Chapter 60 Chapter 60

Puller walked up the front porch of Docter's house two steps at a time, with Cole following closely behind him. He knocked on the door.A few seconds later the door opened, and George Docter stood before them.His stature is only about 1.65 meters. With his puffy figure, pale face, trembling knees and curved spine, it can be seen that he is suffering from many diseases. It seemed that at any moment he might fall to the ground and die, and perhaps occasionally he himself wished that to happen. "Sheriff Cole," he said, "come back to ask some more questions?" His voice sounded a little excited.Puller reckoned that the old man's normal life must be pretty boring.Even a homicide investigation seems more interesting than sitting in a car smoking and waiting quietly for the end of life.

"I'm John Puller, Army Criminal Investigations. Mr. Docter, would you mind if I ask a few questions?" Puller showed the old man his badge and identification. The old man looked all the more excited by it. "No problem, you can ask." His voice sounded like a broken car that ran over a gravel road and suddenly encountered an obstacle.The old man coughed so loudly that he almost lost his balance. "Damn allergic rhinitis. Excuse me." He blew his nose out of a wad of tissues in one puffy, red hand, and guided Pooler and Cole through the door. They followed the old man down a short corridor and into a hut.There were many dark stains on the plywood wall perimeter.Everything in the house looks as if it hadn't been touched since it was completed forty years ago.The high-pile rugs have permanently lost their pile, and the furniture lost its luster perhaps twenty years ago.They sat down on chairs."I was in the military," Docter said. "Oh, of course, it was many, many years ago. In North Korea, it was a nice country, but it was so cold. I'm glad I came back alive."

"I believe so," Puller said. "You've got to take care of yourself, Mr. Docter," Cole said. He smiled submissively and said, "I'm old, fat, and a smoker. Other than that I'm fine. Thank you for your concern." He stared at Puller and said, "Good guy. You A fine specimen of a man, boy. If you charged me in the field, I'd surrender on the spot." "Thank you, sir," said Puller, eager to end the subject as soon as possible. "As far as I know, you always go to the back terrace to smoke." "That's right. My wife doesn't like the smell of smoke in the house."

"Where's your wife?" Cole asked. "Still in bed. Mornings are when her arthritis suffers. She doesn't get up until about noon, just in time for lunch. Don't grow old, that's my advice to you two." "Oh, being forever young may not be very attractive." Puller said.He counted the days in his head. "Sunday night, did you see anything in particular? Or heard something? Like gunshots?" "My hearing isn't that good, boy. And I've been cuddling on the toilet on Sunday night, and my wife cooked dinner, and something didn't go right with me. It happened more and more as I got older. So I didn't Go outside. I told the sheriff lady when she came to ask me on Monday. My wife was in bed that night. Although I was sick and sick all night, it didn't affect her whirring Big sleep."

"Okay. What about Monday night? Did you go to the back terrace?" "Got it. I went to bed late and woke up earlier and earlier. I figured it wouldn't be long before I was in my coffin forever, so why let sleep take away my time? I love the early hours of the morning. It's a bit of a cool breeze and seeing the dew dripping on the leaves and grass. It's nice." "Do you remember seeing anything unusual?" The old man stuffed the tissue into his pocket and rubbed his chin as hard as if he wanted to polish it.He smiled, pointing first at Puller. "Saw you." Then he pointed to Cole, "I saw her too. Out on patrol or something in the woods. Well, strictly speaking, it was early Tuesday morning. "

"We were looking for some people. I saw someone running through the forest a few minutes before that. Did you see him too?" Docter is already nodding. "I see it. It's fast. The road is familiar. There's a path behind." Cole couldn't hold his breath. "Mr. Docter, why didn't you tell me when I asked you?" "Uh, no one asked me. I didn't know it was important. And this happened after you came here to ask me. I really didn't know it would be connected to the murder in the next family." His voice was low down, "Is there really a connection?"

"Can you describe the man?" Puller asked. "He was a man, that's for sure. Tall, but not as tall as you, boy. Broad shoulders, like bald. I'd say he was young from the way he ran. It was very dark, but there was moonlight. This guy has scars on his arms, or burn scars or something, and the scars are black." "So he's wearing a short-sleeved shirt?" "Like a vest or something. Yes, sir." "Good eyesight," Cole said. "Dark sky, far away. Even with moonlight." "I've had laser correction surgery." George said, pointing to his eyes. "I'm old and fat, but my vision in the distance is completely normal, and it wasn't very far away at the time."

"Do you think he's local?" Cole asked. "Hard to say. Like I said, he looks familiar with the trails through this forest. If I line up to identify the suspects, I might be able to recognize him." "Anything else, tell them all, George." They all turned away.I saw an old woman rushing into the house on a tricycle designed for people who have lost the ability to walk.She was wearing a pink nightgown, and her puffy feet were stuffed into slippers that were too small.Puller could see a pearl-gray wig cropped close to her head.She certainly weighed ninety kilograms, and her body looked as unhealthy as her husband's.

Although severe arthritis prevented her from walking, her hands steered the tricycle so well that it stopped right next to Puller. "I'm Rhonda, his beloved companion." She introduced herself with dignity. Puller said, "John Puller, Army Criminal Investigator. What do you mean by something else?" George Docter cleared his throat, glanced cautiously at his wife and said, "I see something else." "It's us," corrected his wife.She gave Puller a smug smile. "I saw it from the window." "Why from the window?" Cole asked. "Because my husband would fall asleep when he was outside smoking one of his cancer-causing little sticks. So I watched him from the window so he wouldn't burn himself."

"I never burned myself," cried George angrily. "That's because you have a dear wife who has taken care of you for fifty-six years." Rhonda said in the tone of a mother to a child. "What did you see?" Puller asked. "That's nothing," said George uneasily. Rhonda snapped, "It's nothing." She pointed at Cole and said, "Saw your murdered officer." "Larry Wellman? What was he doing when you saw him?" "He walked around the house, looking around." "He's on patrol," Cole said. "That's his job."

Puller asked, "Did you see him come in?" "No." "Is he alone?" Puller asked again.Rhonda nodded. "When was that?" Cole asked. "I reckon it was between twelve-thirty and one in the middle of the night. Because George smoked four carcinogenic sticks that night, each wrapped in his mouth until he couldn't wrap it anymore." "Could you stop calling them carcinogenic rods?" George snapped. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Grumpy. George sucked four coffin nails, which usually lasts until one o'clock in the middle of the night." George complained: "I've put up with this woman for fifty-six years. It's a miracle I didn't kill her." "Go on, ma'am," Puller said to Rhonda. "Well, then I went to the bathroom. Let George go on from here on." Cole said, "Wait a minute. Didn't Sergeant Larry Wellman see you sitting on the back deck smoking a cigarette?" George shook his head. "I'm lying on our little couch. The back of the chair faces the old Halvorsons' house." "So how can you see what's going on?" Puller asked. "I hide behind the back of the recliner and look around. I can see everything, but it's hard for others to see me. When I observe, I put out the cigarette." "That means Wellman is on patrol. And then?" "Then, I probably fell asleep." George's expression was a little awkward. "Look," Rhonda said gloatingly, "I'll go to the bathroom a while and you'll burn yourself out. Cremated yourself for free." The husband scowled. "I just said I put out my cigarettes. You want me to burn myself, don't you? Then you can take my funeral money to your favorite casino." "Mr. Docter, let's focus on what you saw, shall we?" Cole reminded. "Oh, yes. Anyway, when I woke up, that bald guy came out of their house." "Wait, did that bald head get in the house? You never said that." "Didn't I say? Oh, so I'm talking now. He came out of the house very quickly and ran quickly into the forest. Then I heard the sound of parking. It was about half past four, so I remember It was because I was looking at my watch." "That was me," Puller said. "I drove up and called Sheriff Cole, and I went inside the house. I looked around and saw Wellman dead, and then I heard Cole's car. Here you go." He said to Cole, "I saw a guy come out of the house in a blink of an eye in the woods. Then I pushed you aside, and we went hunting for the guy again." "That is, the bald guy was stalking around while you were inside the house," Cole said. "It must be," agreed George. "I saw him run away, and after a while I heard their back door open and saw you coming out of there. Then where you went I don't know. " "Hiding behind a car in the driveway," Puller said. Cole said, "But Larry's car was taken away. How did that happen? Who did it?" She turned to the Docters. "Have any of you seen it?" Both old men shook their heads. "It must have happened while I was asleep," George said. "And I was in the toilet for a long time." Rhonda added, "When you get old, it takes more time to do anything." Puller said, "Let's clarify the chronology a little bit more. The last time you saw Wellman on patrol was between half past twelve and one. He didn't go into that house. The next thing you saw, the bald man was in the I left the house shortly before arriving. I found Wellman's body around five o'clock. He was killed about three hours ago, around two o'clock in the middle of the night. That's when you guys saw him An hour after the patrol. You were asleep by then. But the bald man may have been in the house or entered there while you were asleep." Cole chimed in: "That means Baldy killed Wellman and got away with it." Puller shook his head. "But what about Larry's car? The guy obviously didn't drive it away. If he killed Larry, why was he still running around in the woods? Why didn't he just run away? It was because of his sojourn here that I happened to see him." "It's a headache," George said. "Did you wake up and notice that the police car was gone? Or did you hear the car starting?" Puller said. "Neither," said Docter. "I must have slept too hard." "Will you two have some coffee and cupcakes?" Rhonda asked. Her husband yelled, "It's morning. For God's sake, Rhonda. Who eats cupcakes early in the morning?" "I'll eat it in the morning." She replied sternly. "We've had it all," Puller said. "Well, we hope we can be of some help to you," said George. "Do you think we're going to be in any danger?" Rhonda asked, irritated by such anticipation. "I have a gun," said George firmly. "Your gun has no bullets at all," his wife said. "Even if it had bullets, you haven't fired a gun in years. You can't shoot anyone. You probably just hit yourself." As the husband and wife bicker over the issue, Cole and Puller leave and walk to Cole's police car. "What do you get out of that?" she asked. "We should find the bald guy." "Do you have any idea about this?" "yes."