Jack Frost: The Last Fairytale (Jelsa)

The Sherriff's and the Detective

Sherriff Woody Pride stopped the security footage of the alley and rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration and sympathy. "Well there you go, everything the Deaux boy did was in was in self-defense."

"That poor boy, first his family and now this," piped Sherriff Woody's partner, a southern bell named Jessie. "He was trying to resuscitate his friend when we showed up. It took the two of us to pry him off of the body and subdue him."

Sherriff Woody glanced at the monitor that kept watch over the detention cell. Jackson Cole Deaux sat in a pair of fresh clothes, they found him covered in blood and none of it was his own. The scene didn't look good, a gun with his prints all over it and two bodies with gunshot wounds. They took him into custody, and hosed him down after taking his clothes and gave him a fresh set of scrubs. They weren't without pity, especially after the first time they saw the tape.

"Detective Lightyear, what do you think?" Sherriff Woody tipped his hat in the detective's direction.

Head Detective Buzz Lightyear turned on the light to the room. Buzz was wearing a navy blue suit with a green tie, his squared chin framed a scowl. Sherriff Woody and Jessie were each wearing their uniforms, tan shirts, dark pants and ties. Jessie's flaming red hair stuck out as a long braid hung over her shoulder.

"I think it is a tragedy, but this proves his innocence. We all know that it was the Westergard boy who instigated the first fight, luckily we can't distinguish the face so we can use this footage to prove Deaux's innocence." Lightyear sighed. "Have you called the parents of the other boy?"

Jessie nodded her head solemnly.

"And the shooter?" Lightyear asked.

Woody grabbed a file on the desk and handed it to Lightyear, "Jimmy Lock, a local businessman nicknamed The Hatter because he never went anywhere without a top hat."

"I've heard of him, the Mad Hatter, right?" Lightyear mused.

"He Wasn't Mad!" Woody slammed his fist on the table. He shocked Buzz with his violent reaction. "I'm sorry, he was a good friend, and a good man who met some terrible luck."

"Westergard, you mean?" Buzz sighed catching the subtle reference. "I know the story."

"You're no fool Detective, I don't suppose you'd be head detective if you were." Woody sighed and tipped his hat down as if ashamed of the story. "He had something on Westergard and then Westergard had something on him, in reality he must have been some kind of mad because he didn't back down. Not until he lost his business, his house, and his wife and kid. Then he snapped, he obviously turned to drugs we found enough crap in his blood to knock out an elephant and make it spontaneously combust. We found a known drug dealer shot in a gutter near enough to hear the gunshots when they went off."

"I have only been here for a year but those Westergards are the real poison killing this town, not the drug dealers. But I can't say I don't appreciate one less of those fiends off the streets." Buzz leaned against the wall. "And the boys are growing to be worse than their father, I guess the apples don't fall far from the tree. Although in this case I wish they would."

"What do we do about the Deaux boy, he hasn't stopped shaking since we brought him in?" Jessie looked towards the monitor that showed Cole's cell.

"We talk to him, I'm sure he'd like to go home but it wouldn't hurt to let him stay the night if it makes him feel safer, it's the least we can do considering everything." Woody straightened his hat and looked at Jessie. "You've spent the most time with him since we found him, does he seem stable enough to release."

Jessie pulled her eyes away from the monitor, "he could still be in shock, but when I pulled him from his friend as soon as he stopped struggling he looked passed me and said sorry to the wall. Other than that and his shaking, he seems lucid enough to dress himself and answer questions when asked. But he has been through a traumatic experience and he seems scared of every little noise. I'd like to keep him here for a night and check him into a hospital in the morning if he gets worse."

"That's a very compassionate approach Sherriff, if you think you have the man power I will leave him in your custody, no point in moving him to the station if all he is going to do is use a cot." Detective Lightyear stated.

Jessie blushed at the compliment, but Buzz continued speaking without noticing. "If it is all the same to you two I'd like to..." he paused as if trying to think of the right words. "Collaborate with you two more fully. There are many good men at the station, but there have been too many shady coincidences for me to trust any of them fully."

Woody nodded in agreement, it was Woody who had pushed for a new Head Detective and when the last one had been proven to be a dirty cop he had gotten his wish. It was a gamble but he felt like he had hit the jackpot with Detective Lightyear who had an obvious moral ethic that couldn't be swayed. He was a good man, the kind that stand up to the rotten ones with an iron will, just like Hatter... Woody just hoped that their stories wouldn't take the same tragic turn. Poor Jimmy... if only he had been faster he could have saved everyone. He gazed at the quivering form in the monitor, maybe he could still save one of them tonight.