Free Lizardskin by Carsten Stroud Page A

considered him capable of formulating the intent to discharge his weapon in a careless or unlawful manner?”
    “He had already fired it once with an arrow in him.”
    “And he showed indications of intending to do so again?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “And at that time, at that juncture, when you observed that Mr. Bell was not appearing to heed your verbal warning andseemed to be preparing to discharge his weapon again, what did you do?”
    “I took aim and shot him.”
    “At what point did you aim?”
    “Ma’am?”
    “At what part of Mr. Bell’s body did you take aim?”
    “At his … lower body.”
    “You aimed at his lower body. Can you be more specific?”
    “Yes, ma’am. I aimed—I aimed at his foot.”
    “At his foot?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “So your intention was to disable Mr. Bell?”
    “Yes, it was.”
    “It was not your intention to kill Mr. Bell?”
    “No, ma’am. It was my intention to use sufficient force so as to prevent the individual from continuing with his careless discharging of that shotgun.”
    “And where did the bullet strike Mr. Bell?”
    “He was moving around a bit.”
    “Yes, duly noted. Please answer the question.”
    “Ah—the bullet impacted him on his lower anterior quadrant of the gluteal muscle. At that point—”
    “The lower anterior quadrant of his gluteal muscle? That would be in Mr. Bell’s buttock, then?”
    “Yes, ma’am. In his right buttock.”
    “Am I to understand that you took aim at Mr. Bell’s right foot, then contrived to shoot him in the
ass
, Sergeant?”
    “Not actually in his ass, ma’am. More like in his wallet.”
    “Do you receive firearms training in your capacity as a Highway Patrol officer, Sergeant?”
    “Yes, ma’am. Twice a month. And you have to qualify once a year.”
    “Are you considered a marksman by your department, Sergeant?”
    “I am qualified to carry a weapon.”
    “Did you consider the—I believe the phrase is backstop? Did you consider what material or structures might receive theround in the apparently highly likely event that you should
miss
Mr. Bell’s prodigious ass, Sergeant?”
    “Yes, I did.”
    “And what manner of devices did you observe to be
generally
within the region—I think we may use the term
region
to encompass the statistical probabilities suggested by your talents as a marksman—in this region, what devices were likely to receive an errant round from your less-than-surgical service Browning?”
    “Ah … there was a big empty oil drum and also some tires.”
    “Were there no gasoline pumps, Sergeant? Since Bell’s Oasis is referred to as a Shell gas station and since many citizens attend this location regularly to acquire gasoline, it seems reasonable to infer that one might expect to find gas pumps in the region. So were there?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “And yet you saw fit to discharge your weapon nevertheless?”
    “I did.”
    “And you admit that you missed your target?”
    “No, ma’am. I intended to hit Mr. Bell, and I did.”
    “I see. I suggest to you that Yellowstone County owes its narrow escape from a large gasoline-fueled explosion at this location at least as much to the height and breadth of Mr. Bell’s butt as it does to your skill as a marksman, Sergeant.”
    “Well, ma’am.”
    “Would that be a fair inference from the facts as you have reported them here, Sergeant?”
    “Well …”
    “Please answer the question!”
    The intercom on Meagher’s desk buzzed. They all jumped. Ballard reached for the Pearlcorder and shut it off. Meagher leaned across her to answer the call.
    “What is it, Myron?”
    “Well … seems we got a problem with the County morgue guys.”
    “What about ’em?”
    “Vlasic called ’em out to get that kid, the one Bell popped?”
    “Yeah. They not there yet?”
    “No, they showed up okay.”
    “So?”
    “So they left with the stiff an hour ago.”
    “So yeah?”
    “So nobody’s seen ’em since.”
    “So they