“I’ll be there in a moment.” Jenna’s dislike for Stone was evident. “I should have stayed at home.”
29
“Ma’am.” Rowley’s voice came from behind Jenna. “I need a word with you before you speak to Mr. Stone.”
Jenna waved Kane toward the waiting lawyer and turned to Rowley. “Sure, what’s wrong?”
“It’s about his client, Ethan Woods.” Rowley’s voice had dropped to just above a whisper. “If you recall, I was asked to search for cases concerning violent crimes, especially against women?”
She stared at him, wishing she had a fast forward remote to aim at him. “Yeah, I recall asking Kane to initiate a search.”
“Well, Woods was red-flagged on the cases I looked at this morning. He was never charged but had an Order of Protection against him by his ex-wife for domestic violence and it came up in his divorce.”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. “Thanks, that is very useful information. Does Kane know about this?”
“No, he went to the autopsy before I had time to inform him.” Rowley shuffled his feet. “We’ve been kinda busy since then, ma’am.”
“So I gather.” Jenna sighed. “We’ll need the information right away. Will you print up a copy of the file and bring it down to the interview room?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Jenna turned and met James Stone. Dressed in an Italian silk suit, he stuck out like a sore thumb in Back Rock Falls amidst the cowboys and hunters. She offered him a smile although he was the last person she wanted to deal with today. From the hostile look he sent her way, he was a changed man from the one who had pestered her for a date the previous year. “Good morning, Mr. Stone.”
“You used to call me James, and I’m sure we can continue to be civil to each other.” Stone moved close and she could smell his aftershave. “You make a point of avoiding me every time I come here and you’ve hardly said two words to me in ages. Am I so abhorrent to you?”
For goodness’ sake, she had only had dinner with him a couple of times and that was ages ago. “Not at all. I wasn’t looking for a relationship at the time and tried to explain but you refused to take no for an answer.”
“So you asked the Neanderthal to intervene.”
“I didn’t have to.” Jenna forced the smile to remain and tried to prevent it turning into a grimace. “It’s my deputy’s job to watch my back.” She changed the subject, wanting to remain on a professional standing with him. “I have your client in the interview room. We would like to speak with him today as he is facing charges of assaulting a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. I gather from speaking to Deputy Kane, this might include criminal trespassing as well.”
“A $500 fine at best.” Stone gave her an annoyed look but moved closer, invading her personal space. “Can’t you make the call on these minor infringements rather than fill the court with such trivial matters?”
“Assaulting one of my deputies is not trivial, and I’m here to enforce the law, Mr. Stone.” Jenna lifted her chin and glared at him but stood her ground. If he thought he could intimidate her, he had sure picked the wrong person. “I let your client walk with a warning last time as the proprietor of the Triple Z agreed not to press charges once Mr. Woods agreed to pay restitution for the damages, but this is out of my hands. We have witnesses. He will be charged.”
“Do you want me to escort Mr. Stone to the interview room, ma’am?” Kane appeared behind her without a sound and dropped into his expressionless mode as he looked down at Stone.
He always has my back. Jenna straightened. “Yeah and I’ll speak with Mr. Stone’s client after I’ve interviewed the other parties in the case.”
Relieved, she turned away from Stone’s annoyed look to find the interview room holding one of the Finch brothers. After swiping her card on the reader, she moved into the room. As usual, Rowley had taken the precaution of attaching the prisoner’s handcuffs to the ring on the table. She placed the arrest file on the desk and took a seat. An odor of stale sweat crawled across the table toward her and she leaned back in her seat to gain a few inches of fresh air. The man before her sported an unkempt beard and long, shaggy, dirty-blond hair. The two brothers were like bookends and she could not tell them apart. “State your name for the record, please.”
“Leroy Finch, ma’am.”
Surprised by his courtesy, she opened the folder with his name on the front cover then took out her pen. “You have been read your Miranda rights and have waived the right to an attorney. You are aware I am planning to charge you with creating a public nuisance?”
“Yeah but we didn’t start the fight. It was self-defense.” Leroy slumped back in his seat and picked at his dirty fingernails. “I noticed Woods comin’ out of Guns and Ammo. He’s been trespassin’ on our property. I know for a fact he has been sleepin’ in our barn. I wanted to give him a warnin’. I told him the next time he trespassed on our land, I would shoot him.” He gave her a surly expression. “You know darn well I’m within my rights. That man figures because we live in the mountains we’re stupid or somethin’.”
Jenna understood he was referring to the ancient ‘castle law’ and the right to use force to protect home or property. “Why did you wait until now to call him out? And if you had a problem, why didn’t you inform us?”
“Nothin’ says we have to call in the law to deal with protectin’ our property.” He scraped his chair closer to the table. “You wouldn’t have done nothin’ anyways.”
Jenna made a few notes then lifted her gaze back to him. “The problem is, Mr. Finch, you do have the right to defend your property but the castle law does not apply to outside your property. You can’t brawl in the streets.”
“There you go again, blamin’ me.” He bent to his handcuffed hands and rubbed his nose. “I walked up to Woods, told him to keep off our land. He told me to get lost, that I had no proof.” He gave her a smile, displaying yellowing teeth. “When I said I had night-vision cameras he went real quiet. Then he offered me five grand to delete the files.” He snorted. “I laughed at him and he went ballistic and tried to steal my cellphone. Stupid man, I told him I had copies.”
Jenna could almost see his mind working on a scheme. She glared at him. “I hope you weren’t planning on blackmaili
ng him?”