Murder Under the Covered Bridge Read Online Free PDF Page B

several yards away from the group. The deputy nodded. “Go ahead.”
    Francine could hear Charlotte anyway. “We heard shots and we—that is, Marcy—saw the unconscious man down there run from the cornfield. He was in a rush from being shot at and he must have fallen or slid down the embankment and hit his head. Jonathan—that’s Francine’s husband, he’s the other man down there—went to keep him from slipping any farther into the water and drowning.”
    â€œWho’s Francine?”
    â€œThat’s me,” she said, waving a couple of fingers at him. She realized she shouldn’t have let him know she could hear, but he seemed to forget because he directed his next question at her.
    â€œYour husband ran out while the shots were being fired?”
    â€œNo, he waited until the gunmen had gone.”
    â€œOkay,” he said. “Step over here.” He waited until Francine had joined them. “There was more than one gunman?”
    Charlotte interrupted. “They were shooting rifles, and the shots came on top of one another, so there had to have been more than one.”
    â€œDid you see any of them?”
    Francine shook her head. “No. They must have stayed hidden in the cornfield or left once William fell down the creek bank.”
    â€œYou know the victim?”
    â€œIt’s weird, but I do. He’s my cousin. I have no idea why he was here or why he was being shot at.”
    The deputy took notes. “Did you know the gunmen were gone, or did you just assume it?”
    Charlotte answered, “We didn’t know for sure, but they stopped shooting. And they didn’t fire at us when we left the bridge.”
    Everyone turned their attention to the scene below as the fireman helped Jonathan back up to the top of the bank. A second fireman checked him over. Jonathan handed over the wallet and the vial he’d retrieved. Francine didn’t see the book but presumed he had turned it over as well.
    Meanwhile, the firemen below hoisted William up on the backboard. Another two steadied them with the tethered rope.
    The ambulance arrived. It couldn’t get across the bridge because the sheriff’s car blocked the entrance. The deputy ran back across the bridge to move his car out of the way.
    In spite of the circumstances, Francine had to chuckle over the Barney Fife moment.
    The ambulance made it across the bridge and backed into the turnaround space while Marcy steadied the horse and Joy continued filming the rescue. The paramedics loaded William into the ambulance and the firemen prepared to leave, but not before the deputy obtained the vial and the wallet. Then the ambulance sped out onto CR 350W, sirens wailing.
    More deputies arrived. Once the group assessed the situation, they moved into the cornfield, cautiously spreading themselves out.
    â€œThey’re going to establish a perimeter,” Charlotte said, “and search for evidence.”
    Another sheriff’s car arrived. The man who got out had a long, leathery face accentuated by thinning white hair parted to one side and a full, bristly white mustache. He carried a white Stetson, which he put on when he got out of the car. He reminded Francine of an Old West character who stayed on the job because he needed to keep busy. After he’d been briefed by the first deputy on the scene, he crossed the bridge to where the women and Jonathan had been placed for safety’s sake.
    â€œI’m Detective Stockton,” he said. He glanced at Jonathan, now wrapped in the wool blanket that had been in the carriage. “Since it’s cold, let’s go up to the Rock Run. I’m confident the owner will let us in, and we’ll talk further up there. In the meantime, please don’t talk among yourselves about what happened.”
    Francine carried Jonathan’s change of clothes as well as her own as they made their way to the restaurant. The detective