Chapter 7

Sergeant Rawls entered the station and headed straight for the interview room.

Inside were Mary Gulder and Detective Eagleton. Rawls placed the can of soda on the table in front of Mary and she quietly thanked him while wiping sobbing tears from her eyes. Eagleton had just completed thoroughly questioning her for the formal police report on the case. She claimed to have met Joe Smith while working at the Puddle and started to see him in more private surroundings thereafter a couple of months ago.

Slowly, she began to realize that things were working out quite well. She had convinced the cops that someone other than her secret lover had killed Jimmy, therefore he was free and probably waiting for her back at her house, and more over she was finally free of Jimmy, whom she had grown to hate intensely. So, she said, “It was just a stupid fling with Joe. When he called the house tonight and told Jimmy to meet him down at the music shop I didn’t think he was plannin’ on killin’ Jimmy. After that call, me and Jimmy drove to town. I dropped him off outside the shop and drove on to work. Things ain’t been too smooth between me and Jimmy just lately but . . . but . . . I did love him,” she finished quietly sobbing and wimpering.

“There, there Miss Mary,” Eagleton consoled her and handed her his handkerchiff, “I’m sorry to have to put you through all this, but we gotta git all the facts straight, you understand.”
To Rawls he said, “I think I got all we’ll need from this poor girl. Why don’t you drive her on out to her house.”

Mary quickly objected, “No, thanks, detective. I can drive myself. I am too upset to go back to work, but I should probably explain myself to my boss before I take off fer home to rest and relax.” Of course, she really wanted to see if her secret lover, one Kyle Foggle, was still at the bar and ask him why he was stupid enough to get hauled into the line up and scare her half to death.

After she left Eagleton went to type up his notes on a report sheet and Rawls went to see how ‘the poor boy’ was holding up back in his cell. Upon finding it unoccupied he ran back to Eagleton’s desk, huffing, puffing and looking terribly upset.

Eagleton saw him coming and stood poised for action, “What’s wrong? Did the guy kill himself?”
The sergeant breathlessly replied, “Our boy’s done flew the coop.”