The witness - Fiction- Short story - chapter 4

Image source

Jessie laughed and nodded.   

"You know I can't disclose any of that information to you. It is official police business and I'm not allowed to talk about it."  Matt said. 

Jessie knew that she was treading on this ice, and changed the direction of the conversation. They ended up talking about movies and how easy it is to get away with something in the movies, and just for interest sake Peter dropped a simple question.  

"Jessie, if you had found money somewhere, would you hand it in to the police or would you keep it?"

Both Jessie and Matt laughed.  

"Oh, that's an easy one. Jessie would keep the money of course. She is very fond of money and if there was no chance to be caught, she would spend the money in a heartbeat!"

Everyone laughed.  

"Ooooh this is getting interesting.....Matt what would you do if you were an innocent bystander and you picked up a murder weapon by accident?" Jessie asked and anxiously awaited his answer. 

"Well that is a tough one to answer, it all depends. I would of course, hand it in to the police directly and explain the situation, but other's might want to get rid of the weapon not to have themselves involved in a crime they did not commit.  The honest thing would be to come out with the truth and play it safe."

Peter nodded. He knew that he did the wrong thing, but he also knew that what Matt was saying was probably right. 

Matt enjoyed himself and offered to pay for dinner and they both accepted. They had a fabulous time and Peter felt as if he had made a new friend. The ride home was silent and both Jessie and Peter were lost in their own thoughts. Matt dropped them off and they made a date to meet up again the following week.  

Just as he was about to pull out of the driveway, Peter asked Matt to come back inside. He needed to get this out of his system and it was now or never. It was late, but Matt didn't want to offend Peter and agreed.   

Jessie went through to the kitchen to make some coffee, and when she returned she found Matt and Peter in the living room talking. On the table was the duffel bag. The gun was on the table next to the bag, and two stacks of money on top of the gun.

"Care to explain this?" Matt asked and sounded like a real policeman this time.  

Jessie looked a bit shocked, but she also knew Peter. Peter slowly started to explain the events of the crime, but Matt stopped him. 

" This is a serious situation Peter. I don't think we should discuss this issue any further. We all had a little too much to drink, and for all purposes, I know nothing about this. You should not discuss this with anyone except the people inside this room. Give me a day to think about this and then we should talk again. Keep the money safe, and hide the gun. And I mean no one can know about this."

Peter put the gun and the money back into the bag. 

"I know I was wrong, but I really need your help Matt. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and I handled the situation incorrectly. I should have gone straight to the police."

"You should have, but it is no use crying over spilled milk. We need to salvage the situation for what it is. Let me think and I will get back to you in the morning."

Peter spent another sleepless night on his bed and his thoughts kept on going back to the conversation between him and Matt.  Something felt a bit awkward. He didn't know Matt at all, but in all honesty he felt that something was wrong.  

Why didn't Matt insist that they go to the police last night? He could have arrested him last night, but he didn't.  He knew that Jessie trusted Matt, and that was the only reason that he trusted him.  

What if she was wrong?  

What if Matt was not as innocent as he looked? 

He had heard of corrupt policeman before, and he didn't really think that Matt was corrupt, but what if he was?

He finally could not take it anymore, and took a sleeping tablet that he used in cases of emergency. He had always been a light sleeper but often it gets worse and become total insomnia, but the sleeping tablet usually did the trick. He was knocked out within an hour, and he slept like a log. 

Peter didn't even hear the alarm go off the next morning. He slept straight through it.  He woke up just after eleven that morning and checked his phone. There was a text from Jessie.  

"I told the boss that you're not coming in today. I'll see you after work."   

"What would I do without you Jess?" he said out loud, and stretched himself out before getting up to go to the bathroom. He was still not fully awake and nearly dislocated his arm when he bumped his arm on the closet door.  

"How weird?'

 He closed and locked the closet the previous night, and now it was open. Peter quickly opened the door and checked for the bag. It was gone. He checked the closet, and found the other two stacks of money still safely tucked away under his jerseys.  

Someone had broken in, and stole the bag. Nobody else even knew about it and Peter knew that his thoughts about Matt had been right.  He picked up his phone and dialed Jessie's number. 

"You better get your butt down here. The money, the gun....everything is gone."

- To be continued -

     

                           

                          

                                   Animated Banner Created By @zord189