When the board members arrive for their Wednesday evening
work session Pam invites them to gather in the dining room. She waits
impatiently until they are gathered then asks angrily, “Did you read Mary Jane
Bloom’s article in the paper this week? That bumbling sheriff decided some unknown
robber killed George. He closed the case. I just can’t buy that story. I think
the sheriff wants the case closed so he can get back to campaigning for
re-election.”
Peter answers, “Yes, I read the article. I agree with you,
Pam. Sheriff Ericsson doesn’t care if George’s killer is caught or not. It
upsets me too.”
Joe interjects, “Pam if you want to do some investigating on
your own we’ll help you if we can. None of us want to see George’s killer go
free.”
“Thank you, Joe. I suppose all of you know that George and I
were dating. It was starting to be serious, at least I thought it so until he
dropped me for that young blond. I may have been silly given George’s
reputation with women.”
“I don’t think you were being silly, Pam. Although my
relationship with George was long over he still talked to me as a friend. He
told me he felt it was going to be different with you. Of course that was
before he met the new blond in town,” Mary responded. Then she added, “I can
use computers in the Court House that can access information in State and
County records that’s not in public databases. I am willing to help you in that
way if you decide to continue the investigation.”
“And I can do regular online searches for you if it’ll
help,” says Sam.
“My plumbing work puts me with lots of locals. I can keep my
ears open for any gossip that might be helpful,” adds Peter.
Rev. Joe chimes in with, “Now you have a team to help if you
want our help, Pam.”
“Thanks, all of you. With your help, we might be able to
make some progress. At least we won’t be trying to cover up the crime so we can
campaign for something. With your support I am willing to continue looking for
George’s killer. But we had better do it quietly. If the sheriff or Mary Jane
Bloom gets wind of what we are doing it’ll cause problems. I should warn you
though. I may not be able to stop myself from returning to my old detective
ways. I can get authoritative and start ordering my team around,” says Pam.
“We can live with being ordered around a little Pam. We know
we have to look to you for direction if we’re going to get anywhere. At least
we aren’t starting from scratch,” says Joe. “I assume the sheriff has
eliminated those on the list we gave him and the people angry with George over the
cost of their auto insurance.”
Peter says, “I’m not sure the sheriff did a complete job
with the suspects we gave him. I was installing a toilet for a client and
overheard her talking with a visiting neighbor. One of them said they heard
Greg Green bragging that he gave a deputy a fake alibi and the deputy bought
it. Maybe we start with Greg Green.”
“Good idea, Peter. He came to mind first when I tried to
think of suspects. I know most people just think he’s an oddball but he gives
me the willies. I wouldn’t want to be alone with him,” says Pam.
“You won’t have to be alone with him, Pam. If you want to
talk to him one or two of us can be with you, either openly or just out of
sight,” answers Joe.
“That’s good. It’ll be like when I was a detective. I always
had a backup. I think we are going to make a great team. With some luck and
hard work we may be able to find the killer,” Pam says enthusiastically.
Joe asks, “Shall we start with Greg Green?”
Pam responds, “Yes, let's figure out a way to casually get
him here to look at the toys again. Maybe when we tell him we know he faked his
alibi he’ll get rattled and we’ll learn something useful. Anyone have an idea
for getting him here?”
Peter answers, “I know he hangs out at the Corner Bar most
evenings. I’ll go there and strike up a conversation. I can casually bring up
how he used to enjoy coming to see the toys and suggest he come again.”
“That should work, great idea, Peter,” says Pam. “Call us
when you get him set up to visit again.”
Sam adds, “I agree with starting with Greg Green first, but
shouldn’t we put Brother Thomas back on our list now? If Greg Green can buffalo
a deputy then Brother Thomas certainly can too. What do you think, Joe?”
“Yes, maybe I was too hasty in defending him because he’s a
monk. Let’s put him on our new list and let’s continue to think of other
possible suspects while we deal with Greg Green. I think we should consider
that the sheriff could be right. It might have been a robber. If it was and we
don’t consider it we could embarrass ourselves.”
“I agree, Joe. Let’s do some checking at next week’s work
session to make sure none of the valuable items we know about are missing.
Okay, we’ve got a plan. See you all next Wednesday or sooner if Peter gets a
commitment from Greg. Enough for tonight, I’m going home,” says Pam.
“Right everyone, I’ll lock up,” concludes Sam.
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