Secret Sanction

by Brian Haig

  “Whose idea was that?”

  He paused for a moment and I could see he wasn’t prepared for that question. Then he said, “Might’ve been mine. Or maybe Machusco or Perrite. We all thought it was a pretty good idea, though.”

  “So it wasn’t Captain Sanchez’s idea.”

  “No, but he bought into it right away. Why not? Wasn’t like we had another option.”

  “Where were you positioned at the ambush site?”

  “The middle.”

  “Did the Serbs return fire?”

  “At first, no. The lead vehicle blew and they were in shock. They were unloading out the back of the trucks and running around like a buncha ants, scrambling for cover behind their vehicles. Then we blew the chain of claymores, and that set ’em back a bit, too. Took ’em two to three minutes before someone on the ground got ’em organized and they began returning fire.”

  “Describe the fire. Was it heavy or light?”

  He sort of smiled at that question.“From my experience, anytime more than one person’s shooting at you feels like heavy fire.”

  I did not smile back.“How many people would you estimate were returning fire?”

  “At first maybe ten or so. By the end, maybe four or five.”

  I stared at him hard.“So how many Serbs do you think were still alive when you and the team departed?”

  “I don’t know. At least the four or five who were shooting at us. Probably a fair number of wounded, too.”

  “How do you think they all died?”

  “My guess would be that the Serbs killed their own people.” “Why would they do that?”

  “Maybe to punish ’em for being caught like that. Maybe just to make it look a lot worse than it was. Seems to have worked, too.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because the Army and the press all believe we massacred those guys,” he said. Then his gray eyes bored into mine. “You believe we did it, too. Don’t you?”

  I wasn’t about to answer that. “Did you?” I asked.

  “No. We was just trying to escape.”

  I reached over and turned off the tape recorder, placed my note page back in my briefcase, and stood up as though I were ready to leave. Persico coolly watched all this, and his attorney sat perfectly still.

  I walked toward the door, then turned around. “One other question, Chief. After the ambush, when you all were making time back to the Macedonian border, do you remember how many trip flares went off?”

  He stroked his chin a few times. “Yeah. Two, I think.”

  Chapter 11

  We broke for lunch at noon, right after I’d finished with Sergeant First Class Andy Caldwell, who turned out to be a well-meaning, jocular soul, and who struck me as intellectually modest and not a very meticulous observer of his environment. He was definitely not one of the leaders of the team. He was the team’s heavy weapons expert, and from the best I could tell, this was the limit of his passions and talents. Everything he said closely mimicked everything Persico had said. I regarded it as a fairly useless session.

  We ate in an Air Force dining facility that had a well-stocked salad bar, and Delbert and Morrow made three trips each, apparently having experienced withdrawal from the leafy stuff as a result of Imelda. Delbert had spent his morning with Staff Sergeant George Butler and Sergeant Ezekial Graves, the team medic, who was coincidentally the youngest team member. Morrow had interrogated Sergeants Brian and James Moore, twin brothers who had been with the team for six years. Next to Graves and Sanchez, this made them the team’s third and fourth most recently added members.

  My eager-beaver associates not only taped their interrogations, but also scrawled lots of lengthy, detailed notes on yellow legal pads. Law schools emphasize that technique, and I somehow wasn’t surprised that Delbert and Morrow proved to be such conformists. The truth is, when you’re busy making notes, you’re not paying attention to the subject, who could be transmitting thousands of nonverbal clues, which are completely wasted on an attorney whose eyes are glued to a yellow sheet of paper. Some day, when I get to be dean of Harvard Law School, I’m going to start a movement to put an end to that stupid advice.

  “Did you hear anything exciting?” I asked Delbert, who of course had to review his notes before he gave his summary.

  “I spent two hours with Butler, and one hour with Graves. Both were cooperative and open.Their testimonies corresponded in nearly every way. However, neither Butler nor Graves were involved in any of the key decisions. They were essentially along for the ride.”

  I was astounded that he had to check his notes to make that summary. “Did they contradict anything Sanchez said?” I asked.

  “Not in any significant way.” Delbert studied his notes again. “Graves said he didn’t see the ambush. Because he was the medic, he was positioned about a mile south of the ambush. He said he heard about seven or eight minutes of intense fire, including a couple of large explosions, but he wasn’t a direct witness.”

  “That would make sense,” I said.

  According to the laws of war, medics have to act as non-combatants unless they are killing in self-defense.

  “That limits what he can be charged with,” Delbert continued.“Conspiracy, at most, maybe obstruction, but not murder or manslaughter.”

  “How’d they strike you?”

  “Oddly enough, Graves was the tougher of the two. Butler is your good ol’ southern boy, nice-looking, but there’s something soft about him. Maybe even a little effeminate. Personally, I’d love to get him on a stand.”

  This is the kind of macho side comment some prosecutors are wont to mutter. Sort of like professional boxers at those orchestrated press conferences doing all that bombastic posturing about how they can’t wait to get their opponent in the ring so the whole world can see who the real man is. From a purely technical standpoint, since boxers hurl big, beefy fists at each other, that brand of bellicosity might require a modicum of real guts. Delbert sounded more like a castrated squirrel mumbling about going out and finding some nuts to chew on.

  “How about you?” I asked Morrow. “What did you get from the Moore twins?”

  She twiddled her pencil and very conscientiously refused to study her notes. “It was weird,” she answered. “I did Brian first, and when James walked in, I thought somebody screwed up and brought me Brian again. They’re completely identical, even down to their voices. It was uncanny.”

  “And did that carry over to their statements?”

  “Yes, but again, like Butler and Graves, neither was involved with the decisions. All they could do was describe the events.”

  “All right,” I said, “here’s what we’re gonna do. This afternoon, I’m gonna take Perrite, while you two double-team Machusco. Perrite and Machusco were the eyes and ears of the team. They seemed to have been involved in everything.”

  We then quickly finished our meals, dashed off, and got ourselves repositioned in the interview rooms.

  Sometimes you look at a man and just know he’s a killer. That was François Perrite, a lean, swarthy Cajun with the most frigid eyes I ever saw attached to any breathing thing. Added to that, there was no break between his eyebrows. It was just one long streak of dark hair that stretched completely across his narrow forehead, running almost perfectly perpendicular to the thick black mustache above his lips. Hollywood would take one look and immediately typecast him as a bloodthirsty buccaneer.

  He moved so quietly that I didn’t even hear his footsteps as he walked in. I think he knew the effect he had on people, because there was this slight upward curl on his lips, like a taunting sneer.

  He came without a lawyer, which I guessed was because he considered himself to be the strong, self-reliant type.

  “You know the rules of this session?” I asked.

  “No, tell me,” he ordered as though he were talking to a waiter.

  I didn’t answer, but just stared at him coldly, hoping to make him uncomfortable. I didn’t. He just st
ared back, even more coldly. I wasn’t going to be able to rival those eyes of his. A man is born with eyes like that.

  I very politely said,“Let’s start over, Sergeant Perrite.I’m Major Drummond, the investigating officer. I’m used to being addressed by my title, or as sir.”

  “And I guess that’s rule one, right?”

  “You’re catching on. Now rule two stipulates that anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. That extends to any mistruths, as those would fall under the heading of obstruction of justice and lying in an official investigation. Are you sure you don’t want an attorney present?”

  “I’m sure. I don’t really like lawyers ...sir.”

  “No? And why’s that?” I asked, instantly wishing I could take that question back.

  “Because they’re mostly a bunch of overeducated, lying fat-asses who’d diddle their own mothers just to be able to brag they got laid once in their life.”

  Well, I’d asked the question, and I’d gotten a frank response, so I really had no reason to take offense. Besides, I knew my ass wasn’t fat. Women were always telling me it was skinny, in a cute little way.

  I leaned toward him and smiled.“Now rule three. Don’t screw with me, Perrite. You’re implicated in the possible murder of thirty-five men, so park your macho horseshit in a box.”

  I’d like to say Perrite turned red or shuffled his hands, or blinked a few times. He didn’t. He gave me this look I knew I’d seen somewhere before. It took me a moment to place it. It was that squinty tightness a sniper gets just before he pulls the trigger.

  I continued.“Let’s start with the seventeenth, when you and Sergeant Machusco reported that you saw Serbs watching your team. Could you describe that event?”

  He leaned back with an amused expression, but his lips stayed tightly shut.

  I leaned toward him.“Oh, did I forget to mention rule four? This is an official investigation and I am ordering you to answer. So far, you’ve been convicted of nothing, but if you refuse to answer my questions, I’ll convene a summary court-martial tomorrow and convict your ass for refusing a lawful order. Then we’ll just start over.”

  He casually scratched his chin, a facile motion meant to communicate he really didn’t give a damn about my threat.

  But he apparently did, because he then leaned forward and planted his elbows on the table. “Machusco and I were on security for the team, and we saw a bunch of Serbs on a hill staring down at our patrol base.”

  “And did the Serbs see you and Machusco?”

  “No.”

  “Why didn’t they?”

  “’Cause Machusco and me don’t make stupid mistakes,” he replied, which I guessed was probably true.

  “How many Serbs did you see?” “A few.”

  “Was that two? Three? Four?” “Maybe three.”

  “Was it maybe three, or was it three?”

  He gave me the kind of shrug a man might give who wanted to get under your skin. “Make it three . . . but then again, it might’ve been two...or four.”

  “And what were they doing when you spotted them?”I asked, pretending his smart-assed response didn’t bother me, which fooled neither of us.

  “Watching.”

  “Watching your team’s patrol base?”

  “Right.”

  “How far away were you?”

  “’Bout a half mile. Maybe a little more.”

  “How do you know they were watching your patrol base?” “Because they was staring in that direction.”

  “Staring with binoculars? With the naked eye?”

  “Just staring.”

  “Were they wearing uniforms?”

  “Yes.”

  “What kind of uniforms?”

  “Camouflage.”

  “Who did you report that to?”

  “Chief Persico.”

  “Why him? Why didn’t you report it to Captain Sanchez?” “Because.”

  “Because why? Sanchez was the team leader, wasn’t he?” “Because I couldn’t find Sanchez.”

  “Wasn’t he in the base camp?”

  “I just told you I couldn’t find him,” he said, grinning like I was a simpleminded idiot.“How the hell do I know where he was?”

  I grinned back. “Persico testified that when you told him about the Serbs, you admitted you didn’t get a good look at them. His impression was that you only got a fleeting glance. Are you sure they were watching your base camp?”

  “I didn’t walk up to them and say, ‘Yo, you assholes, you wouldn’t happen to be staring at my base camp, would you?’ But that was sure as shit the direction they was looking at.”

  “Okay. Now while your team was escaping and evading, what were you doing?”

  “Machusco and I handled rear security, like always.We hung back, ’bout half a mile behind the team, puttin’ down trip wires along our route.”

  “How many did you set?”

  “I don’t know. A lot.”

  “How did you happen to have so many flares with you?” “Because we’re the security team. We always bring lots of ’em wherever we go.”

  “Like how many?”

  “Like about ten or fifteen each.”

  “Doesn’t that take up a lot of room in your backpack?”

  He gave me this mocking look. “Don’t all them law books take up a lot of room in your office?”

  “I don’t have to carry my office around on my back.” “And Machusco and I get the whole team killed if we don’t bring the right equipment.”

  “That’s a good point. Now while your team was moving, were you being followed?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because the Serbs kept setting off trip flares.”

  “How many times did that happen?”

  He seemed to hesitate a moment, then gave me what I’d call a screw-off grin. “I don’t rightly remember.”

  “You don’t remember?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Give me a ballpark. Was it once? Was it ten times?” “I told you I don’t rightly remember.”

  “Captain Sanchez said it happened five times,” I lied.

  “Okay. Sounds about right to me.”

  “Persico said it happened eight times,” I lied again.

  “Well, Persico’s miles smarter than Sanchez, so make it eight. Yeah, it was eight,” he said, obviously lying right back at me.

  “I’m sorry. Persico’s smarter than Sanchez?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Smarter how?”

  “Smarter like he’s been in lotsa tight situations and knows what he’s about. Sanchez couldn’t wipe his ass without Chief’s hand back there scraping away.”

  A very interesting observation, I decided, and one I would definitely file away for later. I wasn’t going to delve into Perrite’s personal likes and dislikes at this moment, however, because he struck me as the type who had lots of dislikes and rather enjoyed talking about them. He disliked lawyers, for instance.

  I moved on to the next field of inquiry. “How was the decision made to execute the ambush?”

  “I dunno.”

  “Weren’t you involved?”

  “No, I wasn’t involved. I guess it happened sometime after we drew into a perimeter that night. Sanchez and Chief huddled together for a while, then the word got passed around to check weapons and ammo, because we were gonna ambush some Serbs. That’s all I know.”

  “Was there anything specific that triggered that decision?” “Yeah.”

  “What?”

  “What? Man, ain’t you been payin’ attention? We was being tracked by a bunch of pissed-off Serbs who wanted to friggin’ rip our guts out.”

  “Did more flares go off that night?”

  “I don’t remember.”

  “Come on, Sergeant. You were in charge of security for the team, and you’re trying to tell me you don’t remember if any more flares went off?”

&nbs
p; “That’s right.”

  I opened my briefcase, withdrew a yellow legal pad, and acted like I was reviewing some notes. After about twenty pensive seconds, I said, “Captain Sanchez reported that three more flares went off, and Persico agreed with that number.”

  “Okay, that’s right,” he said. “Now that you’ve refreshed my memory, it happened three times.”

  And now that we’d confirmed he was still lying his ass off, we continued.

  “Who provided the security element for the ambush?”

  “I did.”

  “Where were you positioned?”

  “I put myself about half a mile east of the ambush site. I picked a place on a hillside where I had visibility for about a mile.”

  “So was it your job to notify the team which column to hit?” He nodded.

  “Did you have any instructions to follow?”

  “Yeah. They wanted me to pick a nice big fat column without any armored vehicles in it. I let three or four minnows pass through before I found one that was just right,” he said. His eyes were lit up, the way most people would get if they were remembering the taste of a thick, cold milkshake on a hot summer’s day, or their first roll in the hay with that big-bosomed high school sweetheart.

  “Did you participate in the ambush itself?”

  “No. I stayed in my position, watching to see if any more Serb columns or vehicles was coming. If that happened, I was supposed to warn the team that it was time to disengage and pull out.”

  “Then I guess you don’t know what happened at the ambush site itself?”

  He gave me a sharp shrug of disappointment.“I heard shots and explosions, and I heard stories afterward, but I didn’t see nothing. When the ambush was over, I rejoined the rest of the team at the designated rally point, about a mile south of the ambush site.”

  “And then you continued your E&E?”

  “That’s right.”

  I turned off the tape recorder and shoved my papers back inside the briefcase. Perrite watched this with his deadly little eyes and his taunting grin.

  “Thank you, Sergeant,” I said in my most civil tone. “You’ve been extremely helpful.”

  “How helpful?” he asked, studying my face.