inside and out. The guy was smarter than some lawyers I know.” He sighed. “But for all his smarts it didn’t do him any good. Less than six months later he was dead and another gang member took his place in the hierarchy.”
David said, “Sometimes I wonder why we bother wasting our time.”
Studying the label on the top file, Mac opened the cover and read the first sheet of paper. It was a letter. “Look at this.” He held it out to David.
“What is it?”
“It’s a letter from the police in Paris.” Mac explained the contents. “It says that according to the results of a DNA test made at Maguire’s request, they have positively identified a John Doe found in a hostel in Paris as Frederick Gibbons Junior.”
David spun the folder around to view the discovery. “Isn’t that the rapist and killer that skipped the country less than an hour after the grand jury indicted him? The one that Maguire blamed on you for letting him escape? He’s dead?”
Retrieving the report taken from him, Mac flipped the cover letter to study the sheet underneath. “This letter is from a private investigator hired by Gibbons’s father to look for him.”
“Didn’t Gibbons fly out on his father’s jet?”
Mac was still reading the private investigator’s report. “A couple of months after they’d helped their son to escape, he disappeared. Their private investigator found an American John Doe matching Freddie’s description murdered execution style around the time he stopped communicating with his parents.”
“What would this have to do with Stephen Maguire’s murder?”
“Gibbons was killed only a couple of months after he got away,” Mac said slowly. “Maybe it was payback. Everyone on the inside knows Maguire was behind Gibbons’s escape. It turns out Frederick Gibbons, Senior, and Maguire were friends. They used to be roommates in law school.”
David almost spit out his coffee. “And Maguire didn’t remove himself from the case?”
The police chief’s shock amused Mac, who had seen more incidents of unfair politics played out in the justice system than he cared to remember. “If Maguire had done that, then he couldn’t have stalled and blocked me as much as he did to keep Gibbons from getting arrested. It was only because I went over his head with the evidence I had against Freddie Gibbons Junior that Maguire finally took it to the grand jury. When they voted to indict, Maguire got word to Gibbons Senior to get his son out of the country. I missed him by less than an hour.”
Mac shrugged his shoulders. “Of course, Maguire was so slick that it’s yet another one of those things where everyone knows he did it, but no one could get enough proof to arrest or convict him of anything.”
“But, if everyone knows he did it, why didn’t his boss fire him?” David asked.
Chuckling, Mac said, “He was a Maguire. That’s why. You really don’t know anything about politics.” He turned his attention back to Gibbons’s fate. “Maybe the killer decided not to stop with Freddie, but the crooked prosecutor that let him escape.”
“That’s a lot of maybes,” David said. “Gibbons ran off to Europe. If it was revenge, they would’ve had to find out what country he had run off to, fly overseas, and hunt him down in that country to kill him.”
“Gibbons was murdered.” Stunned, Mac repeated the word murdered over and over again while leafing through the reports in the file.
Peering at the bottom of his empty coffee mug, David said, “Granted, we don’t have any of the evidence on hand for the Gibbons murder, but I can’t help thinking it’s farfetched to assume that it would be connected to our case.”
Mac replied, “Most likely Gibbons’s parents came to Maguire to find out who killed their son. I assume, since he was the one behind helping Freddie escape prosecution and getting out of the country, he’s probably the only one who would have given enough of a damn to help
David said, “Sometimes I wonder why we bother wasting our time.”
Studying the label on the top file, Mac opened the cover and read the first sheet of paper. It was a letter. “Look at this.” He held it out to David.
“What is it?”
“It’s a letter from the police in Paris.” Mac explained the contents. “It says that according to the results of a DNA test made at Maguire’s request, they have positively identified a John Doe found in a hostel in Paris as Frederick Gibbons Junior.”
David spun the folder around to view the discovery. “Isn’t that the rapist and killer that skipped the country less than an hour after the grand jury indicted him? The one that Maguire blamed on you for letting him escape? He’s dead?”
Retrieving the report taken from him, Mac flipped the cover letter to study the sheet underneath. “This letter is from a private investigator hired by Gibbons’s father to look for him.”
“Didn’t Gibbons fly out on his father’s jet?”
Mac was still reading the private investigator’s report. “A couple of months after they’d helped their son to escape, he disappeared. Their private investigator found an American John Doe matching Freddie’s description murdered execution style around the time he stopped communicating with his parents.”
“What would this have to do with Stephen Maguire’s murder?”
“Gibbons was killed only a couple of months after he got away,” Mac said slowly. “Maybe it was payback. Everyone on the inside knows Maguire was behind Gibbons’s escape. It turns out Frederick Gibbons, Senior, and Maguire were friends. They used to be roommates in law school.”
David almost spit out his coffee. “And Maguire didn’t remove himself from the case?”
The police chief’s shock amused Mac, who had seen more incidents of unfair politics played out in the justice system than he cared to remember. “If Maguire had done that, then he couldn’t have stalled and blocked me as much as he did to keep Gibbons from getting arrested. It was only because I went over his head with the evidence I had against Freddie Gibbons Junior that Maguire finally took it to the grand jury. When they voted to indict, Maguire got word to Gibbons Senior to get his son out of the country. I missed him by less than an hour.”
Mac shrugged his shoulders. “Of course, Maguire was so slick that it’s yet another one of those things where everyone knows he did it, but no one could get enough proof to arrest or convict him of anything.”
“But, if everyone knows he did it, why didn’t his boss fire him?” David asked.
Chuckling, Mac said, “He was a Maguire. That’s why. You really don’t know anything about politics.” He turned his attention back to Gibbons’s fate. “Maybe the killer decided not to stop with Freddie, but the crooked prosecutor that let him escape.”
“That’s a lot of maybes,” David said. “Gibbons ran off to Europe. If it was revenge, they would’ve had to find out what country he had run off to, fly overseas, and hunt him down in that country to kill him.”
“Gibbons was murdered.” Stunned, Mac repeated the word murdered over and over again while leafing through the reports in the file.
Peering at the bottom of his empty coffee mug, David said, “Granted, we don’t have any of the evidence on hand for the Gibbons murder, but I can’t help thinking it’s farfetched to assume that it would be connected to our case.”
Mac replied, “Most likely Gibbons’s parents came to Maguire to find out who killed their son. I assume, since he was the one behind helping Freddie escape prosecution and getting out of the country, he’s probably the only one who would have given enough of a damn to help
Similar Books
