Consumed by E. H. Reinhard Read Free Book Online

investigation.”
    “It seemed like more than that to me. They had one suspect ever, and despite glaring things that probably should have been looked into further, he just was kind of set on ‘the guy didn’t do it, may have been killed, and case closed.’ I mean, just because he was in custody didn’t mean that he couldn’t have had an accomplice. The main things are the disappearing shortly after and not pleading innocence when he was in custody. You’d think if someone brought you in and was questioning you about chopping up bodies, you’d probably have a rebuttal or two.”
    “Right? But not a piece of evidence, remember.”
    “True. I’d like to find that mother and those sons either way and see what they have to say.”
    Beth nodded. “I think we need some more information on what happened that came from someone first hand. If he has an officer or two that were there back then, that would help,” she said.
    “Hopefully.” I cracked my neck from side to side and shook my head. “The sheriff’s department not searching for the truth to what happened just kind of boggles my mind. I mean, if the guy was innocent and some townspeople killed him anyway, wouldn’t you want to bring the people responsible to justice? Wouldn’t you think this Owen Matheson’s wife or family would be clamoring for an arrest?”
    Beth looked over at me. “One would think. Maybe he fled, and his family went to meet with him somewhere else.”
    “It’s a possibility,” I said. “Just seems like beyond-shoddy police work.”
    “Who knows how the law enforcement was run back then, though or how it is now, for that matter. Hell, some of the deputies in that building might have been part of that angry mob.”
    “It’s not out of the question. Well, when we talk to the deputies that were there years ago, maybe that’s something that should be added into our questioning for them.”
    “What? Were you part of a mob that ran a guy out of town or killed an innocent man? I’m not sure how well that would go over,” Beth said.
    “I probably wouldn’t phrase it exactly to that effect, but I’d like to know a little more about this townspeople mob—I don’t know—maybe just getting a couple versions of a history lesson to see if it all holds water.”
    “Sure,” Beth said.
    I let out a puff of air. “One way or another, someone should have handled it a hell of a lot better back then. Even now though, I still have to think that someone at the department would want a crack at solving the thing. The major crime of the area that everyone knows about, and no one wants to get to the truth. It just seems too odd to me.”
    “Well, we’ll see what we get when we’re through—go from there,” Beth said.
    Agent Clifford put on his turn signal to exit the highway. He made a left at the end of the ramp, followed by a quick right onto the next street. Then he slowed and put on his blinker again to enter the parking lot of a standalone building—the long, tan single-story brick building was set halfway up a small hill. The front entrance stood three stories and was all windows, an atrium. The building didn’t look too old yet also didn’t appear if it was much newer than fifteen years. Aside from the light-blue hue of the glass windows, it was fairly nondescript. We pulled alongside Agent Clifford in the parking lot and stepped out. I glanced around. Aside from the building we stood in front of, I didn’t see another building up or down the block. A few trees broke up the browning grass. The parking lot held a handful of cars—none ambulances or coroner transport. Beth and I followed Clifford to the front doors—the sign above them read Nashville Medical Science.
    The three of us walked in through the front. To our immediate left was a waiting area with two couches, a couple of chairs, a television playing news mounted to the wall, and a gas fireplace. From what I could see, the floor in the entire place was wood. A large