Necessity: (David Brunelle Legal Thriller Series Book 16) by Stephen Penner

Author:Stephen Penner [Penner, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-08T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 23

It was a sunny day. Still cool in the morning, especially in the shade, before the sun had had the chance to warm the world fully. It reminded Brunelle of the morning of the killing.

Murder, he reminded himself. Murder is an unlawful killing. It was unlawful because it wasn’t necessary.

He didn’t like that he had to remind himself.

He parked his car in front of the rental house where Caleb Hirsch’s dead body had blocked the entrance weeks earlier. It didn’t look like there were any new renters, probably because of the crime scene tape still posted across the front door. He wondered when Chen might fully release the premises back to the owner. He supposed Chen might be wondering when Brunelle was going to give him the green light for that.

Not yet, he thought.

He stepped out of his car and made his way up the front walk and onto the porch. The cement was still stained from Caleb’s blood. That wasn’t coming out. They were going to have to paint over it.

He wanted to start where Caleb would have started, if what Zoey said was true. Brunelle still didn’t believe it, but it was undeniably the proper starting point for his excursion.

The school was just up the street. You couldn’t quite see it from the porch, but you could hear it, and it came into view as soon as Brunelle reached the sidewalk again. He pushed his hands into his pockets and began a slow walk toward the large, fenced fields of Longfellow Elementary School.

He supposed Caleb, had he actually gone to the school, mass murder on his mind, would have walked faster. But Brunelle wanted to take in the scene. A bright, still cool sun in the sky. Few if any cars driving by. The sounds of children’s laughter and screams carried over the crisp breeze. It would have been idyllic for anyone but a murderer. Or a homicide prosecutor.

The school was only three blocks from the house, and they were short blocks. There was a large circular driveway for the school busses and the morning and afternoon drop-off/pick-up lines of parents’ cars. The main entrance was just past that, off to one side, marked by the large ‘Welcome Leopards!’ sign and the flagpole with Old Glory fluttering in the breeze. Brunelle started to cut across the driveway, toward the playground equipment just visible on the other side of the building. It occurred to him that part of Edwards’s defense—that is, of Addison’s claim—was how feasible the alleged plan of Caleb Hirsch even was. No need to kill him if he wasn’t going to succeed anyway.

So far, Caleb would have had to walk past the entire length of the school before he would have gotten to any school kids. Surely someone would have tried to stop him and ask him what he was doing. Then again, no one had tried to stop Brunelle and ask what he was doing.

“Excuse me, sir!” A man’s voice rang out behind him. “Can I help you with something?”

Brunelle turned to see the source of the voice.

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