    The sheriff kept an impassive smile on his face until the door closed behind the old lady and Lester. Then he gave his head a quick shake, as if clearing it of Miss Willadean’s words, before he turned to Michael. “Okay, Mike. You tell us what you saw when you went outside.”
    So Michael went over everything he’d done from the minute Miss Willadean had come into his office. There wasn’t much to tell, and it didn’t take long.
    While he talked, Paul took notes, Buck studied the coffee in his cup, and Chief Sibley slouched down in the only comfortable chair in the office with his eyes shut. Betty Jean made a fresh pot of coffee and answered the phone that started ringing again the second she hung up the receiver. Only the sheriff and Judge Campbell, who had followed them into the office, kept their eyes on Michael as he talked.
    When Michael ran out of details, there was a little silence except for the phone ringing, the last drops of water gurgling through the coffeemaker, and Paul flipping over his notebook page.
    â€œThat doesn’t tell us much,” the sheriff said finally.
    â€œYou think he was shot out there then?” the judge asked.
    â€œThat’s how it appears,” Michael said. “I didn’t see any blood leading up the steps, but by the time I looked, several people had already walked around out there.”
    â€œI sure am sorry about that.” The judge hung his head a little. “I wanted to get a closer look at the man. See if maybe I knew him, you understand.”
    â€œHad you ever seen him before?” Michael looked over at Judge Campbell.
    â€œWhy are you asking me that, Michael?” The judge frowned. “Don’t you think I’d have told somebody straight off if I’d ever seen him around Hidden Springs?”
    â€œNobody knew him.” The sheriff gave Michael a look that said let him ask the questions. He turned to Buck. “What do you think, Buck?”
    Buck had barely started on his theories about the murder when Paul interrupted to be sure they all understood he was in charge of the investigation. “Whatever you do find out when you check out those leads, Buck, you need to report directly to me immediately. Then I can decide how best to proceed on the findings. The same goes for you, Michael.”
    Michael managed a little nod, but Buck just glared at Paul while his knuckles turned white on his coffee cup until it looked as if he might crush the cup in his bare hand.
    â€œNow, boys, we’re all on the same team, and won’t any of us forget that you’re in charge, Paul. No need to make any speeches. We all want the same thing. To apprehend the responsible party as quickly as possible.” Sheriff Potter smiled at Paul and then nodded toward Buck. “And I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Buck turns out to be right and this is just some kind of domestic dispute. It’ll no doubt sort itself out quick enough once we get a positive ID on the victim.”
    â€œI’m working on