The Bone Puzzle

by Clayton E. Spriggs

  “You’re right, I don’t,” said Lee. “You say that a lot, don’t you, Buck? People don’t understand.”

  “Objection,” said Vaughan.

  “Sustained.”

  “But you claim you put all that behind you. You said you were reborn. Is that so?”

  “Yes, sir. I ain’t like that no more.”

  “Of course not,” Lee agreed. “How did you make this great change, turn over that new leaf?”

  “It was the Lord.”

  “Right, Jesus will do that.” Lee nodded to Winchester’s supporters in the gallery, who responded with a round of ‘Praise be’ and ‘Amen’. “Did you find the straight and narrow path to redemption all by yourself?”

  “No, sir. It was Brother Eustice who saved me.”

  “The same Brother Eustice who you accuse of these horrendous deeds?”

  “Well, I, he weren’t like that.”

  “Wasn’t or isn’t?”

  “I, I don’t know.”

  “Clearly,” said Lee. “Let’s face it, Buck. Your testimony doesn’t make a lick of sense. I pondered that while sitting over there listening to you cast aspersions at others—until I saw the light. You’ve been a bad boy, haven’t you, Buck?”

  “Well, I, I—”

  Lee offered him no opportunity to back out. Instead, he stood there with a sad look on his face, waiting for the big man to finish.

  “I have,” said Buck at last.

  “Did you kill that girl, Buck?”

  “I ain’t gotta answer that.”

  “Did you kill that feller in Memphis?”

  “I ain’t gotta answer that.”

  “You just did.”

  “Objection!” shouted Vaughan. Not that it mattered. Buck was useless to him now.

  “Sustained.”

  “Still looking for redemption for your sins?” asked Lee.

  Buck nodded his head in shame.

  “You ain’t gonna find it blaming others for your own misdeeds.”

  “Objection!”

  “Sustained.”

  “Is it possible that the good Brother Eustice was doing his best to keep his flock from straying into the deep end of temptation, but was outnumbered by the wicked and outmaneuvered by Satan?”

  “I, I don’t understand.”

  “I’m sure you don’t. At any time, did Brother Eustice try to counsel you on the wages of sin and sermonize the Lord in order to keep you on the path of the righteous?”

  “Sort of.”

  “In the midst of these heinous acts of lust and violence, was it not Brother Eustice who offered prayers and instructions in a vain effort to turn you and your fellow deacons to the Lord?”

  “He prayed.”

  “Did he quote the good book while doing so?”

  “Objection!”

  “Overruled.”

  “Yes, he did,” Buck conceded.

  “But you testified that it was his instructions that led you to the murder and dismemberment of the girls. Is that so?”

  “Yes.”

  “How can that be? Are you claiming the righteous preacher quoted the Word of the Lord while simultaneously telling you to do the work of the Devil?”

  “Yes, I mean, no. I, I, I don’t know,” stammered Buck.

  “Did he or did he not quote the Bible during these prayers?”

  “Objection!” shouted Vaughan.

  “Overruled,” said Judge Foley.

  “He did,” Buck replied.

  “Well then, I’m confused,” said Lee. “You first stated that you were but an innocent youth, caught in an unfortunate love affair, only to admit later that you beat and raped a young girl.”

  “Objection!”

  “Sustained.”

  “Only to blame it on the girl’s parents. Then you claim it was Brother Winchester who took you in and gave you a place of respect in his church. And now, you’re trying to blame him for similar crimes.”

  “Objection! Your Honor, please!” Vaughan shouted.

  “Sustained,” said the judge. “Mr. Lee, if you’ll be kind enough—”

  “Yes, yes.” Lee waved him off. “Of course. I profusely apologize. Buck, can you see what I’m getting at here? Do you really expect us to believe you when you contradict yourself at every turn.”

  “I’m only trying to tell you the truth,” Buck explained.

  “Yes, yes, the truth. Was it the truth you told Detective Stallworth the first time he questioned you?”

  “Well, no.”

  “So you lied to the police in a homicide investigation? That’s a felony.”

  “I told him later—”

  “What he wanted to hear. Ain’t that right?”

  “Objection!”

  “Overruled.”

  “Yes. He said he’d help me if I testified,” admitted Buck.

  “And, by then, he’d slipped you just enough information to make it seem like the details came from you, didn’t he?”

  “Objection!”

  “I withdraw the question,” said Lee. He walked back and leaned against his desk. Lee glanced at the jury with a sad, knowing look. He folded his arms, sighed, and continued, “I don’t know what to make of you, Buck, but I wasn’t born yesterday. I’m betting neither was the jury. How about if I give you a break, give you time to reflect on things. I reserve the right to call you back to the stand if it’s required. But in the meantime, I think it’s best if you had a few days to prioritize. Your Honor, no further questions.”

  Lee sat down and flipped open a manila file folder, pretending to scan the pages in front of him. Judge Foley motioned to Vaughan. “Redirect?”

  “No further questions at this time,” Vaughan said. If and when Lee called McEwen back to the stand, he’d have a chance to ask him anything that might help. Not that it was likely to matter. The prosecutor was certain Buck would recant his entire testimony.

  “The witness may step down,” the judge instructed.

  The burly prison guard approached the bench, reattached the shackles to Buck’s wrists and ankles, and led him away through the same door he’d entered the courtroom.

  Vaughan glanced over to where Robert and Billy were sitting. He had a bad feeling about his next witness, but he was determined to see his plan through.

  “Your Honor,” Vaughan announced, “the state calls Joe Bob Duncan to the stand.”

  CHAPTER NINETY-SIX

  Once again, a prisoner was ushered out through the door on the judge’s right. As the man before, he was wearing a standard prison jumpsuit and shackles.

  When the prisoner was unshackled, he took his place on the stand and swore the oath. Vaughan approached the witness.

  “Mr. Duncan, are you a deacon at the Antioch Pentecostal Church?”

  “Yes, sir, I am,” Joe Bob said without hesitation.

  “Did you attend a retreat with your fellow deacons in April?”

  “Yes, sir. We were all there.”

  “Was Brother Eustice Winchester in attendance?”

  “Yes, sir. He’d have to be, seein’ that he’s the pastor.”

  “Did you and your fellow deacons travel to Memphis, Tennessee during that time?”

  “Yes, sir, but we only stayed one night and came back the next mornin’.”

  “What was the purpose of this trip?”

  “It was under the direction of Brother Eustice. We don’t question the prophet in spiritual matters.”

  “Did you attend a performance of the magician who called himself The Amazing and Magnificent Villanova?”

  “No, sir.”

  “No? Did any of your fellow travelers go to the show?”

  “You’d have to ask them. All I know is that I didn’t.”

  “Did you go to the theater where the show had been held the following morning before you left?”

  “Yes, sir, we did.”

  “What was the purpose of this stop?”

  “We accompanied Brother Eustice so he could have his boys fe
tch a truck.”

  “A truck?”

  “Yes, sir. The Winchester boys picked up a truck, and we all drove back to Alabama.”

  “What was in this truck?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t look inside.”

  Vaughan hesitated. Joe Bob was changing his story.

  “What happened to the truck?”

  “I don’t know. Wasn’t any of my business,” said Joe Bob.

  “Was there a girl inside?”

  “Not that I recall.”

  “That’s not what you told Detective Stallworth during the interrogation,” Vaughan noted.

  “I just repeated what he told me to say,” said Joe Bob with all the innocence he could muster.

  Lee was all smiles. He knew that Joe Bob would come around. All he needed was a little push.

  Lee had made sure he got that push in the holding cell he shared with Justin Bailey. Justin was a two-time loser who was doing a stint for a parole violation. Lee could have made a small fortune off the career criminal over the years, but it was a fortune that Justin couldn’t pay. He knew the dire predicament that he was in when he violated his parole, and he begged Lee to take him on as a client one more time. Lee agreed, wiping out the debt owed for past services and taking on this new case pro bono. There was only one catch. He had to put a word in Joe Bob’s ear.

  “Are you saying you falsified a police statement in a homicide investigation? Because that’s what it sounds like,” said Vaughan.

  The district attorney’s words got Joe Bob’s attention. It was clear that he hadn’t thought everything through when he changed his testimony. Vaughan looked the witness straight in the eye and leveled with him. “I hope that you are aware that you’ve now admitted, under oath, to committing a number of felonies, including obstruction of justice in a capital case. So, I’m going to ask you again, and I want you to think real hard before you answer.”

  “Objection!” shouted Lee. “Badgering the witness.”

  “Sustained.”

  Joe Bob’s insides were tangled up in a knot. He had no idea what the legal jargon of the trial meant, but he played it cool. The detective had thought he was so clever, coercing the confession out of him at the police station, with all that talk about the electric chair.

  It was a good thing Joe Bob came to his senses before he blabbed everything in front of the jury. His cellmate was right. There was no real evidence to prove the case against him. As long as he watched what he said from now on, he was convinced he would skate on the charges.

  “Mr. Duncan,” Vaughan said, “the court has already obtained several signed statements from your accomplices testifying to the fact that Laura and Lacey Henderson were in the back of the magician’s truck when it was stolen and brought to Alabama by your church group. Are you claiming that every one of those statements is false?”

  “I ain’t claimin’ nothin’,” said Joe Bob innocently. “I’m only tellin’ you what I saw. I can’t speak for the others.”

  “What did you see?”

  “Nothin’.”

  Laughter erupted from the back of the room. Judge Foley banged his gavel until the snickers abated.

  “Do you find this amusing, Mr. Duncan?”

  “No, sir, I don’t. Three of my friends are dead; the rest are in jail. The prophet is on trial for his life. There ain’t nothin’ funny about it.”

  “You forgot to mention the more abhorrent part. A man was cut in half and his two daughters raped, murdered, dismembered, and thrown into the swamp.”

  “I don’t know nothin’ about all that,” Joe Bob insisted.

  “That’s not what your friends say,” said Vaughan.

  “Objection!” shouted Lee.

  “Sustained.”

  “No further questions, Your Honor.”

  Vaughan walked back to his table and sat down, clearly disgusted by the unexpected turn of events. It was Douglas Lee’s turn, and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

  CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN

  “Mr. Duncan,” Lee said, “the prosecutor raises some very interesting questions. I’ve read through the reports from the police interrogations, and I have to say, I’m a little confused. Perhaps you can clarify some of my concerns?”

  Joe Bob sat calmly in his chair. His plan was to say as little as possible and deny everything.

  Lee stood up and approached the stand. “As Mr. Vaughan previously asserted, it appears that you originally stated that you knew nothing of the events leading to the deaths of the two girls, with your knowledge limited to the initial discovery of the bones. Why is that?”

  “I answered the detective’s questions the only way I could. It was all I knew at the time.”

  “But that would change, wouldn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “By the time Detective Stallworth took your last statement following your arrest, you had more to say—a lot more. All of a sudden, you knew all sorts of gruesome details pertaining to the crimes, including the supposed involvement of a number of your constituents, one of whom is my client. Now you have no recollection whatsoever of even the most basics of the facts surrounding the tragic events that led us here. I find this curious. Can you explain?”

  Joe Bob paused a moment to formulate his words with care. He took a deep breath, sighed, and spun his newest yarn. “I tried tellin’ the truth to the detective, but he wouldn’t listen. He kept at us, all of us. He even came to one of our services, interruptin’ the worship, to harass and embarrass us in front of our families and friends. He cast suspicion in our direction in a most vile way. Do you know what it’s like to have everyone around you think you’re a child killer? They give you sideways glances and whisper behind your back. Even my kids stopped gettin’ invited to play with other kids. It ain’t right, I tell you. But no matter what you do, no matter what you say, it don’t matter. No one believes you, ‘specially not that cop. He’s relentless. He never stops. He’s clever, too. He tells you things you didn’t know, and two hours later he slyly asks you some seemingly unrelated trivial thing, and when you answer, you say somethin’ he told you as if it came from you. It’s all a trap.”

  Lee nodded in pity as if he understood. He turned towards the jury with a sympathetic expression and waited for the prosecution’s star witness to continue.

  “They must’ve taught him that in police school,” said Joe Bob. “I bet that detective graduated at the top of his class. His bosses must love him. He probably solves every case he works on, gettin’ some poor schmuck to confess to whatever happened.”

  “This is his first big case,” Lee interjected.

  “Objection!” shouted Vaughan. “That is irrelevant and completely inappropriate.”

  “Sustained,” Judge Foley stated. “Let me remind the defense that the detective is not the one on trial here.”

  “Oh, I agree wholeheartedly,” said Lee. “Brother Winchester is on trial. For his life, I might add. I disagree with the prosecution about the relevancy of this testimony, but that’ll be up to the jury to decide. Would you care to continue, Mr. Duncan?”

  “His first big case?” Joe Bob exclaimed. “That figures. He’s determined to pin it on someone. I’ll admit, he played me for a fool, and as it turns out, I was one. He had me repeatin’ his lies like I was confessin’ my sins before my maker, and that wasn’t too far from the truth. All the time he had Yellow Mama waitin’ in the wings.”

  “Yellow Mama?” asked Lee as if he hadn’t heard the moniker before.

  “The ‘lectric chair over at Kilby. That damn detective hung that over our heads as if he were the angel of death himself. Look at him over there, all smug and self-righteous. He ain’t from ‘round here. He don’t know what God-fearing good Christian folks are like. That heathen probably don’t even believe in the Lord.”

  A round of boos and hisses erupted from the crowd. People looked at the detective with hate in their eyes. Robert ignored them.

  “Brother Eustice warned us about him. Said he w
as a trickster. He told us he was sent by the Devil to persecute the righteous. We didn’t listen ‘cause we didn’t understand. Well, I understand now. The preacher was right all along. He must’ve come from the Devil’s workshop. How else could he make all of us turn like we did? Who but the Devil could’ve taught him to do that?”

  “He learned that in the Army,” offered Lee. “At least, that’s what we think. They ain’t saying over at the Pentagon, because we asked. They won’t tell us anything about his record, except that he worked with the Russians and was involved in those death camps in some manner or another.”

  “Objection!” shouted Vaughan.

  “Sustained,” said Foley. “I warned you once already, Mr. Lee. We won’t tolerate you showing disrespect to our Armed Services or our war vets. I’ll not stand for it.”

  “I meant no disrespect, Your Honor,” said Lee.

  “I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout all that,” Joe Bob continued. “I’m a Marine myself. I fought at Guadalcanal. It ain’t like I ain’t never been under pressure before. But there’s more to it than I can explain.”

  “Is that so?” asked Lee. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “He set us up from the beginnin’. First, he worked some kind of deal with Deputy Barber. You know how cops like to stick together. Still, I didn’t think Earl would turn on us like that. But then again, he never was that bright. Then he come out to Cooter’s place to meet us all. Just showed up out of the blue and started spinnin’ his bullshi—, I mean, story. He even told us he’d bring us in, and he swore he could get us to confess to anythin’ he wanted us to. Can you believe it? What a cocky bastard. Still, he was right about that one.”

  “Go on.”

  “He did like he said. He brought us in, one by one, to question us. He pretended it was all a trick, and he wanted us to go along.”

  “A trick? What kind of trick?”

  “He said he suspected the Klan of killin’ those girls. He said Sheriff Fuller and his men were all members, with the exception of Earl, of course. He even arrested them, only to let them go the next day. Hell, he was probably right and found out he’d get nowhere with that one. If it were the Klan, and I’m not sayin’ it was, mind you, but if it were and Sheriff Fuller was involved, they’d never get it through the court system and get a conviction. Once he realized how that’d end up, he turned on us ‘cuz we was the only ones left to pin it on. He knew we was just simple God-fearin’ men, uneducated about the ways of the law.”