Chameleons of Codington by Linda Johnson

Author:Linda Johnson [Johnson, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798605268888
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2020-01-31T22:00:00+00:00

#

Their next stop, the Four Corners Bar, was Sonny Lawson’s favorite haunt and by extension, Thom Nolan’s. This seemed to be the only place where Sonny was the star attraction and Thom had a bit part.

Their shoes crunched on the peanut shells as they sidled up to the empty counter and sat on stools closest to the register, knowing that was the most likely spot to catch the bartender’s attention. Grace mentally placed him in circle nine on the interview wheel, right after Karen Donaldson. He offered the most detached observations, seemingly having nothing to gain or lose.

“Cops, huh? You got the look. Knew you would be coming in soon.”

“Why’d you expect us?”

“Sonny’s arrested and Thom’s dead. They’re connected at the hip when they’re in here.”

“What can you tell us about them?”

“Thom was a braggart and Sonny always made good on his bar bill. They liked their brew. Beyond that, I got nothing.”

“Thanks, two on tap. We’ll move over to that table.” Colin pointed to a more secluded area of the bar. More patrons began to arrive, most sat at the counter digging into the shelled peanuts in bowls located at several intervals on the bar top.

“It’s dark, dreary, and stinks. Great place for a beer, Colin.”

“I figured since we were here…”

They slowly sipped their beers while watching the locals. Occasionally catching a hint of conversation regarding Sonny or Thom, but nothing worth hearing. Grace caught Colin up on her previous interviews, sharing discrepancies and signs of nervousness from those she questioned. She painted a verbal picture of everyone, providing clear details regarding looks, mannerisms, and attitudes. Colin sat silently, occasionally nodding or jotting a quick note on his pad. Everyone she talked with had something to hide although there were varying degrees of possible involvement. They were chameleon confessions, the stories kept changing and blending to match the needs of the teller as well as the listener. And, there was lots of finger-pointing going around. Now, they could add Sylvan to the list of pointers since she indicated Johanna had the most to gain. As far as evidence, that was a bust as well. A professionally cleaned kitchen, few fingerprints—mostly family with a couple of exceptions not yet identified, a palm print on the kitchen door, one broken cup by Thom’s body and one in the sink, later claimed by Gus. The most likely murder weapon washed and returned to the utensil caddy by the stove. Lots of suppositions about the coming and going of people that morning, some accounts more reliable than others. It was a forensic mess in its sterility. Nothing that could definitively point in any one direction. It had been risky for the killer with the girls in the house and the stream of people who were around that morning. Even cleaning up and replacing the meat tenderizer took chutzpah. They should factor that into the profile, but was that confidence or carelessness? The larger picture might help to answer that question. All the little pieces placed side by side could reveal much more.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.