The Bone Puzzle

by Clayton E. Spriggs

  Things could not have been more different when the day came. Porter, the bailiff who Earl had known for a number of years, although neither had ever quite gotten along, called his name with a hint of sarcasm. Or at least that’s how it sounded to Earl. The deputy ignored the insult and hastened to make his entrance, pulling open both doors simultaneously and stepping into the crowded room in all his uniformed glory. Wham! The doors slammed into his back with a thud. Mocking laughter, which echoed through the room, was only mildly rebuked by Judge Foley’s halfhearted tap of his gavel. Earl thought he detected a smirk on the judge’s face, which, as a decorated and recently injured officer of the law, he felt he didn’t deserve.

  The deputy straightened his back and walked to the front of the courtroom with a noticeable limp. Earl hadn’t fully recovered from the gunshot wound and generally played up his disability for sympathy and respect. Unfortunately, his limp appeared to those watching to be the result of the doors smacking him on the ass and proved to be yet another stimulus for humiliating laughter at his expense.

  The oath he took from the stone-faced bailiff felt like a brutal slap to the face and elevated his perpetual dislike of the bailiff to one of deep seated hatred. Earl took his seat in the witness box as the prosecutor approached.

  “Deputy Earl Barber,” Vaughan asked, “is it true that you are a follower of Brother Eustice Winchester and a deacon in the Antioch Pentecostal Church?”

  “No, sir, I am not,” stated Earl.

  “You aren’t?”

  “To clarify, I was, but I’m no longer affiliated with that den of vipers.”

  Boos and hisses erupted from the gallery. Judge Foley glared at the assembly, but made no move to silence their disapproval with his gavel.

  “I see,” said Vaughan, “and when did you sever ties with the organization?”

  “When they shot me.”

  “Objection!” shouted Lee.

  “Overruled,” the judge replied.

  “Are you saying I wasn’t shot?” Earl asked Lee defiantly.

  “Please, only address me at this time, Mr. Barber,” said Vaughan. “But at one time, you were a member? Is that correct?”

  “Yes, sir, it is.”

  “Were you a member in April of last year?”

  “I was.”

  “Did you attend the retreat with the pastor and the rest of the deacons at that time?”

  “I did.”

  “Where did y’all go?”

  “We went to Tennessee. Memphis. We came back to Alabama the next day.”

  “What did y’all do in Memphis?”

  “We stayed at a hotel while Brother Winchester and Buck McEwen went to a show. The next mornin’, we went by the theater, and Eustice’s boys hopped into a truck. Then we came back to Alabama.”

  “Is that all that happened in Memphis?”

  “It’s all I can recall.”

  “What was in this truck that y’all picked up?”

  “Some stage props from a magic show.”

  “Is that all?”

  “That’s all I saw. But it ain’t like I was lookin’ inside. The truck was Winchester’s business. He didn’t explain himself, and I didn’t ask.”

  “Where did y’all bring this truck when ya’ll came back to Alabama?” asked Vaughan.

  “To Cooter Yates’ property, outside of Vienna.”

  “Did anyone else go with y’all or meet you there?”

  “No, sir. Although a couple of the deputies from work came by in the afternoon and brought me to the office. I was on duty for the night shift.”

  “I see. And when did you return to the Yates’ property?”

  “Early the next mornin’. When I left the sheriff’s office.”

  “Did you return alone?”

  Earl shifted in his seat. He was determined to avoid any questions about the magician. He wasn’t on trial for that, and, so far, there had been little focus on the events in Tennessee. Earl knew that eventually there would be, and everything he said now would come back to haunt him. He had stuck to the truth in regard to being picked up by his fellow lawmen and not being around when the first girl met her demise. If only he hadn’t returned the following morning, he might’ve been able to get out of the entire episode. But he had returned.

  “At first,” said Earl.

  “At first?” asked Vaughan.

  “As I was drivin’ back to Cooter’s place, I spotted a girl in the road.”

  Murmurs drifted up from the gallery. Judge Foley tapped his gavel for silence.

  “A girl?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Who was this girl?”

  “I don’t know,” explained Earl. “I tried to get her to talk, but she wouldn’t tell me nothin’. Not even who she was or how she got there. So I put her in the back of the car. I planned to bring her in once I was done at Cooter’s place. I figured her to be a runaway or somethin’ who got lost out in the woods overnight. We hadn’t gotten a call about it, so chances were that it hadn’t been noticed that she was gone yet. She probably knew she’d be in trouble when her folks found out, which would explain why she wasn’t talkin’. It happens more than you know.”

  “I see. That is troubling.”

  “You don’t know the half of it.”

  “What happened when you got to Cooter’s place?”

  “I could tell somethin’ horrible had happened there, but no one was sayin’ nothin’. While I was talkin’ to the boys, the girl must’ve climbed out of the car and ran into the woods. Everybody went to look for her. They all seemed real anxious ‘bout it, but I didn’t put two and two together at the time, much to my disgrace. I wasn’t the lawman I thought I was, or we wouldn’t be here now.”

  “What happened?”

  “They found her. Before I knew it, they had her tied and gagged. They was all talkin’ like she had been there before. They kept sayin’ they had to do what they’d done the night before.”

  “Which was?”

  “I don’t know. I weren’t there, but I gathered that they thought she was a reincarnation of another girl; a girl they killed and threw into the swamp. I, I didn’t know what to say or what to do.”

  “You’re a lawman. What do you mean you didn’t know what to do?”

  “I know, I know, but you don’t understand,” Earl pleaded, tears welling up in his eyes. “These were my friends. Men I loved and trusted. And the preacher—, the preacher—, my God! He had me believin’ he was a prophet; he had us all believin’ that. ‘Sides, I weren’t the only one carryin’ a gun. What do you think they’d a done to me if I whipped out my revolver and started waving my badge ‘round?”

  “So what happened next?”’

  “They was talkin’ ‘bout things I didn’t understand. Junior was arguin’ that he wanted a go at her.”

  “A go at her?” asked Vaughan.

  “You know, a go,” Earl explained.

  “And what did you do?”

  “I was goin’ to pull out my revolver and put a stop to the madness. I swear I was. I couldn’t just stand there while he raped the girl.”

  “Did you?”

  “I didn’t have to. Buck shot her in the face.”

  Gasps reverberated through the courtroom. Even Judge Foley looked shocked by the revelation. He reached for his gavel but fumbled it.

  Bailiff Tyndale came to the rescue. “Order! Order in the court!” he barked, his voice cutting through the cacophony like a drill sergeant on an artillery range.

  When the room grew quiet once again, Vaughan continued, “What did you do then, Deputy?” The revulsion in the prosecutor’s voice when he uttered the word deputy was not missed by Earl or anyone else within earshot.

  “They talked ‘bout how they needed to saw the body up and dump her in the swamp— like last time. I didn’t know what they was talkin’ ‘bout. Last time? It’s not like they was gung ho ‘bout explainin’ it to me, neither. Anyway, Brother Eustice wanted Buck to do it, but he refused. Jo
e Bob insisted that Eustice take a turn, bein’ that he had weaseled out before. Eustice said he would, but he started cryin’ like a little bitch.”

  “Objection!” shouted Lee.

  “Sustained,” Judge Foley replied. “You’ll watch your language in my courtroom, Deputy Barber.”

  “Yes, sir, I mean, Your Honor,” said Earl. “Anyway, Eustice babbled quotes out of the Bible and speakin’ in tongues like he always does, so it was left to the rest of us. I didn’t want no part of it, but I was outnumbered. I had no choice.”

  “You helped cut up the body?” Vaughan asked.

  “I had no choice.”

  “What did y’all do with the body parts?”

  “We wrapped them in pieces of tarp and threw them into the swamp.”

  “Who told you to do these things?”

  “Brother Eustice,” said Earl, raising his right hand and pointed a finger at the accused seated next to his attorney.

  “Did you tell anyone about what happened?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Well, why not? You’re an officer of the law.”

  “Because I was implicated at that point,” Earl exclaimed. “I was scared. What could I do? I had blood on my hands. I just wanted it all to go away.”

  “But it didn’t, did it?”

  “No, sir. Old man Lucius fished out that foot. We got called in. It looked, for a moment, like nobody would find anythin’ else, but Jarvis brought out the bloodhounds. Once they found the other foot, I knew things would get bad. Still, after a few weeks, nothing happened, and we started to breathe again. That's when that fucking detective showed up.”

  Judge Foley slammed his gavel on the bench. “I told you about that language. I’m not going to tell you again!”

  “Yes, Your Honor, I apologize. Slip of the tongue.”

  “You mean Detective Stallworth?” asked Vaughan.

  Earl nodded.

  “What difference did he make?”

  “He kept findin’ more parts. I don’t know how, but he did. No one in the department liked him. He made us all nervous. Even Sheriff Fuller wanted to get rid of him, but he wouldn’t go away. He kept diggin’ and diggin’, askin’ and askin’ questions, again and again. He tricked us. He even arrested the sheriff.”

  “The sheriff?”

  “Yeah. Said it was a Klan thing. He said he knew we wasn’t part of that, and he needed our help. It was all bullsh—, I mean, it was bull. He set us up. He asked endless questions and kept tellin’ us things he couldn’t possibly know. Things I didn’t even know. Pretty soon, he had us suspectin’ each other of talkin’. The next thing we knew, Junior was dead. There was a rumor that we was all goin’ to get it sooner or later. Someone was cleanin’ house. Finally, that other guy showed up.”

  “Other guy?”

  “John Turner. He’s from the state police, too, but he ain’t like that Stallworth fella. He’s a good guy. Once I talked to him, I knew I had to start actin’ like a lawman again. So I arranged a meetin’ out at Cooter’s place. I wanted to talk some sense into the boys.”

  “That didn’t turn out like you wanted it to, did it?”

  “No, sir. Cooter pulled a gun. I had to shoot him. I didn’t want to. He was my friend. Then Charles Ray went for me, and the next thing I knew, I’d shot him, too. It was horrible. I don’t know what happened next. I woke up in the hospital. I’d been shot. The docs said I was lucky to be alive, but I don’t feel so lucky. Cooter is dead. Charles Ray is dead. Junior is dead. Those girls are dead. If only I’d acted like a deputy sooner, who knows? But I didn’t because I was a coward. I didn’t because I believed in the prophet. But he ain’t no prophet, and he ain’t never been one. He’s a false prophet.”

  Another round of boos and hisses echoed from the gallery. The judge tapped his gavel, and the room grew silent once again.

  “You said before that you wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the detective. Is that how you still feel?”

  “No, sir. He was just doin’ his job. I’m here because I wasn’t doin’ mine. I’m here because Eustice Winchester is a murderin’ scumbag.”

  “Objection!” shouted Lee.

  “Sustained,” the judge answered.

  “No further questions, Your Honor.”

  Garland Vaughan took his seat. Things were marginally looking up; marginally, because it was Douglas Lee’s turn with the witness.

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED ONE

  Resisting the urge to address the witness by his first name, Lee asked his question without a hint of sarcasm, “Deputy Barber. That is right, isn’t it? You are still a deputy?”

  “Yes, sir. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Why not, indeed? It seems up to the standards of the department.”

  “Objection!” shouted Vaughan.

  “Sustained.”

  “Apologies all around, Your Honor,” said Lee. “I guess I’m just reacting to the report about Sheriff Fuller’s arrest and all these allegations of belonging to nefarious social clubs with dubious reputations. I withdraw the comment. Deputy Barber, you stated earlier that you never saw anyone except the members of your church group when y’all returned to Alabama after your foray into the wilds of Tennessee, is that correct?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “That is, until you returned the following morning, on your own, in a vehicle supplied to you by the department. Is that correct?”

  “It is.”

  “When you passed a wayward child hiding in the woods, is that what you said happened?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Were you on the late Mr. Yates’ property at that time?”

  “No, sir. I believe it was state land.”

  “So, you have no idea who the girl was or how she got there?”

  “Not at the time, no.”

  “But you picked her up anyway.”

  “I’m a police officer. It’s my job to tend to such things.”

  “Were you on duty at the time?”

  “No, sir, not at the time, but—”

  “But you were still in uniform?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “And you were driving a marked police vehicle at the time?”

  “Yes. I didn’t have time to go home first.”

  “No? Why is that?”

  “I had to get back.”

  “Why?”

  “I, I don’t know exactly. We had unfinished business, I guess,” stammered Earl.

  “Unfinished business?” asked Lee. “What kind of unfinished business?”

  “I, I, well—”

  “Y’all were digging a well?” Lee turned to the crowd and made a goofy face. The audience responded with laughter.

  “Order! Order in the court!” Judge Foley silenced the room with his gavel.

  “Was the girl part of your unfinished business?” asked Lee.

  “Well, no.”

  “No? But you just claimed that several members of your group said she had been there the previous day and y’all needed to repeat whatever it was that was done to her, or something like that. I can have Miss Godsey read the transcript if it helps,” offered Lee. “Helen, please go to—”

  “That won’t be necessary,” interrupted Earl. “Yes, that’s what they said.”

  “Who said?”

  “Some of the guys.”

  “Be more specific, if you can.”

  “Cooter, maybe. Charles Ray. I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “I can’t remember exactly who said what,” said Earl.

  “I see,” said Lee. “But you remember that it was Junior who stated that he wanted to take advantage of the poor thing.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Because I’ll understand if you’re not. Your memory does seem to come and go.”

  “Objection!” Vaughan shouted.

  “Sustained,” said the judge.

  “And you said it was Bu
ck McEwen who killed the girl?” asked Lee.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And you’re sure about that as well?”

  “I’m sure.”

  “Not Brother Eustice?”

  “No, sir, but he wanted it done,” said Earl.

  “How do you know that? Did he specifically order Buck to shoot the girl?”

  “Well, no.”

  “Did Brother Eustice have a gun pointed at Buck?”

  “No.”

  “Did Brother Eustice have a gun pointed at you?”

  “No.”

  “Did Brother Eustice have a gun pointed at any of the members of your group?”

  “No.”

  “Did Brother Eustice have a gun pointed at the girl?”

  “No.”

  “At any time during the incident?”

  “No.”

  “Did Brother Eustice have a gun at all?”

  “Not that I know of,” Earl conceded.

  “Did anyone else have a weapon?”

  “Sure. We all did. Or, at least, most of us.”

  “Yet you claim that everything happened according to Brother Eustice’s commands?”

  “Yes, sir. He’s the prophet,” said Earl.

  “I thought you said he wasn’t a prophet. Helen, please—” Lee turned towards the court reporter again.

  “I say that now, but at the time, we all thought he was,” Earl interjected.

  “Right, right. You say that now, but then you thought different. Are you to have us believe that, even though most, if not all, of y’all were armed, Brother Eustice made y’all rape, murder, dismember, and dispose of two children in Dead River Swamp, just by telling you to do it?”

  “Well, when you say it like that, I know it sounds dumb.” Earl tried to explain.

  “Agreed,” said Lee. He turned towards the audience and rolled his eyes. Another round of laughter greeted him.

  “What other dumb statements are you prepared to make today, Deputy?”

  “Objection!”

  “Overruled.”

  Vaughan kept his composure but noted the judge’s reaction. Foley was enjoying Lee’s performance as much as the crowd. The district attorney could only wonder how entertained the jury was by this point.

  “Earlier you stated that after Buck killed the girl you brought there in your official police vehicle while wearing your official policeman’s uniform, Buck insisted that Brother Eustice dismember the girl because he hadn’t taken part in the grisly task the day before. Is that correct?”