The Silent Boy (Emma McPherson Book 1) by A.J. Flynn (people reading books txt) 📕

touched. I haven’t ever heard of anyone breaking into a house just to beat up a woman.”

“I know, Doctor. But I would still like to see her. I want to see for myself how bad it is.”

“All right, come on. I want to check and see how effective the medication is anyway.”

They made their way upstairs into the sickroom. As they entered, the nurse stood up from the chair at Hayley’s bedside.

“Any changes?” Dr. Blackwell asked in a low voice.

“No, Doctor. She’s been quietly sleeping.”

“Well, she should after all I gave her, but she’s been through the wringer so she still may have some reaction even with the drugs. Be sure to watch over her carefully.”

“I won’t leave her,” the nurse assured him.

The doctor got busy with the usual things that bedside doctors do, but McPherson’s gaze never strayed from Hayley’s face. Her left cheek was dark and swollen, and her lips were puffed up to twice their normal size and deeply cut where the blows had mashed the skin into her teeth.

Rage rose up inside her until her hands were shaking. Allow one murder to happen, and suddenly others feel like they have a right to follow it up with crimes of their own.

The doctor finished up his examination and motioned for McPherson to follow him out. Once they were in the hall the man remarked bitterly, “Beautiful, isn’t it? Really makes you proud to be human. As a doctor I’m trained to be objective, but when you catch him my vote will be that we hang him.”

“Then I’d have to cuff you just the same. I better get going, and thanks for your help. I’ll check back in with you tomorrow.”

Blackwell shook her hand with a hearty grip. “You’ll let me know what you find?”

“Once there’s something to tell, you’ll know.”

On her way back down, McPherson’s mind was busy sifting through the men that could have been responsible. When she got to the car, she was surprised to see Taylor. She had completely forgotten the officer had come along.

“I think you’re losing your charm,” she said as she stepped in. “I’d forgotten you were here.”

Taylor joked about women a lot, but he hated seeing them mistreated. He was one of the few lucky men who loved his wife, mother, and mother-in-law and, because of that, had a great respect for women.

“She isn’t hurt too bad physically, but the doctor is worried for her mental condition. He says two shocks in a row like the ones she’s just had can be dangerous.”

“You know, Lieutenant, my job is law enforcement. Even when our society decides to have someone killed, I’m all for doing a clean, quick job, but when something like this happens, I can’t be certain I wouldn’t be right there alongside the mob during a hanging.”

“You wouldn’t be,” McPherson said with confidence. “You’d be right here doing your job. Even if you knew without a doubt that he was guilty, you’d work to protect him, because your way of looking at things promises a fair trial to everyone. As for the old-fashioned laws, I wish I had a nickel for every time a mob of self-righteous citizens hung the wrong man.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I forgot to mention. The guy down at the garage identified the picture. Word came over the radio.”

McPherson sighed. They were entering the home stretch, and it looked like a coast-in.

“Where to?” Taylor asked.

“Let’s find a good restaurant, I’m ordering the biggest steak I can buy, and so long as you’re with me, I’ll buy you the second biggest.”

Taylor grinned. “There’s a place down on Grove where you can go into the kitchen and pick out your cut.”

McPherson looked undecided. “I saw a side of beef that was said to be well-cured once, but it looked spoiled to me. It had a green fuzz over the top of it. I would prefer to enjoy my steak.”

“Boss, I think it’s just that you don’t know much about meat. I’ll pick yours out for you, and anyway I heard this place scrapes the fuzz off before they cut it.”

“I’ll trust your judgement, but you better be right. Now let’s get going.”

As they rode along, the pent up tension McPherson had felt about the case began to wane. Whenever she started one, she was always afraid that the murderer might get away with it. She hated facing people with proof of their guilt, but she’d hate it even more if they never had to pay for their crimes.

XXII

Things were going along as planned, so McPherson felt that it was time to inform the captain on their progress. She gathered up all the papers concerning the case and knocked on Ford’s door. Once inside she looked at the old man with envy. Even though it was late in the day, he looked like he’d just come from a nap and a shower.

She set the cardboard folder on the desk and said, “I think we got him. It may not be enough to suit the DA yet, but we’ve got him.”

The captain opened the folder. “Did you find new evidence?”

“No, just confirmed the old, Captain, but as soon as Miss Priss gets here and finds out what we’ve got on her boyfriend, she’ll spill her guts.”

“I presume you’re referring to Mrs. Johnson?”

McPherson sat down like a woman who’d had a long and hard, but extremely rewarding, day. “That’s our girl.”

“We found a man out in Helter who sold tires to a guy who didn’t need them and refused to trade in the old ones. He picked the customer’s picture out of a lineup. The shoemaker is also pretty sure that he’s the guy who brought the shoes in, and as far as alibis go, he doesn’t have one.”

“Taking this to court on nothing more than personal identification might be risky. I’ve seen more than one witness change their mind. Do you have any idea what he did with the tires? They’d carry a