Some Like It Hawk(53)

“As long as they can’t force you to evict Phinny any time soon, that’s one less thing we have to worry about for now,” Randall said.

“I’m surprised they haven’t tried to file criminal trespass charges against him,” Rob said. “You’d have to arrest him if they did that, right?”

I wasn’t the only one who looked at Rob in surprise for a few moments. People tended to forget that before going into the computer game business Rob had managed to graduate from the University of Virginia law school and pass the Virginia Bar exam.

“You’re right,” the chief said finally. “So far, all they’ve done is serve eviction notices. If they’d ever escalated to criminal trespass, I’d have had to do something. But for some reason, they haven’t.”

“I suspect if they had, Cousin Festus would have filed criminal trespass charges against them,” I said. “Hasn’t he already notified them that he considers them trespassers?”

“Because the money that should have gone to Caerphilly went to ex-mayor Pruitt,” Rob said, nodding.

“Could be,” the chief said. “Whatever the reason, I think we can count on Mr. Festus Hollingsworth to fight a delaying action if FPF tries to file criminal trespass charges. But that’s far from our only problem. Frankly, if I don’t solve this murder in the next couple of days, I probably won’t be around to solve it at all. And some of the rest of you may have some difficult legal issues to contend with.”

He stood up and handed Randall a piece of paper.

Randall looked at it and frowned.

“What the devil is this?” he asked.

“A subpoena,” the chief said. “FPF is subpoenaing me to give a deposition.”

“About what?” Randall looked puzzled, as if not sure what the fuss was all about. For that matter, I didn’t understand myself. Subpoenas, briefs, and depositions had become a fact of life in Caerphilly ever since the legal battle with the Evil Lender had begun.

“Technically, in the matter of Caerphilly County vs. the First Progressive Financial, LLC, which if memory serves is our countersuit claiming that FPF are the trespassers, not Mr. Throckmorton. But it’s obvious what they really want to do.”

Not, apparently, to anyone else in the room. We all looked at him with puzzled looks. Then I suddenly realized what he meant.

“You mean it’s an excuse to put you under oath and ask you what you know about Mr. Throckmorton’s siege. Because they know you won’t lie about it under oath.”

The chief nodded.

“Can they do that?” Randall asked.

“They’re allowed to try,” the chief said. “And if they’re smart enough to word their questions right, they’ll get the answers they want. For months, I’ve been sidestepping their questions, or giving clever answers that weren’t actual lies. I’ve talked it over with Reverend Wilson and he agrees that in a case like this, where there’s dishonesty and injustice on the other side, what I’ve been doing is permissible. But I won’t swear on the Bible to tell the truth and then lie. So we darn well better solve this thing in the next day or so, or I might be trying to run the investigation from a jail cell.”

“How soon do they want this deposition?” Randall asked.

“They wanted it tomorrow,” the chief said. “And I told them no way in Hades I was going to take time during the first forty-eight hours of a murder investigation to give a deposition in a matter that’s been ongoing for months. You and the county attorney may need to talk some sense into them on that front.”

“Can do,” Randall said. “We’ll delay as much as we can.”

“So, Horace,” the chief said. “Tell me you’ve got something that will clear Mr. Throckmorton and keep me out of the slammer.”

“Not much,” Horace said. “When the GSR tests come back, odds are they’ll show Phinny’s hands are clean. And Rob’s. Of course, most, if not all, of the guards will come back clean, too. No visible blood spatter on Rob or Phinny’s clothes or on the inside of the barrier. But there wasn’t any visible blood spatter on the outside of the barrier either.”

“I guess she was killed a little too far from the barrier,” Randall said.

“Or there was something between her and the barrier that caught most of the spatter,” Horace said.

“You mean, something like the killer’s body?” the chief asked.

Horace nodded.

“But I’m a generalist,” he added. “I think we need to get a really good blood spatter specialist to come down and analyze the scene. And we need to leave the barrier in place until that happens. The exact configuration of the barrier could be critical.”