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Billy had the employees all lined up against one of the displays near the front of the store. Salt licks and cattle supplies arranged in an attractive pyramid.
I stood next to him, focused on the group in front of us and said, “Who wants to start?”
“I was out back,” said a big guy with a beard who delivered my hay one time. “Never heard nothing and didn’t even know it happened.”
“You see the vehicle they were driving?”
“Nope.”
“You can go as soon as you give Billy your name, address and cell number. It has to be in the report if you were here. That’s all it’s for.”
“Okay, Sheriff.”
“I saw them,” said Bonnie. She had a wad of tissues in her hand and she was still trying to get a handle on her crying over Tim Morrison.
I had the recorder on. “Go ahead, Bonnie, and tell me in your own words what happened.”
“There were only a couple of customers in the store. They were walking around getting what they wanted and I was over there in hardware stocking up the hinges that come in packages.”
“Okay, show me where you were standing when they came in.”
Bonnie walked over to the hardware aisle and stood where she was when the robbers came through the entrance. I stood next to her. “You couldn’t see much from here. Did you move?”
“A little, so I could see better.”
“Okay. What happened next?”
“They ran up to the front counter and started hollering at Tim.”
“He was behind the counter?”
“Yep.”
“What did they say to Tim?”
“Gimme what’s in the cash or I’ll blow your head off.”
“And they had a gun?”
“Both had guns. One of them had a shotgun and the other had a pistol.”
“Okay. What did Tim do?”
Bonnie started to cry harder. “He never should’ve done it. He should’ve handed over the money and let them go.”
“What did he do?”
“He grabbed the pitchfork that was behind the counter—I don’t know why it was there—could’ve been a return—and he swung it at the guys and knocked the gun out of the one guy’s hand. That made the ugly prick so mad, he ran around behind the counter, ripped the fork out of Tim’s hand and hit him across the head with it.”
Bonnie put her hands over her face. “When Tim fell down, the kid jabbed the pitchfork into him. From where I was, I couldn’t see that he shoved it through Tim’s neck.”
“Okay.” I put my hand on Bonnie’s arm to calm her down a little. “Then that guy was already behind the counter and he took all the money out of the drawer.”
“Yep. He grabbed all of it and shoved it into his pockets. The older one yelled at the kid that he should have asked Tim where the fuckin safe was before killing him. They argued a bit and then one of them said it would be in the manager’s office. When they started coming my way, I backed up and hid so they couldn’t see me as they ran by. They went down the hall to Savanna’s office and that’s when I ran into the ladies’ room, locked the door, and called Molly.”
“Good thinking.”
She started to cry again. “It didn’t help Tim and Savanna. When I was in the bathroom I heard her screaming and I ran out to the mill to get some of the guys to help her.”
