Hard News (Rune 3)

"I'd be happy to help. It was one of the most exciting times of my life. I was in that courtroom and there was this killer right there and he was looking at me." Miss Breckman closed her eyes for a moment. "I was pretty darn scared. But I did my duty. I was kind of hoping that after I came out of the courtroom there'd be all these reporters shoving microphones at me--you know, I love those microphones with the names of the stations on them."

"Uh-huh. Maybe I could set up my equipment?"

While Rune did that, Miss Breckman hoisted Courtney into her lap and rattled on nonstop. Bringing the little girl had been a great idea--she was like a pacifier for adults.

When the portable light clicked on and the red dot on the Ikegami flashed, Miss Breckman's eyes took on an intense shine to a degree Rune figured they would never reach ringing up an American Express charge in Junior Sportswear.

Rune said, "Could you move over there." Nodding at a Queen Anne chair upholstered in forest-green needlepoint.

"I'll sit wherever you like, honey." Miss Breckman moved and then composed herself for a moment.

"Now, could you tell me exactly what happened?"

"Sure." She told the camera about the murder. Coming home from shopping, seeing the men argue. The gun appearing. The muffled shot. Hopper falling. Running to the phone. Hesitating....

"You saw him pull the trigger?"

"Well, I saw this flash and the gun was right up against the poor man's body."

"Could you see what kind of gun it was?"

"No, it was too dark."

"And you couldn't hear wha

t they were saying."

"No." Her head turned, eyes gazing into the courtyard. "You can see ..."

Beautiful shot! Rune zoomed past her and focused on the cobblestones.

"... it's pretty far away."

Rune dug into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper. She looked at it then said, "The police report said you weren't interviewed until the day after the shooting. Is that right?"

"Uh-huh. The next night, two men showed up. Detectives. But they didn't look like Kojak or anything, though. I was kind of disappointed."

"You didn't contact them right away?"

"No. Like I told you, I was pretty shaken by the whole thing. I was scared. What if it was a drug killing? You know what you see on the news. Practically every day, mothers and children are being murdered because they're witnesses. But the next morning I saw a news report on Wake Up With the News that said they'd arrested this drifter. Not a hit man or anything. So when the detectives came to me I didn't hesitate to tell them what I saw."

"It also says that the police asked you if you'd seen anything and you said, 'I'm sorry I didn't talk to you sooner but I did see it. I mean, I saw the shooting.' And the detective asked, 'Did you see the man who did it?' And you answered, 'Sure I did. It was Randy Boggs.' Was that pretty much what you said?"

"Nope, not pretty much at all. That's exactly what I said."

Rune just smiled and resisted an urge to say, No further questions.

SHE SUDDENLY FELT A SHADOW OVER HER AND DIDN'T like the vibrations one bit. Rune looked sideways to see what angel of death was hovering over her in the newsroom and found she was staring into Piper Sutton's eyes.

"Hi," Rune said.

Sutton didn't answer.

Rune's eyes skipped around the room, wondering why exactly the woman was frowning so intensely.

Rune said, "Guess what I've got." She touched the tape. "I talked to the witness and--"

The flash of anger was like a fast shutter on a camera. And so fierce and brutal that Rune gasped. Then Piper Sutton regained control though her eyes were still cold. "You've got a little bit to learn about life." She seemed to swallow something at the end of the sentence, probably: young lady.