Tribes of Time, page 11
“Is it fair to say that you’ve yet to secure a Grand Jury Indictment?”
“No we haven’t yet.” Terrance reluctantly replied.
“Are there any witnesses or evidence that irrefutably says my client was involved in these murders?” Again, all that Terrance could answer was no to the question posed to him. Terrance tensed his mandible muscles and gritted his teeth. He was seething with Vernon for bringing him such a weak case at this point. He felt Vernon should have waited until he had more concrete evidence before detaining Cyrus and Haines. Now his job would now be tenfold harder.
“You’re correct in your assessment Mr. Sprewell, I’ll be making arrangement to have Cyrus released. I must inform you that neither Cyrus nor Haines can leave the jurisdiction of this court without proper notification and approval.”
“Clearly understood. Now if you’ll please begin making those arrangements for Mr. Davies’ release.”
Terrance walked over to the phone in the corner of the room and informed the Deputy in charge of the receiving area he could retrieve Cyrus and begin his discharge from custody. After a couple of minutes the Deputy arrived and escorted Cyrus into the room.
“How will I be able to get a hold of you, should any questions arise?” Terrance directed at Roderick.
“We’ll be staying out at the Davies place until this is cleared up. By the way, I’ll need to see the preliminary reports on this. When can I stop by your office?” Roderick inquired.
“That’s just it; we’re still compiling the preliminary reports. Give me a day or two to wrap up some things and I’ll get back with you. You must understand that I’m still waiting on the Medical Examiner’s report and those from other involved agencies.”
“I totally understand. I’ll be awaiting your call when it’s appropriate for me to come in.” The men stood up and shook hands and began exiting the room.
“You can wait out front and Cyrus will be with you shortly. I’ll be taking my leave now.” Haines and the legal team went back to the area that looked like a fishbowl to await Cyrus’s release.
“You know we just unleashed the witches’ brood don’t you?” Haines said as he looked at each of the attorneys.
“These are not the type of people that’s going to let outsiders up end their way of life. Didn’t you get the feeling he was trying to say we were guilty by retaining you to represent us?” Roderick looked about to make sure no one was close enough to hear what he was about to say.
“Well Haney, you did do it. You just didn’t murder them as they are implicating. Killing and murder are two different aspects.”
“How do you come to that conclusion?” In Haines’ book if you killed someone it was murder, unless committed in the service of your country.
“I’ll explain it to you later when we’re back at the house, for now let’s just get Cyrus home to Miss Ella; I’m sure she’s needing Prozac about now.”
CHAPTER 14
DUBIETY
A
s Haines was pulling out and making way towards the Davies farm with Cyrus now amongst them, he could see a bevy of black Suburbans pulling into stalls fronting the Sheriff’s office.
“I think the cavalry just arrived.” Haines said while driving and looking through the rearview mirror. Everyone else turned in their seats to look back and see what Haines was talking about.
“That man in the grey suit is Winston Milford; he’s the Assistant State Attorney.” Cyrus chided in.
“What do you know about him Cyrus?” Michaelson asked
“I reckon you could say he’s just like the rest of these cracka’s in this county. He was instrumental in passing legislation to require anyone wishing to vote be a licensed driver or have a driver’s license.”
“How can that be, it’s unconstitutional. The law only requires an identification card issued by a state; nowhere does it mandate it has to be a valid Driver’s License.” Michaelson retorted.
“That’s what I mean, he’s sneaky that one.” The men continued their drive towards Cyrus’ house debating the legality of the Voter Registration clause in Cumberland County. After the formalities of introductions fronting the Sheriff’s office, Milford and his assistants entered and were ushered into Vernon’s personal conference room. As Milford and his men entered into the office, Vernon and Terrance were in the process to standing up to go greet them.
“We don’t have time for that, tell me where we are on this.” Milford scolded them. Vernon looked at Terrance and expected him to debrief his counterpart on the lack of progress. Terrance began his debriefing.
“Well…..um, we actually don’t have any new developments from when we last spoke sir.”
“Then just what the hell have you been doing to rectify that problem Terrance?” Milford’s voice didn’t hide the fact that he was beyond contempt and disdain.
“Nothing yet sir, we just released Cyrus Davies and we had nothing to hold on to the other fella named Haines Johnson.”
“RELEASED! If you had nothing in the first place, why in damnation did you detain him? You of all people should know to have at least a shred of fucking evidence to deny them their liberty of freedom.”
Terrance was seething inside and he could feel the nape of his neck burning. He knew that this entire tongue lashing should’ve been directed at Vernon.
“From now on this investigation and prosecution is mine, do I make myself clear gentlemen? Any and every new piece of information goes through me, and I will disseminate on a need to know basis.” Milford looked around the room at each man to ensure his point had been made.
“As for you Sheriff, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.” Vernon’s head straightened up as he adjusted himself in his seat.
“What do you mean by that Winston?” Milford just stared at Vernon with total belief that he’d have the audacity to take him for a fool.
“With all due respect; could everyone give Vernon and I the room please.” Terrance was the first to get up and leave the room; he was just elated that Vernon was getting his ass handed to him as well. Once the room had been cleared of the others, Milford approached Vernon nose to nose.
“Goddamit Vernon! You’re either one stupid son of a bitch or just plain arrogant; either one I don’t give a shit. You want to bring a mess like this so close to election time, you know the State Attorney is making a run for Governor.”
“You’re making this out like it’s my fault.”
“Isn’t it….isn’t it! You can’t tell me these men you suspect of the killings just woke up one morning and decided to go on a killing spree?”
Milford’s temper had settled done enough for him to take a seat and speak with Vernon in a normal voice.
“You’re my cousin, and don’t think I don’t know what those men that were killed were out in the bottoms doing, and I know they didn’t go without your authorization.”
“Winston, this whole thing turned into a cluster fuck and I know that city nigra is behind it all somehow.”
“It doesn’t matter now who’s behind it, we have to get this case solved and prosecuted before we have an incident like in Rosewood Florida. The last thing the state needs is a racial black eye on a national scale. Are we clear, no more spook rides until this is resolved?”
“Clear as mud” Vernon quipped
“What the Fuuc…..”
“Just kidding!” Vernon blurted before Milford could finish his statement. He asked Vernon to go escort the other men back into the room and they resumed their discussion on how to proceed. Milford and his team began reviewing the preliminary reports which were already completed. He especially had interest from the findings from the Davies search warrant and found a possible avenue to garnish some evidence.
“I don’t see anywhere in here that you guys searched the drains of the residence.” Vernon looked at Milford inquisitively.
“Why would we do that, we were looking for clothing and weapons.” Milford loved his cousin, but he thought at times he was denser that molasses.
“From reading these reports, the bodies sustained a lot of trauma; am I correct? If that were the case wouldn’t you expect there to be blood splatter on those in close proximity?” Milford posed to Vernon and Terrance.
“I suppose so, but they probably washed it off some place.” Vernon said in response to the question.
“Exactly genius! And you suppose they were going to take the time to bathe at the crime scene?” Milford then instructed one of his assistance to assist Terrance in drafting a new search warrant to include all bathroom and kitchen drains for any DNA evidence that could have been deposited after Cyrus and Haines returned home. He additionally wanted included in the warrant a stipulation that provided him the authority to obtain DNA samples from both suspects.
“Where are we on the Medical Examiner’s findings? Someone get over there and make sure he does a complete serum analysis for foreign DNA on each and every one of the bodies. Tell him we need the preliminaries forthwith.”
“It’s only Dr. Kantzebedian and one other pathologist working on this case.” Vernon informed the group.
“Call my office and tell them I said to appropriate two more Pathologists and a Serologist, and have them flown out as quick as possible, we can’t waste anymore precious time on this.”
“And Terrance, when the warrant is completed bring it back to me, I will personally walk it over to get the judge’s signature.” While the men were off running around and conducting their assigned task, Milford continued reading through the reports. He came across the report submitted by Dr. Hearne and was impressed with the thoroughness of it. He continued reading and there was a portion in her report about the insects colonizing corpses and feeding on anything surrounding it. He jumped from his seat and ran through the halls looking for Vernon. Milford found Vernon sitting with Detective Widmann, who was transcribing his interview with Haines.
“Vern, where is this Dr. Hearne now?”
“I believe she and her team are still at the scene wrapping up, why?”
“I need you to drive me out there now, hurry up let’s go!” Vernon instructed Detective Widmann to put a copy of the finished transcription in his bin before submitting it to records. Both Vernon and Milford walked out the front door and to Vernon’s cruiser. Just as they were beginning to pull out, two of Milford’s assigned personal protection detail attempted to jump in with them.
“Thanks guys, but I won’t need you for a while. Go enjoy some pecan pie at the café or something.”
The men looked at each other not knowing what to do, defy a direct order from their charge or persist in attending him.
“Don’t worry; I’ll take full responsibility if anything happens to me.” Milford advised them
The men closed the door and stood there as Vernon’s cruiser disappeared down the road. Milford continued reading from the manila file containing the reports as Vernon surfed through the radio channels as he drove. After about 15 minutes of driving they reached the crime scene which was still abuzz from the previous day’s events. Vernon had a smirk on his face like he had just eaten the last cookie from the jar.
“What’s got you so chipper all of a sudden?” Milford inquired of Vernon.
“Nothing at all.” Vernon replied chuckling under his breath. Milford exited the vehicle first, took off his suit jacket and laid it across the back seat. The temperature was a sweltering 85 degrees in the shade.
“Where’s this doctor of yours Vernon?”
“Just walk down to the area with the tents, she shouldn’t be hard to find.”
Milford started off in the direction pointed out by Vernon; while Vernon pretended to be checking up on his men. He was actually letting Milford get some distance from him, and then he would follow from a distance to observe the expression on his face. As Milford was walking into the little canvas constructed compound he observed two females and two males grouped around a table going over some information being graphed out. He walked up to one of the females and extended his hand.
“Dr. Hearne, I’m Winston Milford Assistant State Attorney.” The female looked at the others and just shook her head.
“What’s with you Tennesseans, She’s Dr. Hearne” and nodded to her left. Milford recovered rather quickly and extended his hand out to the real Dr. Hearne.
“Please forgive me Doctor, my fault for making assumptions.” Dr. Hearne just smiled and shook his hand.
“What do I owe the pleasure of such an esteemed visitor for?” she posed to Milford.
“I wouldn’t say esteemed just concerned and interested in your field of expertise.” Milford asked Dr. Hearne if she could spare a minute and explain what she had written in her briefing to Vernon.
“I just have a few questions and hope you can clear them up for me.” Dr. Hearne relished moments like this; she yearned for her field of science to be recognized in the arena of Criminal Forensics.
“What exactly would you like me to clear up for you sir?” Milford began fumbling through the myriad of pages for the one he was reading in Vernon’s office. He located the page and handed it over to Dr. Hearne.
“This portion right here, the section that stated you could obtain DNA from the carcasses of the insects or their droppings. What type of DNA were you specifically referring to?”
“DNA is DNA sir. If you’re asking if I can tell who or where the sample originated; then the answer is yes, with someone or something to compare it to.” Milford’s face lit up with excitement at hearing that he could possibly use the work of Dr. Hearne to obtain a Writ.
“Bare with me here Doc, if you were to run the DNA of a human against the DNA from those insects that you’ve recovered you can tell me who it belongs to?”
“I definitely could do that, that’s the easy part. The hard part is to find the contributor of that DNA. Give me a litmus sample and we can begin the sequencing.”
Vernon was still standing at a distance in awe at how Milford had waltzed in there unscathed or shaken by the fact that Dr. Hearne was not Caucasian with a name like hers.
“Doc, please don’t leave before getting back in touch with me. I have my Serologist en route and I’d like you to work with him to mock up some samples for us. By the way, submit all findings directly to me or one of my assistants.”
“How will I know he or she is one of your assistants?” Dr. Hearne was wondering why the entire cloak and dagger routine, and then she realized he probably felt the local authorities were incompetent. Milford reached into his shirt breast pocket and retrieved something.
“See this lapel pin? Only those in my staff have them, it’s the Office of the State Attorney’s Seal.”
“Do I get a cool name code name?” Dr. Hearne wasn’t serious about that question and Milford knew she was kidding as well.
“Sure we’ll call you ‘The Orchid’….” Milford chose that name because of her Asian heritage.
“The Orchid, I like that.” Dr. Hearne bid Milford adieu and resumed her work with the assistants in reviewing their collected data. Milford walked back to the vehicle and observed Vernon just staring at him in amazement.
“There you go again Vernon with that dumb look on your face, what is it now?”
“Hearne……what did you expect to see? I thought she was white with a name like that. I made a total fool out of myself; just like you but you didn’t miss a beat.”
“Vernon you really need to make it to the city every once in a while, Tennessee has changed immensely outside of Cumberland County.”
“You’re telling me you’ve given up your membership?” Vernon meant his membership in the invisible empire.
CHAPTER 15
RISIBLE
E
lla was sitting out on the front porch rocking in her chair staring down the lane, looking for the rental car that would be bringing her husband back to her. Haines turned down the lane leading to the Davies home.
“You guys want to have a little bit of fun?” he asked glancing over his shoulder.
“Depends on what you call fun Haney.” Nilsson responded.
“I say we let Cyrus out before we get to the house and let him sneak around back and surprise Miss Ella.” Cyrus started laughing and pounding the back of the driver’s head rest. Haines took that as a resounding yes.
“I sho’nuff would enjoy seeing what she gonna do to ya’ll fooling with her like that. Let’s do it.”
Haines continued driving down the lane until they go to an area that partially blocking the view from the house. Cyrus then slipped out of the back seat, and crept unseen to the rear of his residence and waited for the right moment to surprise Ella. Haines pulled up to the residence and Ella jumped from her rocker looking in the car for Cyrus.
“What y’all couldn’t get Cyrus out, oh lawd what we gonna do now.” She sat down heavily in the rocker.
“We’re sorry Miss Ella, the Sheriff refused to release him to us. There’s nothing we can do.” Roderick said attempting to sound as dejected as possible.
“What I’s gonna do without that old coot?” Ella was about to break out into hysterics, but before she could, the screen door creaked open.
“What y’all doing out here making all this fuss?” Cyrus said as he emerged from the house. Ella sprang to her feet and literally jumped into his arms, knocking him backwards. She then released her grip and slapped him on his shoulder.
“You old fool! You killing my nerves and I only have one left.” Everyone shared a good laugh and gave Miss Ella hugs.
“Now for you fools, why you wanna give an old lady fits like that, y’all just remember who cooks y’all’s food.” She said as she looked at them with cocked eyes and a head tilt playfully.
