“The plural of esophagus is esophagi, brother,” Liam said. He gave Gil an apologetic expression. “Please have patience with my brother. Neither of us have eaten in several hours and he tends to swoon when he’s hungry.”
Logan gave his brother a brief scowl. “As I was saying, their esophagi had no soot nor any interior burning. Ergo, they were dead before the fire was started. We took pictures if anyone would like to have a look.”
“Interesting,” Connie said. “What other evidence did you find?”
“One or more nine-millimeter firearm was used,” Logan said. “Since we don’t have the means to perform ballistics examinations, there is no way to tell if they were shot with a single firearm or multiple firearms.
“Also, the snowfall has prevented us from finding the original crime scene, but one can speculate that it occurred somewhere along their route of travel. The interstate was near where they were found, so we are speculating that they stopped for some reason and that is when they were killed.”
“We are merely speculating, mind you,” Liam said, “but the van had no bullet strikes and it had not been wrecked, which would indicate it was stopped when the attack occurred.”
Gil VanAllen had been listening in silence. His only display of emotion were a few tears, which he had quietly wiped away with his shirt sleeve. When Logan had paused to take a sip of cider, he held up a finger.
“Yes, sir?” Logan asked.
“Where are the bodies?” he asked. “Did you bring them back?”
“We left them at the house,” Logan answered. “The cold air and snow will preserve the remains until they can be safely recovered.”
Liam grunted, which earned him a subtle look from Logan. He knew what his brother was thinking; each woman was burned beyond recognition. It didn’t matter if they were preserved or not.
Gil took the information in while biting his lower lip. After a moment, he held up a finger again. This time he did not wait for acknowledgement before speaking.
“Alright, but we’re going to make it a priority that they are brought back and not left for the zeds to eat.”
Nobody mentioned that zeds did not eat flesh that was burned and decomposed.
“They had a trailer in tow. I personally helped load it and hitch it to the van. Has it been recovered?” Gil asked.
“Excellent question, sir,” Logan said. “The trailer is missing. One may speculate that their assailants took the trailer. If it is located, it may help tremendously in the investigation.”
“I’ll send out a BOLO,” Grace said.
“No, don’t do that, sweetie,” Logan said, and then realized he’d called her sweetie in front of everyone. He cleared his throat. “I mean, what we’d like to do is keep that info secret and then we go around and visit the various communities to see if we spot the trailer.” He glanced around the room. “Keeping this information under your hats is essential. Otherwise, whoever has the trailer may dispose of it if they learn we’re looking for it.”
“Excellent idea,” Bob said. “I suggest we form up groups of people within this room and start going to the various communities first thing in the morning.”
“The snow is still falling, and we had a hard time getting back,” Liam said. “We may be snowbound for a few days.”
“We have to do something,” Gil said. “As acting vice president, I am authorizing every resource at our disposal to aid in this search.”
William Rhinehart, who was the acting vice president before the election, cleared his throat. “If I may point out, the Twenty-fifth Amendment dictates that when the president dies, the vacancy is immediately filled by the vice president.” He glanced around the room before resting his gaze on Gil. “Pending a formal ceremony, you are now, by law, the President of the United States.”
“He’s correct,” Connie said.
Gil acted surprised at this information, but then gave a thoughtful expression.
“We will need to have a formal swearing-in ceremony as soon as possible.”
Rhinehart agreed and called for a vote from the senators. It was unanimous. Some were reluctant, Bob Duckworth especially, but there was no legal alternative.
“You will also need to nominate a vice president,” Connie stated.
“Yes, yes, but we’ll get to that later,” Gil said. “Our next priority is Zachariah Gunderson.”
Gil waited for someone to speak. After several seconds, Connie tentatively raised his hand.
“His current whereabouts are unknown. Perhaps we should put out a BOLO on him and have our officers conduct a search.”
“Excuse me,” Logan said. “Maybe I missed something. Did you miss something, brother?”
“If you are referring as to why we are going to put out a BOLO on Zach, yes, I’m missing something as well,’ Liam said.
Gil suddenly jumped to his feet. “Are you two daft? He is the person responsible for assassinating the president!”
The two brothers remained calm. Liam finished off his cider before speaking. “Correct me if I am wrong, but we are still governed by the Constitution and our preexisting laws, are we not?”
“We are,” Bob said. “And in answer to your as yet unasked question, there is hardly enough probable cause to obtain a murder warrant against Zach.”
“We don’t need no stinking warrant,” one of the bodyguards said. Bob gave him a distasteful look.
“You go by D-Day, correct?” he asked.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m called.”
“D-Day, we don’t need any commentary from someone who has no idea what they are talking about.”
D-Day’s expression turned ugly and he racked his shotgun. Before he knew it, Logan had jumped up and was pointing his handgun at him. Liam was only a fraction of a second behind him.
“Drop that weapon,” Logan growled.
Only a couple of people had ever seen this side of the O’Malleys. Normally, they were often joking around with everyone and playing the role of bumbling oafs, but their comedic personas belied the fact that these two brawny men were once veteran cops from the tough streets of Pittsburgh. They had also fought
