Murder at the Courthouse by A. H. Gabhart

Author:A. H. Gabhart [Gabhart, A. H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC042060, FIC022070
ISBN: 9781493401222
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2015-09-29T04:00:00+00:00

20

Paul Osgood had to hear it all slowly, and most of it twice. Michael could almost see him cranked up in the hospital bed, meticulously writing down Michael’s every word on a yellow notepad.

Michael drew squares on his desk calendar and tried to be patient as he repeated the information. But there were limits, and his patience was wearing thin even before Paul started harping on how Michael had to find the murder weapon.

“It’s all very well to know who the victim is,” Paul said. “But finding the murder weapon is vital to solving the case. You did search the grounds there at the courthouse, didn’t you?”

“You know we did.” Michael drew a new square, darker than the others. “You were here.”

“Could be you missed something. Make another search right away.”

Michael pressed down so hard with his pen that as he drew a new line, the nib broke, but he kept his voice level. “Okay. Anything else?”

Betty Jean looked up from her computer, started to smile, thought better of it, and studied her screen again.

On the other end of the phone, Paul was speaking slowly. “I don’t think so. It appears as if you’ve been handling things fairly well while I’ve been incapacitated, but I insist you make finding the murder weapon a number one priority.”

“Whatever you say.” Michael took a deep breath and relaxed his grip on the receiver. “But I sort of doubt it’s just lying around waiting for us to find it. Whoever shot Rayburn probably carried it away with him.”

“Then he may have disposed of it somewhere else. What do you think are the possibilities?”

“Well, let’s see.” Michael found another pen and began doodling again. This time he drew guns. “He could have put it in a trash Dumpster or maybe just stuck it under his car seat to use on the first policeman to pull him over. Who knows? Could be he pitched it in the lake.”

“That’s an idea.” Paul sounded excited. “I’ll bet that’s what he did. The lake would make a perfect disposal place. He’d think we’d never find it there.”

“And he’d be right.”

“Not necessarily. We could get divers.”

“Paul, what kind of medication are you on?” Michael’s patience was ready to snap the way the pen’s point had moments ago. “We can’t search the lake for a gun we aren’t even sure is in there, and even if we were sure, we’d still never find it. It’s a big lake.”

“We’ll have to pinpoint the most likely disposal spot.” Paul was obviously not bothered at all by Michael’s arguments.

“If the killer tells us where he pitched the gun in the lake, we won’t need the gun. We’ll have the killer.”

“That wouldn’t negate the need for physical evidence.”

“Maybe you’d better talk to the chief. See what he has to say.” Michael gave up the fight. Then before Paul had time to come up with any other insane ideas, Michael said a quick “hope you feel better soon” and hung up.

Michael stared at the phone and

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