Part three

Sheriff Henry Buck sighed as he sat heavily behind his desk. He had been the law in Salem Town for nearly twenty-five years now and the worst thing he had faced in that time was Ray Fulton getting stone drunk and attempting to hold up the local hardware store. Ray had managed to get out a slurred "Keep your hands where I can see 'em" before passing out cold. Buck threw him in the drunk tank for a week and then gave him back to the not-so-tender mercies of his extremely irate wife.

He was close to admitting he was out of his depth here.

First, Gertie Reynolds had been found in her home with her throat torn out. Then the disappearance had begun – Fanny Mayfield, Harrison Gray, Jimmy Hanson just two days ago. Not to mention the dead Weathers girl this morning. Her father had raised holy hell when he got the news of his youngest daughter's death, demanding to know what could have killed his baby girl.

Bruckman wished he had something to give him.

A knock on his office door startled him out of his brooding. "Who's there?"

A dark-haired young woman stuck her head inside. "Sheriff Buck?"

"Yes, that's me," he frowned as she walked up to him. She was petite, but held herself confidently, like she knew how to take care of herself. The large white coat she wore did little to flatter her figure but when she held out a hand to him he saw the glint of metal hidden within it.

"Sheriff, my name's Meryl Strife." She smiled politely. "I'm an agent from the Bernardelli Insurance Society, Main Office."

"Really." He raised an eyebrow as he engulfed her hand in his own. "What brings you out here, Ms. Strife?"

She sat in the visitor's chair across from him. "Actually, I was hoping you could assist me with a case that I've just received. Surely you've heard of Vash the Stampede?"

"The Humanoid Typhoon?" He rested his arms against his desk, his frown deepening. "Who hasn't? What does that have to do with me?"

"Well, unfortunately, due to the highly destructive and therefore expensive nature of his activities, Bernardelli believed it would be prudent to assign a few agents to track Mr. Vash down and minimize the extent of his property damage. We've been following his trail for a number of months now with little progress, but when we arrived here this morning we heard about the, ah, incidents recently. It's a possible lead."

"Hrmph," Buck grunted. "So you're saying Vash the Stampede has been through my town?"

She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "Last we heard, he *was* heading this way."

"And you think these murders fit his typical MO."

"Well, not precisely," she admitted. "Though, according to rumor, some of his henchmen have, um, slightly more bizarre…hobbies."

"I see," the sheriff nodded slowly. "Should I tell you what I think, Ms. Strife?"

She bit her lip and nodded.

"I think I see the first stranger to enter my town in months sitting right in front of me. And I think, we haven't had any trouble in our town with the natives. But suddenly I have mysterious young women showing up on my doorstep inquiring all about the troubles here recently. So, Ms. Strife, if you were in my place, what exactly would you think?"

She clasped her hands in her lap and chuckled weakly. "I understand you concern, Sheriff, but I do know that the first murder was over two weeks ago. And, as I said, we only arrived here this morning. You can ask the boarding house up the street. They'll vouch for me."

"Hrmph." He stared at her, letting the silence stretch. To her credit, she showed little discomfort, meeting his look with serious violet eyes. He finally sighed and leaned back in his chair, steepling his hands in front of him.

"I'll tell you what, Ms. Strife, I'll provide you with the most recent information that's circulated the town, but I won't give you any privileged details about the investigation. That's the right of this law office. Do you understand?"

She released the tension in her shoulders and gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you, Sheriff."

"And for my own private curiosity," he smirked. "Just how many agents are you?"

"Uh, three. Millie Thompson and V – Vincent Price are my partners."

"Really. Two girls and one man."

"Heh," she said. "Yeah. Go figure."

End part three