The men looked at the partial skeletons lying side by side and paused. There was something odd about it, but Robert couldn’t quite figure out what it was.
“Do you think they were attached?”
“You mean as in conjoined twins?” the doctor asked, surprised by the question. “I doubt it. There’s nothing so far to indicate that. But until we get the rest of the bones, we can’t be certain. Why do you ask that?”
“I’m just ruling things out.”
“They were identical though,” the doctor added.
“And you know this because the bones of the two are so close to being the same?”
“That and because we’ve compared partial toe prints and hair samples from the little bit of flesh still attached.”
“Do we have enough to identify the victims?”
“Probably not,” the doctor conceded. “But how many missing identical twins could there be?”
Robert was way ahead of him. Billy Watts was looking into the matter at that very moment. So far, no reports of missing identical twins had been discovered.
Robert sighed and stared at the macabre display. Dr. Hall watched the detective and waited. When he remained silent, the doctor pressed the issue.
“What’s troubling you, Robert?”
“What’s missing?”
“There are a lot of parts missing.”
“Right, but most are missing from one or the other, and I know we have partials of some of the ribs and vertebrae. What I mean is what major parts are missing from both?”
“The skulls.”
“Right.”
“Do you think the killer kept the heads as a memento?” the doctor asked with disgust. “That’s pretty sick.”
“And this isn’t?” Robert said, indicating the assortment of bones.
Dr. Hall whistled and shook his head before adding, “I don’t know how you do what you do.”
“I could say the same for you.”
They wanted to laugh, but the gravity of the situation prevented it. Tears were more appropriate. Those would only come later when each man lay awake in the darkness alone, trying desperately to confront their inner demons.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. You told him what?” yelled Charles Ray.
“I thought we agreed that we’d keep our mouths shut,” added Cooter.
“Loose lips sink ships,” said Joe Bob.
“It’s not like that,” Earl tried to explain. “I had to tell him somethin’. He had me cornered.”
“The prophet ain’t going to like this one bit,” Buck said, spitting a mouthful of tobacco laden saliva on the ground at the deputy’s feet.
“You dumbass,” Charles Ray went on. “He get you to confess yet?”
“Fuck you, Charles Ray,” Earl countered. “I keep tellin’ you, it ain’t like that; not that he didn’t have me worried at first. Hell, he done dragged me into the interrogation room and scared the crap out of me. He looked at me as if he could see right through me. He’s a crafty one, that sumbitch. But not as smart as he thinks he is. He’s convinced it was the Klan that done it.”
“What makes you say that?” asked Cooter.
“’Cause he done told me so himself. That’s why he wants our help. He said he could tell I wasn’t part of that and, by association, y’all ain’t either. Said that he knew ‘cause he’s a man of the Lord himself, and only a true believer can spot another one.”
“You really are a dense motherfucker, you know that?” Joe Bob said. “A man of the Lord. Give me a break.”
“Why, because he’s a cop? I’m a cop. Are you sayin’ I ain’t a true believer?”
“Dumbass,” insisted Joe Bob.
Earl lunged at his friend, but Buck intervened between the pair. “Easy now, brothers. I’m sure Brother Eustice will have something to say about the matter. He’ll be here any minute. I think you’d better get your ducks in a row, Deputy, because I reckon his holiness ain’t gonna take kindly to your yappin’.”
“I ain’t told him nothin’ he don’t already know.”
“You better be right about that,” said Cooter.
“Dumbass,” Joe Bob repeated.
The rusty Buick arrived, kicking a cloud of dust into the hot morning air. Brother Eustice and the boys exited and joined the others, clearly displeased at being called out to the remote location unexpectedly.
“What’s this all about?” Eustice asked, daring anyone to answer.
“Earl’s been runnin’ his mouth,” said Buck.
“That true, Earl? You been runnin’ your mouth?”
“It ain’t like that, Brother Eustice. I keep tellin’ y’all, but ain’t no one listenin’.”
“The prophet done told your sorry ass not to say shit,” Junior said. “What the hell is the—"
Whack! Brother Eustice’s cane smacked his shin.
“Oooww! What you done that for?”
“Shut up, Junior,” Brother Eustice replied. “Now, Earl, go on now. You tell us who you been talkin’ to and what you been sayin’.”
“It was that smarty pants detective from Birmingham,” Charles Ray said.
“What do you know about it?” Brother Eustice turned to Charles Ray.
“I know what everyone knows. People talk. They all hate him. Say he’s a real thorn in their side. Bossin’ everybody around, treatin’ people like they was dirt. Brother Earl here thinks he’s a member of the flock, though. Ain’t that right, stupid? Ain’t that what you been tellin’ us?”
Brother Eustice looked at Earl, one eyebrow cocked.
“That ain’t what I said.”
“Yes, it is, dumbass,” Joe Bob insisted.
“Yeah, dumbass,” Junior echoed.
Whack!
“Ouch! Stop doin’ that!”
Jeremiah chuckled until his father’s glare ended the frivolity.
“Tell me ‘bout this here detective,” said Brother Eustice. “What did he want to know?”
“Mostly about us,” Earl replied.
“Us?” Cooter exclaimed.
“What do you mean, us?” Eustice asked.
“About us, the flock,” Earl explained. “He wanted to know about us.”
“How’d he even know ‘bout us in the first place?” asked Cooter.
“I don’t know, but he knew,” said Earl. “He had a list. All of our names were on it.”
“But I don’t see how—” Cooter started before Eustice motioned for him to be silent.
“It’s from that damned search,” said the prophet. “I was afraid that might happen. One of them out of town officers must’ve gotten our names from the sheriff and put it in his report. What did he ask about us?”
“Not much,” said Earl. “He wanted to know if everyone that helped on the search was on the list and if anyone was missin’.”
“And?”
“We was all on it already.”
“And?”
“And what? He wanted to know general things, like where everybody lived and who was who in the church.”
“Did you tell him?” asked Cooter.
“Sure I did.”
“What? You dumbass!” Joe Bob shouted.
“Why you done that for?” Brother Eustice calmly asked.
“’Cause I could see his list, and everyone’s addresses was already on it. I didn’t want to look like I was hidin’ anything, so I played along. I gave him general descriptions of what we looked liked and offered whatever information that I knew he’d already know or could easily find out, like I was tellin’ him our deepest, darkest secrets. He ate it up with a spoon.”
Brother Eustice nodded his head and ran his fingers through his scraggly beard. “Clever.”
“Who’s the dumbass now?” Earl said to Joe Bob. “Dumbass!”
“Enough of that, brothers,” said the prophet. “You done right, Earl. Quick thinkin’. But don’t get too cocky. This detective feller is likely a might smarter than
you think he is.”
“He ain’t. He thinks the sheriff and the Klan is—"
“That’s what he says he thinks,” Brother Eustice interrupted. “He wants you to think that’s what he thinks. That’s what we know. What we don’t know is what he actually thinks. I can tell you one thing I know ‘bout this feller before I even meet him though, and I want everyone here to listen up when I say this. I don’t know what he thinks, but rest assured, he thinks. He didn’t get to be a detective with the state police because one of his cousins knew somebody.”
“So, what should we do when he comes nosing ’round?” asked Jeremiah.
“That’s the real question, ain’t it?” replied Brother Eustice. “‘No advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.’ We’re gonna play along with his game—to a point. But we’re not gonna deviate from our story. Remember, he’s going to ask us the same questions in different ways, over and over again, lookin’ for a crack. Don’t let him find one. As long as we remain steadfast, we will be invincible. He’ll move on to greener pastures. ‘For lack of wood, the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarrelin’ ceases.’”
“Are you sure that’s gonna work?” asked Junior. “You said yourself this guy is—"
Whack!
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Identical houses lined the dirt road outside of Dancy. Chickens ran freely through the street, ignored by the half-dozen children who played in the open space. Two goats were tied up next to a feeding trough, oblivious to the poverty that surrounded them.
The majority of the dwellings appeared abandoned. The few remaining in use were decorated by the elderly inhabitants who sat idling their few remaining days away on their front porches. As if on cue, every citizen of the small enclave stopped in their tracks to watch with trepidation as the unexpected vehicle approached. Only the chickens and goats remained blissfully unaware of the intrusion.
The sedan stopped in front of one of the dwellings. Two men exited the vehicle and approached the elderly couple sitting on the front porch.
“Pardon me!” Robert called out. “Is this the home of Lucius Jones?”
“Yes, sir,” the old man answered.
A large, middle aged black woman appeared in the doorway. “Don’t answer him, fool,” she protested. “You don’t know who he is.”
“My apologies, ma’am,” Robert said as he and his companion approached. Robert removed his hat and offered his hand to the gentleman seated in the rocking chair. “My name is Robert Stallworth. I’m a detective with the Alabama State Police. This is a friend of mine, Mister Billy Watts.” Robert motioned to the man on his left.
The old man shook hands with both men; the men nodded to the woman.
“You a cop, too?” Lucius asked Billy.
“Not any more. I’m retired. I’m more of a fisherman now.”
Lucius smiled. “Well then, you’re in good company. I’ve caught my fair share of cats ‘round here, goin’ on three quarters of a century now. Although I’ve slowed down a might over the past few months since—”
Lucius felt no need to continue the sentence. He figured if the police were coming around to question him again, they surely knew about the incident.
“Yeah, I suppose not,” said Billy. “That’d keep me away for a spell. If you don’t mind me asking, how’s the boy taking it?”
“He don’t seem too troubled ‘bout it no more. He done had a bad dream or two right after, but he seemed to get over those. The boy’ll be just fine. I doubt he’ll ever forget, but ‘fore long, he’ll grow up and find worse things to occupy his nightmares.”
“Yep, that he will,” agreed Billy.
“I hope you don’t mind us coming out here like this,” said Robert. “We promise not to keep you too long.”
“That’s alright, Detective. You’re just doin’ your job. I’m not sure I’ll be able to help you much. I done told the sheriff and his men everything I know, not that there was much to tell.”
“That’s what we figured, but I’ll have to say that I talked to you in my report.”
Lucius laughed. “Yeah, I ain’t thought ‘bout it like that, but you got a point. I ain’t never had no job that made me fill out forms and such, and can’t say as I wish I had.”
“You have no idea,” Billy agreed.
He’d done his due diligence in his background check of the elderly black man. No arrests, no convictions, not so much as a traffic violation was in the man’s file. Until he’d fished the girl’s foot out of the swamp, there was only one mention of the man in any police investigation—the death of his daughter and her unborn child.
The incident had happened decades in the past. The files were purposely vague. No arrests or actual police work had been done about it. By all accounts, the girl was a victim of violence stemming from a person or persons unknown, following a racially charged riot in Pickensville. Due to the lack of interest in the case by the local authorities, it was assumed that the local Klan had been involved. Rumors swirled that the same men who wore police uniforms during the day were the ones wearing the white sheets and burning crosses at night, including several on Lucius’ front lawn following the murders.
At the time, Lucius had a house full of children to protect. Although the horror of the crime and the terrorist intimidation that followed weighed heavily on his mind, he turned to the church to find comfort. When the church was burned to the ground, presumably by the same group that killed his daughter and unborn grandbaby, Lucius found another.
Many of the culprits, and even his neighbors, initially looked down upon Lucius because of his lack of response. He was called a coward and worse. But over time, his example turned the hate into admiration. Eventually, even his greatest detractors came to respect him as a righteous man. Unknown to Lucius, his example caused many a man to cry for mercy and beg forgiveness for their despicable acts on their death beds, not that it would’ve mattered. Lucius hadn’t chosen his actions to provide comfort for those who took so much from him, but rather to help his family and himself to find meaning and purpose in a cruel world.
“Ain’t you fellers done enough?” the heavy set woman interjected. “You need to leave Paw Paw alone. We ain’t got nothin’ to say to you.”
“Now, now, Anna May, I taught you better than that,” Lucius chastised her. “Pardon my niece, officers. She just doin’ her best to look after me. She don’t mean no harm.”
“It’s okay, Mr. Jones,” said Robert. “I don’t blame her one bit. Do you mind if I level with you? I’m not here to talk about what you found.”
“You’re not?”
“No, sir. We can see you didn’t have anything to do with the crime, but I’m curious about a few things.”
“Shoot.”
“The sheriff ever ask you if you saw anyone else out there?”
“Sure, he done asked, but I ain’t seen nothin’ or nobody.”
“I figured as much,” continued Robert.
“Then why you asked?” Anna May asked. “You see he’s old. His heart can’t take all this nonsense.”
“It’s one of those things I’ll have to put in my report.”
“Your report? That why you came out here—to hassle us so you can fill out some dumb papers?”
“Anna May,” said Lucius, “you hush now. They’z gonna get to the point. Ain’t that right, Detective? You ain’t asked what you wantin’ to ask me yet. Go on, I knows what’s on your mind.”
“Why hasn’t anyone come around here accusing you or one of your relatives?”
“’Cause they knows I ain’t had nothin’ to do with it. That thing had been there a good spell ‘fore I came along.”
“That hasn’t stopped them before,” Billy pointed out.
“Now why you goin’ to bring up that? That was a long time ago. I let it go and ain’t had a lick of trouble since.”
“That was mighty big of you, Mr. Jones,” said Billy. “I’m not sure many people coul
d’ve done that.”
“We mourned our losses and put our trust in the Lord. Do you know I made eighty-eight last month? I ain’t gotta lot of regrets. My days ain’t long in front of me, and I’m good with that. I done what the Lord asked of me, and I can meet him on the other side with a clear conscience. Can you say the same?”
Billy couldn’t answer, so he remained quiet.
“I know I can’t,” Robert said at last. “For one thing, I’m kept up at night thinking about those girls who ended up chopped into pieces and thrown into the swamp.”
“Good Lord!” Anna May protested. “I done told you, Paw Paw ain’t got a good heart. Don’t be comin’ ‘round here sayin’ stuff like that.”
“It’s okay, baby girl,” said Lucius. “The man’s just doin’ his job. Detective, what you want to know is how two white girls done got murdered in Pickens County, and ain’t nobody been lynched for it. What you wonderin’ is why ain’t no one burned no cross in front of my house. Isn’t that right?”
“That about sums it up, Mr. Jones.”
“I don’t think you’d understand, but you’re the cop. You tell me. You think they involved, but now that you’re here, they tryin’ to sweep it under the rug?”
“Is that what you think?” Robert asked.
Lucius rocked in his chair for a bit and pondered the question. Robert and Billy waited. At last, he answered, “I think they ain’t had nothin’ to do with it. They would of gone out of their way to blame someone else and put a noose ‘round their neck. Lord knows, ain’t nothin’ would of come from it. Case closed, and you wouldn’t be here.”
“You are a wise man, Mr. Jones,” Robert replied, “and a better man than I. I don’t know that I could’ve endured what you did and remained untroubled and able to not seek revenge.”
“Don’t think I’m untroubled. As far as revenge, I’d of settled for justice. Denied.”
“Yeah, well, at least you sleep at night,” offered Robert.
“That’s ‘cause men like you don’t,” Lucius replied. “It was good to meet you. You too, Mister Billy. You want to come fishin’ sometime, you’re welcome. I promise I’ll show you where the big cats are bitin’.” Lucius shook their hands, and the men began to leave when he added. “And I’ll do my best not to pull something vile out the water next time.”
The Bone Puzzle Page 14