Officer Howard and the other officers returned to the station about an hour after Officer Jenkins and I had returned. They returned with a boatload of evidence, not all of it related to the murder investigation that Jenkins and I had been working on. There were two M-16s, one of them a carbine version of the weapon, one AK-47, one Thompson Submachine Gun, and several handguns altered to fire more quickly and carrying enlarged magazines... and these were in addition to the bullet casings for the revolver used in the murder of Joshua Marksman.
Howard motioned for us to follow him into his office while the other officers who had taken part in the search took the evidence to where it would be stored.
"You two have done well," Office Howard answered, "we have everything we need to charge MacClure with the murder... or at least as an accessory if he can prove someone stole his weapon... though, that might be difficult, seeing as you also found the weapon at his property."
"We do our best, sir," I nodded, "the big thing is that no one was hurt."
"Other then MacClure from what you've told me already," Officer Howard gave a soft chuckle, "and in addition to the evidence that links him to the murder, we have confirmed that he has illegally altered several weapons..."
"Probably some sort of anti-government "militia" type activity," I commented, "he muttered something along those lines when we first informed him about the search warrant."
"Though it's likely that if he was... it was a one man militia," Officer Jenkins added, "even most of the ranchers that were in R.A.M. were not all that close to him. Like he scared them or something."
"With the amount of weaponry we've confiscated and with the power that each weapon holds, I wouldn't be surprised," Officer Howard answered, "but anyway... because the illegal weapons were found in conjunction with the murder investigation, it will take awhile to get to where he can be formally questioned on any of it to set things up for a trial."
"We can question him about the murder, can't we?" Officer Jenkins asked.
"Yes, but we can't ask him anything about the weapons until we can get the DA to add that to the list of charges," Officer Howard answered, "I don't think that will take too long, since we have him in custody. Setting a first date for the trial may take longer though. He'll certainly want an attorney."
"He's already asked for one," Officer Jenkins nodded, "we've agreed to it, and he gave us the number of the attorney he wants."
Officer Jenkins then produced a small card with a phone number on it. Officer Howard took it and looked at it for a few moments.
"I'll let him know he has a client," Officer Howard answered, "did he say whether he would handle the legal fees? Or is he going to use the right to have us provide for his legal fees?"
"The second," I answered, "along with further mutterings against the government."
Officer Howard nodded, "very well then. It'll probably take a day or two then to get the weapons charges added to the murder charge and what will be the obvious assaulting an officer charge."
Officer Jenkins and I nodded.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The rest of my work day revolved around filing the paperwork for the searching of MacClure's property. It wasn't the most exciting work, but it had to be done. Especially considering what had gone on during the search. I returned to Bandhavgarh in early evening to find that Molly had already returned home and was seated on the couch.
"Good evening, Molly," I said to her as I came in, "how was your day?"
"Good," Molly smiled, "about the same as always. How about you? Did you guys get the murder?"
"We have him, yes," I nodded, "it'll take a little while to question him, but we have him in custody."
"Anyone hurt?" Molly asked, thinking about Officer Barnes' wounds from Beauregard.
"Only the suspects pride when he beaten up by a human woman," I told her with a chuckle.
"Ah, gave him "girl power" as it were," Molly chuckled, "the news will be coming on soon. I believe they will have an update on the lawsuit Leona is in."
I nodded and made my way upstairs. I changed quickly and then made my way back downstairs. Once that was done, I returned downstairs to sit beside Molly. The news hadn't come on yet, and she was watching the end of some sitcom.
"So, George, when we have a family of our own, what do you suppose we'll be watching in the evenings?" Molly wondered curiously.
"You've been thinking about this..." I commented.
"I have," Molly nodded, "I spend my time helping look after kids... I keep seeing little versions of us running around with them. Playing tag... teaching the kids how to wrestle... that sort of thing... and it's left me curious about what it'll be like..."
I hugged her to me and nuzzled the side of her head.
"We'll probably end up with a lot of cartoons and nature videos," I commented, "or at least I hope our kids would be interested in nature videos... we could order copies of old PBS Nature specials on tigers as well as National Geographic Specials... and hopefully they'd love them."
"Or suppose they get into "My Little Pony" or something like that?" Molly asked, remembering the collection of plastic ponies she had owned as a little girl.
"Then I'd hope our children are females," I quipped, "I won't have a son watching "My Little Pony"."
Molly only gave a soft giggle. She was about to say more when the sitcom ended and the news came on. They lead of with a female reporter sitting at the news desk.
"Good evening," the reporter spoke, "Our lead story for tonight is the continued drama being played out in Peoria, Illinois with various individuals in a lawsuit against Leona Washburn, the creator of a scientific serum that can transform humans into a human-like animal."
The screen showed Leona entering the courtroom with a couple of attorneys along with several other people following. In the meantime, the reporter continued to report in the answer, and her voice was overheard as the screen presented these images.
"The flow of the days proceedings revolved around the perceived problems of animal instinct confronting the human mind," the reporter announced, "Leona Washburn was forced to admit that those transformed would not be controlled by those instincts and that a person could control them and live well as several of the Animatrix Fun House victims have in fact managed. But, she did voice the concern that if the sole reason someone was wanting to become an Animal Person was to be "happy" they may not be prepared for these instincts and could make a dangerous mistake because they do not recognize the potential instincts they would gain. She also took a firm stand that while these instincts can be controlled, doing so can be a struggle, particularly at first."
There was a brief pause as the screen changed to show several human people leaving the courtroom. The reporter soon continued her narration.
"The prosecution has charged that the defense's stance is a stalling tactic trying to frighten people and claims that since the instincts can be controlled and that the serum will not create a mindless monster, it is not dangerous for the serum to be distributed to those who wish to take it," the reporter continued, "and there was even the voiced acceptance of regulation of the distribution of the serum to insure that those taking it are prepared for all possible instinctual and practical changes."
The next image on the screen was that of Leona in the courtroom explaining various things with a large clipboard with various pieces of data on it.
"Much of the afternoon session revolved around the practical problems that allowing this serum to be put on the market would cause," the reporter continued, "mostly relating to the size and breathing mechanisms of various animal species. Including that those that become various fish species would be limited to living in specialized tanks and couldn't interact outside of them because fish can not breathe air... and due to pollution, allowing them to simply swim off into the wild would be a serious risk to their health. The problems of the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere being too small to support a human sized insect or arachnid, not to mention the potential for many of these species to be parasites that carry disease."
The screen then switched to the prosecution lawyer pointing to the same large clipboard.
"Again the prosecution has stated that dealing with the most extreme cases in terms of the practical issues related to the transformation, government regulation would be acceptable, and in most other case, they stated that these problems would be known beforehand and the person would logically have things ready so that he or she could transform without causing problems to society," the reporter continued.
The screen then switched back to the reporter at the desk.
"This part of the trial took a fair amount of time and ended not more then two hours ago," the reporter finished, "both sides believe that they have presented both evidence and perfectly logical and factual arguments for each side's case. The judge hearing the case has enacted a two day recess to review all of the arguments and will announce his decision in two days time."
"Do you think Leona will win?" Molly asked.
"I do not know," I admitted, "all they gave was a summary. If the prosecutors in this case gave testimony similar to what that unknown man gave us... I fear she will lose."
"And we'll have a lot more animal people," Molly commented.
I could only nod to that. I hoped Leona would win, but I really didn't know for sure what would happen.