The Bone Puzzle: The Saga Begins

by Clayton E. Spriggs

  “It’s the only place where prying eyes won’t see us all together and ask questions,” Joe Bob explained.

  “We’re usually together,” said Cooter. “We’ve known each other our whole lives. It’s not seein’ us together that’ll make people wonder.”

  Over the past few months, their devotion to the cause had waned. Few members showed up together or acknowledged each other at services, with the exception of polite nods and brief small talk. Someone always had an excuse why they were unable to attend some function or another.

  “My wife has already asked me about it,” said Charles Ray.

  “Mine, too,” Earl agreed.

  “You ain’t said nothin’ to her, I hope,” Cooter said.

  “Of course not,” said Charles Ray. “What am I gonna say? ‘Sorry, honey, we’re takin’ a break from each other since we murdered that girl.’”

  “Twice,” added Joe Bob.

  Their attention was drawn to the sedan. The Winchesters had arrived.

  “I’m glad to see we’ve all managed to gather at the same time for a change,” Brother Eustice said accusingly. “We’ve become an assembly of backsliders. We must be careful, brothers, lest we let the Devil see our weakened resolve and seek to divide us.”

  “I was just sayin’ that,” said Cooter.

  “You were also whinin’ about us meetin’ here,” Charles Ray added.

  “Were you now?” Brother Eustice said. “And why is that?”

  “Because you know why,” answered Cooter. “That nosey detective is bound to come around sooner or later.”

  Brother Eustice nodded. He looked to Earl for an explanation. “He’s right. Do you have any idea why he ain’t asked us any questions yet? He has a list of all of our names. Seemed mighty interested in us when he first come down here. Since then, zilch.”

  “How am I supposed to know?” said Earl. “It ain’t like I can rightly ask him that.”

  “No, I suppose not,” said Brother Eustice. “Still, it seems odd. What’s he up to?”

  “I’ve heard things,” said Earl. “Weird things that don’t make no sense.”

  “Such as?” asked Junior. Unlike the others, he wasn’t afraid of the detective. Let the man come and ask him whatever he wanted to. He’d learn soon enough who the smart one was.

  “For one thing, some dame he knows came in askin’ questions. Dale pretty much let her have full access to whatever they had. He won’t even share that with me, and I’m an officer of the law.”

  “Why the hell did he do that?” asked Junior.

  Whack! Brother Eustice’s walking stick found its favorite target.

  “Ouch!” screamed Junior, clutching his shin. “What did you do that for?”

  “Don’t use them vile words,” said Brother Eustice. “‘For his mouth speaks from what which fills his heart.’ Tell us, Deputy, why did the good sheriff give that woman free reign?”

  “If you’d seen her, you wouldn’t be askin’ that,” Earl replied. “Not that it matters. He did.”

  “What else troubles you about the detective?”

  “There’s a rumor he has a display at the medical examiner’s office.”

  “A display?”

  “They say he has the bones laid out like a giant puzzle. They’re puttin’ the parts together to figure out where they came from.”

  They? Buck thought. Something deep inside of him stirred.

  “And what do they know?” Brother Eustice asked.

  “Not much, from what I gather, or they wouldn’t still be lookin’.”

  Brother Eustice nodded. The deputy wasn’t as dumb as he looked.

  “Have they found all the parts yet?” asked Jeremiah.

  “Save for a few small pieces,” Earl said. “But that’s another weird thing. I’ve heard through the grapevine that the heads are missing.”

  “Heads?” asked Buck. “As in more than one?”

  “Yeah,” said Earl. “They think the girls were twins.”

  “Are you shittin’ me!” shouted Buck. “Twins? Goddamn it, Eustice. What have you gotten us into?”

  All eyes turned to the preacher. He wanted to respond with force and indignation at his accuser, but it was Buck McEwen. Buck was big, and Buck was now furious. He was also Brother Eustice’s most faithful servant. If he turned on the preacher, the others would soon follow.

  “This is exactly what I warned you about,” said the prophet. “‘Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the Devil.’ The detective is trying to trick us. We’ve turned from the Lord, and now we’re turnin’ on each other. It is not I that led you astray, brothers. It is the unholy one who seeks revenge for our pious acts.”

  No one replied to his sermon, but the preacher could see the doubt behind their angry glares. He needed a distraction.

  “How and why?” Brother Eustice asked the deputy.

  “How and why what?”

  “How did he find all them parts? We were the ones that put them there. It would’ve been impossible to find them all, but he did. It’s unnatural, I tell you.”

  “I, I don’t know,” said Earl. “Ricky was helpin’ him, but he doesn’t like to talk about it. He’s been actin’ strange lately, like he thinks he’s better than us. That detective has him under some kind of spell.”

  “That’s what I’m sayin’, you fools,” said Brother Eustice. “He was sent from the pit of hell itself. Satan works in him. There’s no other explanation.”

  “You asked why,” noted Earl. “Why what?”

  “Why ain’t they found the head if they found everythin’ else?”

  “You mean headsssss,” said Buck, the anger in his eyes unabated by the preacher’s feeble explanation.

  Brother Eustice ignored the taunt. “We didn’t do anythin’ different with it than we did with the other parts. Why ain’t they found it, too?”

  “I don’t know,” said Earl, “but from what I hear, it means somethin’ to them.”

  “Who had the heads?” asked Cooter.

  “It weren’t me,” said Charles Ray.

  “Me, neither,” said Joe Bob.

  Buck shook his head.

  “Don’t look at me,” said Earl. “I wasn’t even here for one of them.”

  The men looked at the sons of the prophet.

  “It wasn’t me, Daddy,” Jeremiah said. “I had the feet. Remember?”

  Junior took a few steps back, ensuring he was out of range of his father’s staff.

  “What did you do?” asked the prophet, turning on his son.

  Junior was at a loss for words. His mind raced with possible excuses, but he couldn’t come up with a single one.

  The sound of a car approaching interrupted the interrogation. The men turned to see who dared to ignore the half-dozen PRIVATE PROPERTY: TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT signs prominently posted on the secluded dirt road.

  “I guess if you have any more questions about the detective,” Earl said to Brother Eustice, “you can ask him yourself.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  The group huddled together as they watched the detective’s unmarked police cruiser approach.

  “Y’all let me handle this,” said Earl. “And try to act natural.”

  “Don’t fuck this up,” said Charles Ray.

  “Shut up,” Earl replied, “and that means all of you.”

  The car stopped, and the detective climbed out. He walked over to where the men waited.

  “Howdy,” he announced and tipped his hat. “I’m Detective Stallworth of the Alabama State Police. Y’all can call me Robert.”

  Silence greeted him. Robert smiled as if they were old friends.

  “Deputy Barber, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”

  Earl nodded. “Detective. What are you doin’ out here?” Earl’s voice cracked slightly. He hoped the detective hadn’t noticed. Robert had.

  “You got a warrant?” Cooter blurted out.

  Earl felt
his heart drop. What part of ‘shut up’ didn’t Cooter understand?

  Robert paused, as if surprised by the response. “A warrant? Now why would I need a warrant?”

  “This here is private property. You got no right to come out here to harass us or search,” Cooter protested.

  “Search? Why would I search?” Robert asked as if it were a rhetorical question. He furrowed his brow and scratched his chin, letting everyone know that the man’s objection had presented a new lead.

  “Don’t mind him,” Earl interjected. “He acts that way when anyone comes out here. He even does it to me, and we’ve known each other since the third grade. Is there anything we can do for you, Detective?”

  “Right, right,” said Stallworth, playing along. “I’ve been meaning to get together with you and your friends. It’s just that we’ve been so busy. We’ve found most of the bones that we know of so far, so I hadn’t actually required your offer to help with the search. I know you boys have already given a great deal of your time and effort, and I didn’t want to impose on y’all any further. I did want to add how much I appreciate what y’all did. I don’t know if the sheriff ever thanked y’all for helping out, but it didn’t go unnoticed by me.”

  Robert paused to let that last line sink in.

  “We appreciate that,” said Brother Eustice.

  “And you must be Brother Eustice Winchester,” Robert announced. “I’ve heard a lot about you, and I must say, I’ve been dying to meet you.”

  Brother Eustice nodded but held his tongue. As pleasant as the words sounded coming out of the detective’s mouth, the preacher knew it was a veiled threat.

  “Excuse my lack of manners,” said Earl. “Let me introduce everyone.”

  “No need, Deputy,” said Robert. “Let’s see if I can guess. The man to your left is Joe Bob Duncan; next to him is Charles Ray Wilson. The big guy, who looks sick to his stomach, is Buck McEwen. The guy who’s afraid I’ll have a look around is Cooter Yates. The scared looking young man over there in the overalls is Jeremiah Thomas Winchester, also known as JT. The other fellow with the smug expression and missing teeth is Eustice Adam Winchester, also known as Junior. Of course the ring leader, I mean, the pastor of the Antioch Pentecostal Church is none other than Eustice Elijah Winchester, self proclaimed prophet.”

  “How’d you know all that?” asked Joe Bob.

  “I’m a detective, Mr. Duncan. It’s my job to know things. I have files on each and every one of you. I know where you live,” he said as he glanced at Cooter. “I know your wives and children’s names. I know your criminal history.” He glanced at Buck. “I probably know what you had for breakfast in the third week in May when you were six.” Robert laughed. “But don’t feel special. I know that about half the people in the county.”

  The men were beginning to believe the preacher may have been right about the detective. Only supernatural forces could explain how the man could know so much about things he had no way of knowing.

  “What do you want from us?” Brother Eustice asked coldly.

  “I want your help,” Robert replied. It wasn’t the answer they expected.

  “How can we help you? You already seem to know everything.”

  “Not everything or I wouldn’t be out here. First, I need to know if you men can keep what I’m going to tell you in strictest confidence. Can I trust you men? Do you know how to keep a secret?”

  “Yes, we do,” Junior blurted out and flinched, expecting a sharp blow to the shin that never came.

  “I thought as much,” Robert replied.

  Earl didn’t like this one bit. It was as if every comment the detective made had some hidden meaning. It was as if he were telling them all, I know what you did, and I’m going to hang you for it. Earl swallowed hard and fought against his instincts. He told himself it was his suppressed guilt getting to him.

  “You boys popped up on my radar from the very beginning,” Robert continued. “I mean, it just didn’t fit. Y’all didn’t fit. Everyone involved in the investigation from day one had some obvious and explainable reason for being where they were, and they acted accordingly. Nothing was out of place, except you boys. That’s why I know so much about y’all. I made it my business to know.”

  “If you’re suggestin’ we had anything—" Cooter said.

  “What Cooter means is that it sounds like you are makin’ accusations,” Earl interrupted before Cooter could finish. Shut the hell up already, for God’s sake.

  “Accusations?” Robert replied as if it he’d never thought of that. “No, no, absolutely not! Is that what y’all think? Oh, my goodness, no wonder y’all are looking at me like that. Please, forgive me. I completely mucked this up. Accusations? Y’all are men of God. A church group would be the last people I’d suspect of doing something so horrible. I can’t share with you what I know of the case, but let me tell you, it’s bad. Whoever did this was a sick, depraved pervert. Nobody with a shred of decency could’ve committed such a heinous act on another human being, much less a child. If they could, I don’t see how they could live with themselves. I’m sure men of such high moral standards as yourselves would agree. Sick, sick, sick.”

  “Then why are you—" Cooter asked again.

  “Like I said, y’all stuck out, but not in the way you’re thinking I mean it. Let me tell you boys a story. Again, it’s not something I want repeated.”

  “You have our word,” said Brother Eustice.

  “Despite my college background, I came from a small town just like this. I was raised to be a devout follower of the local Southern Baptist congregation. I truly believed in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and I still do. However, something happened when I was fifteen that shattered my illusions about my fellow men. A child had been raped, strangled, and dumped into a nearby river. The town elders, including the pastor of my church, who also happened to be the sheriff, quickly nabbed a suspect. He was a colored fellow from the wrong side of the tracks, some ex-convict with a rap sheet a mile long. We didn’t waste time on a trial or jury, not that it would’ve mattered; we hanged him that night for all to see. I witnessed the hate and violence of the very people I’d sat next to in church my whole life and I slept soundly that night. It’s something that I’ve thought about ever since. Anyway, seven months later, it happened again. Even then, it didn’t occur to me that we’d murdered an innocent man. No, this time, we had a lead. A group of fishermen saw the car that dumped the body and wrote down the license plate.”

  “Who was it?” asked Earl.

  “The sheriff,” said Robert. “The very man who led our Sunday sermons and taught us the value of leading a moral life. Can you believe it?”

  They could.

  “So that’s why I’m here.”

  “I’m, I’m not gettin’ what you’re sayin’,” said Cooter.

  “Don’t you get it? It was a conspiracy. Others knew what the sick bastard had done but helped cover it up. They sat idly by while we murdered an innocent man. Notice I said we. I’ll have to pay for that come Judgment Day, along with a long list of other things. I’m not going to let that happen again. I can’t trust a soul in this county, up to and including anyone at the sheriff’s office. Well, maybe one. Like I said, you boys don’t fit. That’s a good thing, but it might be bad for y’all, too.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Earl.

  “Whoever did this is going to need someone to pin it on. They’ll need that colored fellow to hang for it. Unfortunately for them and you, it was old man Lucius who found that foot. No one is going to stand for blaming him, not even the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Once I start the endgame, the pressure will be on to find someone else to take the blame. Who do you think that’ll be?”

  “But they can’t do that,” said Jeremiah. “That’s not right.”

  “If you’d only seen what the sick bastard did to that girl,” Robert replied.

  “I heard there was more than one,” said Buck.

  “You’re going to
hear a lot of things, Mr. McEwen,” Robert said and winked.

  “Why, you clever son of a bitch,” said Joe Bob.

  Robert smiled. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn y’all.”

  “But I still don’t know what we can do to help you,” said Brother Eustice.

  “Play along,” said Robert. “At some point, I’m going to lure those responsible into thinking they’re going to get away with it. I’ll set the trap, and they’ll walk right into it, practically handing the evidence to me on a silver platter. Now, think about it. How do you think I’m going to do that?”

  “By blamin’ us,” said Earl.

  “The bullshit interrogations are going to be brutal, guys. I’m letting you know now. I’m going to stay in character, and I’m expecting you to do the same. The walls have ears over there. One by one, I’ll eventually drag y’all in and go through the motions. Don’t be alarmed, but I’m good at what I do. It’s going to seem very real, and it’ll be very scary. I know you boys think you’re brave and will skate right through it, especially since you know it’s a con. But trust me, I can get you to confess to the Lincoln assassination, if I want to, so don’t get cocky. We’ll get through this, and everything will be fine. You’ll all get a medal when it’s over, and you’ll deserve it. But first things first, we may never get to that stage unless I connect a few dots. Let’s pray that I do.”

  With that, Robert bid his adieu and parted. The group pledged their support and thanked him for the warning. They promised that they’d do whatever was required to find and convict the guilty parties. They watched him leave with relief.

  “I told you he wasn’t as smart as he pretends to be,” said Earl.

  “Don’t be naïve, Deputy,” said Brother Eustice. “He knows it was us.”

  “He knows it was you,” Buck corrected him.

  “No, he knows it was us, just like he knows what you done. How do you think that’s going to look, pervert?” Brother Eustice was losing control of his flock at the worse time, but he’d be damned if he was going to go down alone.

  “How could he know?” asked Charles Ray.