Page 40 of The Cabinet of Dr. Leng

“Why did you lie about your rifle being stolen?”

Again, he didn’t answer.

“Is it because you killed Twoeagle with it? Or is there another reason?”

He finally looked up. “I didn’t kill nobody.”

“Then why did you lie about the rifle being stolen?”

Running shifted uneasily in his chair. “Itwasstolen.”

“Look, Mr. Running, that was a lie when you first told it to us and it’s still a lie. You would have reported it. That’s an expensive rifle.”

Another uneasy shift. “It was stolen,” he repeated. Then, after a hesitation, he said, “Ithoughtit was stolen by my nephew.”

This revelation hit Coldmoon hard. “You didn’t report it because you didn’t want to get a relative into trouble?”

Running nodded. “He’s my sister’s kid, been in trouble all his life. But who reports their own family to the cops?”

Coldmoon nodded. “Did Twoeagle tell you he had the money to pay you?”

“Yeah, but he was always saying bullshit like that. Promising to pay.”

Pologna scoffed quietly.

“So you didn’t believe him?”

“No.”

Coldmoon rose. “That’s all I wanted to know. Thank you.”

“You gonna get me out of here? I didn’t do it.”

Coldmoon didn’t answer, unsure what to say.

25

THE WARDEN LED THEMback to the lobby, where Coldmoon noticed Sergeant Wilcox just coming in.

“Sergeant?” Coldmoon asked. “Do you have a moment?”

“Sure.” She dropped off some paperwork at a nearby desk. “What is it? I’d invite you into my office, but it’s just a cubicle.”

“A quick question. When we were at the site of the murder, I noticed you and Commander LaPointe seemed reluctant to climb up with us to the shooter’s location. Why was that?”

She lowered her voice. “As you may have noticed, the commander isn’t in the best of shape.”

“You’re in good shape.”

“I wanted to stay with him, so he wouldn’t be embarrassed.”

Coldmoon looked steadily into her eyes. “What’s the real reason?”

“Is this important?”

“Yes.”

Her eyes wavered. “You’re Lakota, right?”

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