Chapter 30
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On the morning of Monday July 5th Carmen Flint was brought to the courthouse. Much of the town was curious and came to see. The judge had much of the courtroom cleared, he would not allow this to become a media circus. Agent Fredo was allowed in, as was sheriff Duncan. It had been their investogation that uncovered Carmen's sexual abuse of her own daughter, they might be needed as witnesses. But when the charges were read Carmen was not charged with felony murder, but with involuntary manslaughter, as well as two counts of child-molestation. And to the suprise of many, particularly agent Fredo, Carmen pled guilty. It soon became clear that Deanna Harris and Hayden Dabeck had agreed to a plea bargain. Carmen was sentanced to five years on each count of child-molestation, and two years for involuntary manslaughter. All sentances were to run concurrent, meaning that Carmen would serve five years, assuming she didn't make parole. Gary could understand her lawyer explaining how this was the best deal she could make for her. Still, he couldn't help but wonder of this was part of some cover-up, if the Druid Order had perhaps put some pressure on Carmen to plead guilty, thus seemingly resolving the case once and for all. Gary needed to question Samantha Larabee and discover as much about the Druid Order as she could tell him. But before Gary left the courthouse, the town of Sanctuary was already talking. It seemed that Samantha Larabee was dead. They said that she committed suicide while under house arrest. She was facing a long prison term, and committing armed robbery woud suggest that she already engaged in self-destructive behavior. But Samantha had allegedly committed suicide with a gun. In Gary's experience women rarely commited suicide with a gun. It wasn't completely unheard of, but the local police should have checked her house for firearms yesterday when she was placed under house-arrest. All of this seemed to suggest that there was indeed a cover-up, and Gary would not leave until he uncovered this conspiracy.
