Murder in Massachusetts

The Bloody Pipe

After Rathbun finished talking with Patricia, he met up with Bashara outside. By then, detectives from the Massachusetts State Police had arrived. State Trooper Jean Thibodeau approached the two local cops and discussed what they had found. Then Thibodeau went into the barn with the medical examiner, who himself had just pulled up to the scene, and began processing the barn for more information.

Walking across horse manure and hay, Thibodeau bent down and took a closer look at Neil's head, not quite believing how badly mangled and traumatized it was.

Could a horse have done this? Was it even possible?

After assessing the scene, Thibodeau looked around the floor of the barn near Neil's head.

And there they were: small-caliber, spent shell casings.

It was odd, or maybe just a coincidence, that there were shell casings in the barn. Perhaps Neil had taken target practice from inside the barn? Maybe he pressed his own ammunition?

Was the guy a hunter?

Then Thibodeau walked out of the barn and began combing the immediate area for more evidence that might explain what had happened.

Metal pipe, similar to the one found at the crime scene

Within a few moments, the detective turned a corner and, just beyond the barn door in the snow, spotted "a bloody metal pipe."

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1. The Sign Maker
2. "It's My Fault"
3. The Horse Did It
4. No Money, No Funeral
5. The Bloody Pipe
6. The Skull Ring
7. A Wedding to Remember
8. Anarchist
9. Who Needs School
10. A Son's Love
11. Footprints in the Snow
12. The Cover-up
13. Running Around Naked
14. Sex Before Death
15. Out Cold
16. Liar, Liar
17. Caught in a Trap
18. Moment of Death
19. Black Out
20. Back It Up with Evidence
21. Amanda's Story
22. More Lies
23. Patricia's Mental Breakdown
24. Amanda Comes Clean?
25. Throw Momma From the Train
26. More Witnesses
27. A Hired Gun
28. The Phone Call
29. Pieces Fit Together
30. Mind Games
31. Who's Telling the Truth?
32. Her Day in Court
33. Law Enforcement's Story
34. More Cops, More Evidence
35. Patricia Defends Herself
36. No Further Explanation
37. The Jury Speaks
38. Epilogue