Love Story: In The Cloud

by Ken Renshaw

  When we got to the old Williams' place on our drive to court on Thursday morning, Cody was not there to switch cars with us. There seemed to be several other dark colored cars in the driveway near the house.

  Buster said, "I'm driving you to court today. Cody is fine. Everything is fine: actually, everything is really good. Keep your mind on your lawyering. I'll brief you later about this when I have all the facts."

  Judge Cartright called the court to order and asked for me to give my closing argument.

  I gave my closing argument, and Dean Buttress gave his. The Judge gave the jury his instructions, and the jury for left for deliberation. Court was adjourned at eleven o'clock.

  Elizabeth commented after watching the jurors leave, "I think we are in good shape. The only jurors who looked at Buttress did so in apparent disgust. Several looked compassionately at the Sodastroms. I think they will elect the juror number eight as foreman. That would be good because he looks like a gentle, reasonable person."

  We retired to our conference room. I checked my text messages and found I had a message from Zaza. It said, "Highest priority emergency: Call Phil Bracken immediately."

  I called Phil. He said, "We have a bad situation here. Sam Perris, the Chief Scientist at ChralMed, our major client, happened to be in Sacramento yesterday. He said he saw you on the evening news declining to comment on the Rocky Butte case. Then, he saw an interview of a woman, a mother who had participated in some sort of demonstration. According to Perris, you put on some kind if rigged demonstration proving that ESP works. Perris is threatening to fire us from Bob's ChralMed case because our firm lacks scientific integrity. Is this true?"

  I said, "I did have the CIA psychic do a demonstration where he successfully located three children. The demo was absolutely not rigged."

  Phil replied, "Well, settle the case. I'll take care of Vince Colson. Get it out of the news. We can't afford to lose ChralMed. It will ruin our credibility with other clients. You must realize how important ChralMed is to our future."

  I answered, "It is too late. The case went to the jury this morning. I have no way to find the opposing counsel. He is probably in some bar around here. The verdict will be back before we could even begin negotiations. Too late to trigger a mistrial. The Judge wants this trial over. There is nothing I can do." I thought to myself, Except hunt for a new job.

  Phil still sounded mad when he said, "Well, I'll work on damage control. Goodbye!"

  I thought, That really did sound like goodbye.

  "Your face is pale! What was that about?" Asked Elizabeth.

  I explained.

  Elizabeth, looking shocked and worried, peeked disdainfully into her lunch sack. "All this and we also get free sack lunches."

  The door opened and Buster walked in a with a picnic hamper.

  "No sack lunches today. Since you can't leave with all the media out there, Sofia made you something special."

  Elizabeth grabbed the hamper and started unpacking it with little exclamations of delight.

  Buster cheerily announced, "We have some really good news. Didn't you notice that Mr. S was not in court today? He is staying with our friends at the FBI. He will probably be under their care for a long time."

  "Last night Cody was awakened about three o'clock when the infrared perimeter alarm went off, the one we installed around the whole Williams' place, He checked the surveillance video cameras and saw somebody he didn't know entering the parking area in front of the house. The Camaro was parked a distance from the house to allow better video surveillance. The person, it later turned out to Mr. S., quickly jimmied the car door open, reached in and popped the hood. Cody woke up Billie, our second man staying at the Williams' house. We found out later that Curt, our man tailing Mr. S that night, was in the woods behind Mr. S. They all watched as Mr. S. placed a bomb under the hood connected to the ignition and then placed another device at the front of the hood. Mr. S. very gingerly closed the hood. He then went around and taped another device to the bottom of the gas tank. He did a little dance of apparent delight and then went into the woods.

  "Curt was waiting for him and took him down without much of a fight. Billie was right there to help. They handcuffed S. and went through his pockets and found the detonator transmitter. Cody called his FBI contact in Sacramento. An FBI bomb specialist and investigative team got to the Williams' place by nine this morning. I joined them there after I dropped you off at the courthouse.

  "The FBI bomb specialist, Eileen Wolf, is a short, stocky, determined looking lady. Good casting for a bomb specialist. She reviewed the surveillance tape, and then spent a half hour in Mr. S's van workshop studying his tools and bomb plans.

  "When she returned to where everyone was gathered at a safe distance from the car, she said. "I can remove the gas tank bomb safely. In the van workshop, I found out that the perp used C-4 instead of dynamite in making his bombs. He left a spare bomb like that used under the gas tank in the van so I know what were up against there. I can remove that one safely with my robot. I found a block of C-4 in the van. I can tell that he used enough under the hood to be lethal to a driver, but not enough to make a big crater or do much damage to the house or knock trees down. I recommend we remove the gas tank bomb to preserve forensic evidence as much as possible and then blow the two other charges."

  "I volunteered that it was a movie car and had many custom features, including a remote control starter. When we were all safely in the woods, I pressed the remote control and blew the car. It didn't blow up like the ones in the movies in a ball of flame, it just sat there and made a disappointingly small noise, convulsed, and spit out the windows.

  "The FBI took both the van and what remained of the Camaro away to their evidence lab. Cody left, taking a few days on a fishing vacation. That part of the operation is over, and so is Mr. S.

  "Now, let's celebrate" He produced four canned martinis and a six-pack of beer from the picnic basket. "You can have a two martini lunch, like attorneys in Beverly Hills are supposed to have."

  I smiled and said. "Only beer for me, thanks. Martinis are a wonderful idea, but I have some emails and reading to catch up on."

  Elizabeth smiled and scooped up all four cans into her arms and said, "I'm through for the day, aren't I, boss?"

  I smiled in approval.

  Later, Buster drove us back to the ranch. When we went by the old Williams' place, the van was gone and all cars, including the Camaro, were missing from the driveway. As Elizabeth and I strained our necks to look back, Buster volunteered, "Someone will be up to brief us tomorrow, after they put the whole situation together."

  "When we arrived at the ranch Tina and Sofia were again sitting on the porch in rocking chairs, wearing prim gingham dresses, apparently knitting. They demurely nodded and said, "Welcome home," without getting up.

  "Actors!" said Buster as we went in and the screen door slammed behind us. "I'm sorry, Tina may never be the same after Rocky Butte."

  I went upstairs and changed into my western clothes. When I came down, Tina greeted me with a small curtsy and handed me tall drink. In a Texas accent she said, "A mint julep for you sir, after your hard days work." Everyone else was standing, laughing, with juleps in hand.

  Elizabeth, looking a little bleary-eyed, interrupted. She opened her laptop and said, "Here is the closing statement as transcribed by the reporter in her report to Dore if anyone wants to read it.

  Sofia took the laptop and sat down on a couch, joined by Tina.

  They read:

  Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

  We have seen that Lucy wandered from the vicinity of the cafe, walked down Bear Creek, and sought refuge in a log hut in a fishing camp. The coroner testified that she died of exposure between 11:00PM and 1:00 AM. She was not found until 2:00 AM.

  We have heard Search and Rescue team members testify that they waited around in the parking lot of the cafe for several hours before they were deployed in the search. They characterized the
management of the search effort as disorganized.

  We have heard the testimony of Mr. Holtz that his bloodhounds had started tracking down the Bear Creek trail before he was called back, severely reprimanded and consigned to wait in the parking lot until he went home. Sheriff Bogend did not act on this critical indication of where Lucy could be found. He testified that he didn't want to employ Mr. Holtz in the search because he was not a contracted County resource, and his employment would require undesirable paperwork later.

  We have heard Mr. Manteo's testimony that Sheriff Bogend refused to act in examining or considering his credentials as a person who could assist in the search. After marking the exact spot where Lucy would be later found on the Sheriff's map about 8:45PM, the Sheriff, at gunpoint, and with a threat of arrest, ordered Mr. Manteo off the premises and ordered him to not to make his own search.

  The Sheriff decidesd not to act on these two corroborating indications on where Lucy was.

  You have seen the folder containing Mr. Manteo credentials, including letters of commendation from law enforcement agencies, citing his success in locating people and crime scenes, and the Presidential citation awarding him a medal for his twenty years of psychic spy work for the US Government. This folder was presented to Sheriff Bogend on the night in question. If you had seen these credentials, would you, as reasonable people, refused Mr. Manteo's offer to help?

  You have hard testimony by Mathematics Professor from LA College and a Physics Professor from UCLA that the psychic things that Mr. Manteo does can be explained with modern university level mathematics and physics.

  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 she 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.