DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. If you are offended by 
sexually explicit material or are under the age of 18, stop reading 
now. This material cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes 
without the consent of the author.

Glen Wiseman
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2003

Chapter 14

All three of the Metchettes were waiting for Glen outside the 
grocery store. Glen had been in the line behind them and was now 
dealing with the slow checkout girl. Actually, she wasn't a girl. She 
was an elderly woman that had coke bottles for glasses. Even 
though the store had optical scanners at the checkout line, you still 
had to present the barcode to the reader. Unfortunately, this woman 
just couldn't seem to find the barcode. She would pick up an item, 
examine it for the barcode, present it to the machine facing the 
wrong way, and then go through the process again. You had to 
wait for her to make a mistake before she got it right. 

He watched with incredulity as she tried nine times to scan a 
simple can of beans. The woman in line behind him had a young 
child that was in a cranky mood. Glen knelt down to the kid and 
said, "I'll bet you a penny that it takes her more than ten attempts to 
ring up the next item."

The kid frowned and looked at his mother, worried about talking to 
strangers. Seeing an opportunity to keep the kid busy for while, she 
handed him a fistful of pennies and said, "Take his bet."

For the next twenty items, Glen and the kid counted attempts to 
scan in items. Half the time the kid won; a fact that kept him very 
entertained. The mother smiled appreciatively at Glen while she 
took the moment of peace to read the National Inquisitor. After 
about twenty items, the kid said to Glen in a very solemn voice, 
"She's kind of slow."

Glen laughed aloud as he glanced at the woman examining another 
of his items. At least she didn't have her hearing aid turned up. He 
answered, "you're so right."

For the next few items, they changed the bet. Glen bet that the 
woman would require at least fifteen attempts on one of the next 
five items. Together they kept score. Glen lost the bet by one 
attempt. He gave the boy a stack of coins. The kid's eyes lit up as 
he eyed the candy machine. Finally, the manager came over and 
sent the woman on a break. He took three minutes to ring up the 
rest of Glen's purchases. As he worked, he asked, "Is there any 
chance of getting Sandra back here? I'm losing customers."

Glen laughed and answered, "None, I'm afraid to say."

"Damn. It's quicker to drive thirty minutes to the store in the next 
town over than to stand in line here. I know, I did it the other day."

Glen frowned and asked, "Can't find anyone else?"

"Nope."

The manager rang up the total. Glen paid it and picked up his two 
bags of groceries. He turned to the kid and said, "Next time!"

The kid looked at the handful of pennies, smiled back and 
answered, "Sure thing."

The mother smiled and watched as the manager quickly rang up 
her groceries. She said, "Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. It was my pleasure." Glen left the store carrying his 
two sacks. He always took paper rather than plastic. When you 
have to burn your trash and start fires in the fireplace, paper was a 
much better choice.

He stepped beside Sandra and said, "Your old boss really wants 
you back."

Wanda laughed and asked, "Where did he find her? Turtles R Us?"

Sandra grabbed his arm and said, "I saw what you did for that lady. 
She would have had a real headache if you hadn't entertained the 
kid. You're going to make a great father."

Glen laughed and answered, "I was doing it for me. I was about to 
have a headache watching her work."

The trio laughed. Sandra went with Cliff to his truck. They got in 
and headed to the house. Wanda and Glen headed to his truck. An 
old brown van was parked next to it, which was odd since half the 
parking lot was empty. He was walking past the van when he 
noticed the bumper stickers. The whole bumper was filled with 
right to life and Jesus Saves bumper stickers. His first thought was 
that someone around here was really religious and then he got a 
sinking feeling in his stomach. He shouted, "Run back into the 
store, Wanda!"

She didn't even ask why, but did as she was told. Four men 
climbed out of the van to follow her. One of them was carrying a 
board. Glen backed up, keeping himself between Wanda and the 
men. One of them shouted, "get out of the way."

Glen, looking at them with anger in his eyes, answered, "I suggest 
that you leave here, right now."

The men quickly realized that Glen was going to be a problem and 
turned their attention to him. As they charged him, he threw both 
bags of groceries at them. It slowed two of them down for half a 
second. The one with the board dropped the board and caught a 
bag of groceries. He dropped the bag and bent down to retrieve the 
board. The other man had just swatted at the groceries. Cans ended 
up rolling all over the ground. The new hazard slowed his 
attackers.

Glen realized at that moment that he was going to die if these guys 
had their way and committed himself to getting really mean. He 
kicked one of them in the balls hard enough to lift the guy off the 
ground. One of the men did the same in return to him. Glen didn't 
even flinch as the kick connected with the cup he was wearing. 
Instead, he whipped the silk scarf from his pocket and had it 
wrapped around the throat of one of the attackers in two seconds. 
The knot was tied so tight, that the man went down struggling for 
his breath. It was now two on one. 

The man with the stick swung it at Glen. He blocked it with his 
forearm. Glen swung his other arm in a backhand motion catching 
the other man in the head with his forearm. Despite the padding of 
the sweater, the metal plate that Glen wore under the sweater made 
a resounding crack when it connected. His forearms had absorbed 
the force of the blows, distributing the force across his whole 
forearm. Still they stung.

Glen was now facing one attacker and that guy wasn't so anxious 
to attack. He had just broken a board on the guys arm and it didn't 
even phase him. The guy he had kicked in the balls was starting to 
rise, so Glen kicked him in the face. The steel toed work boot that 
he was wearing inflicted considerable damage on the guy. Glen 
knew he wouldn't be getting up for quite a while. The fourth guy 
decided that escape was the better part of valor and ran.

Glen stood over the remaining three waiting for one of them to 
make a move. It wasn't long before the deputy arrived. He 
surveyed the scene and put cuffs on Glen. He was using the new 
style plastic cuffs and had pulled them very tight. The deputy 
grunted, "You're under arrest."

Glen hadn't even been placed in the back of the car when Wanda 
raced over and began raising hell with the deputy. She screamed, 
"Why are you arresting him? You're letting one of the attackers get 
away."

The Deputy shouted back, "Shut up bitch or I'll cuff you and put 
you in the back with him."

Wanda spread her legs and put her hands on her hips. She glared at 
the deputy and snarled, "You and what army."

She was quickly cuffed and put in the back of the car with Glen. 
She was very angry and wanted to kick out the door of the car. 
This was the same Deputy that had given Glen all of the tickets 
when he had taken her to the hospital. Glen grabbed her and turned 
her around. He cut the cuffs off her with his knife as he told her, 
"Calm down. You did everything like you were supposed to. You 
were magnificent. Everything is okay. I expected this. Deputy Dog 
out there doesn't like me. Wait until the Sheriff or the other Deputy 
gets here."

Glen watched as the Deputy got on the radio and called in the 
Sheriff. He stood there like a proud peacock talking loudly into the 
radio. He talked with the dispatcher long enough, that before he 
even had replaced the radio in his belt, two other cars pulled up. 
The Sheriff got out of one and surveyed the area. He went over to 
the three men on the ground and asked, "Did you request an 
ambulance?"

"No."

"You should have requested one when you were on the radio with 
the dispatcher. Did you check them out?"

"No. I was busy arresting the person that did that to them."

The Sheriff groaned and examined the men. He stopped at the one 
of the men and swore when he realized that he wasn't breathing. 
He used his knife to cut off the silk scarf and proceeded to attempt 
CPR. The other deputy called in an ambulance. Once he was done, 
he took over for the Sheriff. The Sheriff searched the body and 
pulled out his wallet. Glancing inside, he pulled out the drivers 
license and saw that the man was Jed Randolf. There was another 
card that indicated his membership in the Last True Church of 
Jesus Christ. The death threats that had originated from that outfit 
gave Glen a very good self defense argument. The man fit the 
description of one of Wanda's attackers.

The Sheriff looked up at the first deputy and said, "Well, while you 
were busy arresting him and talking on the radio, this guy died. 
Maybe we can save him yet, but I doubt it. He's already turning 
cold."

The Deputy looked stunned and answered, "I didn't know. I didn't 
want that bastard getting away."

"Was he running away or attacking them on the ground?" At the 
shake of the Deputies head, the Sheriff turned to the look at the 
other two on the ground in disgust. They were a bloody mess. The 
faces were caved in where Glen had hit them. He had broken the 
bones. He stated, "He fucked them up real good. They're going to 
be in the hospital for a long time."

"Well, he's a murderer now," replied the Deputy in self-righteous 
anger.

Not willing to leap to conclusions, the Sheriff asked, "So did you 
find out what happened?"

"Not yet. I arrested him and the woman. Then I called you."

The Sheriff swore as he realized what had happened. The Deputy 
had talked for at least three minutes with the dispatcher and hadn't 
done anything else except stand there. He walked over to the car 
where Glen and Wanda were being held. He opened the door and 
asked, "What in the hell happened here, Glen?"

Glen looked at the Sheriff and saw the anger in his eyes. He took a 
deep breath and stated, "Those guys tried to get to Wanda and 
finish the job they started the first time. Unfortunately for them, I 
was between them and her. When they attacked me, I responded 
with appropriate force."

"You killed one of them. His name was Jed Randolf," stated the 
Sheriff in a tone that suggested that he would be more than happy 
to have Glen arrested and convicted of murder. It seemed to him 
that Glen was too eager to kill and that was something he didn’t 
want in his town.

Wanda had looked at the man on the ground and recognized him. 
She remembered the minutes after Glen had subdued Amos. She 
realized that she wanted to kick the shit out of the dead guy. She 
pushed down the desire as she stated, "He was one of the bastards 
that attacked me last month."

Glen looked at the Deputy who had been attempting to revive the 
man. The Deputy had stood up and shook his head. He turned his 
attention back to the Sheriff and replied, "In a fight of four on one, 
lethal force by the one is appropriate as self-defense."

"Four?"

"Yes, four. One of them ran away after seeing the first three go 
down." Glen pointed his nose in the direction the man had run. 

"Do you have an impartial witness?"

Glen laughed and answered, "I haven't yet canvassed the 
neighborhood to see if anyone saw it. Deputy Dog saw to that."

The Sheriff barked a short laugh and then said, "That's a good 
description."

The woman that had been standing in line behind Glen in the store 
was trying to tell the first deputy that she had seen everything. He 
was ignoring her and staring hatefully at Glen. The Deputy 
shouted, "Shut up bitch. I'll get to you in a minute."

The Sheriff heard what was going on. He exploded and shouted, 
"Anderson, you're fired. Get out of here before I have you arrested 
for disturbing the peace and interfering with a crime scene 
investigation."

The other Deputy had gone over to the woman and started talking 
to her. It was tough because she was very upset by the treatment 
she had been given by the other man. She shot a hopeless look at 
Glen and turned to face the Deputy. The conversation between the 
two was long and animated. The Sheriff got on his radio. He 
requested the coroner and a state trooper. He was informed that the 
other deputy had already requested a coroner.

The little boy from the grocery store came over to Glen. He looked 
at him with wide eyes at the sight of him sitting in the police car. 
He asked, "Are you in trouble for fighting?"

"Yes, fighting is not a good thing to do. Always try talking first, do 
you understand me?"

The boy nodded and wondered if was a good idea to be around the 
man that was in trouble. Glen noticed and said, "Why don't you 
join your mother? She's probably very worried about you being 
around so many bad people."

"Are you a bad person?"

"I try not to be. Sometimes, though, things just kind of happen. It's 
sort of like spilling your milk. You don't want to do that, but 
whoops there it goes. Today, I spilled the milk."

The boy looked at Glen and the Sheriff. The Sheriff smiled down 
at the boy. He told the Sheriff, "He just spilled the milk. Does he 
have to go to jail?"

The Sheriff, touched by the fact that Glen had let the kid 
understand the seriousness of the situation without scaring him, 
answered, "I have to learn if he spilled the milk by accident or on 
purpose. If it was an accident, he won't have to go to jail."

The boy smiled and said, "I saw them try to hurt you. If you hurt 
them, it must have been by accident. Don't worry, you won't have 
to go to jail."

Glen smiled and answered, "Thank you. I've been real worried and 
you've cheered me up. I think the Sheriff wants to talk to me some 
more. He's a good man, so don't worry about me. Now, get back to 
your mother and cheer her up."

The boy went back to his mother as the ambulance arrived. It was 
fortuitous, since it gave the boy something else to be interested in 
while his mother talked to the Deputy. The Sheriff went over to the 
EMS. While the EMS personnel were busy with the two living 
men, the Sheriff warned them that they were suspects in an assault 
and needed to be secured to prevent their escape.

Cliff and Sandra showed up in the truck driving too fast. Sandra 
had started screaming that Wanda was in trouble, so Cliff had 
returned to the store. However, they had been on a road on which it 
was not safe to turn around and had to continue on a while before 
they could return. Cliff got out and walked over to the Sheriff. The 
Sheriff glanced at Cliff and noticed that he was dressed the same as 
Glen. He swore when he saw the silk scarf sticking slightly out of a 
pocket. He said, "Give me the scarf."

Cliff smiled and slowly pulled the scarf out of his pocket. He 
handed it over to the Sheriff. The Sheriff examined it and asked, 
"What in the hell is this?"

Cliff said, "You'll have to ask Glen. He showed me how to use it, 
but I can't remember what he called it."

The Sheriff led the siblings over to the car with Glen and Wanda. 
The door was wide open and Glen was sitting there happily with an 
arm around Wanda comforting her. The Sheriff asked, "Didn't he 
cuff you?"

"Yes, but it was rather uncomfortable, so I removed them. Did the 
same for Wanda. You will notice that neither one of us has 
attempted to escape." Glen smiled up at the Sheriff.

"How did you get it off?"

"I cut it off."

The Sheriff was getting frustrated and asked, "He didn't search 
you?"

"Nope."

"Get out of the car."

Glen slowly got out of the car. As he stood up, he held out his 
knife to the Sheriff. He held it by the blade, offering the handle to 
the Sheriff. The Sheriff grasped the handle and using proper knife 
etiquette, stated, "Thank you."

Glen released the blade, giving control of the knife to the Sheriff. 
The Sheriff's hand shook as he accepted the blade. He hadn't even 
seen it until Glen had offered it to him. If Glen had meant to hurt 
him, he could easily have done it. He decided to approach this in a 
less confrontational manner. He said, "Would you mind disarming 
completely? Empty your pockets, placing the items on the hood of 
the car."

Glen walked over to the front of the car. He removed the sheath for 
the knife. Then emptied his pockets. The roll of quarters made a 
dull clunk when he set it down on the hood. He emptied his back 
pockets. When he removed the garrote, the Sheriff raised his 
eyebrows in surprise. 

Glen adjusted the bulky neck of the turtleneck sweater and 
removed an iron collar. He set that on the hood with a more gentle 
motion. He then rolled up the sleeves on the sweater and removed 
the leather armbands that held the metal bars to his forearms. He 
lifted his sweater and removed a small metal plate that protected 
his stomach.

The Sheriff watched wide eyed. The Deputy had finished talking to 
the woman and had joined him at the car. The two men exchanged 
glances as they watched Glen fish around in his shirt pocket before 
pulling out a small pocket knife. He stepped back and said, "Well, 
outside of the steel toes in the boots, I'm disarmed."

The Sheriff turned to Cliff and stated, "Your turn."

Cliff went through the same process. His weapons were identical 
except he didn't have a garrote. He did have a small container of 
pepper spray. After finishing, he stepped back from the car and 
stated, "Well, that's all except for the steel toes in my boots."

The Sheriff was about to stop there, but he had a second thought 
and turned to the Sandra. He stated, "Your turn."

Sandra pulled a small can of pepper spray from her pocket and a 
large knife from her purse. Thinking twice, she set the purse on the 
hood, explaining, "Glen sewed a metal bar in the bottom of the 
purse. I'm done."

The Sheriff turned to Wanda and said, "Your turn."

Wanda got out of the car and walked to the front. She set her purse 
on the hood. The Sheriff exploded, "He let you keep your purse?"

"I threw it in the open door of the car when he came after me. It 
has a stun gun in it and a metal bar sewn into the bottom."

"That dumb fuck."

The other deputy shook his head. He exclaimed, "Shit, they could 
have killed us while we were driving them to the jail eight different 
ways each. I told you Anderson was a Barney."

Wanda pulled a small container of pepper spray from her pocket. 
She added a small knife to the pile. She stepped back for a moment 
and then remembered one more item. She removed a garrote from 
around her waist. The garrote was a really nasty piece of work, 
with large nails for handles. The ends of the nails were tipped with 
cork, but the cork was easily removed. She could stab or strangle 
with that. She turned to the Sheriff and stated, "That's it."

The Sheriff went over to the pile and examined it. The four of them 
had been walking around armed to the teeth and not one of the 
weapons was illegal. He stated, "You really came ready for a 
fight."

Glen stated, "If you are constantly receiving death threats and 
you've been attacked once, then you are an idiot if you aren't 
prepared for a fight."

The Sheriff stated, "Now, I want you to tell exactly what 
happened."

Glen stated, "By the way, Deputy Dog did not read us our rights. 
You may want to do that before I start talking."

The Sheriff swore and walked over to the Deputy. He didn't want 
to hear anything Glen said at the moment. He asked, "What did the 
woman say?"

The Deputy stated, "She said that she had just come out of the 
store when Wanda ran back towards the store. Glen was backing 
up carrying two bags of groceries. When the men charged him, he 
threw the groceries at them. She said that the fight got real serious 
after that. She was shocked when Glen got kicked in the balls and 
didn't even slow down."

The Sheriff shouted over to Glen, "How did you get kicked in the 
balls and keep fighting?"

"Metal Cup!" answered Glen.

The Sheriff turned back to the Deputy and said, "Go on."

"She said that he was struck with a board. By the way, it's lying 
over there in two pieces. She said that Glen just fought back and 
fought better. She couldn't tell everything that went on because she 
was worried about her kid getting in the way. Apparently Glen had 
entertained the kid in the store while they were waiting in line and 
the kid was worried about him."

The Sheriff asked, "Was it self defense?"

"That's the way she told it."

The Sheriff stood straight and hiked up his pants as he considered 
what to do next. His pants sagged as soon as he let go of them. He 
said, "Go get the prosecutor. We need to talk to him before we do 
anything else. I'm afraid that everything is all screwed up. We'll 
wait here for you to return."

The driver of the ambulance came over and said, "We're taking 
them to the hospital now. One of you is supposed to ride over there 
with us. The meat wagon is on the way for the third guy."

The Sheriff turned to the Deputy and said, "Change of plans. Go to 
the hospital with those two. I'll get the prosecutor over here. I'll 
stay here with the four horsemen of the annoyance."

The Deputy laughed and said, "That's a good one. The four 
horsemen of the annoyance."

The Deputy left with the ambulance. The Sheriff was left with a 
dead body and four individuals who had just proved themselves to 
be very dangerous. He pulled out his radio and called the 
dispatcher. Talking into the radio, he said, "Can you get the 
Prosecutor over to the grocery store parking lot? We have a 
problem here that requires his presence."

The manager of the store came out to see what was going on. He 
walked over to the Sheriff and asked, "Are you going to be here 
long? That guy lying over there is scaring some of the customers 
away."

Sandra went over to the manager and said, "Hello. Sorry to be 
causing so much excitement."

The manager remembered when he first met her. He was 
interviewing her and her brother when the checker had paged Red 
and the Kid. Sandra had gotten excited and insisted that he let the 
checker know that she was busy. He hadn't taken it seriously, but 
he had puzzled over how she got the nickname red for two weeks 
before he had learned the reason. He answered, "It's not your fault, 
Red."

She laughed and said, "You are the only one that calls me Red any 
more. I love you for it."

"What, the grump doesn't call you that anymore?"

"No, he doesn't. He calls me all kinds of sickening terms of 
endearment and I love each one. However, everything piece of 
clothing that he buys me is Red, my sister gets Blue."

The manager laughed and then looked at Glen speculatively as he 
imagined the kind of relationship the guy could have with twins. 
He envied him. The Sheriff had finally gotten off his radio and 
could turn his attention to the manager. He said, "The coroner is on 
his way. He should be here soon."

A state trooper pulled up in his car and parked next to the Sheriff's 
car. He got out and looked at Glen. He smiled, "Hello Glen. Hello 
Sheriff."

The Sheriff looked at the trooper and then at Glen. He asked, "Do 
you two know each other?"

The trooper answered, "He killed the guy that killed my brother in 
law. My sister in law is still grieving."

Glen said, "I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do for 
her?"

Jim James answered, "No. She's struggling to get by. It's tough for 
her. Two kids and no real job. The insurance money is about 
gone."

Glen waved to the manager of the store and to Cliff. He turned to 
Jim James and said, "Both of these people are looking to hire 
someone. I'm sure that a smart negotiator could probably play one 
against the other to work out a good deal for your sister. Actually, 
the Sheriff here just lost a deputy. He may need someone too."

The Sheriff was about to explode. He had lost complete control of 
the situation. He interrupted, "You can talk about that later. Is there 
any word on the coroner?"

Jim was about to answer, when the prosecutor arrived on the scene 
with a screeching of tires. He got out and looked at the body on the 
ground. A disinterested observer could see the wheels turning as 
the idea of prosecuting a murder case when through his head. He 
walked over to the Sheriff and asked, "What's up?"

The Sheriff turned to Glen and Cliff. He said, "Why don't you go 
over there with the trooper and see what you can do about his sister 
while I talk to the prosecutor here?"

The four of them walked away to the car where Wanda and Sandra 
were sitting on the hood. They were well within reach of all of the 
weapons. Glen shook his head and suggested, "Why don't you two 
sit in the car? I'm sure it is warmer in there than out here."

The twins smiled and Wanda asked, "You don't need us to rescue 
you?"

Glen shook his head and answered, "Not now. Don't forget, I'm 
arrested and so is your sister."

Jim looked at Glen in surprise. Glen wasn't acting like a prisoner. 
He looked over to the Sheriff, but he was busy talking to the 
prosecutor. Glen noticed the look and said, "They are deciding my 
fate. So tell us about your sister. The manager of this store is 
looking for a checker. Cliff is looking for a research assistant."

Cliff and the manager looked at each other with wary expressions 
on their faces. It was clear that they were going to have to deal 
with the other. Jim said, "Well, the real problem is that she has two 
kids, four and six. The oldest is in kindergarten, but the youngest is 
around the house all of the time. She is folding envelopes and other 
stuff trying to get a little money, but she can't really leave the 
house."

The manager sighed and said, "Well, I guess that keeps me out of 
the game."

Cliff stated, "Well, that's no problem. In fact, she would have to 
work at home if she worked for me. She'd have to attend our 
weekly staff meetings, but I'm sure that Glen could look after the 
kids."

Jim looked excited and said, "That sounds perfect."

Cliff frowned and answered, "Well, nothing's perfect."

"What do you mean?"

Cliff looked over at the body on the ground. The coroner had 
arrived and was talking with the Sheriff and the Prosecutor. He 
pointed  at the body as he said, "Well, that happened because some 
religious nuts are trying to shut us down. They don't appreciate our 
Internet Magazine that we publish."

Jim sighed, "Don't tell me. You are a religious group?"

"No. Even worse."

Glen stated, "They run a magazine that deals with alternative forms 
of marriage. They publish articles about swingers, group 
marriages, and other forms. This religious group thinks this 
magazine is an offence to God and must be shut down."

Jim had been listening carefully. He didn't know how his sister in 
law would react to this. Even worse, he didn't know how his wife 
to react to it. He turned to Glen and asked, "In your honest opinion, 
is this a sex magazine?"

The question gave Glen pause. He wondered if it could be 
considered a sex magazine. He knew that he always ended up 
horny after reading it, but that was only because of the ideas it 
gave him. There were artistic nude pictures in it, but even then 
nothing was really shown that didn't appear on television. He 
answered, "It deals with relationships between individuals within a 
marriage that includes more than just a husband and a wife. A lot 
of the discussion is about sex, but it isn't the kind of stuff a kid 
would use to masturbate to while reading. There are pictures, but 
they are very tasteful. Nothing that couldn't appear on the cover of 
Cosmo, for example."

The answer made Jim feel a little better about it, but he still had his 
doubts. He would have to investigate more before coming to a 
decision. Cliff noted the hesitation and stated, "Just to let you 
know that I understand how it might be viewed, the Sheriff has 
read a couple of issues and thinks the ideas in it are wrong and 
sinful. For a lot of people, that is probably a true statement."

"So what kind of research would she do?"

Cliff said, "Well, in two months we want to start running a series 
of articles on legal ways to establish these kinds of marriages. Lots 
of the people involved in them have very difficult times with 
insurance, wills, and taxes. We want to identify lawyers who can 
give legal opinions on how to set up a legal alternative form of 
marriage."

Jim thought about it. That kind of research didn't sound too 
difficult. He asked, "Until this problem with the religious group is 
cleared up, is there anyway to protect my sister in law?"

Glen answered, "Well, they haven't known until now that I'm 
involved because I use a pen name. We can give her a pen name so 
that her identity is not readily available. Maybe she doesn't ever 
have to come over and can just teleconference into the staff 
meeting."

Cliff said, "Look, here's a card. Go home and look at the magazine. 
I have put a guest account on the back. See what you think and 
then make the offer. We'll talk money if you and her decide it is 
worth pursuing."

Jim looked at Cliff and decided that he liked the guy. He not only 
told the positive about the job, but was also very clear in stating the 
negatives. He didn't put any pressure on trying to sell him on the 
job. He answered, "That's a good idea. I'll do that."

The Prosecutor came over to the group and asked, "Which of you 
is Glen Wiseman?"

Glen turned and answered, "I am."

"After talking with the Sheriff, it looks like a clear case of self-
defense. I have two questions for you before I make a final 
decision."

Glen shrugged and said, "Ask away."

The Prosecutor asked, "What in the hell is the weapon that you 
used on the guy?"

"It is a Thag Scarf."

Jim looked puzzled and asked, "What in the hell is that?"

Glen stated, "The Thags, sometimes called Thuggees, was a group 
of people that worshiped Kali the Destroyer in India. They 
practiced ritualistic murder and robbery. They are the basis for the 
English word Thug. Anyway, they killed by throwing a silk scarf 
with an end weighted by a coin around the neck of their intended 
victim. The scarf had a knot tied in the center. They would pull the 
scarf tight and strangle their victims. It was very effective. In one 
night, a few Thuggees could kill everyone in a caravan without 
making a noise."

The Prosecutor listened to the history lesson and asked, "Where 
did you learn about this?"

"I saw it in a movie."

Everyone, except Glen, laughed at that. The Prosecutor said, "My 
second question is, did you intend for him to die?"

Glen stated, "The Sheriff cut the scarf off the guy, but if you had 
seen it you would have noticed that the killing knot was in the 
back. I used it because I figured while the guy I used it on was 
struggling to get it off, I wouldn't have to worry about him. I'll 
admit that in my excited state, I may have used more force than 
was necessary but I had three other guys attacking me at the time."

"Well, your description of the events matches that of the witness. 
She was an impartial observer who only knew you fifteen minutes 
standing in line in the grocery store. If anyone gets arrested it will 
be the other three attackers. They'll be charged with assault."

Glen nodded and then asked, "Does that mean that Wanda and I 
are un-arrested?"

"What was her role in this?"

Glen stated, "She asked Deputy Dog why he was arresting me 
when I was doing nothing except defending myself."

"Who's Deputy Dog?"

Glen answered, "The guy the Sheriff fired for yelling at the 
witness. The guy deserved to be fired. He didn't search us for 
weapons and we had tons of them. He failed to read us our rights 
and didn't tell the Sheriff of that fact. He didn't check on the guys 
on the ground and arrange for first aide."

Jim shook his head. He asked, "Did you make any threatening 
moves?"

"No, I just was standing there watching the three on the ground in 
case one of them got up to attack again. Hell, for all I knew they 
had guns."

The Prosecutor stated, "Well, consider your self… how did you 
state it? Oh yes, un-arrested."

Jim asked, "Out of curiosity. How did you know they were going 
to attack you?"

Glen stated, "They had parked their van next to our truck. 
According to all of the movies, they wait until you have your back 
turned to them and then they open the door and jump you."

"Still, how did you know they had ill intent?"

"Oh, I know what you are getting at," answered Glen. He stated, 
"Wanda had been attacked by a couple of men last month, just 
before Valentine's day. We've been getting death threats from this 
religious group and we believe this group was responsible for the 
attack. When I saw the van with all kinds of religious bumper 
stickers, I knew it was trouble. I told her to run to the store and I 
backed away. If it had just been a regular religious type, they 
would have eventually gotten into the van and drove off. Instead, 
those creeps poured out of the van and came after us."

Jim nodded and then said, "You protect the people you love. That's 
a good thing to do."