Days of Reckoning by Stout Chris

Author:Stout, Chris [Stout, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chris Stout
Published: 2010-12-04T23:00:00+00:00

Sam smirked at her wan attempt at gallows humor. “No one. Everyone must have already bumped everyone else off.”

Miranda sat down. “So where are we now?”

Sam pulled out a fresh legal pad. “Murder number one. Henry Beaumont. Owns the local gun store. He’s shot in the leg, chest and head. Store gets ransacked, several handguns and a couple of Class III weapons are missing.” He tore the page off and set it aside. “Next. A Sparta police officer on patrol at Beaumont’s house is assaulted, and remains in critical condition. He’s shot twice with a .357 Magnum revolver.” Sam tore the second sheet, and set it beside the first.

“Now the big one,” he continued. “Four bodies, including the Chief of Police, found shot to death at a remote hunting cabin. One body’s found with a 9mm semi-automatic, there’s a .45 and a 9mm found inside. The .45 belonged to the Chief, and the other weapon presumably belonged to the second body. Outside, the fourth body has a .357, with six empty cases in the cylinder. Then there’s the basement.” He tore off the third sheet of paper. “Down there’s a shitload of surplus military-style rifles, handguns and ammunition. And paraphernalia indicating that some type of right-wing supremacist group has met there.” Sam tore the fourth sheet off, laid it beside the others, and sighed.

Miranda rose from her chair and came around to Sam’s side of the desk so she could look at his scribblings. “And then there’s my brother. Except he died weeks ago. But he’s connected to at least some of these people. So how do we tie all this together?”

“We find Damon Shearer. Easier said than done.”

“What about this Bill Banks character?” Miranda asked. “The one found with the .357? Both Beaumont and Hector were shot with a weapon of that caliber. What if he killed Damon too and we just haven’t found the body?”

Sam nodded. “I’ve wondered about that, too. I have a suspicion that his bullets are going to match the ones we found in Hector. But not Beaumont’s. Just a hunch, but I think I can explain.”

“Okay.” Miranda’s face betrayed her skepticism. “Shoot.”

“Let’s assume the Chief is involved neck-deep in this militia. The guns were found, after all, in the basement of his lodge. That militia is going to need supplies. And Beaumont happens to be a gun dealer, so they can get all sorts of goodies from him. Now, I found automatic weapons hidden in Beaumont’s shed. Suppose Damon wanted those for himself, for whatever reason. He kills Henry and steals his keys, intending to go get the weapons. He may even have been there and picked up a few, and just couldn’t take everything at once.”

“Makes sense.”

“Now, suppose these weapons were meant for the militia?”

Miranda nodded. “It would be reasonable to assume, then, that the Chief knew Beaumont had them. Chief wants to make sure he gets them and sends a couple of his boys out to find them. Hector comes along and gets shot, because maybe he caught them there.

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