Page 3 of Lawman’s Witness

Hanson made a disbelieving sound. “Leaving the scene of what you thought was a murder. Dropping your suitcase and running? Why not just call the police?”

“I’d witnessed a murder,” she said, unable to hide her exasperation. “I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. I was afraid to take the time to dig my phone from my purse to call the police until I’d gotten away.” She saw Hanson exchange a look with her sister before he spoke directly to Josie.

“When we arrived at the house, we found no sign of an altercation, no sign of a murder and no body.” Hanson shook his head, still twirling the pen. “No blood, no nothing. No sign that anyone had even been there. Also, there were no sheets of plastic like your sister described.” He raised his hand without looking at Amy Sue as he quickly added, “We called the general contractor. He said he’d ordered the plastic on the floors and doorways removed yesterday morning because the Sheetrock guys are coming Monday.”

Amy shook her head. “That can’t be right,” she said, trying not to raise her voice. “I saw him grab the plastic sheeting from the doorway before he put down her body. There must have still been plastic on the floor as well. It explains why he didn’t seem in a hurry to cover up his crime. He must have known that he had plenty of time to get away before I could report it and you could get out to the house. With all the plastic around, of course there wasn’t any blood or evidence of the murder.”

“Sounds like you have it all figured out,” Detective Hanson said. “So, who was the woman he allegedly killed?”

Amy Sue started to speak, but her sister squeezed her hand to stop her. “I believe that’s your job,” Josie said. “My sister has already told you she didn’t recognize the young blonde woman. She’s explained what she witnessed, and you’ve taken her statement. Have you been able to reach Jack Marshall?”

“He’s out of town,” Detective Hanson said, sounding pleased at the news. “He’s been gone all weekend,” he added, as if daring Amy Sue to argue the point.

“According to whom?” her sister inquired.

“His wife,” Detective Tate, the cowboy cop, said.

Josie sat back and let go of Amy Sue’s hand. “Yes, the wife is always the last to know, isn’t she.”

The detective dropped the pen. “I don’t know what you’re insinuating.”

“Of course you do,” Josie said. “My sister has told you in her statement sitting in front of you exactly what she saw. They appeared to be a couple. He was showing her the house, which would explain her excitement—until he killed her. It is perfectly clear that my sister witnessed a murder and got a good look at the killer. Now do your job.”

“What was your sister even doing there in the first place?” Hanson demanded. “That apartment she said she’d rented wasn’t finished, let alone available to rent. We talked to the owner of the property. He didn’t rent it to her.”

“It doesn’t matter what she was doing there. She rented the place online and was clearly scammed since as you say, the apartment isn’t finished. Her accidentally being there has nothing to do with what she witnessed. I’m sure the killer picked that spot because he thought no one would be there,” Josie said in her calm lawyer voice. “Clearly someone took advantage of her online. Unless you’re interested in tracking down the person to get her money back… I didn’t think so. My sister saw Jack Marshall kill a woman. I don’t know how he did it, but you can bet he did.”

Hanson sighed. “Look, I don’t know what your sister thought she saw, but she didn’t see Jack Marshall. Jack has an airtight alibi. He was at a conference in Great Falls all weekend and isn’t expected back until tomorrow.” The detective glanced at his phone screen. “Make that today, since it is now Sunday. Business associates at the convention will verify that he was there.”

“But you haven’t talked to all of them, have you?” Josie shook her head. “How convenient he was out of town, yet you have an eyewitness who says he was not in Great Falls at a conference but here in Billings stabbing a woman to death. You also have a time of death because my sister saw the whole thing.”

“Right,” the detective said. “But what we don’t have is a murder victim.”

“Yet,” Josie said, and rose from her chair. “We’re finished here.”

Rising as well, Amy Sue looked at the two detectives, Hanson with his suspicions and Tate with his sympathy, which was almost worse. She felt sick to her stomach after what she’d witnessed. But the real horror was that they didn’t believe her, making her wonder if she could have been wrong. If Jack Marshall was in Great Falls all weekend, then how could she have seen him? Exhaustion, confusion and her waning adrenaline had her fighting tears as she followed her sister out of the interrogation room.

“What if I’m wrong?” she said to Josie as they left the police station. “What if I only thought it was him?”

Her sister stopped walking to look at her. “I know you. If you said you saw Jack Marshall kill that woman, then that’s who you saw. It’s up to the detectives to find out how he did it.”

“They won’t, though!” she cried. “They don’t believe me.”

“But I do,” Josie said.

Amy Sue felt overwhelmed to have her sister on her side. “What would I do without you?”

“You’re never going to have to find out,” Josie said, and took her arm as they walked toward their vehicles in the lot. The sun broke free of the horizon to the east, promising a new beautiful Montana cloudless day. “Let’s take your SUV. I want to see where this happened.”

Glad for the warmth of the sun, it was still blinding as Amy Sue handed her sister the keys. “You drive. I can’t right now. The route is still in the navigation system.”

Josie looked over at her in concern. “If you’d rather not go back there—”

“I’m okay, just still upset. They don’t even believe that I was scammed when I rented the apartment next door. Doesn’t it bother you that these things always happen to me?”

“You’re kind and trusting. Better than being like me who questions everything and doesn’t trust most people,” her sister said.

Amy Sue scoffed at that. Just once she wanted to be the one who solved the problem rather than made it. “He isn’t going to get away with this, is he?” she asked as she climbed into the passenger side of her SUV and Josie slid behind the wheel. When she didn’t reply, she glanced over and saw the answer on her sister’s face. “He’s going to lie and they’re going to believe him rather than me because he’s Jack Marshall, an upstanding member of society who has a lot of money and influence.”