"You can't haul me in!" Miles Bellinger cried. "It's wrong! I didn't murder him! I didn't! I'm one of the good guys! You need me to fight against all the villains we have around here!"
The deputy didn't reply, just stood waiting.
"Wait!" Bellinger said. "You mean to tell me you are going to arrest me ahead of that democrat, Karen Clinger? You know she gunned down a half dozen folk! You can't just let those murders go unpunished! You've got to go out and arrest her!
"Who says I committed this murder, anyway? Who is my accuser? I've got a right to know who he is. He's a liar! a cursed, cursed liar! What's his name, anyway?!"
The deputy reached forth the handcuffs to put them on Bellinger.
"No. You're not going to do that until you tell me who it is that's lying!" Bellinger shouted. "I have every right to know who he is. He's guilty of all kinds of crimes for doing this to me!"
The deputy couldn't tell Bellinger who had called the police to tip them off. When tips come in, it doesn't work that way.
"And, this guy I supposedly shot," Bellinger said, "do you know anything about him? Do you realize who he was? He was the most corrupt person in the county. He killed Marv Wilson. Oh, I'll confess I was looking into all he was doing -- all he was up to. I wouldn't be an American if I didn't do that. Your're going to arrest me for checking into his murdering Mary? That's not right! That's not American! I'm the good guy here! He killed Mary Wilson!"
"Word is," said the deputy, "you were hiring a private investigator to tail him around, to look for things he might have done wrong. And, word is, he was going to run against you in the upcoming election. Did you -- as word has it -- go about hiring an investigator?"
"Oh, I asked him to do me a favor," Bellinger said. "That's all. I reminded him of everything the county has done for him, and asked him to do us here in the county a favor."
"Yeah. He's on county assistance, isn't he?" the deputy asked. "And, you were elected as our guy to run that program. I've heard you cut off giving him any help."
"You can't prove that," Bellinger shot back.
"Listen," said the deputy, "you are going to have to face the judge on all this. And, there'll be a jury. For what it's worth, the people in this county love you. Anybody on that jury is going to set you free. They don't want the election to be overturned. And, I'll go ahead and tell you the judge was in to see me as soon as he heard you were in trouble. He told me he's on your side. He said he's not even going to let any witnesses testify against you.
"Just, for what it's worth."
Off in the distance, someone was listening. A real American. He bowed his head and started to walk away as the conversation between the deputy and Bellinger ended. "For what it's worth?" he whispered. "If this is American justice, it isn't worth much -- not much at all."
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