The Adventures of John Law

The Return of John Law

I thought I was finished with this series when John retired in Chapter 14. I have had requests to bring him back, so I thought I would do something a little different. Since John is a retired homicide detective, the only way I could see him coming back is if he was asked to solve a murder. The first part of this story is a murder mystery, so be patient. It takes a while to get to the sex, but if you know John from the previous chapters, you know he will find some pussy along the way. Enjoy!

I had just put my horse, Ranger, back in his stall after our ride, when I heard Melody calling me from the house. I hardly ever bothered carrying my cell phone anymore since I was retired and because I didn't think there was anybody who I particularly wanted to talk to. If it was important, they could call the house and leave a message.

I closed the stall gate and walked up to the house to see what Melody wanted. As soon as I walked in the back door, she said Cindi called and needed to talk to me right away. I hadn't talked to Cindi in over a month.

In case you haven't read the entire John Law series, Cindi was my old partner when we were both detectives on the police force. We used to be lovers, too, and would go at it hot and heavy every chance we got until she got married. Actually, we continued to get together occasionally, even after she was married.

I picked up the phone and called her back. I was surprised to hear her frantic response.

"Oh, thank god John. I can't tell you how glad I am you called me back."

She sounded like she was about to come unglued, so I told her to calm down, take a breath, and tell me what was wrong.

She shouted, "Martin's dead. Somebody killed him!"

"Martin? You mean Martin your husband?"

"YES! MARTIN MY HUSBAND!" she shouted. "Somebody killed him, John, and I need your help!"

"Cindi, take a breath and calm down. First, I'm sorry to hear about Martin, but what do you mean you need my help? What can I do?"

"John, somebody killed my husband. I need this case solved, and you know there's a good possibility the police detectives they have now will probably fuck it up. Please, John, help me."

I loved Cindi. If I had ever been interested in getting married, she's the one I would have asked. I would have done anything for her, but I wasn't sure how I could help her. I took a deep breath as I considered her predicament, and finally answered her.

"Cindi, you know I love you and would do anything I could for you, but you also know I'm not only retired, I'm LONG retired. There's no way I would be allowed to work a homicide. I don't have any authority."

Cindi answered right away with a shocking statement.

"Yes, you can. I talked to the Chief and he agreed to let you come back on active duty. He said he would be happy to have you work the case. He knows you're the best homicide detective in the county. He will give you a new badge and ID and swear you in as a commissioned officer. He told me I couldn't work the case because I'm too close to it, but you know I'm going to help you anyway. What do you say, John? Help me, please."

I thought about it for a minute. I wasn't thrilled about going back to work. I enjoyed my free time with no responsibilities. I finally blew out a breath and then said, "Cindi, I said I would do anything for you, but I'm too old to be a cop. I'm pretty set in my ways, and I'm not sure I could put up with working with the young cops they have now."

"John, you would be the sole homicide detective working this case. The only time you would have to work with anyone else is if you asked for some help. As far as being too old to be a cop, you're not going to be chasing 18-year-old gang-bangers in tennis shoes or jumping over fences. You would be doing what you do best. Looking at the evidence and solving the crime. Will you at least meet me at Martin's office and take a look at the crime scene?"

"When?" I asked, after only a moment of hesitation.

"I'm headed there now. I should be there in about ten minutes" she answered with a sigh of relief.

When I hung up, I noticed Melody staring at me. She said, "John, I wasn't trying to eaves drop, but I couldn't help hearing what you said. Did I just hear you say you were thinking about going back to work?"

"No, not exactly" I answered. "Cindi's husband was murdered, and she asked me to work the case. I didn't say yes, but I'm going to go take a look at the crime scene. I should be back in about an hour."

I got in my pickup and headed for town. Martin's office was located across from the courthouse in the town square. I had a problem finding a parking spot because all the spaces in front of the law office were taken up by police vehicles. I parked and walked the half block to the crime scene. Cindi had just arrived and when she saw me, she threw her arms around me and said, "Thank you so much for coming. I can't tell you how relieved I am that you will be working this case."

"Hold on there, missy" I answered. "I haven't agreed to anything other than meeting you here and taking a look at the crime scene."

She gave me a strange look but didn't comment. Instead, she took my hand and said, "Come on. I'll get you inside."

We ducked under the crime scene tape across the door and walked inside. There were probably ten people in the office, and I noticed a couple of yellow evidence markers on the floor. I saw the chief talking to one of the police officers, so I walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around, he got a big smile on his face and reached out to shake my hand. "John, it's so good to see you again," he said in his deep Texas drawl. "I take it you have decided to help us out with this case."

My blood was boiling when I answered, "Chief, if you want me to work this case for you, the first thing you need to do is get all these damned people out of here. As long as you've been a cop, you know better than to let a crime scene turn into a clusterfuck like this. Before they leave, I want you to tell them that from now on, nobody comes in this office without me being here. Oh, and make sure they know I'm in charge of this case now. Then I need to talk to your lead investigator so I can find out what he knows so far."

The chief got everyone's attention in his loud authoritative voice and told everyone to get a good look at me. He explained that I was a retired homicide investigator who he had recalled to active duty to work this case. He then herded everyone out of the office. He introduced me to a guy named Chuck and told me he was the lead investigator. I thought I recognized him as being a patrolman at the time I retired. I couldn't believe he was the lead investigator. No way he had that much experience as an investigator, much less a homicide investigator.

I knew that most law offices had a conference room, so I led him in there along with Cindi. I asked him what he knew so far, and he told me Martin had been found sitting at his desk with a gunshot to the back of his head. He said his secretary had found him when she came to work that morning. She said she was surprised when she arrived because the front door was unlocked. She assumed Martin had come in early and had forgotten to lock the door behind him. She said it wasn't that unusual for him to come in early, but he always locked the door behind him. As soon as she saw him, she called 911 and went back to the reception area. She said she hadn't touched anything in Martin's office.

I asked Cindi if she knew why Martin had come to work early, and she said that he had a court appearance that morning and wanted to go over his notes. I asked her if she knew anyone who held a grudge and wanted him dead, and she said she didn't. I asked Chuck if he had asked the secretary if she knew of anyone who wanted him dead. He looked nervous before he admitted he hadn't asked her that.

I asked Cindi who Martin's secretary was, and she said, "Mary Kline. You remember her? She used to work in the DA's office."

"Yeah, I remember her," I responded. "Could you call her and ask her to meet us here?"

Cindi got on her cell phone to call Mary, and I asked Chuck to show me where the body had been found. He took me next door to Martin's office. I saw a large desk with a leather rolling desk chair behind it. I noticed a large blood stain on the desk pad. The bottom drawer of the desk was partially open, and I could see it held file folders. Nothing else seemed out of place. I asked Chuck if that was the way the scene appeared when he got there, and he said it was. I asked if he had dusted for prints because I didn't see any hint of fingerprint powder. He admitted that he had not. I asked if he had swabbed the back of the chair for DNA, and he said he hadn't because he didn't know how to do that. I then asked if he had found a cartridge case, and he said he had not.

I got down on my hands and knees and looked under the desk. When I didn't find anything, I crawled over to the right where a shell casing would have landed after being ejected. I checked every inch of the floor and didn't find anything. That told me that the killer had either picked up his ejected brass, or he had used a revolver. I would check with the medical examiner later to find out what type of bullet was used.

I told Chuck I wanted a copy of his notes along with any notes made by any of the other officers who had been at the crime scene. I asked if the scene had been photographed, and he assured me it had. Another question occurred to me, but before I could ask, Mary Kline, the secretary, walked in. I could tell she had been crying. I asked her to go with me into the conference room. Chuck and Cindi started to follow us, but I told them to stay up front.

I asked Mary to have a seat and I sat down across from her. She was about 35, 130 pounds, with blond hair and brown eyes. She was very attractive and in great shape considering the fact that she spent most of her time sitting on her ass in an office chair. She placed her hands on the conference table and I immediately noticed she was not wearing a wedding ring. Not important, but something I filed away in the back of my head. I can't believe I had never noticed how attractive she was.

"Mary, my name is John Law. Do you remember me?" I asked.

"Of course I do. You spent almost as much time in the DA's office as me when I worked there. I thought you retired."

I smiled at her and said, "I thought I did, too. The Chief asked me to come back just long enough to work this case. Mary, can you tell me exactly what you remember seeing when you came in this morning?"

She hesitated for a few seconds, apparently trying to gather her thoughts. She told me the same story that I heard from Chuck. She said she came to work at her normal time. The front door was closed, but not locked. She put her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk, like she always did, and then walked back to Martin's office. She said Martin was sitting at his desk with his face on his desk blotter. She saw a large pool of blood on the desk and she could tell he was dead. She said she walked back to her desk and called 911 and waited on the emergency responders to arrive. She said she did not touch anything in Martin's office.

I noticed she was wringing her hands and her bottom lip was quivering. I thought she was going to start crying again. I placed my hand over hers and tried to settle her down.

"It's okay, Mary. I know this is a difficult time for you, and I'm sorry to put you through this, but it's important that I get all the facts. Let me ask you, can you think of anyone who would want to harm Martin?"

Mary said that Martin had defended several drug dealers and a couple of outlaw motorcycle gang members who he wasn't able to get off. They had all received lengthy prison terms, but she hadn't heard about anyone saying they wanted revenge.

I noticed her lip was quivering more and she wouldn't look me in the eye. I had the feeling she was keeping something from me, so I asked softly, "Mary, I can tell that something is bothering you, and I know you are holding something back. I want you to know that I intend to solve this murder, and I think you know me well enough to know I will solve it, no matter what it takes. Now, please, before you get caught up in something you can't get out of, tell me anything and everything you know that can help me identify the killer."

Tears started flowing down her cheeks as she answered in a hoarse whisper, "John, Martin and I were having an affair. It wasn't anything serious. I mean, I loved him, but I wasn't IN LOVE with him, if that makes sense. You probably remember that he worked in the DA's office for a short time. I thought he was cute and both of us were single, so we flirted with each other. Then he decided to start his private practice and he asked me to come work for him. Shortly after that, he married Cindi. About six months ago, my mother died, and Martin was comforting me by hugging me. I don't know why, but I kissed him, and he kissed me back. He didn't have any appointments that day, so he told me to go lock the front door. When I came back to his office, we had sex right there on his desk. After that, we would have sex about once a week."

She was crying, so she took a minute to get herself back under control before continuing, "Please understand. He had no intention of leaving his wife, and I certainly had no hopes that he would marry me or anything like that. It was just two people who were acting on their sexual urges. He pleased me and I pleased him. We never went to a hotel and he never came to my house. It was just a quickie in the office every now and then. I feel so guilty now. Please don't tell Cindi. We are friends, and this would destroy our friendship."

I thought about that for a minute. At first, I was pissed off that Martin would cheat on Cindi, but then I reminded myself that I had slept with Cindi on numerous occasions since she got married. I couldn't be a hypocrite, so I decided to keep that information to myself for the time being.

"Mary, let me ask you a question. Did you have a boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, or even someone who had wanted to date you who might have found out about the affair and who would be jealous enough to kill Martin?"

She didn't hesitate to answer, "No way! No one knew about our affair. We were very careful and never showed any sort of inappropriate behavior in public. As a matter of fact, we hardly ever went out in public together. Like I said, we would lock the office at lunchtime and meet in his office. And as for boyfriends or ex-boyfriends, I didn't have either. I hadn't had sex with anyone in several years before Martin. And I haven't given anyone the cold shoulder that I know of. So, I don't think he was killed because of what we were doing."

"Okay, Mary. Thanks for sharing that information with me. I have several questions for you, and I hope you won't take it the wrong way when I ask. First, do you own a gun?"

She gave me a strange look before shaking her head no, and then answered, "Do you think I'm a suspect?"

"No, I don't. Not at this time. But you've been around the justice system long enough to know that we have to rule everyone out so we can get to the actual suspect. Now, second question. Do you think Cindi could have known about your affair?"

She again shook her head no while looking me directly in the eyes. "There's no way she could have known about us."

I knew that Cindi had a temper, and I'm sure that if she had found out about the affair, she would have kicked both of their asses, but I, in no way, suspected her of killing her husband, so I continued, "Okay, third question. Would you be willing to take a polygraph exam?"

This time she didn't hesitate to answer, "Absolutely".

I mentioned that I had noticed Martin's bottom desk drawer open and I saw it contained case files. I asked Mary if she would look through the files to see if anything looked out of place. She was hesitant when she asked in a shaky voice, "Do I have to? I don't really want to go back in that office ever again."

I tried to reassure her when I said, "I will be with you. The only thing I need you to do is take a look at the files. I tell you what. Take my hand and lean on me. I will open the drawer all the way and flip through the files. Just look at the names on the file folders and see if anything stands out. It won't take but a minute."

She agreed, so I led her into Martin's office and let her hold onto me while I slowly flipped through the files, reading out each name as I went. When I was through, she said some of the cases were old, but other than that, nothing stood out. I thanked her and led her back out to the front office. She saw Cindi standing there and she walked over to her, embraced her, and said, "I am so sorry."

Cindi returned the embrace and thanked her. There didn't seem to be any animosity between the two. I thanked Mary and told her she was free to go, then I turned to Cindi and said, "Let's go to the station. I need to see the Chief."

I told Chuck to stay and continue with his investigation, and that I would be back later. I rode with Cindi to the Police Station which was right down the street. I went to the Chief's office where he swore me in and handed me a new Detective's badge and a new ID card. He still had a photo of me on file from before my retirement that he had used to make the ID card. I said hi to a couple of the old guys I knew, and just before I left, I saw Jenna. Jenna and her mother, Melody lived with me, and I had paid her community college tuition where she studied Criminal Justice. She had attended the Police Academy and had been a patrolman for almost a year. She was almost like my step-daughter, but without any of the legalities, which was good because we sometimes shared a bed.

When she saw me, she smiled and said, "Hi John. What are you doing here?"

I quickly brought her up to date and told her I would see her at home for dinner.

Cindi and I headed out again. I told her I needed to go by the medical examiner's office to see if he had identified the type of bullet yet. On the way there she asked, "So why did you decide to take the case?"

I told her I had gotten really mad when I walked into the crime scene and saw all of the people in there. "I couldn't believe the Chief let the crime scene get out of hand like that. I knew right then that there was a good chance the case wouldn't be solved."

I noticed it was afternoon and my stomach was grumbling. I asked Cindi if she wanted to grab some lunch, so instead of going to the morgue, we went to a little country café we both liked. About halfway through my meal, I asked her, "Cindi, did you know of anyone who had a problem with Martin, anybody that would want to see him dead?"

She said no, so I continued, "When he left for work, did he seem nervous or say anything about the case he had in court? Was he worried about anything?"

She again said no, so I took a bite of my sandwich, took a drink of my sweet tea, and then asked, "Is there a possibility he was seeing someone on the side. Would there be any jealous husbands who might want to see some harm come to him?"

She looked at me a little strangely before she answered, "Not that I know of. Listen, John, you know I only married him because I was tired of waiting on you to ask me. I met him when he worked for the DA. He was cute and he had a nice personality. I was really surprised when he asked me to marry him. I'm not sure why I even said yes. I guess I just thought maybe it was time to settle down. We got along fine, we had a nice, quiet comfortable life, but it wasn't what you would call exciting. We only had sex about once a month, and he was hardly ever able to satisfy me."