Longmire
Righting an Old Wrong
Chapter 7

(Author's note: And we come to a conclusion. Let me know what you think. In my imagination Molly Baker insists on having more adventures in Absoroka County. Let me know if you want to read about any of them.)

Epilogue

We hauled our suspect over to my jail. Then the question was, What do we do with him? Mathias wanted him charged with murder. Reasonable. We couldn't keep Tomkins/Tomsetti here. The most reasonable thing to do was to take him over to TriCities prison. They could hold him until arraignment and trial. But once Tomkins was at the prison, unless they kept him safe, the Red Power gang would take care of him.

Now to my way of thinking, having Tomkins die in prison was not a bd thing. But Tompkins as Tomsetti had a pile of people wanting to talk to him, the FBI being on the top of the pile. If we notified the FBI that we had Tomsetti they'd be all over this. My hunch was that they wanted him to turn State's evidence against Falconi - Senior and Junior. Tomsetti would go into witness protection and there would be no justice for Victor Young Dog.

After some very heated arguments we agreed upon a plan that Vic proposed. We would take Tomkins down to TriCities for security sake. Then once we got back to the office, we'd start calling everyone who wanted Tomsetti. And we'd tell them where he was being safely held. If the gangs got to Tomkins first…

The only thing I regretted was that there was no evidence about Detective Rogers. Unless Tomkins talked, there might never be. So while my deputies were dealing with the paperwork and such for the prisoner's transfer, I decided to have a little heart to heart with Mr. Tomsetti.

"Hey, Tomkins, or Tomsetti, or whatever the hell your name is, I thought I'd let you know we're getting ready to transfer you to our local prison. And once we get back, we'll start notifying all those people who want a piece of you. Even the FBI wants to talk to you. But to be honest, I don't think they're going to get a chance. You see, that prison we're taking you too is full of various gangs. Maybe some of them might want to protect you, but a hit man who has killed an Indian child is probably not going to last long." I paused to let that sink in. "Now I can request solitary confinement for you-it may keep you alive long enough for some other law enforcement agency to come get you. But I need something in return."

Tompkins stared at me. "I'm not going to confess to killing the Indian kid."

"No, I don't expect you to. And I'm not going to ask why you came out here. The evidence in Roger's safety deposit box is pretty clear. Your employers would not want that getting out. No, what I want is information on the death of Detective Walter Rogers."

Tomkins stared at me. "You'd keep me safe just for that?"

"I'll do what I can by informing the prison officials of your status."

I could see he was thinking. "You'd better make your mind up quickly. I ain't got all day."

"OK, what do you want to know?"

"The official police report said that the death of Detective Rogers was a suicide. Was that true?"

Tomkins laughed. "My Uncle Frank, God rest his soul, had a real talent for making murder look like suicide. He taught me how to do it. In fact, he used the example of the Rogers supposed suicide as a teaching tool. It was one of his. The Detective was getting too close to his bosses."

"If the Rogers brothers want evidence about their father's murder, they should talk to the FBI. My uncle became a snitch for them, which led to his own death."

And now we had come full circle. Detective Rogers had not committed suicide, despondent over the supposed infidelity of his wife. I was going to lean on the FBI a bit to get them to release the information on that. Only fair, since the sons had uncovered this new information.

After all this was cleared up, Rogers came in to visit me. After thanking me for my help and hospitality, he told me that he was going back up to Alaska. Although he had been proven innocent of the murder, it's a small community and folks weren't making it easy for him.

I ran into Molly Baker a few days later at the Red Pony. I asked her if she knew that Rogers was leaving?

"Yes, he came by the other day and we talked. I understand why he's leaving. This can be a hard place to live in." She paused. "This may sound cold, but Brett Rogers and I don't have much in common anymore. Detective Walt Rogers was one of my fathers best friends and I'm glad his name was cleared. But Brett and I will probably never see each other again. Some friendships are just not meant to last."