At the Station: What the Police Learned (And What They Didn't)
Officers Hadley and Parsons had a long night ahead of them when they got back to the station from the scene of the crime outside the Everetts' backyard. What a crazy mess! Parsons thought. Who would ever have thought that that great family seemed to be mixed up in something like this? Yet they must be mixed up somehow or why would Hal's brother have hired security guards? They had five witnesses and one suspect to interview. The interviewer was going to be another officer who was a homicide detective.
He and Hadley would be there to listen in so that he could ask them questions after each witness left. They would also have the chance to ask questions of their own if they thought that he had missed something. Presently, the six men were sitting in the waiting area, together. There was another officer present to make sure that they didn't speak to one another. None of them looked like they wanted to talk to each other anyway. Parsons watched them while they all waited for the lieutenant to show up to get the ball rolling.
Parsons felt bad for the two teenagers. They looked stunned by what had happened. It is never an easy thing to witness a shooting. As any veteran of the streets can tell you, it's an image you never forget. This one was pretty bad too. Not necessarily messy, but the guy bled out. It's hard to imagine that the human body contains that much blood. He made a mental note to tell their parents to keep an eye on them. There might be some bad dreams and other psychiatric repercussions later.
They also obviously had no idea of what was really going on, even now. It was much more serious than either of them had imagined. Whatever protecting or rescuing they had done in the past of Trelawney, this situation was far more intense and dangerous that they had previously encountered. It would be very interesting to compare their understanding of the events with that of the other men.
Knowing Topher's history with the Everetts he suspected that he had thought they were simply going out to protect Mrs. Everett and her sister. Mike was another really good kid who no doubt had pure motives as well. On the way back, while the two were sitting anxiously in the back of the car with Liam Figalilly, he gave them all an important piece of advice.
"When you are answering the questions, be sure to only answer what you are asked. If the questioner wants more information, he'll let you know. And remember, you are not suspects," he advised them. "If you tell the truth, everything will work out fine."
They had all nodded. Parsons got the feeling that the boys were more worried about the questions their parents would ask when they got home than anything the police might want to know. They both knew that they had done nothing wrong. Figalilly was unconcerned. He seemed to be a real cool character. When they got to the station, they called up both families to tell them that they had found the boys and they were safe. Avoiding the details, they said that they would stay at the station until the storm passed.
Mike and Topher were allowed to dry off somewhat before they had to sit in the waiting area of the station. They offered them prison jumpsuits to wear, which were the only dry clothes they had to offer them. They declined, with Topher commenting that his mother would totally freak out if she saw him dressed up like that.
Topher was relatively calm, but Mike looked like he was about to lose his lunch. After what he had seen, Parsons was surprised that he hadn't by now. The one British man, Liam Figalilly who had been threatened by the deceased and nearly shot, sat with them, looking fairly unconcerned.
The other British guy, John Trelawney, who was the companion of the deceased, sat with them looking nervous. Occasionally he glanced over at the other Englishman. They were an interesting pair to watch. Every once in a while when Trelawney looked at Figalilly and he would shake his head or nod. If Parsons didn't know any better, he would have thought that they were having a conversation. It was most peculiar.
One of the security guards, Rick Jones, also sat with them and then the other one, the shooter Bill Kimble, was brought in, his hands still in cuffs. He had been booked and read his rights. But since he was being cooperative, they decided not to put him in a jail cell until after questioning. Guilty or not, he would have to be arraigned and bail set. Night court was certainly not in session tonight. He had used his one phone call to call the security company. They would be sending a lawyer in the morning.
The cops then would take them one by one into a conference room. They would be interviewed separately so that their stories wouldn't be influenced by one another. None of them had spoken yet, except for the security guard who claimed to be the shooter at the scene. He once again declined his right to an attorney when he gave his statement. Parsons had to wonder if he had been in this kind of mess before.
They greeted the man doing the interviewing who was a homicide detective, named Lt. Davis. Everyone at the station knew Davis. He had been around forever and was at the same time both tough and fair. They decided to bring Topher in first. Of the two boys, he was the "less dazed."
"It's time to hear this story out," said Davis, in a serious voice. "Now young man, normally we would have taken your statement in the field but with the weather like it is right now, we'll do it here. Let's be clear about this. You are here as a witness. You are not in any trouble."
Topher nodded and said, "Yes, sir."
"What is your full name?" he began.
"Christopher Allen Tucker," he replied. "But everyone calls me Topher."
"Okay, Topher, why were you at the scene of the crime?" asked Davis.
"We were there because we were afraid that something bad might happen to Mrs. Everett and Trelawney Figalilly," he replied.
"Why did you think that?"
"Well," he said. "They've both been afraid of some guy who might hurt them for the past year now. I've been kind of looking out for them ever since."
"How did you learn of their fears?"
"Last summer," he explained. "When we were working on the church service project together, Mrs. Everett was real nervous that if that reporter, Harvey Sloan, put her sister Trelawney on TV that this guy might come after her. So I helped the girl out of a few tough spots where he might run into her."
"Why were they afraid of him?" asked Davis.
"Harvey Sloan?" asked Topher.
"No, the man that you referred to as 'this guy,'" he quickly responded. "Did you ever learn his name?"
"Yeah, last night," he answered. "It was Chumley Something. It was a funny name."
"Do you who he was?" asked Davis.
"Mrs. Everett and Trelawney never told us," said Topher. "But Liam did, he said that he was Mrs. Everett's ex-fiancé."
"So to go back to the original question, why were they afraid of him?" he asked.
"I don't know, they never told me," he replied.
"Why did you think that Chumley Something was back in town?"
"Butch, Mrs. Everett's stepson, told Mike and his family that since her cousin Liam was in town, it meant that he wasn't watching him anymore," he answered. "Mike called me."
"Do you know why Liam Figalilly was watching him?" asked Davis.
"He wanted to make sure that he stayed away from Mrs. Everett and Trelawney," he said.
"How did you decide to meet up with Figalilly?"
"Mike and I talked it through and we decided that we could help each other," replied Topher.
"To find Chumley Something?" asked Davis.
"Yes, sir."
"What were you going to do when you found him?"
"I dunno," answered Topher. "I guess we were going to make sure that he stayed away from Mrs. Everett and Trelawney."
"Why did you go to Everetts?" asked Davis.
"We kind of decided that that was where he would probably show up," said Topher.
Davis sat there thinking for a moment. Parsons could see that he believed him. Topher was a very honest kid and everyone in town knew that he was always looking for ways to help others. He also had a tendency to "leap before he looked." It made sense that he hadn't fully thought things through before he acted.
"If you were guarding the Everetts, so to speak," asked Davis. "What were you doing in Fowler's backyard?"
"We couldn't get into the Everetts' backyard. There were too many tree branches down. And the power lines were down in front of the house. It was too dangerous to go there."
Davis looked over at them.
"That's true," replied Hadley. "The lines are down in the front of the house. Both yards are a mess. Right now, the only way to get to Everett's yard is through Fowler's."
Davis nodded.
"When did you run into Chumley Something and his companion?" asked Davis.
"We ran into Chumley when he came out of a bunch of branches of the big limbs that were down. The ones that knocked down the fence," he said. "But we didn't see the other guy until after the shooting."
"Okay," he said. "When you realized that the deceased was there with you, what did you do?"
"Liam told Mike and me to stand behind him so that we wouldn't get hurt."
"Okay, what happened next?"
"Well, Liam stood very still," said Topher. "Chumley came toward him and I could see that he had a gun. Then Liam told him that he didn't have a weapon and he should give himself up. He was telling him to come back to God."
Davis looked at Hadley and Parsons but they just shrugged.
"What happened next?"
"I came out and told him the same thing," replied Topher.
"To come back to God?"
"Yes sir," said Topher. "Then he held up the gun like he was gonna shoot us, but he couldn't."
"Why not?"
"Someone else shot him first."
"Did you see who it was?" asked Davis.
"No, sir," replied Topher.
"Did you ever learn who shot him?"
"I only knew who shot him after the cops came in and starting asking questions," he said. "Then the guy came out of the bushes."
"Okay," said Davis. "Hadley and Parsons, do you have any questions for this young man?"
"No," they both replied.
"Okay, Topher," he said. "You may go back out into the waiting room. You may not speak to anyone out there. You will have to stay until we are done questioning everyone in case we have more questions for you."
"Yes, sir," said Topher politely and left.
Davis turned to them. "Does his story agree with what you saw at the scene?"
"Yes," said Hadley. "When we got there, Topher was standing next to Figalilly."
"About the name of the deceased," commented Davis. "Did he have any identification on him?"
"Yes, a British passport," replied Parsons. "The first and last names were very long and looked like Chol-mon-de-ley Feather-stone-haugh. (Pronouncing them syllable by syllable). But I guess you pronounce the first name Chumley."
"Okay, then let's call Mike in next," he said. "If he tells the same story, I think that the boys will be done. However the DA might have to use them as witnesses in court. Call in Mike."
Parsons got up and called in Mike. He seemed to have collected himself while Topher had given his statement. Davis repeated his same speech that he had given to Topher about how he was a witness and not a suspect.
"What is your full name?" he asked.
"Michael Joseph Lenihan, Jr." he replied politely. "I go by Mike."
"So young man," he said. "What were you doing at the scene of the crime?"
"Topher and I went to help Liam protect Mrs. Everett and Trelawney," he said.
"Who or what were you protecting her from?" asked Davis.
"The big jerk," replied Mike. Davis gave him a look that implied that he wanted him to explain further.
"Well," he continued. "My Mom, my little brother, and I picked up Butch Everett, you know, her son, to bring him to my house because Mrs. Everett was in labor. He told us that Cousin Liam was in town to protect Trelawney from the big jerk."
"And who, may I ask, is the big jerk?" asked Davis.
"He's Mrs. Everett's ex-fiancé," explained Mike. "He was mad because Trelawney busted up the engagement. Mrs. Everett has always been afraid that he would come back and hurt Trelawney."
"Did you ever learn the, um, big jerk's name?"
"Yeah, Liam told us," he said. "It was Chumley, uh, I never really caught the last name. It was kind of weird."
"What did Mr. Figalilly have to do with the busted engagement?" asked Davis. "As far as you know."
"Liam has been watching him for the past year, to keep them safe," replied Mike. "He came here because he had lost track of him and wanted to make sure that the girls were okay."
"How do you know this?" asked Davis.
"Butch told us."
"Okay, so what did you do after Butch told you?"
"I called up Topher and told him about it," he replied.
"Why did you call up Topher?" he asked.
"Well," he said. "We've both sort of been looking out for Trelawney since last summer. You know, kind of like big brothers."
"Okay," said Davis. "Why did you look for Mr. Figalilly?"
"We wanted to help him," answered Mike.
"If you wanted to keep Mrs. Everett and her sister safe, what were you doing in Fowler's backyard?" asked Davis.
From that point, the questions were almost identical to what he had asked Topher. And the answers were the same. When he was done, Davis dismissed him with the same instructions as he had given Topher.
"What do you think?" he asked turning to Hadley and him.
"I think that they are telling the same story," said Parsons. "The only real difference was that Mike called the victim, the big jerk and knew more about the broken engagement. But I think that that was because that's because of what Butch told him."
"I would agree with that," said Hadley. "I think that both of these boys have a very good relationship with Phoebe Everett and Trelawney Figalilly and they were trying to protect them. They just didn't know what they were getting into." "
Okay, so who is next," Davis asked. "Liam Figalilly or John Trelawney?"
"I think Figalilly," said Parsons. "Since we have the two boys' statements it makes sense to go with his. He was with them tonight."
"Sounds good to me," replied Davis. "Bring in Figalilly."
Liam Figalilly calmly entered. Like the boys, he knew that he had done nothing wrong. In fact, he had nearly been the victim of a murder. He was probably more relaxed because he didn't have any parents to face when he got home. After the suspect/witness speech, Davis began to ask questions.
"What is your full name?" he asked.
"William David Figalilly," he said.
"So how did you come to be at the scene of the crime?" asked Davis.
"I was there with the two lads because we were worried about Phoebe and Trelawney Rose and we wanted to make sure that they were all right," he replied.
"Please tell me the names of the two lads?"
"Mike and Topher," he replied.
"How did you meet the 'two lads,' as you call them?"
"They found me at Mr. Robert Everett's house, where I was staying," he said. "He's the Professor's Dad, you know. I was worried about the girls and they were worried about the girls. So we decided to team up, so to speak."
"Okay," he said with a sigh. "Please identify the girls by name for me."
"Sorry, sir," he said politely. "They are Phoebe Figalilly, uh, Everett and Trelawney Rose Figalilly."
"Why were you worried about them?"
"Well," he said. "They're my cousins, you see. And I wanted to make sure that nobody was out to hurt them or nothing."
"Why would somebody want to hurt them?"
"The man who was shot was named Cholmondeley Featherstonehaugh," he replied (pronouncing it as Chumley Fenshew). "Now he was Mrs. Everett's former fiancé. I have been traveling with him for the past year. I was afraid that he might have some bitterness over the broken engagement, so I wanted to keep an eye on him."
"Why did you come here then?"
"Well, Cholmondeley gave me the slip in Australia when old Johnny shows up," he explained. "So I figured the he would come here. And I figured right."
"Who is 'old Johnny'?" he asked with another sigh.
"Oh, yeah," he said. "That's Cholmondeley's cousin, John Trelawney."
"Thank you. Yes, you figured right," commented Davis. "Now if you were protecting your cousins, why were you in the Fowler's yard?"
"We couldn't get into the Professor's yard," he replied.
Once again, Davis reviewed the details of the shooting and Figalilly's account agreed with the boys', only told from his point of view.
"When I heard that gun cock," he said. "I could have sworn that I would be singing with the angels next, you know, meeting St. Peter at the pearly gates. But when I heard the shot, I knew I wasn't hit, so I looked for Topher."
"Why did you look for him?"
"I figured that he got it instead of me," he said. "But it was Cholmondeley that was lying there."
"And what happened next?"
"The police came in and started asking questions," he said. "Then the gentleman stepped out from the bushes and said that he'd done it."
"Okay," said Davis. "What happened next?"
"Well," said Figalilly. "The cops said that they're going to take us into the station here to take our statements. It being raining and all out there."
"Officers?" asked Davis looking at them.
Hadley and Parsons shook their heads. They had nothing else to ask.
"Thank you," he replied. "You may now sit outside, but you may not talk to anyone. We may want to recall you to answer more questions."
After Figalilly left, the three policemen all looked at each other.
"They are all telling the same story," commented Davis. "The other details really don't matter. They all have said that the Fenshaw pulled a gun, threatened them, and then was shot by the security guard. At least we know how to pronounce his last name now."
"I wonder what John Trelawney will have to say," said Hadley. "I guess he's the only one who may know what the motive was for the shooting."
"It does seem as though shooting someone because your engagement was broken by his cousin is a little drastic," added Parsons. "I still don't see the motive."
"Well," said Davis. "Let's call 'old Johnny' in and see what he has to say for himself."
When Trelawney entered, Parsons could see that he was nervous. He wasn't really sure of why, since he had nothing to do with the shooting other than being there with the victim.
"What is your full name?"
"John Andrew Trelawney, sir" he replied.
"So why were you at the scene of the crime tonight?" asked Davis.
"I was there with Cholmondeley," he answered. "I came along because he was going."
"Okay," said Davis. "Do you know why he wanted to go there?"
"Well," said John, who then began to spill out random thoughts. "That was my fault really that we were here at all. Cholmondeley's my cousin, see, and I was missing him. So you see, I went out to Tasmania, you know, in Australia to meet up with them, him and Liam that is, and by mistake I let it slip that Phoebe was about to have a baby. You know, with her new husband. That made Cholmondeley very unhappy."
"Keep going," said the officer.
"You see," said John. "Phoebe and Cholmondeley had had an understanding for a very long time. They were betrothed when she was born. That's the way we do things back home, especially if you're the oldest in your family and all that. But after her parents died, well, the Professor was there to comfort her. He even let her little sister live with the family so that she could stay there with his family, and the girls wouldn't be separated. She was the nanny then, you know."
"Yes," said Officer Hadley. "I can vouch for that. I helped find the little girl when she got lost last year."
Davis gave him a look that told him to keep his mouth shut from now on.
"Let's get back to your story," said Davis. "Officers, please do not interrupt."
Parsons now figured out that in his nervousness, this guy was just talking away. Davis seemed only too happy to let him run his mouth. He wondered what he would say next.
"Well, you know how these things turn out," continued John. "She goes and falls in love with the one who was there when she needed him. Now Trelawney Rose did give her a little bit of help breaking off the engagement. Then Cholmondeley went off on his own way. However, he was still a bit disgruntled, shall we say. A man has his pride you know."
"Okay," said Davis. "So Fenshaw is first of all upset about the broken engagement. Then he was upset because his ex-fiancée was pregnant with another man's child. Please continue."
"Well," said John. "After I told him about the baby, I realized it was a mistake. When he said that he was going to America to take care of it, I decided to come along with them. So we gave Liam here the slip and came here."
"Did you know what he meant by 'take care of it'?" asked Davis.
"Not exactly," he answered. "But I knew that it wasn't good. I thought that if I stuck by him I could talk him out of whatever he was going to do. And then I could warn Phoebe and the little one."
"The little one?"
"Yeah," he said. "That's kind of what the family calls Trelawney Rose, sort of a pet name, you know?"
Davis looked at the two officers. But all they could do was shrug.
"So then," he finally asked. "How did you end up in the Fowler's backyard?"
"Well, Cholmondeley knew where the Professor lived," he said. "He wanted to go over and talk to them, so he said. I tried to talk him out of it, because of the weather and all that. But he was just too angry."
"What exactly was he angry about?" asked Davis.
John looked very unhappy. This was not a question that he really wanted to answer.
"Well, sir," he hedged. "This is really family business, kind of private you know."
"And this is a criminal investigation," he replied sternly. "Answer my question!"
"He was mad because Phoebe broke off the engagement because she fell in love with someone else," he said meekly, but quickly. "He was mad at Trelawney Rose because she interfered. She encouraged Phoebe to fall in love with the Professor. She also encouraged her to break the betrothal by telling her that her parents would have wanted her to marry the one that she truly loved, and it wasn't Cholmondeley. Then he was mad because Phoebe was having the baby that should have been his."
"What did that have to do with Figalilly?" he asked brusquely.
"Well, you see, Liam had been pretending to be his friend and then, when I come, Cholmomdeley discovers that he's just making sure that he stays away from the girls," he said. "I told him that was what Liam was up to and he felt betrayed. Then he seemed to have it in for all the Figalillys."
"And it didn't occur to you to call the police instead of trying to handle this yourself?" he asked. "Considering that he had a gun?"
"I swear that I did not know that he had a gun until he pulled it out," said John. "I love my cousins and would never want to see any harm come to them."
"Wait a minute," said the officer. "Mrs. Everett and her sister are your cousins too?"
"Yes," said John. "On their mother's side."
"And Mr. Figalilly is their cousin too?"
"On their father's side," explained John. "And on their mother's side. That's how the four of us are cousins."
"So let me get this straight," said Davis, looking baffled. "Who is related to who and how?"
"Phoebe, Trelawney Rose, and Liam are what you might call double cousins," he explained. "Their Mums were sisters and their Dads were brothers. And my Dad is the brother of their two Mums."
By now the police officer looked totally baffled. "But I thought that you said that Fenshaw was your cousin."
"Yes sir," he replied. "On my Mum's side."
"This is crazy," he said. "And Mrs. Everett was formerly engaged to him?"
"Well he's not her cousin," said John. "We do keep the bloodlines straight, you know."
"Bloodlines straight," muttered Davis. "No wonder these people are shooting at each other."
"Now officer," said John, finally showing a little spirit. "It was only Cholmondeley who did any shooting, or wanted to you might say. The rest of us were all out there to be peaceable. We knew that our Phoebe was very close to giving birth in the house and didn't need the likes of Cholmondeley Featherstonehaugh showing up to cause to trouble. And if he had a gun, then he was obviously going to cause trouble."
"In the house?" asked Davis, surprised. "She was going to give birth in the house?"
"Well, of course," said John. "Where else is a woman supposed to have a baby?"
"In a hospital."
Now it was John's turn to look confused.
"Not where we come from," he said.
"So then, young man," said Davis. "Let's try and finish this up. What were you doing in the yard?"
"We went out there because Cholmondeley wanted to talk to Phoebe," he said. "Like I said, we knew that she was in close having the baby. But we couldn't get near the doors, too many branches and all that. That made Cholmondeley really mad. We were trying to figure things out when these three came into the yard."
"Did they threaten him?" asked the officer.
"No," said John. "They said that they just wanted to talk. Or rather Liam did. He told the lads to stay out of the way. Family business and all that, you know. But Cholmondeley didn't want to talk. In fact, he never said a word. Even when the kid Topher tried to make peace, you know, walk towards the light and that. And all Liam wanted to do was talk it out. It was Cholmondeley who didn't want to talk. So he didn't."
"True enough, it seems," said Davis.
Parsons noticed that John's testimony seemed to have worn Davis down somewhat. Butch had told his son Billy that his Mom had a lot of family but he never mentioned all the various relationships, probably because he couldn't figure them out himself. Fortunately, the family relations had nothing to do with the actual shooting.
Davis decided to let him go for now. He could always call him back in later. It was getting late and he still had to talk to the security guards. After John left he turned to them once again.
"What a story!" he said with a sigh. "Cousins, sisters, broken engagements, betrothals at birth, birth at home, walk towards the light. What a crazy culture! I'm glad that I live in America where things are normal.
"I really hope that the press doesn't get a hold of this whole thing," said Hadley. "They'll have a field day with it. Maybe we should try and get that crime scene checked out and cleaned up as quickly as possible. As it is, Mrs. Fowler is likely to have a cow when she sees it."
"Considering all the rain we've had tonight," said Parsons. "There won't be much left to check out. The press does check police reports for stories. But it wasn't a family member who did the shooting so maybe we can keep the 'family feud' aspect out of it."
"We can try, but that's the most interesting part of it. From their point of view anyway," said Davis grimly. "Let's get that first security guard in and save the shooter for last."
When Rick Jones entered, he told the security guard to sit down.
"What is your full name?" he asked with a sigh.
"Richard R. Jones," he replied.
"Okay," he said regaining his official tone of voice. "Now how are you mixed up in this?"
"Well," said Jones. "Like Larry said out in the field. My partner and I were hired by a Mr. Bob Everett, who lives in Santa Barbara, to guard his brother's house. He said that there could be trouble with a couple of men with English accents who wanted to get at his wife and sister-in-law."
"How long had you been out there?" he asked.
"Since Saturday," he replied. "That's when Mr. Everett hired us."
"Okay," he said. "So what happened last night?"
"Well, we heard these two guys, in the middle of this huge storm talking outside the house. And they were talking in British accents. Since only a crazy person or someone with an awfully large grudge would be out in weather like that, we figured that these were the guys that we were looking out for."
"Did you hear what they said?"
"Naw," he answered. "The was too much noise from the storm."
"Did Mr. Everett give the names of the guys you were looking out for?" asked Davis.
"No, just the description," said Jones.
"Go on."
"So we decided to just keep an eye on them unless they tried to get into the house," added Jones. "We could see that they were casing it, but we didn't want to confront them until they actually tried to get in. In all honesty, I was hoping that they would give up and go away. I didn't want to have to deal with any awkward situations in the rain and wind like that."
"So what happened?" asked Davis.
"We saw the other three come in and heard that British guy calling out," he said. "One of the British guys came from behind a big tree limb. Then we saw the two men face to face and then the one young man comes out and starts talking too."
"Which young man?"
"The guy with the pony tail," said Jones.
"Could you hear what they were saying?" asked Davis.
"I could hear scraps of conversation. They were kind of yelling," replied Rick. "The deceased never said a word. But the other two looked like they were trying to persuade him to give up, come to back Jesus or something like that. Then he raised the gun and pointed it directly at them."
"What happened next?"
"I could see that he was planning to shoot," continued Rick. "Larry had that better view, so he got up and aimed his gun at his arm. But the shot was off and hit him in the chest. We don't shoot to kill, only to wound."
"And then?" asked Davis.
"Then the cops came in the yard and started questioning the kids and the two British guys," he said. "Larry came out when they asked who the shooter was. Then the police took us all down here."
"Okay," said Davis. "Officers, if you don't have any questions for Mr. Jones, then we'll bring in Mr. Kimble."
Neither Hadley nor Parsons had anything to ask.
When Kimble came in, he once again refused to have a lawyer present. He told the same story as Jones.
"When I aimed to shoot," he said. "I only wanted to hit his arm to knock the gun out. But between the wind, the rain and the poor light, I couldn't keep my arm steady. I didn't want to kill him. I only wanted to keep him from killing the others."
"What made you think that he wanted to kill them?"
"He was aiming at point blank range," replied Kimble. "I couldn't think of anything else that he'd want to do. It seemed ridiculous at the time. The kid Topher was trying to convince him to give it up to God or something like that."
"Then what happened?"
"The officers came in, looked at the scene, and asked who the shooter was," he said. "I confessed and turned over my gun. Then we came down here."
"Okay," said Davis wearily. "Officers, do you have any questions?"
Hadley and Parsons both shook their heads. Kimble was dismissed and they all looked at each other.
"Well, we have another verification of the 'come back to Jesus' speech," commented Davis. "I guess he really said it."
"Well," said Parsons. "Topher has always been a good Christian boy. I believe that his family is good friends with Pastor Jason over at Trinity."
Davis looked at him dubiously.
"Let's run through this and see if we agree on what we just heard," said Davis. "I'm thinking that the boys were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Topher was lucky that he didn't get himself shot. This was a family dispute, clear and simple."
"If you can keep the bloodlines straight," commented Hadley. "But I agree. The boys were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Parsons nodded in agreement.
"Now the two cousins both seemed to be trying to protect Mrs. Everett and her sister from Fenshaw," he went on. "But neither was armed or seemed to have any real idea of how to stop this guy. Since they were both unarmed, I tend to believe that the Trelawney cousin did not know that this fellow had a gun."
"I have had the sense the whole time that John Trelawney is afraid of his own shadow," said Hadley. "He certainly backed down fast enough when you talked tough to him. If he knew that his cousin, Fenshaw that is, had a gun, he would have never stayed with him."
"I would agree with that," said Parsons. "I really don't think that either one of the cousins thought that anyone would get hurt. They were just trying to keep Fenshaw away from Mrs. Everett and her sister."
"Okay," said Davis. "So we all agree on that. I also believe the security guards. And I haven't been out the storm tonight, but could it have been possible that Kimble's aim was thrown off?"
"Well, we'll have to wait for the autopsy to see where the bullet hit, but he probably wasn't far off the mark. I'm guessing that the trajectory of the bullet will prove out where he was aiming versus where he hit," said Hadley. "Considering the interference of the storm, I could see how it would be hard to hit a target accurately from that distance."
"Well, we also have very good agreement on the details of the shooting," said Parsons. "I think that we have six very honest men out there."
"An important question for you men is this," he answered. "Did any of them have any time to discuss their stories to get them straight? It seems like the details we got from Topher, Mike, and Figalilly are remarkably consistent."
"Not the three in our car. And these were the three. I'm thinking that they're just being honest," said Hadley. "And Sanchez was driving the other car. He knows the drill. He wouldn't have let them talk."
Davis sighed. "Okay, let's go out and wrap this up."
The three policemen went out and the six looked up at them.
"This is the deal," said Davis. "There's no reason to hold you five since you are all witnesses. But I'm not sure of how much you were able to witness in the storm, other than what you told us, but we may need you in court to testify. We have your statements, but please don't discuss them with each other or anyone else for that matter.
"Figalilly and Trelawney, since you're foreign nationals, we're going to have to ask you to turn in your passports until we're sure that we won't need you again. Larry Kimble, we're going to have to hold you until we can get out to the crime scene and investigate. We also won't be able to arraign you until morning. There's nothing else to do now."
"It seems as though the storm has stopped," said Hadley, looking around and listening.
"It stopped a few hours ago," said Topher.
"Yes," said Parsons, as he listened more closely. "I would definitely say that it has stopped."
Parsons looked over at Hadley, who had been his partner for the night. He wasn't a bad guy to work with. Good thing too. They would probably be up until dawn writing their reports together. A couple of the other officers were assigned to return the five to where they belonged. The boys wanted to go to Topher's van and the cousins to the rental car. Jones asked to call his wife to pick him up.
After they left, Parsons and Hadley went back to the conference room to fill out their paperwork. They both got themselves a cup of coffee and sat down.
"You know," said Hadley. "Part of the story still doesn't add up. I still think that Fenshaw's response was way out of proportion to what happened. I mean, how many girls have broken off engagements with how many guys and then had their husband's kids? If all the jilted guys reacted like this, you need one hell of a lot of policemen to deal with it."
"Yeah," said Parsons. "And the bit about the kid sister doesn't make any sense either. I mean, even if she did give her sister some help, I don't see how that should be so terrible for Fenshaw. And I got the impression from the boys that they were more concerned about her than Mrs. Everett."
"Well," said Hadley. "There's obviously a lot more to this story than meets the eye. But since none of it really pertains to the crime, then I think that we should keep out of it. The Everetts are entitled to their privacy. Especially if poking around goes into areas that don't have anything to do with the case. We don't have to mention the names of the witnesses, do we?"
"I don't think so," he said. "Really what we have is a man trespassed onto the Professor's property and got shot by a security guard who was on watch. It was an accidental fatal shooting. The rest is up to the judge and jury to decide."
"Do you think that the prosecutor will call all five witnesses?" asked Hadley.
"Not if Kimble pleads something and works out a deal," he answered. "Chances are, he'll get probation. The gun was licensed and he wasn't shooting to kill. The security company will no doubt hire him a good lawyer and try to keep things quiet. It's not so good for business you know."
"I wonder if Mrs. Everett had her baby last night?" said Hadley.
"Well, knowing you as I do now," replied Parsons. "I bet you find out the minute you hit your beat. Man, I do admire your dedication to those folks out there."
"Well, after landing in the middle of a homicide investigation tonight," replied Hadley. "I will be happy to go back to ticketing illegally parked cars and issuing summonses for breach of the peace."
"Me too, man," agreed Parsons. "Me too."
He thought back to the night when he and Carolyn had discovered that the cute kid they had met at the Cub Scout fair was really an orphan. It had given them all a brand new life and a happy family. The Everetts were a special family and he hoped that everything would go well with the baby. What was it that little Prudence had said that night?
"Love makes a family."
Whoever Cousin Emmeline was, she sure had it right.
To be continued . . .