9. The Sheriff’s Bad Day

Sheriff Ericsson comes to the office Wednesday morning still fuming from reading Mary Jane Bloom’s column in Tuesday’s Weekly Journal the previous evening. He growls a good morning as he passes Sue and stalks into his office. Sue gets up and takes him a cup of coffee in his favorite red mug. He mumbles a thank you, not noticing it’s his favorite coffee mug. Sue says, “I can see you’re upset this morning. I imagine it’s Mary Jane Bloom’s column in yesterday’s paper that’s upsetting you.”

“You got that right,” he snaps.

“Don’t let it get to you, Sir. You know she writes to create as much controversy as she can. It sells more papers. From what I hear at the beauty shop the Weekly Journal is barely holding on with the county losing people.”

“That’s no excuse for misleading her readers. She writes about our investigation into Glen Lund’s murder without even calling me to get facts.”

“Sir, she knows you can’t give her facts about an ongoing investigation. That’s why she writes the speculations she hears from people who are guessing at what’s going on. She can hear a lot of speculation by having coffee at the Coffee Mug and listening to those old retired men gossip.”

“There’s no excuse for making it look like I’m not doing my job. I don’t tell her how to do her job. Unlike her job, my job isn’t secure. I have to be re-elected and people have to have confidence in me or I won’t be re-elected. Her column insinuates Pineville is becoming a dangerous place where a leading citizen can be murdered on a hot July Sunday after church. She implies I have many suspects but no clue how to proceed with the investigation.”

“Everything will change when you catch Glen’s killer, you’ll see.”

“Yes, yes, I know, I have to ignore her and concentrate on the investigation. Did you get the search warrant for Tom Eyre’s trailer and truck? “

“No, Sir. Judge Hopper won’t give us a warrant. She says we don’t have probable cause, just a lot of speculation.” 

“Speculation? What about the 9 mm bullet that killed Lund and Eyre having a 9 mm Luger?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Deputy Wilson talked to Deputy Towner about that. Towner is a gun nut. Wilson showed him the bullet and he said it’s not from a Luger. The rifling is wrong. Sorry.”

“Damn, I was counting on finding his pistol. I could use it as an excuse to keep him locked up and put more pressure on him. I can’t get away with holding him much longer.”

“You’re right, Sir. The judge’s secretary said the judge says you’re skating on thin ice holding Tom without evidence or an arraignment.”

“Well, I’m going to hold him another day or two. Tell Wilson I want a report on his progress with alibis for the other eight suspects right after lunch. I’m going to the jail and grill Tom Eyre again. I’ll be back by 11:00.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The sheriff returns at 11:00 still in a foul mood. He storms past Sue without noticing there’s a young man in her office. She follows him into his office and says, “I take it you didn’t have much luck with Tom Eyre. The new lawyer in town, Karl Katz is here to see you. Shall I send him in?”

“Sure, he can’t make my day any worse.”

Katz comes in and says, “Hello, Sheriff, my name is Karl Katz, I am representing Tom Eyre. I understand you are holding him without evidence. You know full well that’s a violation of his rights. I am requesting you release him immediately unless you can produce evidence. I'm sure you know if you ask the prosecutor to hold an arraignment and request bail be denied without evidence it will be embarrassing. It would become public. How would that look in the community?”

The sheriff‘s face reddens as he stares at Katz. Finally he says, “Alright, I’ll release him at noon. You tell him he’s still the prime suspect and he’s not to leave Pineville other than to go to work.”

“Agreed, Sheriff, thank you for your understanding,” Katz says sarcastically, turns, and leaves the sheriff’s office.

“Sue,” the sheriff hollers, “tell the jailer to release Tom Eyre at noon. I’m going on patrol and having a long lunch. I’ll be back for my 1:00 meeting with Wilson.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The sheriff is back in his office and waiting when Deputy Wilson comes in for his 1:00 report. He snaps at Wilson, “You’ve had a week, Wilson. Have you made any progress on checking alibis for the eight suspects?”

“Yes, Sir, I have completed running down and verifying alibis for six of the eight. All six have solid alibis for the time around noon the Sunday Lund was shot.”

“What about the other two?”

“Well, it’s this hot weather, Sir. They’re not available. One went to Canada to a fishing camp. He won’t be back until this Sunday. The other one took his wife on a cruise to Alaska. They aren’t expected back until the end of the month. Their neighbors said they wanted to escape the heat. Not many people here have air conditioning. Normally we get only a few days of really hot weather. This July is an exception.”

“Well, thank God, there’s only one more week of July. Maybe we’ll get cooler weather in August or better yet have a good rain,” the sheriff growls. “I guess there’s nothing you can do until the last two suspects return next week. Go back on patrol until then. I can hardly wait for next Tuesday’s Weekly Journal. Mary Jane Bloom will report we’ve had to release Tom Eyre and made no further progress. I’m not going to read her column next week.”

“Yes, Sir, probably wise, Sir,” replies Wilson as he gets up and leaves.

The sheriff follows, stopping to tell Sue, “Sue, I’m going on patrol the rest of the day. I’ll check with the two people who reported home break-ins yesterday. I’ve got to show people we’re doing our job.”

“Okay, Sir. I’ll see you tomorrow. I hope it’ll be a better day for you.”