Finishing our business with Dusty MacClure, Officer Jenkins and I slowly walked back toward where she had parked the patrol car. MacClure, meanwhile, returned to his target practice. Both of us heard him fire another shot as we made it back to the car. The process had been a somewhat frustrating event as both suspects denied shooting Marksman. Kevin Mars had a decent alibi, if a somewhat embarrassing one. And while MacClure had admitted to being at Marksman's home, he said he left shortly after the two sons returned home. Which officially meant that if MacClure was telling the truth, he couldn't have commented the murder, as the autopsy of Joshua Marksman indicated that he was killed around and hour and a half after the time that his sons said they returned home.
That didn't however mean that we were entirely out of options. Officially it would mean that we'd have to talk with Marksman's son's again, but I was fairly certain that the one to focus on was MacClure. His answers officially left him blameless and didn't admit to any wrong doing, but what I heard him whisper seemed to implicate that there was more going on with him then he let on to us.
"So back to square one," Officer Jenkins sighed in a frustrated voice, "Mars was doing it with his wife... and apparently very clumsily at that... and MacClure left the Marksman home before the shooting... Maybe the sons left something out..."
"I don't think they did," I told her, "besides, I'm pretty certain that MacClure is our man."
"What makes you say that?" Officer Jenkins asked, "we don't have a warrant, so we can't pressure him, we can't search the premises... we have to take him at his word, and he said he left before Marksman was shot."
"Doesn't mean that he can't lie," I replied as I climbed into the back seat of the patrol car.
"It's possible, but he didn't say anything that could be construed as lying to cover something up," Officer Jenkins replied, "we go before a judge and ask for a search warrant because we believe a guy is lying with no evidence of it... or at least reasonable suspicion of it, we'll be tossed out for being paranoid."
"He didn't say anything officially," I nodded, "but unofficially, he said quite a lot by my book."
"By your book?" Officer Jenkins wondered.
"Did you notice that there were a couple of times where he looked to be muttering something to himself while we were questioning him?" I asked her.
"A couple of times," Officer Jenkins shrugged as we drove along back to the station, "I couldn't hear what he said though."
"I could, though," I commented, "My hearing is much sharper then yours."
"You could hear him?" she gasped.
"Yes," I nodded, "he was questioning why Marksman would defend Beauregard, which confirms to me the son's story of his father being in an argument on the night of the murder."
"And the way he talked about Beauregard also fits in with the likely profile," Officer Jenkins commented, "It is amazing what good ears you have... I'd wonder though why someone wouldn't recognize that you might hear someone speaking softly..."
"I'm sure if someone stopped to think about they'd realize that," I told her, "but right of the bat in these situations, the person reasons that people wouldn't hear them, so they assume that I would have the same physical limitations as them."
"Wow," Officer Jenkins replied, "I mean... wow... if that's what went through his mind, it's somewhat stupid reasoning... and then to top it all off, what you overheard might get us the warrant to dig deeper."
"And hopefully, it does," I nodded.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
We returned to the station to report in to Officer Howard to let him now on the progress we had made in trying to identify who Joshua Marksman's murderer was. He was on the phone in his office when we returned, so we visited briefly with Officer Barnes.
"So, how'd it go?" Officer Barnes asked, "either of them say anything incriminating?" Officer Barnes asked.
"Not officially," Officer Jenkins answered, "though George did overhear MacClure say a few things that could invite further investigation."
"It is Officer Wayne while on duty," Officer Barnes answered.
"I don't mind her being somewhat informal," I told him, "so long is the job is done, I guess... and besides, it's not like you're in any danger of losing her. I have Molly... she is the only one I'd ever want or need. I'm not about to try and steal your "girl" from you."
"I'd have to take you out if you tried," Officer Barnes gave a chuckle and a playful punch to my left hand.
"You focus on healing up from your injuries," I told him, "then we'll worry about a wrestling match."
Officer Barnes only chuckled again in response.
"How have things been here?" Officer Jenkins asked him.
"Pretty quiet," Officer Barnes sighed, "I can't wait to go back on patrol duty again. The desk work is very uneventful."
Officer Jenkins nodded and was about to respond when I heard Officer Howard's door open. I turned to face him getting Officer Jenkins to do the same.
"Sir," we said together.
"You've finished up the preliminary questions with our possible suspects?" Officer Howard questioned.
"Yes, sir," I nodded, "we're here to report to you what we've found out."
"We were just waiting for you to finish your phone call, sir," Officer Jenkins added.
Officer Howard nodded, "I see. Very considerate, although it was nothing really. Family member calling to see how I was doing. Come on into my office, and we'll see where we stand with all of this."
We followed him into his office and waited for him to sit down. Once he did so, Officer Jenkins sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. I remained standing in the hunched over position I had to take inside most buildings out of fear that my weight would crush the other chair.
"So, what do you have so far?" Officer Howard asked.
"We believe we can narrow things down to Dusty MacClure," Officer Jenkins reported, "We questioned Kevin Mars first, and while he did seem somewhat angry over Beauregard's actions, he had an alibi that would likely stand up against any questions..."
"What was his alibi?" Officer Howard asked.
"Apparently he and his wife were trying something out of the Kama Sutra position," I commented with a snicker, "and since all we have is a profile, the alibi would likely stand against it."
"I don't need any more details," Officer Howard shuddered, "at least on THAT anyway."
"It was with Dusty MacClure that we got what we'd need to focus on someone as a possible suspect," Officer Jenkins spoke, trying to get the conversation away from where it almost seemed to be heading, "he talked a lot about betrayal in reference to Beauregard. I think he still agrees with R.A.M.'s ideology, that George and his wife are mindless animals, but feels that Beauregard betrayed that movement by robbing it. He definitely fits the profile of the suspect we believe killed Joshua Marksman."
"Did he say anything that would indicate him to be the murderer?" Officer Howard asked, "some mistake in his story? Something that is likely a lie?"
"Not officially, sir," I reported, "he admitted to being at the crime scene, but said he left shortly after Marksman's sons returned home. Officially, we'd probably need to go back to them and double check their story, but he also muttered some things under his breath, thinking that I wouldn't hear him... largely seeming to confirm what the two sons have already told us about their father being in an animated argument with the other man."
"I see," Officer Howard commented, "that could help. I've received a few "official" phone calls. The the courts will accept what you can hear that humans can't hear as reasonable evidence. Probably a sign of all the good work you've done so far."
"Good," I nodded, "also, he did seem to have an old Colt revolver on a holster with him, though without a warrant, I couldn't obviously check and make sure."
Officer Howard nodded, "I'll see what I can do to get a search warrant based on what you have so far. For the rest of today, you'd best patrol. Marksman's two sons are still here, but for the moment they're in "foster" care, which I don't understand entirely... I guess they're waiting for a court to take a file for "emancipation" which would allow them to take over their father's ranch. If you think MacClure is the one who did it, you may need to talk with them to see who much their father and the man interacted and how well they got along... and that will have to wait until tomorrow at least, for reasons that they wouldn't give me."
"Probably to protect one of the two sons," Officer Jenkins commented, "one of them looked like he had "post-traumatic stress disorder" when we talked with the other son."
Officer Howard only sighed. And then nodded.
"Hopefully we can work this out well and give those two some justice," Officer Howard sighed, "and end all the nonsense that Beauregard unleashed on our town."
++++++++++++++++++++++++
The afternoon patrol went quietly with nothing happening beyond an occasional speeding ticket. The thoughts of the continued investigation on Marksman's murder dwelt on my mind as I made my way into Bandhavgarh Cabin. I was certain that MacClure was the man to be investigated, but I could see that he was very much a "gun nut" by how heavily armed he was when Officer Jenkins and I arrived at his place. And remembering Beauregard's actions when Officer Barnes and I had to search his premises, I had the gut feeling about how difficult it would be to bring MacClure in if he decided to resist arrest, or resist the search warrant. I was confident I would survive, as when the state made my uniforms specially to fit me, they also provided enlarged bulletproof vests for me to wear as well... but that didn't mean that dealing with MacClure would be easy.
Molly heard me enter when I made my way into the cabin.
"George is that you?" she asked, her voice coming from the kitchen, "I'm just setting a few timers. I'll meet you out in the living room."
"Okay," I nodded, "Let me change out of my uniform first, and I'll be back down."
Changing was done quietly. Once I was in one of the silk shirts and shorts that had been specially ordered to fit me, and didn't irritate my fur as much as other cloth did, I checked to see that I had one clean uniform left. I collected the hamper and took it downstairs and put it in the laundry room. I'd make sure the job of washing them was started a little later.
"How was your day, George?" Molly asked, "did you get the murderer?"
"I think we've found our prime suspect," I nodded, "but that's about all I can really say at the moment."
I sat down on the couch beside her. She had the TV on with it tuned in to some comedy sitcom. I paid little attention to it, as my mind seemed to dwell on how Officer Jenkins and I would have to deal with him.
"Are you okay, George?" Molly asked nervously, "You seem a little tense."
I glanced over to her as she placed one paw-like hand on my shoulder.
"It's just stress I guess," I told her, "we have our prime suspect... but it may be tough dealing with him... I guess I'm just nervous about what will or could happen."
"I'm sure you'll get him," Molly said confidently as she urged me to slide forward on the couch a little, "you've been my hero since all of this started. No criminal can stop you."
I enjoyed the complement, but it didn't quite alleviate my private concerns. The pressure she was applying to my back to scoot forward was also arousing some curiosity on my part.
"What are you up to, Molly?" I asked.
"As I said, you seem a little tense," Molly answered, as she moved to climb behind me, "I figured I would help get rid of that tension."
I then felt her finger muscles apply pressure to the various muscles on my back and shoulders.
"You didn't have to do this," I told her, though moving to let her continue the massage.
"If it helps you and makes you happy, yes I do," Molly answered, "you've done so much for me... to help me with everything. It's my turn to do for you what you've done for me."
"You're the best thing to ever happen to me, Molly," I told her as her massage did feel good, "the best."
"I know," Molly responded while nuzzling the top of my head, "as you were the best thing to happen to me."