Chapter 26

The room was warm and it really felt good. I had been standing out in the cold wearing just my running suit and the light parka for well over two hours. I made short work of stripping off the running suit and hanging it on racks to dry. After that little domestic chore, it was on to the hot shower. I also washed my new peach fuzz of course.

I was dressed in a clean uniform and in the office well before nine. I didn't think that was too bad, since I had been waylaid for quite some time. "So Sarge where you putting me today?" I asked when I entered his office.

"Before you do anything else, we have a meeting with the Chief Deputy," Michaels said.

"Am I in trouble?' I asked I remembered his words on the phone earlier.

"We are giving you your thirty day evaluation and some good advice," the sergeant said.

"Then I am in trouble," I said.

"Let's say you still have a job and go from there," he said.

"Well that's a good beginning," I admitted.

"Why don't you go have a talk with Simpson, while we wait for the Chief Deputy," Michaels said.

"Sure," I replied. I really did want to get some information from Simpson.

I called dispatch and had them call Simpson for me. Fortunately he was nearby so we arranged to meet at the station. Since I was in the station, I just went to the detective's office to wait.

"Deputy Porter, what can I do for you?" Simpson asked.

"Sergeant made it sound like you wanted to talk to me," I said.

"Not really, but I guess we could discuss the Gypsy Allen thing." he suggested.

"So do you know what happened?" I asked.

"It's a given that Gypsy killed her husband for sure. The question is under what circumstances. She says he killed Jenny and was coming for her. Also according to her she shot him on sight." Simpson said.

"Yeah, I know all that, so what really happened?" I asked.

"Truth is I'm still working on that. Gypsy's husband lost his job three months before the shooting. They went from struggling to make it one day, to almost total poverty the next. They were still on public assistance of one kind or another when all this happened, but they weren't really in poverty after that first month."

"Something to do with the loud lifestyle?" I asked.

"Gypsy ain't talking, but we found someone who wanted to volunteer information for consideration in a different open investigation." Simpson said dragging it out.

"So what was it? I'm dying to know," I said.

"You are going to love this, nude pot parties," Simpson said. My heart sank. "One of Edward Allen's friends needed a place to have a party and Edward needed the money. After the first one, he just pushed out the guy who brought the idea to him in the first place.

Edward bought a big screen TV and a subscription to 'porn is us' on the net. He sold pot and rented out rooms in his house to people from the first party and friends of theirs."

"So Gypsy wasn't interested and went to hang out at the bars?" I asked.

"She isn't talking and her lawyer isn't either, so we don't know. We also don't know where Jenny was during the nude parties." Simpson said.

"If Jenny was staying with the aunt, and no one had died, it would have been a no harm no foul kind of party. Bust a few people for simple possession and let them all go home after an hour." I suggested.

"Yeah, well that's where we are right now," Simpson said. "You got any ideas?"

"I still remember how quick she was to suggest sex for our silence. I have a feeling she was out soliciting, while those parties were going on. I would expect that selling it at home those nights would be easy. Why would she bother to go out?" I asked aloud. I had a pretty good idea. It was because the men wanted her to be the entertainment. Perform live for them.

"We don't know that she was selling it," Simpson said.

"True," I said. A message came over the radio ordering me to report to the Chief Deputy's office.

"Deputy Porter, I see you have been involved in more high profile crap," Webster said.

"I'm sorry what high profile case are we talking about?" I asked. Anything can be high profile and anything can be nothing. It is all about circumstances nothing more.

"Do you have cable in the motel where you live," Sergeant Michaels asked.

"Sure, but I don't watch a lot of TV," I suggested.

"Have you ever heard of news99?" Webster asked.

"Isn't that the local cable operated news station?" I asked.

"You are almost right. It's statewide cable news association. They have branch offices all over. They have a reporter out of Asheville, he covers the mountains and he drives a company owned compact car. Would you care to guess where he was at 5AM this morning."

"Headed for the Cafe on the Square to interview the Judge in the Gypsy Allen case over breakfast," Sergeant Michaels answered for me. "He was also going to do a human interest piece about the Cafe, since it is a landmark around here."

"Oh so the reporter was in the crushed compact car?" I asked. My heart sank as I tried to remember all the silly things I said to him.

"You guessed it. News99 did a live segment with him at the hospital, since his camera man was already here. Would you like to guess what he said about you?" Webster asked.

"No sir," I said racking my brain to see just how badly I had fucked up.