Criminal Zoo by Sean McDaniel

Author:Sean McDaniel [McDaniel, Sean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rare Bird Books
Published: 2016-10-07T19:53:11+00:00

A Person Of Interest

I will never forget the look of hatred in Sheriff Murphy’s eyes the night he knocked on my door with the news that they had found the body of young Jennifer Nelson. It was the day after I had visited Irene.

Carla was working and I was getting ready for bed. I had no desire for company, but the sheriff didn’t ask to be invited in. He pushed me out of the way.

“Sit down, Sam,” he said. “We need to talk.”

“If my father had wanted—”

“Shut up and listen! And I said sit down!”

“Hey, you don’t have to be so rude.”

He grabbed me by the shoulder and pushed me to the couch. His grip was powerful, reminded me of my dad’s.

“You know, you can’t just come in here and—”

“We found Jenny today.”

“Oh, thank God. Is she okay?” I looked up from the couch. He stood directly over me.

The sheriff’s top lip pulled up, an animal-like snarl. I wondered if his yellowed teeth bothered him when he looked into a mirror. “No, she’s not okay. She’s not okay at all! She’s dead!”

“Oh, no.” I shook my head. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“Really?”

“Listen, Sheriff, I don’t know what you—”

“And now, guess what.”

“Come on, it’s late. I really don’t care to play guessing games.”

“We have a husband out of town that can’t get hold of his pregnant wife.” The sheriff glared at me. “Apparently she’s turned up missing.”

“Excuse me, Sheriff, but either she’s turned up or she’s missing. She can’t be both.”

Sheriff Murphy’s eyes narrowed. He took on the look of a tiger ready to pounce. “If you think this is a good time to be funny, you are sadly mistaken. I’m inches away from beating the shit out of you.”

“Hey, you can’t—”

“And if we throw in the human remains that were found not far from here, things look pretty bad. Got any ideas about what’s happening in my town?”

Oh, so now you own the whole town?

“My job, Sam,” the sheriff said, not waiting for a response, “is to protect the people of this community.”

“Sheriff, I don’t—”

“But I’m not doing a very good job of that right now, am I?” He glared at me.

He wasn’t going to let me finish anything I said, so I didn’t bother.

“I have a daughter. So I’m sure you can understand when I say finding the mutilated—” He stopped himself. “Finding the body of a dead girl upsets me more than you can imagine. I’m sick, absolutely sick to my stomach about this. This is my town. These people expect me to protect them.”

“I can imagine how upset you must be.”

“Oh, yeah? Can you, really?” He paused only a moment. “Here’s the deal, Sam. I think you’re a strange fellow. As a matter of fact, I really don’t like you much, not much at all. You leave a bad taste in my mouth, like I just chewed on a chunk of shit. My gut is telling me to lock your ass up right this second. Only I don’t have anything to go on just yet.

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