Murder! Too Close To Home

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

February 19, 1997

Sheriff Lean McHenry was fit to be tied.

"Where's that paperwork?" he shouted at the room, waiting for the evidence log to be brought to him. He took the cigarette from behind his ear and stuck it in his mouth. In his distracted state it dangled precariously, barely catching his upper lip in a display that would have done James Dean proud.

He stood up and paced back and forth behind the desk, wondering how this could have happened, knowing it must be some kind of mistake. Finally tired of waiting, he quickly strode off toward the evidence lock-up, mumbling under his breath at the incompetence of his deputies.

Half way down the stairs he met Jane and Jason walking up, clutching an armload of binders each.

"Where the hell have you guys been?" the sheriff asked, frustration mounting in his voice.

The Chief Deputy looked down at his shoes, but Jane stood her ground, being used to the blustery disposition of her dad when he was stressed out.

"We were just making sure that we had all the relevant files that might in any way have to do with the missing gun. Would you like to take them back into your office, or look at them here?"

The sheriff looked at his daughter for several long seconds with a look that said, "Who the hell are you?"

He then turned on his heel and headed back up the stairs. Grabbing the cigarette out of his mouth in frustration, he crushed it like an insect between his fingers before throwing the remnants in a garbage can as he passed.

Entering his office, he went straight to his desk and pulled out the pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tapping out a fresh smoke and sticking it in his mouth.

"Speak," he uttered as he sat down heavily in his chair, sitting forward rigidly like a statue in the park. Jane and Jason sat across the desk and spread out the binders in no particular order, then dug through them to find the ones to show the sheriff first.

"The revolver was entered into evidence on April 4th, 1995" Jane stated matter-of-factly as she studied the first page of the chosen binder intently. "It sat there until June 28th, when it was moved to Superior Court for the trial."

Taking the second binder from Jason, she thumbed through some pages until she found what she was looking for. "On July 6th it was returned to our possession, re-sealed in an evidence bag and stored in box 116-48 with the rest of the evidence from the B&G Quick Mart robbery."

Quickly checking back and forth between the original binder and a second one to confirm her facts before continuing, her brown eyes intently scanned the pages as if they might disappear if she blinked.

"Deputy Bill Maddux signed the evidence in and out on all occasions, but he retired in August of 1996. He has since moved to a Florida retirement village with his wife."

Pulling out a third binder from the pile and studying it quickly, she continued, "He had an exemplary service record while at the department, the evidence lock-up being his last assignment before retiring."

Jane sat down the binders and leaned back into her chair. Sheriff McHenry sat stiffly in place for half a minute before he too sat back in his chair, slowly pulling the cigarette out of his mouth and sliding it behind his ear.

"Jason, you know Bill Maddux fairly well, don't you?" the sheriff asked while looking down at his desk, idly rolling an ink pen back and forth between his thumb and second finger.

"Sure do Lean, Bill and his wife are my parents' oldest friends," the deputy answered lightly.

After a short hesitation, the sheriff looked up at Jason.

"How about you give him a call and have a short but friendly conversation. See if he remembers the case, and if he can remember anything unusual that might have happened to the gun. Maybe you can nicely ask him if it was possible, of course with no threat of prosecution, if the gun may have left with him, maybe he sold it to someone for a little extra cash."

Mulling over his words before he continued, "Make sure he knows that if that is the case we just need a handle on where it went is all. Let him know that it was involved in a murder if you need to, but I would keep that under your hat unless you really need it."

"Will do, Sheriff," Jason said as he stood up and headed out to his desk to make the call.

Looking up at Jane sitting across the desk from him, the sheriff gave her a small, tired smile.

"Not one of my better days, JJ," he started, reverting to the nickname they used when she was a girl.

"I just don't know how this happened."

"It may have happened before you even took office," Jane said as she leaned forward with a determined look. "We'll keep investigating the gun of course, because people will want answers, but we need to stay on point with the murders as well."

Stopping the conversation abruptly, a sudden notion seemed to enter her thoughts as her eyes lit up before continuing.

"This is actually a possible break; we now have at least a possible back door into identifying the perp. If we can find who took the weapon, it may lead us to the murderer."

Sheriff McHenry straightened in his chair, identifying with this new line of logic, hope returning for the first time that day.

"I don't know what I would do without you Jane, but it proves once again what I've always said...I picked the right man for your job."

Smiling, he extricated himself from the chair and started walking out of the office.

"Come on; let's start looking for that back door."