Tribes of Time, page 17
“Y’all take care now and enjoy the city.”
“We will Miss Ella; and hey, we could not have done it without you and Cyrus.”
CHAPTER 23
TRAIPSE
E
arly the next morning Haines and the legal team loaded up in the rental vehicle and returned to Ocelia, still feeling the joy of their triumphal skirmish with Milford and Terrance. Roderick was well aware they were still a long way from an acquittal, and knew he had to start prepping witnesses and gathering any reports to support his claim of self defense. When they arrived back at the Davies farm Ella told him there was an envelope that was dropped off just after they left for Knoxville. Roderick walked over to the hallway table and picked up the envelope; which didn’t have any discernable markings identifying where it came from.
“Miss Ella, who dropped this envelope off?” he asked.
“I don’t know, it was just on the porch when Cyrus and I came out to sit on the porch.” She replied. Roderick thought it was odd someone would just drop of an envelope, even more disturbing; his name was transcribed on it. He went out on the porch where the rest of the legal team was relaxing with Cyrus; he sat down and opened the envelope. The letterhead was from the University of Tennessee and it contained a report written by a Dr. Janine Hearne. Roderick asked Michaelson and Nilsson if they knew anything about the report he was given.
“I have no idea where that came from, what is it exactly?” Michaelson asked. Roderick leafed through the report and passed the pages he’d already read around for the others to read.
“It looks like it’s some kind of a research report on bugs or something. I don’t think it’s a complete report though; it doesn’t read succinctly.” Nilsson said. Roderick said he’ll give her a call to see why she had the report delivered to him. He handed the remaining pages to Michaelson to read as he dialed the University of Tennessee’s Entomology Department. Roderick waited for the click of the receiver on the other end indicating someone had picked up.
“Hello, this is Roderick Sprewell; May I speak to Dr. Hearne please?”
“Speaking, how may help you?” she responded.
“I received an envelope that has a report generated by you.”
“That’s odd. I don’t remember sending you a report; what does the report contain?” Roderick motioned for Michaelson to hand him the pages again so he could read her passages.
“Well it says something about the colonization of some type of beetle, which I can’t pronounce and fly pupa.”
“Oh I know which report now. Do you work for Sheriff Hutchison?” she asked. Roderick was thrown off balance for a few seconds; he then composed himself enough to answer.
“I definitely don’t work for Sheriff Hutchison; to be honest he’s my nemesis at present.”
“I see. Then I don’t know how you received a copy of my report sir. That report is my conclusion on the murders that happened down in Cumberland County.” Roderick’s interest was piqued and he wanted to know more about her involvement in the investigation.
“If you don’t mind Dr. Hearne, how are you involved in that investigation? I’m one of the attorneys involved in the case.”
“I and my students are the ones who excavated the remains. My report is very detailed as you can see by the seventeen pages in compilation.” Roderick then flipped through the pages counting them.
“Did you say seventeen pages? My copy only has twelve pages.” Dr. Hearne assured him her final report contained seventeen pages.
“Would you mind if I came to visit you next week, I’m definitely interested in knowing more about this report.” Dr. Hearne advised him that she will be visiting family in Hawaii for three weeks, but would be glad to sit down and review it with him when she returned.
“Thanks Doctor, I’m looking forward to seeing you when you get back.” Roderick hung up the phone and made a reminder on his phone to call her back in three weeks time.
“Man what an interesting call. She’s an Entomologist and that report was for the Sheriff. Somehow it was inadvertently or deliberately delivered to us; minus five pages.” Roderick asked Nilsson to get his iPad and research Dr. Hearne and what she does at the University specifically. Nilsson checked and answered a few of his personal emails first, and then performed an engine search for Dr. Janine Hearne.
“Whoa look at this guy’s!” Nilsson said.
“Must be good, is she in a bikini?” Michaelson asked. Nilsson had pulled up a video blog interview from one of the major networks which showed Dr. Hearne walking through her body farm, explaining how her research had helped to solve numerous cases, and how her field of study doesn’t get the respect it should within the forensic community. They watched the blog in its entirety, and downloaded some articles about her and the body farm.
“I’ll sit this one out Roderick when you go out to see her; I’ve had a phobia of dead people since I was young.” Michaelson stated. Nilsson said to count him in; he was kinda morbid that way.
“Are you kidding me, my favorite movies in college were the Faces of Death videos. I still don’t believe they were real though.” Everyone just looked at Nilsson and shook their heads.
“Boy you’re a strange one I tell you.” Haines jokingly said. Ella called everyone in for dinner and told them no talk of dead bodies while at the dinner table.
“You hear me Haakon?” Ella lovingly said while swatting at him with a dishtowel as he walked past.
Terrance had also taken some time off recuperating from the office, but not really from work. He had to put a feature on his phone to intercept blocked calls from coming to his home. Since his return he’d been receiving pranks calls and a few death threats from cowards doing it anonymously over the phone or email accounts. When he finally got around to reading Dr. Hearne’s report, he thought it was disjointed and missing something; but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He put it aside and figured he’d follow up later with Detective Widmann to fill in the blanks for him. While sitting at his desk reviewing the interview of Haines conducted by Detective Widmann, he couldn’t help but realize some of the statements looked out character for Haines; whom he didn’t really know, but the syntax didn’t sound like him. Terrance felt the little nuances in the manner he answered some questions were clear and concise while others just seemed out of place for his diction and inflection. He made notes to also address this with Widmann when they meet. The preeminent thought at the moment concerning him was the knowledge of Vernon’s history of supplanting a suspect’s testimony with fabricated statements. He was beginning to get worried Vernon and possibly Milford included were conducting their own brand of Juris Prudence to get a conviction. Terrance would rather take a compromise over winning using illegal or questionable methods; he valued his integrity and profession to stoop so low. He decided he would call Roderick and see if there was any way to settle this matter outside of court; settling out of court would also save Cumberland County untold embarrassment. Terrance rummaged through his attaché case for the card Roderick had given him; which he thought he’d never use.
“Hello, is this Roderick Sprewell?”
“Yes it is, who may I ask is calling?” Roderick answered in a professional tone; he knew this wasn’t a personal call by way the person on the other end asked for him by first and last name.
“This is Terrance McClendon, the County Prosecutor. May I have a moment of your time?” Roderick thought nothing out of the ordinary; it wasn’t unusual for opposing counsel to talk during trials.
“Sure, what’s on your mind?”
“I’m sitting here going over the evidence and we both know your client Haines Johnson killed those men, we’re not kidding ourselves believing he didn’t. I’m willing to offer you six counts of involuntary manslaughter if he agrees to plead out.”
“That’s still thirty five years, unacceptable. I believe we’ll take our chances in court. By the way, did you confer with your colleague before making this offer?” Roderick inquired.
“This is my County and I’m more than capable of making my own decisions. I’m seeking an amicable solution that could benefit both of us.” Roderick thanked him for calling, but he declined the offer. He did have one question to ask Terrance though.
“Before you go Mr. McClendon, did you have someone drop of an envelope on Cyrus’ doorstep the other day?’
“No I haven’t, for any legal documents; I would have a service deliver or I’d deliver them personally.” Roderick thought if it would be prudent to let him know what type of documents were sent; then thought it best to inform him. He’d have to let him know through discovery anyway.
“The other day when we got back from Knoxville there was an envelope waiting for me. It contained a report written by a Dr. Hearne from the University of Tennessee. Quite interesting reading I might add.” Terrance’s heart crept up into his throat, how could Roderick have gotten a copy of the report so soon; he hadn’t sent a courier to deliver it.
“Have you read the report? You can clearly see that Mr. Johnson’s DNA is rife throughout the crime scene, there’s no way he’ll get acquitted.” Terrance stated trying to convince himself more than Roderick.”
“It’s what I don’t see. The report appears to be incomplete and disjointed in places.”
“That can be a quandary I suppose. I haven’t had time to really go over it to see what you’re inferring; but as soon as I do we’ll talk again.” Terrance wanted to end the conversation as soon as possible now; even Terrance thought something was amiss with the report and he didn’t want to get into a debate about its merit.
“Well Mr. Sprewell, thank you for at least entertaining my offer; I wished we had of come to an agreement, but you can’t always get what you wish for.”
“I totally agree with you on that one.” Roderick said as he segued into getting Terrance off of the phone. Once he hung up, his attention was again drawn to the report and who may have delivered it. He thought there has to be a message hidden somewhere; either with the report or about the report. Roderick wanted to go back out the sloughs to do some more investigation, but was concerned about drawing attention. He convinced the other men into another fishing trip. This time he wanted to explore the entire waterway system. He had seen that Cyrus had a small bass boat in the barn and asked him if it were possible for him to take it out.
“Cyrus does that boat in the barn work?”
“Purrs like a kitten.” He said proudly.
“Would you mind if I took it out and explored the sloughs for a while?”
“That wouldn’t be a smart thing to do right now, lots of blind spots along the bank that someone could take a shot at you; and you wouldn’t know where it came from.” Cyrus responded hoping Roderick would think twice about it.
“What if I sent Nilsson out, he could blend in pretty well.”
“Not dressed the way he dresses, he looks like a Beltway person. He can wear some of my clothes; also have him wear a ball cap or something.” Once Roderick agreed to let Nilsson go out alone, Cyrus relented. Roderick now had to persuade Nilsson to go out on a boat by himself to take pictures.
“Haakon I need you to do something for me.”
“Sure what is it?” he asked.
“I need you to take out Cyrus’ boat and take pictures of the entire waterway system of the sloughs, to get a perspective for me.”
“Hell yeah I can do that, can I take the fishing rods out too?” Nilsson loved being on the water with the spray splashing his face. Nilsson continued in answering Roderick.
“I can do better than that; I’ll pull up the area on Google maps and print out the aerial views of the entire area.” Cyrus was listening the entire time to their conversation waiting for the appropriate time to interject.
“Be careful out there. Stay as close as you can to the middle, that’s the deepest point. When you get close to the banks you’re gonna hit some submerged trees and other junk people tossed in there. You’ll be alright in the middle though.”
“How deep is it at its deepest point?” Roderick asked.
“In some places it over fifteen feet deep and others as shallow at six feet along the banks. Every ten or so years they dredge it out. Funny though they always dredge at night with big lights.” Cyrus responded.
“I guess construction crews are the same everywhere, they do the same thing in DC. I suppose less traffic to contend with and less of a burden to the commuters.”
“Ain’t no traffic like that out here, maybe because its cooler I reckon.” Cyrus told Nilsson to follow him and they went inside to pick out some clothes for him to wear on his clandestine mission. Once Nilsson was outfitted, Cyrus backed the truck up to the barn and hitched up the boat trailer.
“I’m gonna drop you and the boat off and come back later to pick you up.” Cyrus knew if his truck was seen at the boat launch people would surely come looking for him.
“Sounds good to me, just call me on my cell when you’re on your way to pick me up, so I can make my way back.” Cyrus, Roderick and Nilsson all loaded up in the cab of the truck heading out to the sloughs. Haines and Michaelson remained back to help out Ella. Things at the Milford residence weren’t going so smoothly, he had received a call from Terrance informing him that Roderick already had a copy of Dr. Hearne’s report.
“How the hell did that happen?” he snapped at Terrance.
“I don’t have the faintest idea; I was with you the entire time; and I don’t believe Vernon would’ve volunteer the information.” Terrance replied.
“Does the report have anything in it that could hurt us?” Milford asked.
“Not what I’ve read, but it feels like something is missing; I just can’t put my finger on it.”
“Well don’t go digging for clams in a sand box, if you know what I mean.” Milford warned.
“Like I told Vernon and now I’m telling you, don’t get me mixed up in some bullshit activities that could get me disbarred. I’m not saying you are, but just letting you know ahead of time.”
“I haven’t done anything unscrupulous nor do I plan on it. I don’t want to mess up my career either.” Milford said.
“I think you better have a conversation with your cousin to make sure he’s not doing anything that could jeopardize our case, you know how thick headed he can be.”
“I’ll touch bases with him again to make sure he’s toeing the line.”
The men chatted some more about aspects of the case which they felt were either strong or weak points. Milford said he’d be back in Ocelia in about a week’s time to put the final touches on their opening statements and to prep their witnesses. He also needed to make arrangements for everyone’s transportation to Wilmington for the trial. Milford hung up the phone and sighed to release the proverbial weight off his shoulders.
CHAPTER 24
BEATITUDE
N
ilsson was taking photographs of the embankment all along the waterway, and when possible he disembarked to take photos of the topography. He was amazed a man made ecosystem thrived so well without being overused for recreational purposes. When he had completed the tasks he was assigned to do, he began casting his line in areas that he thought would have large schools of fish. He remembered the lesson Cyrus had given him on the different ways each fish species struck. He knew Miss Ella loved her Crappie, so he began casting and slowly reeling in. Crappies were strikers, meaning they hit on shiny moving objects. After few fruitless casts his luck began to change and he was getting strikes on almost every cast. By the time he got the call from Cyrus informing him he was on his way back to pick him up; he had caught approximately thirty five fish. When he rounded the final bend before the boat launch he saw Cyrus and Michaelson standing on the side of the bank waving at him. He deftly pulled the boat onto the trailer that Cyrus had backed down onto the water’s edge.
“How’d you do Haakon?” Cyrus asked as he was winching the boat into place, then securing it.
“Man I couldn’t catch a break.” He replied. Michaelson went to grab the bucket to place it in the bed of the truck.
“What do you mean you couldn’t catch a break, this bucket is practically full?”
“That’s what I mean, I couldn’t take a break.” Nilsson said laughing that he’d finally caught on to this whole cracking thing. He’d seen African Americans “playing the dozens” but never understood it until spending so much time immersed in black culture.
“Aw’right y’all, let’s get this boat back to the house. We don’t want to be out here too long.” Cyrus said as he was getting into the truck. As the men were pulling away, they didn’t see the man on the All Terrain Vehicle glassing them from the other side of the embankment. It was Deputy Bougalaise out riding with his fiancé when he spotted Cyrus’ truck at the slough, and decided to let Vernon know that Cyrus was messing around in the playgrounds.
“Sheriff, it’s me Billy. I just saw Cyrus out in the slough.”
“What’s he doing out there, is he with those lawyers of his?” Vernon asked.
“Don’t know who they were because I couldn’t see their faces. But it looks like they were fishing, he had his boat.” Vernon didn’t like when blacks were out in the sloughs, he didn’t know what they were looking for while they were out there.
“Did you see them take anything or do any digging around?”
“No Sheriff, they were already pulling out of the boat launch when I saw them. You want me to ride out to the farm?”
“No that’s alright, just let him be; it just could be that he was fishing.” Vernon thanked him for being heads up.
“No problem Sheriff, talk to you later.”
When Nilsson returned to the house Roderick and Haines were on the porch drinking sweet tea and enjoying a rare mid afternoon breeze. Nilsson exited the truck with a big smile on his face.
“I have something for you Miss Ella.” He walked over and showed her the contents of the bucket, which was full of Crappie and Sun Perch.
