The paramedics did what was their job. Timothy and Patrick were carried out on the stretchers to the waiting ambulance as Officer Barnes and I trailed them. Mostly to provide security in case there was a second shooter.
"Best to take a side entrance," Officer Barnes advised, "we don't want these two seeing what a mess the guy made of the office."
"Right," one of the EMTs answered and took a side hallway.
"How did the guy get in here?" a second EMT wondered.
"He cut the power the building and probably the block," Officer Barnes answered, "when that was done, the buildings automatic locks opened and he had full access to the internal hallways. The only thing the teachers could do was manually lock the doors to their rooms, which probably wouldn't stop someone if he was really determined... and with a serious grudge, apparently against Mrs. Wayne the shooter had to be determined."
"The locks opened?"
"In theory to allow students to escape in the event of a natural disaster that has cut the power," Officer Barnes answered, "if the building's locks stayed locked with the power out, and everyone had to get out, they couldn't without breaking the doors themselves as the computer mechanisms would be out and wouldn't recognize that someone is trying to open the door from the inside... and in a panic, you may not have time ... or forget to unlock the door manually."
"The downside to the system is that in situations like this, it can also grant a lunatic access to the building," I added, "at least to the hallways and main office area. Though these systems are fairly new and few would even know about it."
"Like the principal..." a third EMT sighed.
"We'll call the coroner for him and the secretary that he killed," Officer Barnes told them.
The paramedics nodded as we made it to the ambulance. They then began loading Timothy and Patrick onto specialized beds on the sides of the ambulance's main passenger area. Seated on a wheeled stretcher that was locked in place was Mrs. Fitzpatrick. A fifth paramedic was treating her.
"How is she doing?" I asked.
"Fairly well, all things considered," the man treating her answered, "for the moment, she's in no danger... but she took more shot then it visibly looks..."
"More...?" Officer Barnes asked.
"Likely from at least three shots," the paramedic nodded, "the first is probably the wounds here to the side of the head... possibly from shot that killed the secretary... or tried to fire multiple shots quickly and as she's told me, being a poor shot, couldn't hit a moving target all that well... or was moving too fast with a shotgun which wouldn't really work..."
Officer Barnes and I nodded. Shotguns were not meant to be fired from the hip or in a rapid succession of shots. At close range, with a shotgun, multiple shots shouldn't even be necessary. Just aim at the center of the target, and the shot would spread out as the gun as fired, doing rather devastating damage. As the unknown man bleeding to death and the secretary having her head blown off being clear evidence of that. Maybe Bill Williams in his excitement then tried to rapidly fire on Mrs. Fitzpatrick when she appeared at her door and in doing so, ruined his aim and weakened the effectiveness of his weapon. As there was also a lot of shot damage to the walls and cabinets of the office area.
"The first shot did glancing damage to the side of her face and scalp," the paramedic continued, "the second went through the wall and caught her in the side..."
"The wall likely slowed it down," Officer Barnes sighed in relief. The paramedic nodded.
"And the same is true with the third shot, which caught her in the arm," the paramedic finished, "and while the wall may have saved her life, she still has a lot of shot in her that will need to be removed."
"I still don't know why he didn't come into the office itself," Mrs. Fitzpatrick said weakly, "he could have with the power out..."
"He may have thought he got you better with the first shot," I guessed, "or wanted to deal with Molly first and then finish you off... with him dead, we'll never know."
"He's dead?" Mrs. Fitzpatrick asked.
"The kids being loaded next to you ended up being the ones to bring him down," Officer Barnes explained, "they got their classmates out and bore his wrath when he realized his crazy plan wasn't working."
"He didn't shoot Molly with anything lethal, strangely," I added.
"Thank goodness," Mrs. Fitzpatrick sighed.
"We'll need to get going," one of the EMTs that had helped carry Timothy and Patrick out of the school, "there is no danger of death, but we'll still need to get them to Kalispell. I don't think the clinic here can handle this."
Officer Barnes and I nodded.
"Mom and Dad..." Patrick called out.
"We'll check the records," I spoke, "we'll call them and let them know what's happened and where you're going. You're going to be okay."
"Okay." "Okay."
"And thank you for saving my wife," I finished as the EMTs shut the door and the ambulance was soon speeding off.
Officer Barnes and I turned back to the school and sighed.
"I'll call the coroner, you can check the records?" Officer Barnes asked.
"Best to check on the other kids first," I nodded, "see how much they saw..."
Officer Barnes nodded as one of the other officers came up to us.
"We've completed the search of the school," the officer reported, "there was no other shooter and none of the other rooms were damaged."
"Good to hear," Officer Barnes gave a sigh of relief.
"Megan is asking for Officer Jenkins," the officer spoke, "looking rather scared."
Officer Barnes then sighed, "I'll check with her... Officer Jenkins is still coordinating the clean up at the station."
Officer Barnes then headed into the school to check with his girlfriend's daughter while I moved out and around to see check on the students from Molly's class.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Moving around the front of the building I came across the officers dealing with the unknown man and what he had dumped down the storm drain. As it was on my way to checking on Molly's students, I decided to see what was going on with them.
"Have you found anything?" I asked curiously.
The officer looked up with a somewhat frustrated and yet somewhat confident face.
"A few things," he answered with a sigh, "we got his gun easily. Fairly standard issue for James Bond types. Silencer and everything."
He then pointed to the wet weapon laying on the ground, now near the unknown man's feet. I nodded in response.
"The other thing is an ID card, which was murder to fish out," the officer said with a grumble, "Not enough water in there for it wash down the drain, but because of that and the fact that it's flat mad it tough to fish out."
"At least it's only a storm sewer," I shrugged, "not a septic tank."
The officer then shuddered and turned around. He picked up a small card and handed it to me.
"I did manage to get it out though," the officer spoke, "the guy's name is Robert Honorius."
I took the card and looked at it. It included the obvious, his name, date of birth, and other statistical information. On one side was a photograph of the man and on the other side was the Seal of the United States of America. Included on the card was the agency that had issued it, OSS, which in this case stood for Office of Strategic Sciences. Underneath it were also Seals of the CIA, FBI, and each of the armed forces.
"I think it's a hoax," the officer commented, "I never heard of the OSS..."
"To my knowledge the OSS was the ancestor of the CIA," I answered, "of course maybe this is some new secret agency that no one's heard about."
"I still think it's a hoax," the officer replied.
"Maybe," I sighed, "we'll need to investigate this further... If it is a hoax... how did he get so much of this to look legit?"
"Hell if I know," the officer sighed, "You and Barnes may have to go down to Helena and talk with the local FBI guys. They might know."
I only sighed and glanced to the body of who had been our unknown man. His presence reignited old questions and mysteries that I'd partially let slip because he wasn't a threat, or at least didn't seem to be and had treated Molly and I cordially. Now, I had more. What was the Office of Strategic Sciences? Was it real? If so, how did it have connections to a national law enforcement agency, the military, and the nation's intelligence gathering services? And why was he here?
"A shame this guy couldn't have caught the shooter for us," I sighed, "we have three dead, counting Mr. Honorius and the shooter, three wounded and on their way to Kalispell as we speak..."
"They okay?"
"The paramedics seem to think so," I answered, "still... a shame he didn't catch our shooter."
"We'd still have to process him for vigilantism," the officer reminded, "and possibly forging government IDs."
"Though if he is a government agent, it isn't vigilantism, and while we can't arrest him..." I began.
"It'd be a different mess," the officer nodded, "what do you plan to do with he body?"
"Officer Barnes should be calling the coroner about removing his and the secretary's bodies," I told him, "I'm meanwhile going to check on the situation with Molly's class. See if there is anything we can do for them."
The officer nodded, "I'll hold things down here. Keep a clean scene for the coroner."
I nodded. I then moved on. I then made my way toward the school's playground area where the other officers had said Molly's students had gone. As I got closer, I heard a lot of crying and the repetition of the sentence, "I'm scared". I also heard Molly repeatedly assuring them that everything would be alright and that Timothy and Patrick were going to be okay. I found two officers standing as sentries outside one of the entrances to the playground equipment.
"How are they?" I asked.
"Scared," the first officer spoke, "Not hurt physically..."
"Emotional wounds..." I sighed, "the hardest to heal."
Both officers nodded.
"Your wife asked us to stand here," the second sentry added, "something about our presence adding to their fright."
"Understandable," I nodded, "they saw a heavily armed man storm their room, threaten them at gunpoint, shock their teacher with a taser line... to some extent that would be traumatizing for a grownup."
"And in the dark..." the first commented, "it must be terrifying."
"Not quite that dark," I told him, "it's morning, yes, but there should be enough sunlight out that you could probably see quite well around the classrooms with the lights off... provided nothing is being used to cover the windows. And Molly's windows aren't covered."
The officers then nodded. I then continued on my way to check on them.
"Molly, it's me," I spoke in a slightly louder voice, even though I knew she could hear me and probably heard my discussion with the sentries.
I found the students all gathered around Molly as she sat on a wooden bench. They clustered around her, crying and hugging at her. Veronica was in her lap and clutching at Molly's midsection fiercely.
"I want my mommy..." one kid whimpered.
"I wanna go home..."
"They're all terrified, George," Molly spoke, "physically fine, but terrified."
"I see," I sighed and ran the back of one of my fingers down Veronica's cheek. After a moment she reached up and grabbed that finger and then pulled my paw to Molly's side.
"I don't think they can go through the rest of the day..." Molly said weakly.
"I don't think anyone will," I sighed, "there are some calls that Officer Barnes and I still need to make..."
"What about Timmy and Patty?" a young male child looked up to me, frightened tears still going down his cheeks. As I looked down, he changed the way he was seated to hug my leg and ankle.
"They'll be okay," I told him.
"They go in the amblence?" the child asked, trying to say ambulance.
"Yes, but they will be fine," I reassured him, "before you know it, today will be nothing but a bad dream... and you'll be having a great time with friends."
"Things will be better?" the boy asked.
"They have to be after days like today," I told him.