Chapter 40
Sean waited until the mayor took a pause from his recounting his tale and then he spoke up. "So, Mr. Mayor, do you think that Higgins gave ample warning like he says he did, or do you figure he pulled the trigger and blew Mr. Caulder away? I’ve seen that he has quite the temper. I wouldn’t put it past him to murder Maggie’s husband.”
"I can’t say for sure. Kevin can be hot-headed sometimes, but stooping to something like murder, I don’t really know.”
"Well, as far as I’m concerned” O’Reilly replied “I believe he is capable of murder in cold blood. He sent those four after my sergeant and me, I’m pretty certain. Whether or not he told them to kill us or just to rough us up a little, I don’t know. The point of the matter is, we were shot at and he is responsible for that.”
They sat there quietly for a moment, pouring themselves more coffee and then the mayor went on. “There’s one thing I do know for certain. I was mayor back then as well. Maggie considered me to be a father figure and she felt that she could confide in me about personal matters. She would tell me upon occasion that her husband beat her. When I suggested that she press charges, she said that she couldn’t do that.
"She said that he always apologized to her afterwards and would treat her like royalty. He said that he loved her and it wouldn’t happen again. Of course, it did. Maggie was your typical abused person. She always felt that it was her fault, and if he struck her, she had it coming.
"I told her that unless her husband got professional help, he might kill her. She couldn’t believe that it would come to that. They were just going through hard times.
"I also know that deputy Higgins was aware of how Mr. Caulder treated his wife. Kevin was at the hospital the one time that Maggie came in with bruising and he overheard the nurses telling her to charge her husband with assault. Up until that moment he was not aware of the abuse. After Mrs. Caulder went home, Kevin went to have a talk with the attending physician to find out if she had been in very often with suspicious injuries.
"The intern said something about patient doctor confidentiality and he could not divulge any information pertaining to Mrs. Caulder’s case. I don’t know what Higgins said to persuade the doctor to change his mind, whether he threatened him or what, but the physician handed over Maggie’s folder. There was a stack of papers about an inch thick on previous injuries that she had sustained; most of them suspicious.
"He slammed the reports down and stormed out, cursing as he did. You see, he had had a crush on Maggie ever since high school. It was a well known fact. Everyone in town seemed to be aware of it but Maggie herself. She seemed only to have eyes for Tom Caulder, quarterback of the football team.
"Higgins drove directly from the hospital to the Caulder home. Tom was out front, drinking a beer. Kevin got out of the car and went to have words with Caulder to warn him not to lay another hand on Maggie or there would be hell to pay.
"I don’t know what happened, but Higgins hit him and broke his jaw. At the hospital, Tom wanted to press charges of assault against the deputy. The deputy reported that he was attacked for no reason and so he had to subdue the perpetrator. As it turned out, Tom was charged with assault, and spent thirty days in the local lock up.
"The day after the altercation, Maggie came to see me. She was on the verge of tears. She told me that she had seen the whole thing and that Higgins had come up to her husband and struck him for no reason. She also overheard the deputy say that if Caulder ever laid his hands on Maggie again, he would kill Tom.
"I asked her if she had gone to the police department to report this. She said that she had, but no one there would believe her. Deputy Higgins was one of their best officers, she was told and there is no way that he would threaten anyone with death. She tried to convince them what she had heard, but to no avail. She went away unsatisfied, and so came to see me.
"I told her that I would try to get to the bottom of it. I went to see the attending who had given Higgins Maggie’s case reports. When I asked him about it, he first denied any threats on Higgins part. The deputy had said that there was an on going investigation and that if needed a subpoena could be obtained to see the records.
"After further questioning, the doctor did admit that Higgins had used strong arm tactics on him and that he feared for his own safety, so he had handed over the documents. He also overheard Higgins muttering to himself something about murdering someone, but didn’t get any clear details.” The mayor stopped talking and grabbed some coffee. He grimaced. It had gone cold and was bitter to the taste. He put the cup down again.
"That’s quite the story Mr. Mayor. It looks like Higgins had it in for Caulder and was just waiting for the right opportunity to get rid of him. Then, in his mind the way would be clear for him to be with Maggie. It appears that he didn’t give a warning but did put a bullet into Caulder without properly trying to subdue him first.” O’Reilly speculated, thinking about the story that the mayor had unfolded for him.
"That’s what I’m inclined to believe as well but there is no proof of that. Just because he had an interest in Maggie, doesn’t mean that he actually murdered the man. There is nothing to positively state that that is what happened.”
"No, but if it comes to trial I think that I could convince a jury that is exactly what happened. I never liked him the first time I met him and I don’t like him any better now.” Sean stated with conviction. He was going to see to it that this one was put away for a long, long time. After he finished with the present cases that he was investigating, this would be on the top of his list of cases to solve.
After a few moments of silence the mayor continued. “There’s more to the story that I think you will be interested in. One week after Tom was shot Maggie came to see me again. She told me that Higgins had come to see her the previous night. She told him to go away, that he had no business there.
"Deputy Higgins wouldn’t take no for an answer. He broke into her house and forced himself upon her. She claims that he raped her and then left her lying on the living room rug. I asked her why she didn’t go to the police with this and she said that they wouldn’t believe her. They just figured that she hated Higgins because she felt that he had murdered her husband and that she would make up any story to get him into trouble. She felt hopeless and didn’t know who else to turn to.
"I comforted her as best I could and after a while, she went home. I felt compassion towards her. She had been through so much, but I was beginning to doubt her story now as well. Higgins is an officer of the law and I couldn’t come to believe that he was capable of doing all the things she was accusing him of.
"We never spoke about the matter again, and I had all but forgotten about it. Then almost eight months after she came to see me the last time, she gave birth to little Jake. Most people assumed that she and Tom had been intimate shortly before he had died, and had had a baby boy. I thought that at first as well, but after he was born I began to have second thoughts about it. Both Tom and Maggie had blond hair, but Jake was born with a full head of black hair.
"Higgins’ hair is jet black. Also, if you could see Jake up close, there is quite a resemblance between him and Higgins. Maybe I am imagining this but I don’t think so. I think that if DNA testing is done on Kevin and Jake, I would bet that they are father and son.
"I think that Kevin didn’t want the Maggie Caulder murder reopened, because if it was, chances are that the truth would come out about Higgins having his way with Maggie, and everyone would know that he was a rapist and most likely a murderer as well. There is no way that Maggie would have given herself willingly to that man. If the DNA testing proves positive, then everything that Maggie said would be true.”
"That is quite the story you have told mayor. We won’t be able to prove any of this unless we can find Jake and do the testing to see if they are indeed related. When we find Caulder, we’ll check and if it is true we’ll prosecute Higgins, lock him up and throw away the key.” Sean knew that he had to locate Caulder and soon. More murders were probably going to be committed if they hadn’t been already. Now, Sean could possibly put away another felon at the same time.
"I hope that this has been some help and that it may shed some light on your present case.”
"Yes Mr. Mayor, I think it has. Thank you for taking the time to share this with me. Now, I’ve got to get going and see if we can find Jake’s trail before it gets cold.”
"Good luck inspector. Keep me informed of any progress you make.”
"Yes sir, I will. Thanks again.”
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