Chapter 2

"So Detective Thorn, you like your job?" I asked.

"I sure do Sheriff," he said looking all serious and shit.

"Well you need to be better at it. See I took a quick look at the crime stats." I said.

"Yeah, most crime is down all over the board," he said all proud of himself.

"Yeah and statewide most crime is up in almost every category. You know why crime goes down in one area like that?" I asked.

"Because we are doing a better job, than those other places," he said.

"I don't think so Detective Thorn. It goes down because people say, 'Hell the cops won't bother to do anything for us, so why bother to call them.' Those people only call, if they have insurance. Insurance that will only pay off with a police report. They do report things like homicide, because they kinda have to. Want to guess how our unsolved homicide matches up to other counties?" I asked.

"I know we had three unsolved homicide last year," he said. "But they were drug related. I can't do shit with those things. There are no witness and nobody is talking?" He said.

"Did you call the SBI in on them," I asked.

"They came in when it looked like two of them were maybe the same people. But like I said they were drugs and nobody saw anything." Thorn said.

"Well lets work this hit and run," I said. I had put the fear of god into him so I was satisfied. "Where is the victim?"

"He is in the hospital over in Abbottsville. He needed some special surgery on his leg." Thorn said.

"What did he say happened?" I asked.

"He said a gray BMW ran him off the road and kept going. I'm thinking the driver didn't even know the other car left the road." Thorn said.

"So if he just ran him off the road, you have no physical evidence?" I asked.

"I'm afraid not. Just what the driver and the passenger saw," he said.

"So you interviewed the passenger?" I asked.

"No the deputy who investigated the accident talked to her." he said.

"And what did she say?" I asked.

"She said the same as her boy friend a gray BMW passed them at a high rate of speed and bumped them off the road."

"If the beemer bumped them there should be trace evidence," I said.

"He changed his story when we mentioned that. Then he said he almost bumped him. He swerved to avoid the collision and went off the road."

"How old is this guy?" I asked.

"He is 25years old," Thorn said.

"And how old was the girl?" I asked.

"She is 17years old," he replied.

"Did anyone call crime scene to process the car and their clothes?" I asked.

"It was a traffic accident. The officer determined that the driver was sober and the girl was as well," Thorn said getting all huffy.

"Detective Thorn you ever had a blow job while you were driving?" I asked.

"No," he said.

"Let's go find that passenger," I suggested. "You can explain to her what a huge mistake it is to lie to the police. Then I want you to lie to her. Tell her all about DNA and how you can tell how old the sample is. Then tell her about how we lifted sperm off his jeans where she let it fall from her mouth. Got both his and her DNA and how you gonna ask the judge for a five year sentence for insurance fraud."

"You really want me to do that?" he asked.

"Do you want to keep your job?" I asked. "Cause I can pull a deputy off the road. He and I can go talk to this girl."

"Okay I'll do it," he said.

"No Detective Thorn, we will do it together. You are just going to do the talking," I said.

We found her at the high school. We got her in one of the counselors offices. She lasted about five minutes, then folded like a piece of origami. When we left the school, we drove down to the Hospital at Abbottsville to see the driver of the car. We explained to him about how much shit he was in. Thorn was very nervous, when he called his wife to tell her he was going to be working late.

I talked to him while Thorn was on the phone. "You see the biggie is statutory rape. Then insurance fraud, you know that bullshit story you told us, so you could get your leg fixed on the insurance company's dime. You know what got you caught?" I asked.

"No what," he said absent minded.

I made sure no one was around when I explained, "I once gave a guy a blow job in his car. I damn near got me killed, cause he ran off the road, when he came in my mouth."

"Now Detective Thorn, ' I said on the way back to County Seat, "I have no idea who you knew, or what you had on the last sheriff, but now you either do the job, or you leave. I want those three last murder files on my desk by noon tomorrow."

It was after six when we got back to County Seat, but we closed the case. I think I made the point. When I got home as 7PM I went to the storage trailer and hit the heavy bag for an hour. It was 9pm when I got to the Softball field. I had never been there so late.

I saw kids hanging out on the bleachers as I ran by. I did the five laps I had planned then ran two more just because I felt I needed it. I was going to my truck when a boy of about fifteen asked me, "Hey old lady wanna buy some weed."

"No and I think you should move your operation somewhere else," I said.