Read Under Suspicion - The Legend of D.B. Cooper Page 106

Jim’s beat up Blazer coughed and sputtered its way into the station’s lot and stopped near the back door. Reporters quickly covered the distance to the 4x4 as the two men got out. Jim pushed his way through the crowd towards the door as reporter’s yelled questions that went unanswered. Cranston reached the door first and went inside. As he walked towards the counter, he pulled out his bottle of Pepto and took a long drink.

  “Cranston! I should’ve known!” Came a voice from the front door. Cranston lowered the bottle to see Chet Green walk in escorted by Deputy Rissley. They had just arrived as well, and the terrifying ride he’d experienced irritated him. Chet walked up to Cranston. “If you’re trying to suppress this story, I swear I’ll rip you apart on tonight’s news cast!”

  “Take it easy, Green. I didn’t bring you in,” Cranston pointed behind him as Jim came down the hall. “He did.”

  “What’s the meaning of this, Sheriff? Do you realize that your Deputy almost killed me getting us here?” Chet said, heatedly.

  “No kidding,” Cranston smirked as he took another drink from the bottle. His legs were still wobbly from his own adventure in back road driving.

  “Please relax, Mr. Green,” Jim said, calmly. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience. This will only take a few minutes, then you can go. Besides, once you know what this is all about, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s in your best interest to participate.” Jim then turned his attention to his Deputy. “Deputy Rissley.”

  “Yes, sir,” she replied as she stepped forward.

  Jim lifted the evidence bag with the bullet from the clock in front of Chet’s face. “I’ve been able to recover one of the bullets that killed Henderson. Take it down stairs to the lab and match it to this one, which I’ve taken from Agent Bradley’s gun.” Jim lifted the second bag with the bullet so that Chet could see it. Chet’s face immediately went white and his eyes froze, locked onto the two bullets.

  “Yes sir,” she replied, then snatched the two bullets from Jim’s hand and ran down the steps to the basement.

  “You found the bullet that killed Henderson?” Chet asked in disbelief.

  “It’s one of the bullets,” Jim assured him. “We just found it.” Jim could see the shock in Chet’s expression. “Are you all right, Mr. Green?” Harper asked calmly.

  Chet quickly composed himself. “Quite all right, thank you,” he replied softly. But in his mind, questions raced. How much did they know? he wondered. Obviously, enough to check for a bullet from Alan’s gun. But they may only have suspicions, he reminded himself. That’s a long way from proof. “Why have you brought me here?” Chet demanded to know.

  “If you follow me, I’ll explain everything,” Jim assured him. “Right this way, please.” Jim walked to the conference room and went in.

  Chet looked down the hall in the direction that Rissley had gone. He wanted to refuse and walk out, but he had to find out what they knew. He slowly turned and followed Harper with Cranston close behind.