10:58 AM

18
10:58 AM

      "Listen, Agent Danley," Sheriff Donnelly began. "I've been turning over what Ben Damand said to me more and more in my mind, and it doesn't sit right."
      "What did he say?"
      Agent Danley, like a kid in a candy store, had meticulously sorted through everything in the house, after taking meticulous pictures, of course. Everything was in front of him, and he couldn't have looked happier to be sorting through all of it.
      "He said that there were two boys they picketed the practice with, two boys they said it was their idea in the first place to picket the place. Said they had told him about things they wanted to do that he didn't approve of."
      "You mean like murder."
      "He didn't say. But the more I think about it, and the more I think about Ben and Ginger, the woman does most of his planning for him, the more I start to think they were in all in league together."
      "How do you mean, Sheriff?"
      "Well, I don't. I don't know, but the more I think about the them, the more I think that they had a lot more to do with the whole thing than they say."
      "You think they killed him?"
      "No. No, I don't think they killed him. But I think they were in on the planning stages of the murder. I think they knew that he was in danger. And I think they might know where one or the both of them is."
      "You think they directed the murder to begin with?"
      "No. No, I don't think so. But you can give a lot of help to someone planning a murder without actually pulling the trigger."
      "Well, that's very true. Just like the guy owns this building. I really suspect he has a lot more to do with things than he lets on."
      "The landlord? You think so?"
      "I never seen anybody refuse to grant law enforcement access to a vacant property before, and I mean never."
      "Well, maybe you haven't spent much time in Texas."
      "He's hiding something. I know he's hiding something. Maybe it's a different illegal act of some kind--I hope, for his sake, that it's something petty like his girlfriend is fourteen or something like that. But I suspect he wasn't just housing these boys for the little bit of money they gave him."
      "You think he had something to do with the murder?"
      "I do. I really do."
      Sargent Thomas came into the room suddenly.
      "The landlord wants to know if you plan on charging him for anything or if you plan on letting him go, because if you aren't charging him for anything, then it's an unlawful detention."
      "Then take him to the Sheriff's Department and book him."
      "What for, Agent?"
      "Impeding a federal investigation."
      "We'll have to transfer him to a federal jail."
      "Well don't you have a similar statute in this state?"
      "Not really."
      "So you're saying there's nothing you can do if someone won't help you investigate a serious crime?"
      "Not really."
      "So what do you do?"
      "Wait for people to cooperate. Get court orders that compel them to."
      "Who has time for all that?"
      Sargent Thomas looked at him.
      "So we letting him go, or..."
      "Yeah, alright, let him go. Tell him we'll be by to pick up any records on these boys that he has sometime in the afternoon."
      "It doesn't seem like he'll be letting you."
      "Well then let's get a court order for it."
      Sargent Thomas nodded, and then left.
      "Don't think they like me much," Agent Danley admitted.
      "They have respect for you, Agent. I see it. They also think anybody that comes from outside has got to have something wrong with them."
      "I could have gotten some people from the Austin field office."
      "Why didn't you?"
      "This is a counter-terrorism operation, Sheriff. They weren't going to investigate like a counter-terrorism operation."
      The Sheriff nodded. Wasn't any of his business, he supposed.