Free 4 The Killing Bee by Matt Witten

about these tests, and how Meckel was using the preliminary scores to d ecide who got in the gifted program." He came around the desk and got in my face. "Laura knew about the test scores, didn't she? She knew they gave her a murder motive. So she asked you to break into Meckel's office and get rid of them."
    "But —"
    He leaned in even closer. I could smell the mint -flavored toothpaste on his breath. "Admit it. You broke into that office."
    "No —"
    "There was a coverup last night, alright. You were covering up the murder yourself."
    Enough was enough. The toothpaste smell was getting on my nerves. "Don't be a damn idiot," I shot at him. His head snapped back. "Laura already told the police she was pissed off at Meckel. That’s your so-called murder motive, right there. So why would she care about some stupid folder? It doesn't add anything new to your case."
    "Sure, it does. It’s the icing on my cake," the chief said triumphantly, waving the folder at me. "These test scores are what sent her over the edge. See, Laura admits she talked to Meckel the night before. Logical conclusion is, he told her about Adam's scores being too low for the gifted program. So the very next morning she goes berserk and kills him." He shrugged his shoulders, smiling. "Makes a nice simple story that even the most dim-witted jury members will be able to follow, don't you think?"
    Unfortunately I agreed with him, but I kept that to myself. "Laura says Meckel didn't tell her Adam's test scores. And anyway, the scores still don't prove a thing. Susie and Elena's daughters scored too low, too. So why not suspect Susie and Elena?"
    As soon as I said that, I realized I actually meant it. Both Susie and Elena could get pretty intense when their children's welfare was threatened. And neither of them had totally ironclad alibis.
    But the chief wasn't interested in my insinuations. "I'll be glad to inform them you said that," he said sarcastically. "But luckily for them, they weren't found next to the dead body holding the murder weapon."
    "Listen, Chief," I began, in a pleading tone.
    But he cut me off. "Look, Burns, Laura Braithwaite is going down for this. The only question is: how far down do you want to go with her?"
    I got a powerful desire to bash Chief Walsh right in the middle of his arrogant face. Where was that spelling bee trophy when I needed it?
    "Here's the deal," the chief said. "You drop your ridiculous little fairy tale about what happened last night, and you confess to the break-in. Then I'll let you cop to a misdemeanor. Otherwise it's felony B and E, to say nothing of obstruction." The chief broke into a sudden twisted smile. "So what do you say?"
    I gritted my teeth. I'm far from the world's most courageous guy, but after hours of listening to all these bozo cops with bad breath giving me crap, it was time to satisfy my inner reptile. "You sure you want to play it like this, Chief?"
    "You kidding? I'm enjoying every minute."
    "Yeah, but throw me in jail and guess what? The entire upstate New York media rehashes our whole history. How we tend to have little disagreements from time to time, and how I tend to be right and you tend to have your head so far up your ass it's looking out through your belly button." I clicked my tongue sadly. "I'd hate to see you go through the shame, the embarrassment, the public ridicule. . . ."
    "Hey, it goes with the job." The chief pushed a button on his desk. Balducci entered.
    "Read this guy his rights," the chief told Balducci. "Then throw him away."
    Maybe I should have kept my inner reptile locked up.
     
    The jail was just as ugly, smelly, and all-around gross as I'd remembered. The good news was, I was only there for half an hour before all of us heavy -duty criminals were taken upstairs for arraignment. In addition to myself, there was an elderly gentleman who'd walked backward down the middle of Broadway after the bars closed, urinating on the yellow stripes as he went; a skinny kid who'd