Murder in a small town pt3

“Anyone home” called the Sheriff, as he came round the back of Gray’s house,

Gray was sat on his decking near an extravagant Koi pond, his lawn neat and tidy edged with trimmed shrubs, campaign paperwork was laid out on the table beside his laptop.

“Hi Gray, heck of a nice place you got here” said the sheriff removing his hat

Gray closed the lid of his laptop, and extended his hand

“afternoon Sheriff, what can I do for you”

“aw, heck nothing to worry about, just a few loose ends, and bits..that’s a heck of a pond, you got there Gray” said the sheriff taking a seat.

“iced tea?” offered Gray

“don’t mind if I do” he began to shuffle paperwork held in a manila folder

“so how can I help” asked Gray

“I’m sorry to trouble you Gray, but old Scott’s been kicking up a fuss about, Karl an’ he’s got all this paperwork, and stuff, that’s nice” he said taking a sip of iced tea

“Karl, well I assumed, like everyone else, he skipped town with Jake, after that kid Chris got shot” he answered, folding his arms.

“yeah, well you were one of the last people to see Karl, and I’ve got your statement here somewhere” putting down his drink and going through the paperwork

“That was five years ago, I can’t remember, what I did last month let alone five years ago, ……That summer was a bad time for me”

“…of course, well I’m just the same, I’d forget my head if it wasn’t nailed on, wait a minute, here it is” holding up a piece of paper

“yeah he disappeared on the 17^th where as Jake Green was gone by the 12^th, just after poor Chris got shoot, but in your statement you seemed to remember seeing Karl and Jake hanging out, and you thought that they skipped town together”

Gray held up his hands “if I’m wrong, I’m wrong…I just assumed…that”

“Did you see Karl with his truck?” asked the sheriff

“I don’t remember, is it not in there?” responded Gray

“No it isn’t, so I thought you may remember, was he in the truck, or not, this is really nice Gray thank you” taking another sip of tea

Shaking his head “I really don’t remember, sheriff, he was usually in his truck, so I guess maybe he was” Gray took a sip

The sheriff took out a small note book “guess, maybe he was” he said to himself

The sheriff sat there, quiet and still, looking at the koi pond

Gray broke the silence “has something turned up, it was five years ago”

“Well we found the truck, or should I say Scott found the truck, so I was just wondering how someone skips town, with no money and no transport”

“Maybe he hitched” offered Gray

“According to your statement, he was wearing his work overalls and t shirt, no bags, no suitcases, a little strange, if you’re planning to leave…” the sheriff left the words hanging

“Well maybe he wasn’t planning, maybe he was run out of town” offered Gray

“Oh, I’m listening” the sheriff took another sip of iced tea

“Well I heard he had upset a few folks back then” Gray finished his tea

“How so” asked the sheriff

“Well Karl was a landscaper, families hire him to do their gardens, husbands are off at work, then in Baileys all night, or collapsed in front of the boob tube all night, you know maybe some of those ladies…” Gray didn’t finish

“So young Karls running around shirtless an’ all, and having his wicked way” the sheriff thinking it over, he knocked the manila folder of the table “who told you this?”

Gray looked down at the black and white photos and loose papers, he thought he saw two pale legs near water, he tried to look down further

“Gray, who told you that?” the sheriff leant forward to retrieve his paperwork

“Just the guys, you know just bar talk” Gray grinned, but kept his eyes on the folder

“I’ll need some names” the sheriff told him

“Ridley, I think, yeah…erm yeah Ridley” offered Gray

“Thanks for the iced tea, it’s surprising that after all this time you suddenly remember all that, none of it’s in the statement you gave, but like you said the memory..funny old thing”

the sheriff stood up and extended his hand

“Listen I’ll have a word with Scott and calm this situation down” said the Sheriff

“Thank you, Sheriff, I appreciate that” Gray shook his hand.

“Thank you for your time Gray, and the iced tea, say this is a wonderful garden, Karl designed all this didn’t he?”

leaving the question in the air he turned and walked away.

Gray had drove to the side of the river and was watching insects, hovering over the water, and the occasional circles on the water where fish broke the surface, the river was wide and slower here, there were a few picnic benches and a couple of jetties for fishermen.

Gray often brought Beth, down here, she would sit on one of the jetties and dip her painted toenails into the cool water.

“Nice evening for it” a voice broke his thoughts

Gray was suddenly aware of the cigarette smoke wafting in through his open car window.

“Nice evenin’ to just sit around with your thoughts, Gray” said the figure again

Gray craned his head around, to try and see who was standing there.

“You, want to hear a story” asked the silhouette

“Not really, I’m on my way home” replied Gray, trying to put a face to the voice.

“We found Karls truck, me an’ the boys was cleaning it up and about to strip it down for parts, but we found all sorts of stuff in there, we sold the truck to Scott, but some of the other stuff, we took a liking to, have you ever tried to get dried blood outa leather?”

The figure struck a match, Gray followed the light to the figures face, it was Jonah Prowse

His gloved hand held out a gold bracelet “all my love Gray” he read

“That was Beth’s” said Gray “I want it back” Gray moved to open the door

Jonah slammed the door shut, “how do you suppose your wife’s bracelet got in Karls truck?”

“How much, do you want, I’ll buy it back” pleaded Gray

Jonah put threw the bracelet through the open window “a campaign donation”

He then reached into the pocket of his denim jacket, “this here is my insurance, Gray”

He was holding a bullet casing “was you wearing gloves when you loaded the gun”

“There’s no proof against me, what will it take to get you to loose it, for Scott’s sake”

 “Ever the politician Gray, always thinking of others, if you win the elections, you turn a blind eye, to me and the guys, until then it stays in my pocket”

“and if I loose” asked Gray

Jonah made a gun gesture with his finger and thumb “better hope you win”

Hi Chris,

Yes, it is much darker than your last story, but I find myself wanting to know how all this turns out.

It is an interesting take on a man that the series hasn't shown us much about.

Please continue.

Gwen