The gate guard ran out of his booth and waved at them to stop - he had just gotten a phone call telling him there had been a shooting in the building. Monty was contemplating just accelerating past him instead, although that might have provoked a chase. That decision was taken away from him when a black and white CHP cruiser, with siren shrieking and all lights flashing, swerved in off the street with rubber burning off the tires as he braked hard. The way was blocked, and Monty had to stop, which he tried to do smoothly so as not to arouse suspicion. He whispered to Laura, "Try to stay calm, and I'll try to get us through this. If there is any shooting, drop to the floor under the dashboard." He squeezed her hand, and rolled down the window.
The CHP officer had his gun out in his right hand, his heavy flashlight in his left, as he cautiously approached the truck. When he saw Monty's tall figure with his cowboy hat, he relaxed slightly, but still held his gun ready.
"The report said the shooter was a small man with a long black coat, and that doesn't look like you," he said to Monty. "But I can't let you leave until I get your name and address, and check your trailer. Let's see your driver's license first, please."
"No problem, officer," Monty said, fishing his wallet out of his pocket and flipping it open to the license. "But if you need to get that for everyone here, it would be a lot quicker if you just recorded our exhibitors' number because the Cow Palace has all our information tied to that number."
"Good suggestion," the cop replied, handing back the license, as he copied down the number from the yellow parking sticker in the bottom left corner of the truck's windshield. "Let me check the trailer and then you can be on your way."
The trailer had solid metal sides about 4 feet tall, and a metal roof with sides slightly curved down. Between the side walls and roof was a foot or more of open space for ventilation, with a couple of horizontal iron bars to keep animals from sticking their heads out. Fearing that the shooter might have hidden in the trailer, the CHP officer crouched down as he approached the side. He turned on the flashlight and cautiously raised it in his left hand, sticking it in the open space above the solid wall, illuminating the inside. Holding the light at arm's length to keep his head well away from that spot in case there was someone in the trailer, he slowly lifted his head up to peer inside, holding his gun up to the opening with his right hand.