“It’s all yours,” I said to Fred Parson, the best forensic investigator I have ever known.
“Thanks for not leaving any dead bodies; at least we won’t have that smell to contend with.”
“Always glad to help,” I replied.
Dan was looking at a long rod with a tube attached to it.
“Nothing else for us to do here Dan, let’s go talk to Canon.”
~~
“Room one,” LeRoy said when we came in.
I looked in the window. Earl was sitting with his arms wrapped around him, rocking back and forth. Marcus was sitting in a chair near the corner, not saying a word. Earl would try to start a conversation but Marcus just sat looking at him.
“We need to get one of the ADA’s down here. I want to make sure they are totally up to speed on this guy,” I told LeRoy.
“Okay. So?”
“So, please let them know we need one down here.”
“You’re the lead, you tell them,” LeRoy said.
He was right but what a jerk. I thought he would be better once he was away from Farmington but apparently it wasn’t to be.
“I’ll make the call,” Dan said.
“I’m not your gofer Bartoni,” LeRoy said after Dan had left.
I decided to just let it drop. Nothing I could say would make a difference. Besides, I knew my not replying would irritate him even more. Rather than stand there beside him I went to the captain's office and brought him up to speed on what we had found so far.
“Do you think there is any connection between Cannon and the Ashton kid?” he asked.
“Honestly I doubt it. I mean they are both killers but Ashton is a sexual predator. I don’t know what Canon is yet.”
“We don’t know if Ashton killed that girl or not. We still don’t have a body and no one has come forward looking for her.”
“She hasn’t been back to class either,” I pointed out.
“The weather could account for that. Look, for now just wrap up this case and then we can take another look at Ashton,” the captain said.
I didn’t like it much but he is the boss. When I came out of his office Stacy Lawson, the ADA, was waiting for me.
“Congratulations, I hear you got the guy.”
“Looks like he is good for it so far. I’m going to go in and talk to him. I would appreciate your sitting in. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize the case.”
“You’re all right Bartoni. I appreciate this more than you know. Let’s go put this guy away shall we?”
“Let’s do it,” I said as we headed for the interrogation...I mean, interview room.
Canon was still rocking back and forth hugging himself when we entered the room. Marcus nodded and left.
“What’s going on? Why are you here,” Canon said in a weak voice.
“First I need to get a few things out of the way. This is being recorded both with audio and video. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and may be used in a court of law against you. Do you understand that?”
“I’m not stupid,” he replied.
“Good, initial here, I told him indicating the box on the form.
“You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed by the court. Do you understand that provision?”
He just looked at me. I pointed to the box for him to initial. He finally scrawled his initials on the paper. I took it and handed it to the ADA.
“Mr. Canon, my name is Detective Bartoni. This is Assistant District Attorney Ms. Lawson. We would like you to tell us about what you were doing in the garage at route 124 in Hamilton County.”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? Mr. Canon, we have a team out there tearing that place apart. We also have your car in our lab and a second team at your house. We know that you kidnapped Leigh Leonard. She has positively identified you as her abductor.”
“She made a mistake. It wasn’t me.”
“Oh give it a rest Canon. We know you killed Elaine Gregory and Alice Harding. You would have killed Leigh Leonard, but she got away. You probably thought she had died out in the cold but she didn’t. She is recovering quite nicely. How about you stop the bull and tell us just what you were really trying to accomplish.”
“I didn’t do anything. You have the wrong guy,” he insisted.
I wanted to reach across the table and smack him upside the head but decided that would not be a good move with the ADA sitting there.
“Look Earl. We have a witness; we have a warrant to search your location which will turn up all kinds of evidence leading back to you. What you were doing was meant to help, wasn’t it? You were trying to invent some device that would make life better for patients. Leigh said you were brilliant.”
“Really? She said that?”
“She said what you were working on could change things for the better. The only reason she ran was she was afraid you wouldn’t let her help you get started.”
He looked at me for several seconds. He actually stopped rocking for a few seconds.
“With her money I could have really made it work. I needed resources,” he said.
“What was the invention you were working on?” I asked.
“A way to make it easier to drain the blood out of a person. It would have been revolutionary,” he said a smile crossing his face.
“Why would you want to do that? I’m not a doctor so maybe you can explain why that would be necessary?”
“Think about it. When a body comes to the morgue one of the things they have to do is drain the blood. That is no easy chore. This would make it so much easier,” he said as if it made perfect sense.
“Let me see if I've got this straight. That long spike we saw was for piercing the heart so the blood could be drained by pumping?”
“Exactly. With the heart pumping you could get all the blood out easier and faster. It would save a lot of time.”
I looked over at Lawson. She just shook her head.
“Earl. Do you even realize how ridicules that sounds? When they come into the morgue they are already dead and their heart has stopped pumping. What good would this thing do? If they were alive all it would do is kill them like your first two victims. How many pre-med classes have you taken?” I asked.
“Six.”
“Didn’t you learn anything from them?”
“I flunked all but one.”
I was having a hard time believing this guy was for real. I mean we get some pretty stupid people in here but right now Earl Canon was heading to the top of the list.
“Do you know who Terrence Ashton is?” I suddenly asked, watching for a reaction.
He had the same blank look as when we came in. Nothing registered.
“Never heard of him,” he said.
“Let me tell you where we are at the moment. Earl, you are going to be charged with the kidnapping and unlawful detention of Leigh Leonard. When we have gathered all of the evidence at your house, car, and garage you will most likely be charged with premeditated murder. What do you think?” I said turning to Stacy.
“Death penalty more than likely.”
“Noooo,” Earl shouted, “No way. I was trying to help. You have to experiment to get it right. Everyone knows that,” he said rocking faster.
“Earl you may be able to help yourself. Write down exactly what you did to each of the girls. Start from the very beginning. If you do that, the ADA may drop the death penalty. We need details. If you withhold anything it could jeopardize your chances of having the death penalty dropped.”
“Okay, but promise you will drop the death penalty,” he moaned.
“We will see how much you tell us. Don’t leave anything out, got it?” I said.
“Got it,” he replied.
“Good work. No problems at all. You chose your words wisely,” Lawson said after we left Canon to write out his confession.
“Thanks, I appreciate that.”
“When he is done,
make sure he signs it then get him booked in. We will take it from there. You do nice work Detective,” she replied as she departed.
“Very nice work,” the captain said coming up behind me.
“Thanks captain but I still have the Ashton thing.”
“Actually you don’t. That is being turned over to the FBI. It seems the big shots want to distance themselves from it altogether. You need to have your files ready for them. They are sending someone to get them at 3:00 p.m.”
“I don’t like it but I understand,” I replied and headed to my desk.
I spent the next hour getting Canon squared away. When I got back to my desk the phone was ringing.
“Detective Bartoni.”
“Hi Detective Bartoni. This is Deputy Stone.”
“Hello. What can I do for you Deputy?”
“I just wanted to see how the case was progressing. I was hanging around when your tech guys were there. They had a ton of stuff they took from the garage.”
“We got a confession. He has been booked into the system. The DA’s office seems happy so all in all, I think I can put finished on this one,” I told him.
“That is really cool. You are quite some detective,” he said.
“Thanks, I appreciate that.”
“Uh...look, I was wondering if you might like to get a bite to eat to celebrate your success,” he stammered.
I was silent. Shocked was more like it.
“Detective?”
“Uh, I’m here. Are you sure about this?” I said.
What a stupid thing to say. I am a moron at times.
“I am. I would really like that,” he said.
“When do you have in mind?”
“Is tonight too soon?”
“Sounds just fine to me. Look, my name is Angie. Detective Bartoni is kind of formal don’t you think?” I said.
“Okay Angie. Nice name. Call me Greg then,” he replied.
Of course his name would be something...perfect.
- FILE CLOSED –
Marshall W. Huffman has been writing novels for several years. In 2012, his wife, Susan, persuaded him to e-publish his novel, The End , through Amazon. It was the first book in The Event series. That series has sold very successfully. Since then, he has e-published many of his novels. FROSTBITE is the second novel in the Detective Angie Bartoni mystery series.
Marshall’s first trilogy is THE EVENT SERIES and consists of THE END, THE BEGINNING, and THE REVELATION. He has also published a series of books entitled: THE LOGAN FILES with a central cast of characters. In addition, he has another series entitled: THE NORRIS FILES with its own set of central characters. He enjoys writing mysteries, techno-thrillers, and Si-Fi.
Marshall was born in Bainbridge, Georgia and grew up in Indiana. After spending eight years in the Navy, he attended Ball State University, earning a B.S. degree in Business.
During and after college, he was involved in the restaurant business and spent the next twenty-five years in all types of venues, eventually owing his own fine dining restaurant. After years of long hours, he decided on a career change. He attended Eastern Illinois University earning a MBA. Because of his business background, Eastern Illinois University asked him to teach in the hospitality management program. He was recruited from Eastern to Parkland College and soon took over as the Program Director for the Hospitality Program. During his tenure there, he became a chef and had a television show called Cooking around the World with Chef Marshall and taught a series of cooking classes for Continuing Education as well.
Professor Huffman retired from teaching along with his wife, Dr. Susan Huffman, to Tampa Bay Florida.
You can find his books under: MARSHALL HUFFMAN at Amazon.com.
DEAD AIM - Angie Bartoni Case File #3 (Angie Bartoni Case Files Book 1) Page 15
