Joel took the sheets showing Eric's incredible high school achievements back from Fred.

Joel declared, "With Eric's alleged gun missing..."

Fred complained, "Alleged guns don't shoot bullets!"

Joel continued as if he hadn't heard, "And with what this shows about Eric Lewis's academic record, and with what Linda Lewis claims about others doing the shooting, this isn't going to be simple. Linda Lewis claims she never gave you permission to enter the house."

"That's a lie. She held the door open for me."

Joel typed that and said, "Mrs. Lewis says you punched in the screen in the door so you could stick an arm in and unlatch it."

"I did not. The screen door had such a large hole in it already that I was able hand her the arrest warrant right through it."

Joel wrote that down, then said, "She claims people she described as drug dealers were outside her house shooting in. You and Sharon were inside shooting back. She said you kicked out the screen of the bedroom window to do the shooting."

"Sharon was never inside the house. She never fired a shot. Her gun was still in the holster when I went to her. Nobody else was around until the shooting was over, then that kid called Pipe showed up. I already told you about him."

"Mrs. Lewis claims her boy was innocent, merely caught in the crossfire. You used her house as some sort of fort, without regard for their safety."

Fred complained, "That's totally wrong!"

Joel said, "We'll come back to that later. Let's concentrate some more on Eric's gun. Semi-auto or revolver?"

Fred cleared his throat, then said, "Semi-auto. Looked like a nine, but it might have been a forty-five. I...I think I'd like to get Nora Lure in here as my lawyer before I answer any more of your questions."

"That's wise," Joel said. "Mrs. Lewis has hired a lawyer, Mr. Shuster."

Fred groaned and said, "Not Shyster Shuster again. We're going to get sued!"

Joel agreed, "Sure, but it's not like she engaged a highly skilled lawyer. Nora is in a whole other league. Fred, I'm really sorry. I'm just doing my job. I never wanted any case less than this one."

Fred said, "I know that."

"I'm going to swing by and see the chief first. I still want to get off this case. Maybe he can bring in somebody else from state or something."

Fred nodded as Joel left the room, but knowing the chief, he expected Joel to be back.

Joel came back to his office with Dave in tow. Dave carried a large brown paper bag. He nodded at the seated Fred. Joel then told Fred that Nora was waiting for him in the lobby. Joel said that Fred could go talk with her. As Fred left Joel's office, he saw that Joel was getting ready to grill Dave. As Fred had figured, that meant Joel was still on the case.

Later while talking with Nora Lure in a conference room, Fred said, "You need to appreciate that things happened very fast. I didn't have time for those options."

Nora asked, "What do you mean by fast? Two minutes?"

Fred explained, "The most significant events took place in under fifteen seconds."

Nora queried, "Do you mean Eric shot you, then he shot Sharon, and then you shot him all within fifteen seconds?"

"Yes."

Nora pulled off her watch and said, "I'm having trouble imagining this. Pretend you're Eric and that white board is the window. As best you can remember, show me what he did."

Fred unbuttoned and untucked his shirt. He then grabbed the black eraser and said, "I'm going to pretend this is the gun, okay?"

Nora nodded.

Fred then explained about Sharon's scream that Eric was going out the window. Fred then talked about the screen being out when he came in the room.

When the performance was over, Nora said, "You weren't kidding about fast! That's just eight seconds! Do it again."

Fred did it again.

Nora said, "I got nine seconds that time."

Fred replied, "Lives were changed forever, and Eric’s was ended...all in under ten seconds."

There was a knock at the door. Fred walked over and opened it. Maureen stood there. Fred was almost surprised she wasn't still carrying the cat.

Maureen said, "So this where you're hiding, Fred. Your mom is on the phone."

Fred slapped his forehead and said, "I forgot that I was supposed to have dinner with her and Aunt Gail tonight!"

Nora rolled her eyes as she knew Fred well, and said, "They certainly ought to be used to you being late by now, Fred. You've done it to me often enough. You better go talk to her."

Back in Joel's office, Joel was flipping through some of the evidence bags that Dave had pulled out. One bag held a wallet-sized photograph of a girl. Other bags had empty ammunition shells. One bag had a small pipe of the type Joel knew was often used to smoke drugs. Another bag had what looked like a dog collar.

Dave apologized, "Sorry these aren't better sorted. I didn't expect you to be done with Mrs. Lewis or Fred so fast."

Joel replied, "I'm not done with either of them."

"Why'd you get to me already, then?"

Joel answered, "They are talking to their lawyers."

"It's like that, is it?"

Joel said, "Mrs. Lewis called Mr. Shuster."

Dave shrugged and said, "Lovely. She would pick the Shyster. We’re going to get sued, you know."

Looking at the various bags on his desk, Joel remarked, "I know. I'm really bothered by the alleged gun being missing."

Dave asked, "You mean Eric's gun?"

"Yes."

Dave indicated some of the bags he had brought and said, "These are the three shells I found in Eric's bedroom. Two are ten millimeters. We can check the firing pin and ejection markings later, but they're almost certainly from Fred's gun. This other shell was next to Eric's body. It's a nine millimeter."

Dave picked up the bag with the nine and showed it to Joel. Joel smiled.

Dave said, "I taped paper bags around Eric's hands. A gunshot residue test will tell us whether he'd just been firing a gun. That's not done yet, but will be performed."

"Good," Joel said.

Dave pushed on by saying, "Here is a fourth shell, another nine. It was just outside the house by the bedroom window. I have photographs and sketches showing exactly where, but I didn't bring them. I'd bet you a thousand bucks the firing pin and ejection marks will prove this came from the same gun as the shell inside the room. Once we get all the tests done, I think we'll be able to show that Eric definitely had a gun and was shooting it. I've not got back results from the hospital from Sharon's wound in terms of precise location, but I took measurements of the blood smear at the scene. That shows she was definitely shot from the direction of the house."

Joel said, "Mrs. Lewis said that Sharon was shot from some drug dealers living up the street."

"Couldn't have been. Not unless the drug dealers were inside the Lewis house. Besides, I know the drug house she's referring to."

"You do?"

Dave nodded and said, "Sure. It's a condemned house. Various college and high school kids go there to buy and use drugs."

Joel asked, "Why hasn't it been shut down?"

"Stan's got it under surveillance. He's after the supplier. I know he's got the house bugged by court order, because I helped him with the equipment."

Joel wasn't surprised by this, as Dave was acknowledged as the electronics and bomb expert of the department.

Joel said, "It is interesting that there is a drug house right where Mrs. Lewis claims."

Dave countered, "There are three houses between it and the Lewis house. There’s no direct line-of-sight to the Lewis house. I didn't document that, but I know the neighborhood. Pipe didn't stop in that drug house when I was chasing him, but went right on by it. He ran across a busy road. That’s where I lost him."

Joel admitted, "I like the evidence you have about Eric having a gun."

"I've got more," Dave said. "There was soft dirt under the window, where I found the shell. I found footprints there. Some were mine, as I jumped out of the window. Others came from another set of running shoes. Several sizes smaller than mine. There was also in the dirt an imprint of the handle of a gun. Fairly deep, like the gun was pressed down...or much more likely, fell from about six feet up. That's about how high the window is. I assume you'll want a soil compression test."

Joel nodded and asked, "Did you take casts of all the footprints?"

"Sure, and of the imprint of the handle of the gun. That definitely shows there was another gun. I went in the direction I chased the kid that Fred had been talking too. I found more footprints that matched the ones that I'd seen under the window. I'm pretty sure the kid took the gun."

"I'd still like to have the gun itself," Joel said.

Dave said, "What you like and what you can get aren’t always the same. I lifted fingerprints off the pot pipe. That'll help us track down the kid calling himself Pipe. I haven't had time yet to see if the prints match anybody we have on record."

Joel said, "You're doing great work, Dave."

"I'll have much more for you later. I got this photograph of a girl from Eric's wallet."

Dave showed Joel the photograph of a pale, skinny, black-haired high school girl. The picture was signed, "With love, Beth."

Joel remarked, "Fred said that the kid called Pipe said that Eric liked the cat even more than Beth. A girlfriend, you think?"

Dave nodded and continued, "We've got several yearbooks from the high school here at the department. I figure I'll flip through them. If that doesn't work, I'll go ask some teachers at the high school, but I'd prefer to have her last name before doing that. She might have some info on what Eric was like."

Joel nodded, then said, "Something else puzzles me. I keep hearing about a black cat."

"That's Carbon, Maureen's cat."

Joel said, "I heard the cat was named Blackie and belonged to Eric Lewis. Why do think Maureen insists the cat is hers?"

Dave replied, "I couldn't tell one cat from another, but cat lovers can."

Joel complained, "That'll never stand up in court. I'm amazed Maureen Mackenzie would be so unprofessional."

"It is her cat! I got this from the bottom drawer of Eric's dresser," Dave said as he pulled out another plastic bag.

Joel remarked, "It looks like a dog collar. For a small dog."

"Not a dog collar, a cat collar. Look at the metal tag."

Joel turned it so he could see it, then read, "It gives some rabies shot information, and the name, 'Carbon.' It also has an address. Hey, that's Maureen's place! The cat really is Maureen's!"

"The shot dates match up with when Maureen had her cat vaccinated. I talked to some of the neighbors. They said the cat was considered Eric's, not his mother's. They placed the time he got it as the same time as Maureen lost hers. I figure Eric found the cat wandering and took a shine to him. I'd guess that Eric removed the collar and hid it, then told his Mom the cat was a stray with no identification."

Joel smiled and said, "I'm glad you found this."

"Why?"

"I've got Eric's school record. It's unbelievably good. He can't be perfect, though, because if nothing else, he was a cat thief!" Joel replied, swinging the bag with the cat collar.

"And apparently a shoplifter too," Dave added. "Yet, shoplifting and taking someone's cat do not add up to shooting cops!"

Joel said, "But shoplifting and cat stealing don’t fit with what I expect for such a good student. Did you find any drugs or drug paraphenalia in your search of the Lewis house?"

"Not a trace of anything like it," Dave replied.

"That surprises me," Joel said.

Dave remarked, "What the kid did puzzles me!"

Joel said, "Mrs. Lewis's account is more full of holes than Swiss cheese."

Dave suggested, "I'll bet Pipe returns to the drug house. Fred said that he saw the kid smoking pot, and I found that pipe. Think we can get a warrant for that place?"

"Excellent idea! In fact, given the way Mr. Shuster usually goes straight to the media and Mrs. Lewis knows of the house, we may have to go tonight!"

Dave looked at his watch, "It's already after seven pm."

Joel thought a bit, then said, "We probably have until the eleven pm news. Maybe until tomorrow, but not beyond that. We should go in tonight. The druggies will bolt if they hear about any of this!"

Dave asked, "Can we get a warrant that fast?"

"I know a couple judges. For a cop shooting, either will let me drive over to their homes," Joel said, as he reached for a phone.

 

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow them without express permission of the authors.