Free The Pied Piper of Death by Richard; Forrest

over at the big house.”
    He recognized the weapon as a .58 caliber carbine based on an Enfield pattern that had been made at the Confederate States Arsenal at Tallahassee, Alabama. It was capable of firing the minié ball that the ME had discovered. “What time did you go out into the garden?”
    â€œAround nine. There’s a light out there. I was picking greens for our salad.”
    â€œYou hadn’t eaten yet?”
    â€œNo. Markham liked to eat late, in the European tradition. I always suspected that a late dinner extended his matinee hours.”
    Rocco appeared in the doorway and looked skeptically at the weapon in Lyon’s hands. “What do you have there?”
    â€œI found it under the bed in here.” Lyon handed him the carbine. Rocco took the weapon carefully, gripping the stock through the handkerchief. He tilted the barrel to smell the muzzle opening. “It’s been fired recently,” he said. “We’ll have it checked out at the lab.” A patrolman standing immediately behind him bagged and labeled the weapon.
    â€œHave you touched this rifle?” he asked Loyce.
    â€œI might have. Markham was constantly bringing all sorts of historic items home from the big house as part of his research. He’d keep them a couple of days and then exchange them for other items. He’s had all sorts of guns in here, cluttering up the room. I’d have to move them around to dust or make up the bed.”
    â€œIn other words you might have touched this weapon?” Rocco pressed.
    â€œYes. I just don’t remember.”
    Rocco sighed. Lyon recognized the gesture as his friend’s continual lament for the human condition, which even after all these years seemed to disappoint him constantly.
    â€œWe’re going to need a serious talk, Loyce,” Rocco said.
    He was going to get her.
    Oh, God, was he going to take her. When he was through she’d be a complete wreck, useless for any other activity. So, they had a wall around her and guards at the gate. He welcomed the challenge. The fence was only ten or twelve feet high. There were trees with low branches along the lane near the wall that practically invited intruders. It would be a simple matter to shinny up a tree, work out on a limb that extended over the wall, and then drop over. If there did happen to be a protective layer of cut glass running along the top of the wall, he could work farther out on the limb before he dropped to the ground on the other side.
    Bridgeway wasn’t built for security. You would have thought that the Pipers, with all their blood money, would have taken proper precautions. Any bright munitions manufacturer would have installed a proper security fence with heat-sensing devices, guard dogs, and a battery of television cameras equipped with a sophisticated alarm system. Piper was too cheap. All that he seemed capable of doing was marching out his wooden soldiers, who weren’t good for anything but beating up old ladies.
    He’d pay for that one too. No one hit his people and got away with it. Oh, God, he’d think of some delicious way to make the capitalist pig squirm. It gave him satisfaction to know that his actions tonight would punish the factory owner.
    He pressed back against the wall. The next step was to work his way toward the orchard a hundred yards farther on. Light fell from a lamp near the cottage. He stepped around it so as not to be silhouetted in its glare.
    He found the proper tree, with branches that hung conveniently over the wall’s far side. It couldn’t have been easier. The tree was meant for climbing. He bent his knees and jumped high enough to grab an overhead branch. He hung suspended for a moment and then swung his feet up into the tree’s crotch. He levered his body up. It was an easy step to two more limbs and then he was above the wall. He tested a thick branch that jutted over the wall and when he was satisfied