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Sheriff Perkins speech was starting to wind down at last. It wasn’t that he was ready to stop speaking, he was just
running out of something to say that had anything to do with Ann Barton, the Mayor, himself, the Police Department or the
case Ann had solved.
The Mayor stepped back up to the podium and once again addressed the crowd. With a flourish he motioned to Ann Barton.
“Now it gives me great pleasure to call to the podium the woman of the hour, the Police Woman whose untiring and diligent
investigation has brought to a close a horrible mystery that had haunted our fair city for four long years. Once again our
citizens may walk the streets without fear. Now, thanks to the untiring efforts of Officer Ann Barton in solving this case,
we may feel safe in our city, safe in our community, and even safe in our homes!” The entire audience applauded loudly.
Then, turning to face Ann, the Mayor said,” Officer Barton, we thank you for a job well done. Will you step forward,
please?” Ann stepped forward and faced the Mayor. She smiled slightly and stood at attention. The Mayor stepped closer
to her and, with a flourish said, “It is an honor to present to you, Officer Ann Barton, this Certificate of Excellence.
Thank you from the Tulla City Police Department, the Tulla City Council and especially from the citizens of the fair city
of Tulla City!” With his left hand he placed the rolled up certificate in her left hand and shook her right hand. Ann
took the Mayors hand in hers and smiled and said,” Thank you, Mr. Mayor and I thank the Police Department and the people
of Tulla City for this honor.”
Ann stood still for a moment, not sure of what to do next. She felt a little awkward and made a slight move to turn and leave.
As she took a step backward, the Mayor held up his right hand and loudly spoke into the microphones, “Hold it, officer!”
With a shocked look on her face, Ann stopped. Grinning broadly the Mayor reached out and drew Ann back to the podium. Then,
turning to the assembled crowd he said, “ Now for the real main reason we’re here today. The certificate awarded
to Officer Ann Barton is well deserved but I think it is too good for a uniformed Police officer!” The crowd was silent
and, everyone looked first at the Mayor then at Ann. Ann’s face was blank. She had no idea what the Mayor meant by what
he had just said. The Mayor looked grim for just an instant, waiting to see the effect his statement would have on the assemblage.
Then he said, “Officer Ann Barton, will you step forward?” Ann looked puzzled but did as she was ordered. She
still stood at attention and the Mayor stood facing her with his right hand in his pocket. Then, drawing his hand out of his
pocket, he smiled and said, “Officer Ann Barton, it is an honor for me to award you this Badge as a symbol of my appreciation
for a job well done and as special thanks from the City and the citizens of Tulla City, Ohio!” With that he pinned a
large, shiny silver badge on the lapel of Ann’s jacket. It said,” Detective 3rd Grade-1077. Then the Mayor stepped
back and extended his right hand to take hers in a hearty handshake and said,” Congratulations, Detective Ann Barton!”
At precisely 6:00 o’clock Gerald Prosser knocked on the door of Detective Ann Barton’s apartment. The ceremony
had been a bit of a letdown for Prosser. He had expected more than what had turned into a hometown gathering. Most of the
other reporters felt the same way and many of them left almost as soon as the ceremony was over.
The door opened immediately and Ann Barton appeared and said,” Mr. Prosser?”
Prosser answered,” That’s me. May I come in?”
You’re right on time,” said Ann. “ Are you always so punctual or are you just in a hurry to get this over
with so you can leave this burg? Most of the others have already left.”
“There wasn’t much left to see or hear after the ceremony ended,” said Prosser, “ I hope you don’t
take offense but there isn’t much here that would hold a reporters interest; at least as far as I can see.”
“ You’re here,”Ann said.
“ I have a reason to be here. Maybe there is something I still need to find out.”
Ann studied Prosser’s face for a moment. Why was a top crime reporter so curious about this case? Or was he just interested
in her? Not likely, she thought. She tried not to notice his strong, angular face with the piercing, gray eyes that always
seemed to be taking everything in.
Prosser was a middle-aged man, forty-six years middle-aged, but had the lean body of a man ten years younger. He was eleven
years older than Ann was but it wasn’t obvious. At five feet, eleven inches tall and a hundred ninety five pounds, he
was just as he had been at age thirty-six.
He married once but, after two months of wedded bliss to a wonderful girl, he was widowed. Prosser was going into the service
the coming month for a three-year tour of duty and he and his wife, Patricia, were deeply in love and each as curious and
active as the other.
Patricia was a small woman, barely over five feet tall, with long brown hair and blue eyes and she never weighed more than
a hundred and five pounds. She was athletic and enjoyed anything physical, especially hiking the tall peaks. They seemed to
have everything in common and thoroughly enjoyed each other in every way. They often traveled to the Rockies for weekend outings.
They made many trips, trying to do all they could in the short time they had before he must leave for his tour of duty in
the Army. But their passion for hiking would also be their curse.
On a hiking trip along a well traveled path that wound up one of the lower hiking trails in the area, Patricia stepped on
a small stone and turned her foot just as they crossed the only ledge on the trail. The mountain was on her right side and
a sixty-foot drop was on her left side. Her ankle turned on the stone and, as she lurched sideways, she grabbed the limb of
a tree. The limb split off the tree and she fell down the incline, striking her head on a rock on the way down. She was dead
before she hit the bottom. It all happened so fast. It was over almost before it began. So was their honeymoon.
Prosser grieved for his wife for a month then went into the Army. His three-year hitch turned into twenty.
Ann was an interestingly attractive woman. At five feet, six inches, she was tall for a woman. She was slender at a hundred
and ten pounds, but was deceptively strong and agile. She regularly exercised on a gym set she kept at home and ran for an
hour every day on the treadmill in her kitchen. Her expression was always calm and she gave the impression that she missed
a lot by her disinterest, but such was not the case. She watched everybody and noticed everything that went on around her.
She was a brunette, turned blond, almost platinum. Her hair was medium length and worn loosely against her collar. Her eyes
were a strange shade of green, flecked with brown, almost like the skin of some lizards only much brighter.
Ann said, “Come in,” and stepped aside for him. He entered a large living area, well furnished with Early American
furniture that had a well used look to it. She motioned him to the sofa and asked him if he would like something to drink.
He said, “Coffee would be fine,” and she left to get the coffee. She served the coffee from a China tea server
into delicate China cups and set a China sugar dish and creamer on a tray in front of him on the coffee table. She watched
as he purposely took one sugar cube and dropped it into his cup, poured in a small amount of cream and stirred it twice.
Ann noted the ritual. “Do you always do it like that?” she asked.
“I guess so,” he answered, “I never noticed before. I guess I’m a man of habit.”
Ann took her coffee black.
Ann went back into the kitchen and returned in a minute with a saucer covered with chocolate chip cookies and sugar wafers.
“Help yourself,” she said. He grinned and took one of each. He bit a piece from the chocolate chip cookie, chewed
and swallowed it then dipped the wafer in the coffee and ate that as well.
“Maybe I should have fixed dinner,” she said.
“No, this is fine, but thanks anyhow,” he replied.
“O K,” she said. “Now what do you want to know?”
“ Well, let me see. First, would you mind telling me a little about yourself?”
“What would you like to know?” She asked.
“Are you married,” he asked?
“No,” she replied.
“How long have you been on the force?”
“Six years,” she said.
“How old are you?” he asked.
“Mr. Prosser, I think you know all that already. What do you really want to know?”
“O K,” he said. “How did you solve a murder that happened over four years ago without any additional evidence?”
Ann didn’t answer right away. She looked as if she were trying to figure out what to say next. She stood up and walked
to the door and peered out. Then she sat back down and looked into his eyes.
“It was deduction,” she said, “ Like Sherlock Holmes. I went back over every bit of evidence we had, which
wasn’t much, and took out whatever didn’t fit and left in what did. Whoever I had even the slightest reason to
suspect I left in and whomever I couldn’t suspect, I took out. Then I approached each person as though I knew more than
I really did. I pretended to have additional information that I would make public soon and I got lucky. The killer believed
me and panicked and confessed.”
“ That’s it?” asked Prosser.
“That’s it, “ said Ann.
“Is that what you told the Chief and the rest?” asked Prosser.
“That’s what I told them,” said Ann.
“Who helped you with the case?” asked Prosser.
“No one,” said Ann.
“What made you start it up again?” asked Prosser.
Ann hesitated for a second then said, “I just started thinking about it one day while I was on vacation. It had bothered
me from time to time, knowing someone around me was a killer and always wondering who it was. It could be someone I work with
or a neighbor. In a small town like Tulla City, everyone is a neighbor. Maybe I got scared thinking about it.”
“I don’t think so.” He said, “ Curious maybe, but not scared. No, not scared. Not you.”
“ I’m not sure how to take that,” Ann said. “ Do I look that tough?”
He didn’t answer right away. When he spoke it wasn’t to answer her last question about how tough she may look.
“Miss Barton,” he said, “ I hope you don’t take offense but I think you are leaving something out.
That couldn’t be the entire story. What are you not telling me?”
Ann’s face reddened slightly and she rose and said, “ Mr. Prosser, did you read the confession, the account of
what happened?”
“Yes I did,” he said.
“ Then you know it all. This interview is over.”
“ Well, hell,” he said, “I did offend you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
Ann did not smile, just nodded. “ You’re forgiven,” she said, “ Goodnight.”
Ann thought about the confession she had gotten from Jim Slater. How ridiculous the murder had been. How unnecessary. How
unfortunate. She knew that this whole case-solving scenario would look suspicious to anyone who checked into it. But only
she knew the whole story and only she ever would.
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