JJ in Wonderland – Chapter 7
.
"I bet it's that Sheriff Dougherty." JJ said angrily.
They scrambled to their feet as they pulled out their guns and hid behind the opening. "I have an idea…" They said as the same time and smiled.
It was the Sheriff as he walked softly into the vast depot with a flashlight as he swept it around. The agents saw with the help of moonlight streaming in that he had a gun in his other hand.
Dave looked at JJ and signaled to her to get ready.
JJ nodded in return as she put her gun away and stood up.
"Sheriff?" JJ called out to him, she looked nervous and frightened.
The older man spun around rapidly as he shone the light into her face, blinding her momentarily. "Agent, where is your partner?" He glanced around searching for Dave.
"He…he…left me here… to find you. Why did you leave us?" She sounded panicky.
The Sheriff almost smiled before he changed his expression to sympathy. "I had to respond to a…a…missing person in town. I called out to y'all before I left, I said I'd be back later to pick y'all."
"What's the gun for, Sheriff?" JJ pointed to it.
Sheriff Dougherty looked at it and chuckled, "Well, I didn't know what I'd come up against; transients are known to camp out here."
"Oh…that's a good idea. Can we get out of here and look for my partner?"
Putting his gun back to its holster, "What's the hurry, Agent Jareau?" He began to rub his face and smiled at her, "We could have a conversation here, you can tell me all 'bout yourself. Are you married?"
JJ wanted to roll her eyes but held back as she shook her head, "No, I'm not."
He began to approach her and stood before her, "I have a place not far from here…you and I can go there for a while." He suggested.
JJ gave him a surprised look, "What…?"
Before he could answer, JJ heard a loud thump and the Sheriff fell to the ground, unconscious as Dave stood behind him, the butt of his gun pointed out.
JJ brushed her arms, "It's about time, Dave. I was beginning to get gross out by him…" Glaring at the down man, "You're a sick and perverted old geezer!" For good measure she kicked him in his groins, Dougherty did not stir.
Dave, in the process of removing Dougherty's handcuffs from the back of his belt, looked up at JJ, "Seriously?" He shook his head, "I doubt he's going to wake up anytime soon."
"He's going to feel the pain when he wakes up and I want him to feel where it hurts the most."
Dave chuckled as he handcuffed the Sheriff, cuffing his hands behind him. "Remind me never to piss you off, my dear."
JJ smiled, "I wouldn't do that to you, Dave." She smiled. "I'd really maim you if you ever feel the need to act like an asshole."
He began to laugh as he stood up, "Shall we get out of here?"
"Gladly!" JJ began to walk out with him. "He's going to wish he'd didn't come back."
…..
They saw that it was after 2am when they rode out of the depot.
The bright moon was at its peak, when they drove away.
"I don't ever want to come back to this creepy place ever again." JJ uttered as she looked back before turning forward.
"We might, JJ. As soon as we find out what's the deal with that Sheriff."
"What are we going to tell the Police Deportment when we get there?"
Dave shrugged, "I want to get a look at the Sheriff's profile, where he was born and where did he grow up?"
"From the sound of his accent, not far from here," JJ replied. "I won't be surprise if he was born here in this town."
"Yeah, I agree with you." He turned to look at her before he returned his attention to the road."
"Look, I see the sign for the Police Department…to your right."
He nodded as he followed the direction of the sign.
Pulling in front of the parking lot, the two agents got out and went into the PD.
"Huh," One of the deputies got up from his desk. "Can I help you folks?"
Displaying their badges, Dave nodded, "Yes, I'd like to look at your department's personal files."
"Huh, I…I don't think so, Agent." The deputy was alert now. "Sheriff Dougherty's gone for the night, you'll have to wait till tomorrow morning when he comes in…about 10am." He looked nervously at them.
Dave shook his head, "No, we do not have the time, and he's er…tied up as we speak."
"Tied up? What do you mean?" He asked Dave.
"Don't worry about him, deputy, he'll be fine in a few hours of course he'll have a heck of a headache." He turned to look at JJ and grinned.
"What's going on?"
"Look," JJ cut in. "We have reason to believe your Sheriff is not who he is. What can you tell us about him?"
Looking confused, "Er…Sheriff?" He scratched his head, "I'm not very sure, he keeps to himself mainly. He doesn't mix with us much. I mean, there's talk and all but nothing to prove it's true. Sheriff was born here in 'Cauga and he practically knows this town by heart and he's responsible for the new contracts coming in since the Avondale Mills factory closed couple years ago."
"Does this new contract have anything to do with the railway?" Dave asked him.
The deputy frowned, "Yeah, but the new factory won't be built till next year. But yeah, the train depot will become the central hub once the factory is opened, it's a good thing for our town; it'll open up many employments for the town folks here."
"By the way, the Sheriff mentioned responding to a missing person here in town earlier today, do you know what is going on?"
The deputy shook his head as he moved to his desk and began typing something in the computer. "I haven't heard 'bout any missing person. Are you sure?" He looked up and stared at the two agents. "Everyone here pretty much knows everything occurred, and if the Sheriff said there's a missing person, he didn't tell us 'bout it." He shook his head and pointed at the screen, "Nothing from the Sheriff 'cept that y'all are here."
"Did he write down the purpose of our visit?"
Reading the information on the screen, "Nope, all it says is two federal agents from Virginia coming down for an inspection, it didn't say what the inspection's 'bout." He glanced up at them. "I take it you're not here for inspection?"
"We're here to investigate a possible murder that might happen a few years ago…. As far back as five years ago."
His eyes wide opened, the deputy looked shocked, "Murder? I never heard of any murder 'round here and I've been with the force for over 7 years. Are you sure y'all in the right place? Stuff like this heinous as murder don't happen here. We'd all know 'bout it."
JJ and Dave exchanged looks.
"Well, there is, deputy. Now, we have every reason to believe your Sheriff is responsible for this murder and probably a possible missing person case." Dave explained.
"And I reckon y'all want to look into his personal file?" The deputy said in a resigned voice.
JJ and Dave nodded as Dave continued, "Yes, deputy, that'll be very co-operative of you. You certainly don't want me to call the FBI director at 3 in the morning, do you?"
The younger man shook his head, "Er, I reckon it ain't necessary." He opened the petition that separated the police department and visitors and let them through. "I'll take you to the cabinet."
"I really appreciate it, deputy." Dave nodded.
"I hope for my sake you find something on him or it's my neck on the line for letting you look into his file." The deputy sighed.
Frowning, JJ asked him, "Why would you say something like that? I mean I appreciate your co-operation but it sounds like he's not very well liked."
The uniformed man shook his head, "Oh, Sheriff Dougherty is fine as a law man but personally, we all find him unsocial…able, he never joins us in 'em get togethers like party or federal holiday celebrations. He's always on duty during those times."
"Well," Dave nodded, "I'd say he's dedicated, he gave you guys time off while he sacrifice his time to serve the community and ensure everyone stay safe during holidays."
The deputy shook his head, "Don't mean to contradict you, sir. But it's not just that. He…We've never even been to his house! Come on, we all know where each of us lived and we've been to each other's home and dine supper with the folks but not Sheriff; he had never invited any of us to his home. Hell…I mean heck," He quickly glanced over at JJ and looked apologetically, "Heck, we don't even know if he's married or not."
Dave and JJ exchanged another look, "It is strange but let's start with what we have on file before we speculate more." Dave nodded at the cabinet.
The deputy opened the drawer with a key and looked through the employees' folder and frowned as he looked further, "Strange…where's the Sheriff's folder?"
"Could it be that he kept it in his office?" JJ pointed at the darkened room which was the Sheriff's office.
The deputy looked at the office with the closed door, "Oh, he usually locked his office up at night."
"Isn't it strange he'd do something like that?" Dave pointed. "That sounds like he had something to hide from all of you."
The deputy shook his head, "Er, well he told us he keeps sensitive materials in there. We're not s'pose to go in without his authorization."
"I think at this time, we're insisting you open his office now." Dave looked intensely stern at the deputy. "Unless you us to wake up the Director of the FBI and you'll explain to him why."
Shaking his head, the deputy walked to the wall by a filing cabinet and removed a set of keys and opened the Sheriff's door.
Flipping the switch to 'on', Dave and JJ walked into the office with Dave looking into the Sheriff's desk and JJ, two more smaller filing cabinets across from the desk.
"It's locked." JJ said as she jiggled the handles.
Dave opened the center drawer and saw a pair of keys and took it out, "Try this."
JJ tried the keys and saw that it worked and pulled the first drawer opened and began to look through the folders.
"I don't see anything personal in here," Dave said as he checked the drawers at the desk until he lifted the large calendar blotter in the center and frowned, "Hello…what have we here?" He pulled it out and saw a set of photos and uttered a curse word. "JJ, I think we've found the answer."
…
End of Chapter 7
