Halfway to the Truth Read Free Page A

dollar deals, or, makes a mistake and gets caught." Gathering the rest of her things, she added, "Guess I'm done here. See you around town Chief."

CHAPTER 3
     
    The paper slapped onto his desk with a crisp smack causing him to spill a little of the coffee he was getting ready to sip.
    “What’s this?” he asked the woman who had thrown the newspaper as she walked by to grab her own cup of brew.
    “My sister sent it to me from New Harmony. It’s a copy of their local newspaper. They put it out once a week on Friday. She sends them to me every once in a while when she thinks there is something interesting in it for me to read.”
    He picked up the folded paper and looked at the date. “This is from last month. What do you want me to do with it?”
    The mature woman finished pouring creamer into her cup and stirred it.
    She then made her way back across the room before answering. “You’ve been looking for a replacement investigative reporter. Read the cover story and tell me what you think?”
    She took a swig of the coffee and almost spit it out. It went down hot but nasty. “What did you make coffee with?” she managed to get out. “This stuff is bad!” and turned to find a sink.
    The man opened the newspaper but, before he started to read, he yelled after her, “If you don’t like it, then get in here early and make it yourself.”
    He took another sip from his cup. “This isn’t so bad,” he said, reading the headline titled Subdivision Deception .
    After reading another twenty minutes he put the paper down and re-engaged the woman who was now sitting at her desk with a cup of tea.
    “Powerful piece! Has all the right elements. Do you know what ever happened to the Mayor, Shelley?”
    “Yeah. They did a follow up story of how he snuck out of town,” she said, dunking her tea bag for the third time. “No one knows where he went though. My sister called me when it all happened. He’s since been impeached.”
    “Do you know this Reese Summers?”
    “Not really. I think she’s only been with the paper about a year. Before that piece, she was covering things like scouting events and the new roof on the Dollar General that replaced the one damaged in a storm. But even on those stories, I thought she had a flair for the printed word.”
    “Well I’m a pretty good judge of reporting skills and this Reese Summers has all the earmarks of a great reporter. I’m not familiar with New Harmony, where is it located?”
    “It’s in Spalding County south of Atlanta. And, that tobacco farm, was just about the last one to go under in that area. Too bad, I say.”
    “Why? You’re not a smoker,” he commented looking over the article again.
    Raising her tea and smelling the aroma, she answered, “It’s about losing the history of it all. Tobacco was a big deal at one time in the South. Now, it’s almost taboo to talk about it. If you can get that girl here, maybe she can do a nice story on tobacco.”
    “I don’t think so, I have something a lot more interesting and current right here that needs to be brought to light. I think she’d be perfect for the story.”
    “You have to get her first,” Shelley said, then took a sip of her tea and closed her eyes to savor the flavor.
    “Don’t you worry? I haven’t met a small-town reporter yet that balked at a chance to jump to a more prestigious newspaper. And, outside of Atlanta, you don’t get much better than Savannah. Would you make a note for me to get in touch with her next week, please?”
     
    Reese was on her second glass of wine at The Tavern when in walked Chief Daniels who took up a seat next to her.
    “Is this how you get your inspiration for a story?” he asked.
    She looked at him over the rim of the glass she was drinking from and swallowed. “No, this is how I recover from the articles I just wrote. After my big expose, I’m back to reporting on the latest pet that went missing. I know you like a quiet town Chief but, for a reporter,