Love Story: In The Web of Life (31 page)

You have seen him demonstrate his abilities in
this courtroom, locating classmates of Lucy's who were hiding
somewhere in Rocky Butte.

Sheriff Bogend's failure to act on Mr. Manteo's
information, and the bloodhound’s identification of a track,
resulted in Lucy not being found until after he had died of
exposure. We should expect a person in charge of a search and
rescue effort to uphold the standards of conduct that require them
to do everything in their power to find the lost person.

Mr. Manteo has testified that he has been
employed or used by ten law enforcement agencies in the search for
missing persons. Using psychics is within the standards of conduct
of law enforcement agencies.

Sheriff Bogend should have acted on Mr.
Manteo's information and sent a couple of the qualified search
people standing idly in the parking lot on a half-hour walk down
Bear Creek to check out the tip. Any reasonable man would have done
that. It would not have been a strain on Sheriff Bogend's time or
resources.

Sheriff Bogend failed to act according to the
accepted standards of conduct to do what any reasonable man should
do and use his excess personnel to perform an early search down
Bear Creek and find Lucy alive. He was negligent.

Your verdict will be Rocky Butte telling all
members of the California State Association of Counties that it can
be negligent to ignore qualified psychics in emergency situations.
Let Lucy be remembered. I urge you to speak loudly.

I thank you for your kind attention during the
trial.

****

The next morning, as I went down for breakfast,
Buster asked whether I could stay at the ranch for a couple of
hours. He said someone was coming about ten o'clock to brief me
about Mr. S.

Elizabeth volunteered to go to court to be
available for jury questions.

I happily agreed to delay going to court and
went back to bed.

At breakfast, Tina said, "Do you have the
letter predicting the outcome of the trial that Steve sent you? You
said you were not going to open it before the trial. Can't you open
it now?"

I thought for a minute and then said, "I don't
see why not. Seeing the letter can't change anything I did or might
do in the trial." I went upstairs and got the unopened letter from
my bag.

I came back to the table and theatrically
paused, opening the letter and holding it to my forehead. I started
to say, "I predict this letter says...."

Tina blurted, "Open the damn thing!"

I opened it and read, "I saw a
pick."

I handed the letter to Tina.

"What does that mean, 'a pick'" Tina
demanded.

"It means Steve foretold us winning the
case."

Tina bounced up and down a shouted,
"Whoopee!"

When I hadn't joined in, Tina scolded, "After
convincing the jury of the validity of Steve's abilities, do I
sense disbelief? You hypocrite!"

"Yippee!" I shouted. Tina and I danced around
hugging each other.

"What's going on here?" Sofia asked as she ran
out from the kitchen. "Everything OK? Tina, Is this man bothering
you?"

"We won! Dave Willard won the case," Answered
Tina.

"The jury is back so soon?"

"No, we were celebrating Steve's
prediction."

Sofia didn't respond. I heard the front door
screen bang and looked to see Buster come in.

"Dave, let's take a ride to the airstrip. We
have a visitor coming in. Excuse us ladies?'

As we drove to the airstrip, Buster listened to
his iPod and didn't volunteer any information on the
visitor.

Soon after we arrived at the strip, we heard an
airplane in the distance. When it circled over the strip to check
the windsock, I noticed it was not the twin-engine Cessna that I
and the other visitors had flown in on. It was a black, high
winged, twin turbine jet. When it taxied up to us I saw, a company
logo painted on the side and words that said, California Energy
Transmission. I was puzzled until it stopped, the door opened, and
I saw Mr. Burton get out. He was wearing a black suit, his
reflecting aviator sunglasses, and his professional inscrutable
expression.

He shook my hand and acknowledged Buster with a
nod.

He said mechanically, "Mr. Willard, we trust
you have had a pleasant and successful stay and that the
arrangements were convenient."

"Yes, to all three questions." I
replied.

"The FBI has our Mr. S in custody. On Wednesday
night, the man you know as Cody was awakened by the peripheral
alarm system we installed at the decoy house. He watched on the
surveillance camera as Mr. S proceeded to open the door of the
black sedan. He then opened the hood and installed three bombs in
the car, one in the vicinity of the driver’s position. The bomb was
rigged to go off when the car was started.

"Cody and two other men who work for me took
Mr. S. into custody before he reached his white van parked hidden
in the woods. They held him until the FBI arrived from the
Sacramento office and took him to Sacramento detention
facilities.

"The sedan you were using and the white van are
in the custody of the FBI."

"Mr. S is being held and will be tried in
Federal Court for his activity here and other places. All evidence
points to him working alone. You need not worry about him
anymore.

"With your permission, and the knowledge of
Dan, your associate at CrystalAire, we placed your sailplane under
surveillance. Surveillance video revealed that Mr. S entered your
sailplane trailer and placed an explosive device within the
sailplane. He also altered your parachute so that the ripcord
wouldn't function if you bailed out."

"Does the FBI have my sailplane in their big
evidence locker with the white van and black sedan?"

"No, the FBI removed all the explosive devices.
An FAA aircraft inspector has completely gone over your airplane to
assure its safety and airworthiness. The parachute was examined at
the FBI laboratories and then repacked at a certified FAA facility.
It was placed back in your sailplane in its original
location.

"We also had your mobile home under
surveillance during the time your sailplane trailer was being
monitored. Neither Mr. S. or any other person has entered your
mobile home."

"Is the mobile home bugged now?" I
asked.

"All our surveillance devices have been
removed," he replied. "Since we did not enter inside the structure,
we did not determine if other surveillance devices had been placed
there. You might wish to make your own inspection.

"Any other questions?" Burton asked
mechanically.

"No."

"Then, we thank you for your cooperation and
indulgence in our assignment," Burton said as he shook my hand,
nodded to Buster, and climbed back into his airplane.

"I'm glad he is on our side," I confided to
Buster as the airplane taxied away.

Buster silently stood as though at attention,
like a soldier in a military ceremony, until the airplane took off
and was on it's way.

In the Jeep on the way back to the lodge,
Buster confided that he had only met Burton in person three times,
that this must have been an important job to get his
attention.

I said, "I think Vince Colson thinks that
getting these ideas of space-time out into the scientific community
is important."

As we drove up to the lodge, Tina and Sofia
were engaged in karate exercises on the lawn. I said to Buster,
"Tina looks like a full–fledged karate expert. How did that happen
in a few days?"

"Sofia has a black belt, sometimes teaches at
an academy, and often works intensively with actors preparing for a
movie role. She says Tina is a natural. I'd be careful to not get
her really mad from now on. If you need to have an argument, do it
over the telephone."

"I'll get my briefcase, and we can go into town
to wait for the verdict."

"It's now OK for you to drive yourself in the
SUV. Burton has called off the bodyguard detail. But, I'd like to
go with you. After sitting through the trial, I am eager to see how
it turned out."

****

In the courthouse, I joined Elizabeth and the
Sodastroms in a conference room.

Ed Sodastrom asked meekly, "If we win the
trial, we will get some money, right?"

"Yes, but the case might get appealed, and that
could take years before you get paid."

"Well, Ann and I have been talking. We don't
really need money. We would like to create some sort of memorial or
scholarship fund for the children of Rocky Butte."

"That's a wonderful, loving idea! Our law firm
will keep you posted on how the appeals process is progressing.
When we get closer to a final judgment, please contact me
personally and I will be happy to set up any trusts or take care of
any agreements that are necessary, pro bono...at no charge to
you.

"You and Ann might as well go wait at home–we
have no idea how long the jury will be out. You are only a few
minutes away; we can call you when the jury comes back. Be ready to
come on a moments notice. Elizabeth will call you if the jury
doesn't reach a verdict today and goes home for the
night."

"Thank you," said Ann. "I think Ed and I need
some rest." They left, not walking as slowly and looking so forlorn
as they did at the start of the trial.

I thought to myself, 'I have really
changed–caring about clients. I must be becoming human.'

There was a knock on the door, I answered and
saw Buster as I stepped outside.

Buster grinned, "Sofia called and asked whether
the girls could come into town and have lunch with us."

"It's a great idea. I think the bailiff is
taking the jury to Bob's Cafe so we can't go there. I'm not sure I
trust the food at the other restaurant. There is also the Tasty
Freeze."

Buster frowned so I added, "Tell them to bring
a picnic lunch and we can have it in Pioneer Park here in
Courthouse Square. "I'll ask Elizabeth to join us." The bailiff
showed me a way to out the back trough the new building that we can
use to avoid the media.

Buster listened to music, and Elizabeth and I
read for a while until my cell phone rang. I answered and said,
"Thank you."

"The jury is going to lunch."

Elizabeth scurried from the room and said, "I'm
going to read the jury. I'll catch up with you at the
park."

"No tampering," I warned and Elizabeth simply
stared coldly at me.

Buster and I snuck out the back of the county
building. At the park we saw Tina and Sofia sitting at a table,
with five plates and a picnic laid out, having a glass of wine.
They were both again wearing gingham dresses with bows in the back:
Sofia had come with a whole trunk of costumes from
movies.

Buster joked, "You girls could get arrested for
drinking in a public park."

They looked at me with a puzzled expression and
I said, "It's OK, I know the Sheriff."

Tina faked a guilty expression and hid her
glass under the table and then said, "We don't want to run afoul of
the Rocky Butte law. Georgia, put the wine bottle back in the paper
sack. We will pass it around, taking turns."

Elizabeth walked up and said, "The jury is in a
good mood. Everybody's smiling. They have agreed on something. I
sensed they might be thinking about the penalty now."

Tina made a motion like she was going to pass
the wine bottle in the sack to Elizabeth and then stopped and said,
"No we will use wine glasses, risk it!"

As we were eating, I asked Buster, "What are
you going to do next?"

"The ranch is rented until the end of the next
week so we will stay here and do some day hiking. I've got to get
back in shape after sitting in a courtroom all week. You are
welcome to stay with or without our supervision. Then, we will
drive back to LA. Our agent called and said we both have a gig on a
movie in the Colorado Mountains for most of September. How about
you?"

"Does that SUV we have been using have to get
back to LA?"

Buster replied, "Yes, it is rented from a movie
prop house. No hurry in getting it back, it is rented for the
month."

"Tina and I decided we would like to drive back
through the gold country. Neither of us has ever been there. Maybe
we will go through Yosemite. Then, we will stop at CrystalAire for
a few days and I'll see whether my sailplane still
works."

My cell phone rang. It was the court clerk
saying the jury was back from lunch and was continuing
deliberation.

"When will they come back with a verdict?" Tina
asked.

Elizabeth volunteered, "It's Friday afternoon.
Some of the jurors play on the Rocky Butte Claim Jumpers' softball
team. It has an important league game tomorrow morning. There will
be a verdict today."