Gunpowder Chowder Read Online Free

wheeled out on a stretcher and the ambulance drove off. Silently.
    She looked at Cal. “Does she think I shot Vern?”
    Hannah felt his hand on her shoulder. The warmth seeped through her jacket. “Don’t worry. This will all get sorted out.”
    “Sorted out?” Hannah slumped back onto the picnic table bench, all strength drained from her legs.
    “Do you want me to take you to the police station?” Cal asked.
    Hannah nodded. “I don’t even know where it is.”
    Officer Larson returned, asking Hannah to follow her. Jack said he would keep an eye on Nellie. The drive to the police station was only about ten minutes but it sped by much too quickly for Hannah’s liking.
    Cal tried to calm her nerves. “Pam is a fair person. Just tell her what you know. She needs to gather all the facts, and Vern was found on your property so it makes sense that she’s starting with you.”
    Hannah nodded. She breathed in and out. Slowly. Letting the air work some magic to calm her fears. What did Great Aunt Caroline dump her into? Hannah’s mother had always warned her, don’t let Caroline suck you into her renegade life as an unmarried business woman. And not even a proper business in their mind, but what they called Caroline’s hippy snack shack and beach cottage rental business.
    Cal pulled into a parking lot, breaking her from her memories. “I’ll go in with you.”
    Hannah nodded.
    The police station was a one story brick building, cold and sterile. It had none of the charm of the downtown buildings with their windows decorated for the Christmas season. A flag snapped in the wind, making Hannah jump.
    Cal put his hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have anything to be worrying about, do you?”
    “Right now? Maybe my future?”
    “Just tell Pam what you know. She’s after the facts. Don’t let her blunt demeanor intimidate you. It’s how she is.”
    “You keep telling me to tell her what I know. I arrived in Hooks Harbor yesterday. I don’t know anything!” Hannah’s voice raised to a near panic.
    Cal explained at the front desk why they were there and Hannah was guided to an office in the back. Hannah stood in the doorway, waiting for Pam to give her instructions. Pam continued to type on her laptop without acknowledging Hannah’s presence.
    Finally, she closed her computer and motioned for Hannah to sit in the only chair available. A wooden chair with a straight back. Pam rested her elbows on her desk and entwined her fingers, leaning slightly toward Hannah.
    “So, tell me, Ms. Holiday, when did you arrive here in Hooks Harbor?”
    “Yesterday morning.” Hannah forced herself to answer the question. Only the question. Without any unnecessary chatter even though with her nerves about to explode, her mouth threatened to babble.
    “Walk me through your day.”
    Hannah slowly and carefully tried to remember every detail. She started with meeting Jack, going to breakfast at his house, walking Nellie and seeing the man she thought was Chase walking toward her property. She told Pam about meeting Vern and Chase and how she heard Chase tell Vern he wouldn’t let Vern steal the property from him again.
    Pam sat up straighter. “Do you remember the exact words?”
    Hannah looked around the office. “Yes, he said, ‘just like her crazy aunt, but I won’t let you steal that property out from under me. Again.’ He was so angry, it sent chills up my spine when he said it.”
    “Did you threaten them to leave?”
    Hannah felt a rush of heat in her cheeks. “I was scared. I saw my great aunt’s gun leaning just inside the front door of her cottage. Well, it’s mine now.” She stared at Pam. “I didn’t even think about what I was doing, but I picked up the gun and walked back outside. I didn’t point it at them or anything. I just walked back outside and asked them to leave. That’s when I heard Chase’s words to Vern.”
    “What time did all this happen?”
    “I think it was late morning. I don’t know