The Bone Puzzle

by Clayton E. Spriggs

  “So what?” Junior hated his younger brother’s meek ways. “Ain’t none of us gonna say squat. What you so worried for?”

  “He said it was gonna be rough, him questionin’ us.”

  “Don’t be a pussy, JT. I ain’t afraid of that moron.”

  “But what if one of the others says somethin’?”

  “Says what? They ain’t, and you’d better not.” Junior headed back to his truck. He’d hoped visiting his brother would give him the chance to gloat over the bumbling of the police. Instead, JT’s outward cowardice made him uneasy. The dang fool was bound to say something stupid sooner or later if given the opportunity. Junior knew it would be up to him to silence him if necessary. He didn’t want to think about that at the moment. It was a day for celebrating. “Just keep your mouth shut. You hear me?”

  Jeremiah nodded and watched as his brother turned his truck around on the front lawn and sped away, kicking a cloud of red dirt into the dry, morning air. He hadn’t heard his wife open the door, and he jumped when her voice cracked the silence from behind the rusty screen door.

  “Keep your mouth shut about what, JT? What’s he talkin’ about?”

  “Nothing, Brandine. He wasn’t talkin’ about nothin’.”

  “He was talkin’ about somethin’. I want to know what it was.”

  “It was nothin’. I already told you.”

  “Don’t you lie to me.”

  “Damn it, woman, I ain’t gonna tell you again. It was nothin’!”

  Brandine felt her heart drop, but she remained silent and returned to the relative comfort of her kitchen. She scrubbed the counters as if she could wash away what she knew would forever taint them all. She held back tears as long as she could until they broke free and ran down her ruddy cheeks. Yet she continued to scrub the clean surface with all her might.

  Brandine couldn’t believe what she knew in heart to be true. Despite her husband’s denial, the nothing that the men had been talking about could’ve only been one thing.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

  Earl was shocked when he received the call. Almost everyone in the department had been detailed out, leaving him the senior officer. Just as the first rays of the sun rose above the horizon he entered the station house with apprehension.

  “Deputy Barber, it’s good to see you again.” Robert greeted him as if they only knew each other in passing. Several unknown officers from the neighboring counties and the state police mulled about, so Earl played along.

  “Uh, Detective Stallworth, right?”

  “Yes, sir, that is correct. Please join us in the back. There’s much to discuss.”

  Earl followed Robert to a desk near the corner of the great room and sat down. The detective motioned for the others to gather around for the debriefing.

  “As everybody here knows, last night we arrested Sheriff Dale Fuller, Deputy Clyde Smith, and, unfortunately, Deputy Ricky Halpin. What y’all don’t know is that I just received word from over in Carrollton. Judge Early released all three of them only minutes ago on insufficient evidence.”

  An uproar erupted throughout the room. Robert gave them a moment before waving for silence so that he could continue.

  “But they confessed,” one of the unidentified officers complained.

  “Well, that ain’t what they’re saying now,” Robert replied.

  “What about the others we arrested?” asked another.

  “All charges have been dropped,” said Robert.

  The group couldn’t believe their ears.

  “Please, please,” Robert continued, “bear with me. This was to be expected. We knew what we were up against. I assure you, this isn’t over.”

  “What can we do now?” someone asked.

  “I already have a plan. First, let me introduce Deputy Earl Barber, the only honest man in the sheriff’s department.” Robert motioned to Earl, who nodded sheepishly. “Despite our act, he and I are already acquainted with one another. Deputy Barber here provided a great deal of insight regarding the men he’s been forced to serve with—indispensable insight. I went to him with my concerns weeks ago, and he more or less told me that this would happen. He said that they would find someone else to pin it on. They always do. I have to admit, he was right. I’ve already heard through the grapevine that this is what helped them convince the good judge to release them. That and, sadly, Judge Early’s own possible involvement with the organization in question. Regardless, this is the hand we’ve been dealt, and we have to play our cards with all the skill we can muster.”

  “What does that mean?” one of the officers asked.

  “It means we are going to play along,” answered Robert. “Deputy Barber and I have already set our trap. Isn’t that right, Earl?”

  “You got that right,” Earl replied in an overt show of false bravado. The group of unknown officials smiled and patted him on the back. Earl ate it up. He felt important. He felt smart. He glanced at the detective, who slyly winked at him. Earl winked in response. To hell with these idiots, he thought. In the end, it was going to be Deputy Earl Barber who outplayed the smarty pants detective at his own game.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

  Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, Claire finally breached the subject. “What are you up to, my clever darlin’?”

  Robert smiled but remained silent. Claire laughed. She had missed him so much over the past few years. Not a day had gone by when she hadn’t thought about him, hadn’t wondered what he was up to. She’d heard things through the grapevine. They were generally about his string of successes and his meteoric rise to homicide detective. She wondered if he had thought about her as much as she had about him.

  Claire stared at Robert until he returned her gaze. She felt herself begin to blush and looked away.

  “Claire—" he said.

  “You don’t have to,” she interrupted. They’d said what they’d needed to say years ago. There was nothing either of them could do now that would change things.

  “Yes, I do,” he continued. “I want you to know it was hard to make that call and get you involved in this, but not as hard as it should’ve been.”

  Claire wondered what he meant by that, and she turned to look him in the eye again.

  “It’s true. We needed you, and you came through for us. You are the most brilliant investigator I’ve ever known. I swear I don’t know how you do it.”

  Claire nodded in recognition of his compliment, his kind words stinging in the absence of what she longed to hear.

  “You know it’s more than that. I, I…” Robert paused to arrange his words. “I find myself feeling like a shy schoolboy.” He laughed. Claire bit her lip and waited for him to continue.

  “I still love you, Claire.”

  Her heart stopped for a moment, and she held her breath. The man was always so full of surprises.

  “I’ve tried to put it behind me, but just like everything else in my life, I haven’t been able to. I know what you’re going to say. I know we agreed that we can’t make it work, and I know it’s because of me and my stubborn ways. None of that’s changed. . I can only promise you that in a few years when we both tire of all this, we’ll make another go of it. Maybe then I’ll be able to sleep at night. Maybe then I can be the man you need me to be. I know it’s unfair, and I’m truly sorry. But I can’t lie to you. I never could.”

  “I never asked you to,” said Claire.

  “But I needed to,” Robert replied.

  “I know.”

  She reached out to him, and he took her in his arms. Years of denial and regret fell away, and they unleashed the passion that each of them had fought so hard to forget. The evening passed into early morning, and the darkness outside waned as the dawn of a new day came to pass. Robert held Claire in his arms, watching the morning light begin to creep through the cracks in the blinds.

  “What devious plans do you have in store for your unfortunate suspects today?”

  Robert laughed. “I’m going
to baffle them with bullshit.”

  “I’m sure you will,” said Claire. “That was one hell of a performance—arresting the sheriff and his men. I don’t know how you got so many people to go along with it.”

  “I dazzled them with diligence.”

  “You’re full of clichés today, aren’t you, darlin’?”

  “Sleep deprivation.”

  “Cute. I didn’t hear you complaining last night,” said Claire.

  “I wouldn’t call it complaining.”

  Robert pulled her over and kissed her. God, she was beautiful. He must’ve been crazy to ever let her go.

  “So, what’s on your schedule today, my dear? Are you off to discover Eldorado, or find the Holy Grail?” he asked.

  “Closer to the latter.”

  Robert cocked an eyebrow.

  “I have to follow up on something regarding The Holy Relic, as you call it,” she answered. “I’m heading up to Memphis.”

  Robert felt a pang of sorrow. After all this time, he finally had her back in his arms and he didn’t want her to go, but he knew better than to try and stop her. He didn’t have to ask her what she was going to do in Memphis. When he found out that Claire had gone to the Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, he knew she’d never be able to let it rest.

  “Will you be back?” he asked hopefully.

  “Eventually,” she said. “As much as I wish I could watch you in action, there are things that require my particular expertise.”

  “I figured as much,” he said. “Well, if not for the fun part, how about the trial?”

  Claire smiled. “Aren’t you the confident one? Trial? And pray tell, how long before that begins, being that you haven’t even made an arrest yet. Correction, you haven’t made a real arrest, yet.”

  “It won’t be long,” Robert stated. “I know what I’m doing.”

  Claire laughed. “Oh, don’t I know that, darlin’. Don’t I know that.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

  Shaking his head in an apologetic manner, Robert confided to the deputy, “I’m really sorry about this, but we have to follow up on every lead.”

  “I understand. I’m here to help in any way I can,” said Deputy Barber.

  “These are serious allegations, so I don’t want you to answer anything that you don’t want to. You can ask for an attorney at any time.”

  “Attorney?” asked Earl. “Why would I need a lawyer? Am I under arrest?”

  “Of course not. I just didn’t want there to be any misunderstandings. Do you waive your right to have an attorney present?”

  “I don’t need a lawyer. I ain’t done nothin’ wrong.”

  “I didn’t say that you did,” said Robert.

  “Someone did, or I wouldn’t be here.”

  Robert’s eyes flicked to the one way mirror on the wall and returned to the papers in his hands. Earl gave a slight nod to let the detective know he understood. They were being watched by others who didn’t know this was all an act.

  “Deputy Barber, I see that you aren’t exactly one of the gang here at the sheriff’s department. Why is that?”

  “You know why.”

  “Yes, I know, but can you tell us.”

  “Us?”

  Robert smiled. “Me.”

  “Because I don’t belong to their little social club.”

  “Social club?”

  “I can’t answer for what the others do. If you want to know about that, ask them. If you want me to rat out my fellow officers, you came to the wrong guy, Detective. Now, if you have anything to ask me about me, I’ll be happy to answer, but other than that, I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Fair enough, Earl, fair enough. I can call you Earl, can’t I?”

  “You just did.”

  “Earl, I was reading that you helped to find some locals to search the swamp for the missing girls. How do you know these men?”

  “We belong to the same church.”

  “Right, the Antioch Pentecostal Church, to be precise. Is that correct?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “And your pastor is Eustice Elijah Winchester. Is that correct?”

  “He is.”

  “Some would say he is a prophet. Do you believe he’s a prophet?”

  Earl shifted in his seat. There was a time he would’ve shouted his affirmation from the rooftop to anyone who’d listen. Now he wasn’t so sure, but he felt uncomfortable voicing his doubts. There seemed to be no right answer to the question.

  “He could be.”

  “Anyone could be, but is he?”

  “That’s not for me to say.”

  “Then who is to say?”

  “What does this have to do with anything? Is someone sayin’ Brother Winchester had somethin’ to do with the murders?”

  “Did he?”

  “No way in hell.”

  “Did you?”

  “Of course not! I wasn’t even there.”

  Fuck! What did I say that for? Earl couldn’t believe he had been so stupid. He hoped the detective hadn’t noticed his slip up, and he tried to quickly change the subject. “We’re good Christian men, Robert. I can call you Robert, can’t I?”

  “You just did.” Robert smiled. “You know that social group you aren’t a part of burns crosses while they terrorize people. They’re Christians, too. So am I. So were those Nazi scumbags I fought in the war. You’ll have to do better than that to convince me you’re not involved.”

  “I don’t have to convince you I’m not guilty. You have to convince a jury that I am. Can you do that? Do you have any evidence?”

  Earl smugly stared at the detective. The idiot detective had completely missed the stupid thing he’d blurted out. This was going to be too easy. He didn’t know why he’d been so nervous in the first place.

  “Yes,” Robert answered coolly. “Why, yes, we do.”

  Earl pretended that he was unconcerned. “What evidence?”

  “Tell me about Cooter Yates. Does your church group meet up over there a lot?”

  “Cooter is Cooter. There’s not much to tell. And no, we don’t meet up at his place often. You just caught us over there by chance.”

  “Caught you?”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I know exactly what you mean, Earl. I did catch you, come to think about it.”

  “What’s that s’posed to mean?”

  “Joe Bob Duncan.”

  “What about him?”

  “I’ll see him next. I’ll be talking to you again soon, Deputy Barber.”

  “Call me Earl.” The deputy wasn’t going to let Stallworth push him around. He didn’t have any evidence, did he? That stupid Junior and those damn heads. Why the hell did he keep them?

  “Okay, Earl. Mr. Duncan is on his way here at this very moment. After that, we’ll move on down the list. Then I’ll get back to you. In the meantime, do I need to say it? Don’t leave town.”

  “Where am I goin’ to go?”

  “Who knows? Perhaps Memphis again?”

  Earl almost choked.

  “Oh, and when you meet up with the other members of the flock, don’t worry if you forget to tell them that you clarified that you weren’t with them when they murdered the girl. I’ll make sure to mention it to each of them when the time comes.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”

  “Yes, you do. Do remember to pass one thing along though, just in case they need to be reminded of what’s in store for them.”

  “What’s that?”

  “John Wilkes Booth.” Robert winked.

  Earl forced a phony smile and left the room. He didn’t know what kind of game the detective was playing anymore. Earl just wanted to pick up his ball and go home, but it was too late for that. Whatever Stallworth had in store for them, there was only one thing Earl knew for certain—they were in big, big trouble.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

  Joe Bob sat nervously in the interrogation r
oom, waiting for the detective to start. So far, all the man did was give him a cigarette and fetch him a cup of coffee. They’d made small talk for about half an hour, mostly about the weather and the best fishing holes in the region.

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you, thank you for your service, Marine,” Robert said. “Semper Fi!”

  “Uh, thanks. I didn’t know you were an ex-Marine.”

  “There’s no such thing as an ex-Marine; there’s only Marines. No, I’m not a Marine. I was in the army, served in Europe. It was cold as fuck, but I don’t know if that’s worse or better than the tropics.”

  “I don’t like to talk about it,” said Joe Bob. He meant it.

  “I don’t either. Besides, I’m not allowed.”

  “Not allowed?”

  “Army Intelligence,” Robert explained. “But that’s all behind us now, isn’t it? It must be tough for you belonging to that weird cult you belong to.”

  “We’re not a cult. Why do you say that?”

  “Because I checked, and you’re the only notable member who served. That’s odd, considering.”

  “Considering what?”

  “Considering that most eligible men of age served. Not so for the men of the Antioch Pentecostal Church, though. Everyone there managed to find a way to weasel out of their duty; everyone except you.”

  “I wouldn’t call it weaseling.”

  “I would, and I just did.”

  “They were practicin’ their religious beliefs.”

  Robert laughed. “Okay, if you say so. I bet they even tried to sell you on the idea that you were the coward for fighting for your country and not the other way around. I’m sure you set them straight. Right?”

  “What’s your point?”

  “Joe Bob? Man, I don’t know what to say. Ooh rah? I guess I was wrong.”

  “Wrong about what?”

  “There are ex-Marines.”

  “Look, Detective, I don’t know what I’m doin’ here. Are we goin’ to start this or not?”

  “Oh, we started long before you got here. You just didn’t know it.”

  Joe Bob kept silent as his mind ran through everything they’d talked about. He was sure he hadn’t said anything that would come back to haunt him. Well, he was almost sure.