Gray Ghost by William G. Tapply

Author:William G. Tapply [Tapply, William G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense
ISBN: 9780312363031
Publisher: Worldwide
Published: 2007-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

The sheriff directed Calhoun to the Yacht Club in Falmouth. He parked his truck between a new Lexus SUV and a Porsche with the top down, and he and Ralph followed the sheriff across the crushed-seashell area and out onto a long floating dock.

The sheriff turned onto one of the finger docks that branched off the main dock and stopped at a center-console fishing boat named Hard Time. A small man wearing a grease-stained T-shirt and baggy blue jeans was kneeling inside the boat fiddling with a bunch of spinning rods.

“Judge Roper,” said the sheriff.

The man looked up. He had about five days’ worth of gray stubble on his cheeks and the stub of an unlit cigar clenched in his teeth. He nodded. “Sheriff Dickman,” he said. “Come aboard.”

The sheriff climbed in. Calhoun stayed on the dock. Ralph curled up beside him on the sunwarmed wooden planks.

The judge cocked his head at Calhoun, then held out his hand. “Gus Roper,” he said.

Calhoun reached over and shook his hand. The judge had a big bony hand and a strong grip. “Stoney Calhoun,” he said. He pointed at Ralph with his chin. “This here’s Ralph.”

“You this man’s deputy?”

“Sort of.”

Roper glanced at his watch, then turned to the sheriff. “You got fifteen minutes. Then I got a date with some bluefish. You mentioned the Errol Watson case. I refreshed my memory after you called.”

The sheriff nodded. “We found his body. Throat sliced ear to ear, penis cut off and stuffed in his mouth. Body burned to a crisp out on Quarantine Island.”

The judge nodded. “I heard about that. Unfortunately, the state of Maine frowns upon judges handing down such punishments, but it’s a good one, all right. All I can do is put ‘em in prison. You want to know who killed him, I suppose.”

The sheriff nodded.

“You got a lot of suspects,” said the judge. “Start with everyone whose daughter or girlfriend he ever molested.”

“I was only aware of that one case.”

“There was only the one case. You aren’t so naive as to think that was his one and only offense, are you?”

“I guess not,” said the sheriff. “It’s just the only one we know about.”

Roper nodded. “Well, me, too. I’m just suggesting.”

“Right. Who’d know about other instances?”

“The victims and their families, whoever they are. Watson himself.”

“Not sure how I can use that, Judge.”

He shrugged. “Me, neither. You’re the sheriff. Far as that particular case was concerned, you understand that I can’t talk about it beyond what’s in the record. It was a pretty run-of-the-mill case, as child molestation cases go.” The judge shrugged.

“I understand the victim’s father was pretty passionate.”

“I had to warn him,” said the judge. “It was moving as hell, but way out of line. That’s all in the record. You’re looking for an obvious murderer, you couldn’t go wrong with him.”

“The father,” said the sheriff.

Judge Roper nodded.

The sheriff looked at Calhoun. “You think of anything, Stoney?”

“What about that prosecutor?” said Calhoun.

“I don’t think he did it,” said the judge, “inasmuch as he’s been dead for a few years now.

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