Code 61 - Donald Harstad [48]
“You got it. A material witness, who's demonstrated his desire to flee.”
According to the Iowa Code, any officer may arrest any person as a material witness, provided that the person is a material witness to a felony, and if the person might be unavailable for subpoena. Toby claimed knowledge of a felony, all right. He'd already run once.
And we were, via the bridge across the Mississippi at Freiberg, less than five miles from Wisconsin. We can't subpoena from another state, and we sure can't subpoena somebody we can't ffnd, even if they stay in Iowa.
I went to the squad car.
“Hey, Toby?”
“What?”
“You know that I'm a deputy sheriff, don't you?”
“Now what?” He had a right to be suspicious, and he certainly appeared to be.
“Well, Toby, since you've run once, and since you're a material witness in a felony case, I'm placing you under arrest as a material witness.”
“You can't do that!” They always say that. Hell, even their attorneys say that.
“It's done, Toby,” I said. “Don't be too bothered about it. I told you about that earlier today, didn't I? We'll take good care of you.” I gestured to Sally. “Go ahead and take him in. Stop and have him checked at the Maitland Hospital before you book him. Just in case of some lawsuit over his leg.” I moved a bit closer to him. “Okay, now, you've got the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used against you in a court or courts of law. You have the right to an attorney, and to have him present during questioning.” I smiled. “Got that?”
“I don't believe this,” said Toby. “I just don't believe this.”
“But, do you understand what I've just said? You gotta understand it, Toby.”
“Yeah, yeah, I understand all that shit. But it just isn't gonna help, is all.”
“Don't worry,” I said. “It should be a lot easier than running through the woods in the dark.”
“Yeah. Right.”
“Hey, Toby, just consider it revenge for scaring the hell out of me.” I smiled.
“What?”
“When you ran right by us in the woods. Just before you fell in the foundation.”
He shook his head. “I never ran by you. I was lying down until I got up when you turned your lights on. When I ran into the hole.” He gave kind of a satisfied smile. “Like I said, dude. Like I said.”
Sally and I exchanged what I would call meaningful looks and then she glanced back toward the woods. “I think we'll be leaving now,” she said quickly. She turned to Toby, in the backseat behind the thick Plexiglas screen. “Now you behave, Toby, and just be quiet back there, and put on your seat belt.” She got into the squad, and left the door open while she buckled herself in.
“Don't pick up any hitchhikers,” I said. That earned me a look from Sally. “Don't forget, cite under Code Chapter 804.11. Make certain you include that.”
“Okay, boss.”
“And no questions to him until one of us gets down there.”
I went back to Hester. “We can talk to him when we get back to Maitland. Ought to be good enough.”
“You know what bothers me?”
“Tonight? Hard to tell,” I said. “What?”
“The man who joined us at the restaurant. That Chester dude.”
“Yeah.”
“So, somebody shows up who hunts vampires, then we have a suspect say that our victim is killed by a vampire. What're the odds?”
“Tonight? Pretty good.”
“Yeah,” she said. “I'm afraid we better talk to this Chester guy again. Not right away. Damn. Not tonight, anyway.” She brushed a wayward strand of hair from her forehead. “But this stinks. It almost feels like some sort of setup.”
“Maybe … ”
“Do you want your office, then, to get hold of this vampire hunter and set up an appointment?”
“Oh, Harry will keep us in touch,” I said, half kidding. “Right now, the two of us are the only people who know all the connections. I'd like to keep it that way.”
“There's a third one, Carl.” She was beginning to smile, broadly.
“Who?”
“Dangerous Dan the Vampire Man,” she said, and snickered. “Honest to God, I'm never coming to Nation County again.”
“We're entertaining, you gotta admit,” I said.
“Right. So, anyway, regardless,