Cactus Island, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 8

by William Manchee

CHAPTER 11

  PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

  The day after our visit to Cactus Island, I stopped by the campus of the University of Texas at Dallas where an acquaintance of mine, Dr. Bernard Walston, was a professor of geology. I wanted to show him my soil sample and have him analyze it. He was in class so I had to wait in his office for twenty minutes until it was over. While I was waiting, I couldn't help but notice he had a copy of the Globe Inquirer which featured the Steven Caldwell murder case and the alien landings on Cactus Island. I wondered if Dr. Walston was interested in UFO sightings or just this one in particular. When he returned from class, I asked him.

  "When I told my teaching assistants that you were coming over to see me, one of them brought me this newspaper. I must say it was very amusing."

  "Amusing? So you're not a believer?"

  "No, not really," he chuckled, "but I have an open mind. Show me some proof and I'll become a fanatic just like all those people camping out at Possum Kingdom Lake right now."

  "Okay. That's precisely why I'm here."

  I handed the professor a bag which contained my soil sample from the surface of Cactus Island and asked him to analyze it for me. He agreed and said it would take a couple days to complete the task. He also suggested I not get my hopes up. From a cursory examination it looked like ordinary top soil.

  When I got back to the office I called Susan Weber's mother and asked her if I could talk to her daughter. I needed to get the full particulars around the breakup between her and Steven. This was a critical element of the DA's case and I needed to get Susan's take on the situation. Later that afternoon I dropped by her house and her mother showed me into the living room. When I saw Susan for the first time, my heart sank. She was a slim brunette with big brown eyes that I could easily see two teenage boys fighting over. When the jury saw her in tight jeans and a tank top, Steven's motive would be as clear as a glass of distilled water. The DA would argue that Steven couldn't stand the idea of losing Susan and set out to eliminate his competition.

  "Hi, Susan. Thanks for agreeing to talk to me. I know it's only been a short time since Jimmy's death. I apologize for having to bother you about this now, but memories fade in time and it's important I know exactly what happened between you and Steven."

  "It's okay. I understand," Susan replied softly.

  "You've no doubt heard that the Palo Pinto County DA is alleging that the car wreck that killed Jimmy wasn't an accident."

  Susan nodded, "Uh huh. I heard that."

  "What do you think about that? You know Steven pretty well. Do you think he's capable of murder?"

  "I don't know. It's hard to believe he'd do that, but he was pretty mad."

  "Mad over your breakup?"

  "Yes. He's very hardheaded," she said in an affectionate tone of voice. "He wouldn't accept the fact that it was over between us. He called me every day pleading for a second chance."

  "I thought you two had drifted apart after Steven went off to college."

  "We had, and Steven seemed okay with it until Jimmy and I began dating. I guess he got jealous and started having second thoughts about our breakup."

  "How did you feel about ending the relationship with Steven?"

  "It was hard at first but I got over him pretty quickly. I realize now I didn't love him. Jimmy was a lot more fun to be around."

  "Did Steven ever threaten Jimmy, to your knowledge?"

  She shrugged and looked away. After a moment she said, "Well, there was one time at our high school football game. I 'd gone with Jimmy, but I ran into Steven during halftime. He wanted to take me to IHOP when the game was over. Of course, I said no. We were arguing about it when Jimmy showed up. He told Steven to get lost. Steven told him to mind his own business and continued arguing with me. That's when Jimmy grabbed Steven's arm."

  "What happened then?"

  "Steven looked at Jimmy and then back at me. He pulled his arm away from Jimmy's grasp and said, 'This isn't over, Jimmy. This isn't over by a longshot.' Then he stormed off."

  "And that's the only time you know of that Jimmy and Steven ever fought over you?"

  "Uh huh. That's the only time I can think of."

  "So, does it surprise you that Steven and Jimmy were riding together in the Jeep the day of the accident?"

  "Yes, a little, but Jimmy didn't have a problem with Steven so much. He knew it was over between us, so he wasn't jealous or anything like that. If Steven had just left me alone, Jimmy would have treated him just like anybody else."

  "So what do you think about Steven's story about the spaceship?"

  She rolled her eyes. "Steven has been known to exaggerate things. It's just his personality. UFOs have always fascinated him, so it doesn't surprise me that he'd say something like that. He was probably just trying to think of an excuse for the accident and that's the first thing that came to mind."

  "So, you don't believe?"

  "In aliens? No. It may have been an accident, but I doubt there were any aliens involved."

  We continued to talk but nothing new came up before I finally got up to leave. I thanked Susan and her mom and left. It had been an interesting meeting and I felt I understood much better what had gone on between Steven, Susan, and Jimmy. It was also apparent to me that Susan didn't really believe Steven was a murderer, although she didn't come right out and say it. But I was bothered by the fact that Steven had told Jimmy that it wasn't over. I could just hear the DA reciting that little threat over and over again so the jury couldn't possibly forget it.

  When I got back to the office Jodie told me Paula had been looking for me, so I went into her office.

  She had a long face. "Hi, how did your interview go?"

  "Fine. I learned what I need to know," I said. "It could have been worse."

  "My day was a disaster," Paula moaned.

  Paula briefed me on the evidence that was piling up against Cheryl Windsor and her total lapse of memory. She asked me if I thought hypnosis was an option.

  "No. Not in your case. If your client is guilty, you don't want to know it. Innocent or guilty, you still have to defend her as best you can. If you find out that she's guilty your enthusiasm for her case could be dampened and she may end up being short-changed on her defense."

  "I'm not so sure. If I know she is guilty I'll want to push for a plea bargain. Without a body their case is shaky at best. The DA may be quite reasonable."

  "That's true. But first you better see how she feels about a plea bargain. If she's the slightest bit interested, we'll get her to a good therapist. Let's use the one that I worked with in the Sarah Winters' case, Norman Gerhardt. He is the best in the business."

  Dr. Gerhardt had been very useful to me in my first murder case. Sarah Winters had been accused of killing her baby but she had no memory of even having a child. After being hypnotized several times she was able to piece together the night of her delivery and ultimately we were able to prove her innocence.

  "I'll talk to her about it and see what she wants to do. I just wish I knew what happened to Martin. It's so strange that he disappeared the way he did. I can't believe Cheryl had anything to do with it, yet every day new evidence turns up pointing to Cheryl as the most likely suspect."

  "I know how you feel," I said. "I can't believe Steven Caldwell is a killer either, yet the evidence keeps mounting against him as well. I guess we need to invest in a time machine so we can go back and see what actually happened."

  "Yeah. Wouldn't that be handy?"

  That night I dreamed over and over about Jimmy and Steven's confrontation at the football game. 'This isn't over, Jimmy. Not by a longshot. This isn't over, Jimmy. Not by a longshot. This isn't over, Jimmy. Not by a longshot.' Each time Steven said this, I saw an image of him standing on the edge of the road at Possum Kingdom Lake looking down at the half-submerged Jeep. After he spoke these words, he turned and glared at me with blood red eyes and a demonic smile. I was bothered so much by the dream my tossing and turning woke up Rebekah.

>   The next day Dr. Walston called. He said the soil sample I'd brought him hadn't been adequate to establish anything conclusive. He wanted permission to send some of his students out to view the site, take photos, and bring back some more samples. I asked him if the sample I had brought him had told him anything at all.

  "Well, yes. Your soil sample was quite interesting, actually."

  "Really?" I said, feeling uplifted by his enthusiastic response.

  "Yes. There was no trace of organic matter in the sample, which is unusual. This could have resulted from some sort of combustion or chemical residue left by an aircraft landing and taking off there. There was some evidence of iron, but the iron was not accompanied by chromium, manganese or nickel as would be the case if it were a steel residue. We found some evidence of polymers and traces of phosphate and zinc. These traces, which were visible as striations, may have been produced by a combination of mechanical and thermal effects."

  "So, you think some kind of spacecraft landed there?"

  "Something heavy landed there. I don't know if it was a spaceship, but visual and microscopic examination revealed that, apart from the striations, the soil had been compacted without major heating, since the structure of calcium carbonates was not affected."

  "What does that mean?"

  "Well, in the nutshell, whatever landed there was very heavy and compacted the soil causing the large crater or saucer shape on the surface of the island that you described to me. When the aircraft took off its combustion penetrated the soil killing all organic matter and leaving the chemical residue that I mentioned."

  "So, something landed there and took off, but you don't know what it was?"

  "Right, I'll need a lot more data to convince anyone a spacecraft landed there."

  "I'll call the sheriff and arrange for you to have access to the island."

  "Good. My students are very excited about this project. In fact, I haven't seen them so enthusiastic about an assignment since I've been a professor here. I want to thank you for bringing this to me."

  "Listen. I'm just glad you didn't throw me out of your office when I came by to show it to you."

  He laughed. "Well, the thought occurred to me, but I've learned over the years that it's wise to keep an open mind."

  "So, is there anything else you can tell me at this point?"

  "Well, from what you told me, whatever visited Cactus Island took off and landed like a helicopter. There weren't any wheel or tire tracks, were there?"

  "No, I didn't see anything like that. The entire area looked like it had been carefully graded to be a shallow tank or a pond."

  "Well, the evidence so far indicates this is no ordinary soil. A bulldozer could level the land, but it couldn't have altered the molecular structure of the soil."

  "Do you know if the Air Force or any private company has anything that could take off vertically and impact the soil the way it did?"

  "No," Dr. Walston replied. "I did a quick check of all known aircraft and there isn't anything that even comes close."