Evidentiary Discovery

 

John Tures

 

       “Where did you hide the body?” she began the interrogation.

       He shook his head.

       “If you don’t tell, you’ll be found guilty!” she snapped.

       He cringed a little, but refused to divulge the location.

       “I loved her growing up,” the attorney muttered through clenched teeth. “You did this to hurt me. The law will punish you if I don’t find her.”

        It seemed that threats of violence weren’t working. It was time for a change in tactics.

       “Okay, sweetie. You were upset with me leaving for that Atlanta trial every day. You felt angry and unloved.       I’m sorry, and I promise to work from home more often.”

        The youth’s eyes became slits, considering the offer.

       “But you can’t do this anymore. You know it’s wrong. Just show me where you buried her and….”

       She paused. “I’ll forgive you. I won’t tell the law.”

        She hated to enable him, rewarding bad behavior. But she had to do something fast.

       The youth slowly led her into the yard, around the side of the oak tree where the attorney wouldn’t have looked. Under the fallen leaves, there was the fresh mound of dirt, concealing the crime.

        Frantically, she dug at the soil, ruining her carefully manicured fingernails, praying it wasn’t too late.

       She pulled the victim free. Her Ruth Bader Ginsburg doll had dirt matted in her hair and on her robes but could be cleaned.

       Her puppy whined pitifully.

       “Naughty Scalia,” the attorney snapped. “Look what you did to my favorite doll! You get a suspended sentence, but this is the law, and the law will not be mocked!”

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Dr. John A. Tures began writing for the El Paso Herald-Post in high school. He wrote for his college paper at Trinity University in San Antonio and at Marquette University. He earned his doctorate at Florida State University, analyzed data in Washington DC, and is now a Professor at LaGrange College. He writes a weekly column for newspapers and magazines. He has published a number of short story mysteries and thrillers. His book Branded was just published by Huntsville Independent Press (see free chapters here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/nfdmpqmn91). He thanks family and friends for listening to his stories. His author site is here: https://www.johntures.com/about-the-author/.

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KJ Hannah Greenberg is eclectic. She’s played oboe, participated in martial arts, learned basket weaving, and studied Middle Eastern dancing. What’s more, she’s a certified herbalist, and an AP College Board-authorized teacher of calculus. 

Her creative efforts have been nominated once for The Best of the Net in poetry, once for The Best of the Net in art, three times for the Pushcart Prize in Literature for poetry, once for the Pushcart Prize in Literature for fiction, once for the Million Writers Award for fiction, and once for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. To boot, Hannah’s had more than forty-five books published and has served as an editor for several literary journals.

Check out her latest short fiction collection, An Orbit of Chairs:

https://www.amazon.com/Orbit-Chairs-KJ-Hannah-Greenberg/dp/B0CWMMM73T

 Within its pages are two tales originally published at Yellow Mama: "Alive Another Day" and "Light Notes."

Channie's new art book, Life's Colors, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGCTHJ6Z, just launched (hit "read sample" button). It contains images originally published by Yellow Mama.