The Dog Who Ate The Flintlock

by Edward Coburn

  Cooper bared his teeth and clenched his fists. “How many times do I have to tell you people, the only bodies buried in my cemetery are those whose plots were paid for by their loved ones or themselves,” he snarled, his face turning red.

  “I believe you’ve told us enough times, but we’d like to make certain you’re telling us the truth,” Ken said knowing full well Cooper wasn’t being straight. But how could he act otherwise without incriminating himself? “Thank you, Mr. Cooper. We’ll come inside again if we have any questions. For now, we’ll get busy doing our job.”

  Cooper huffed once, pivoted, and disappeared inside the building.

  Chapter 61

  Robert reached into his pocket and took out the first evidence bag. He handed it to Adam. “Please don’t take the finger out of the bag. We don’t want Bagel chewing on it.”

  “Bagel wouldn’t do that,” Adam said. “And I had no intention of touching that foul thing anyway.” He opened the bag and let Bagel sniff only the opening.

  “Okay, Bagel, find,” he said because he didn’t know what else to say not having done this kind of search before.

  Bagel sniffed the air once and then tugged at the leash until Adam followed. He sniffed here and there but led the small troop on a virtual straight line to one of the graves. There he stopped, quivering as if he were cold.

  “I think this must be it. He doesn’t seem to want to go any farther.” He turned to Robert, “Why don’t you write down the name on the grave marker so we can find it again and we’ll try one of the other fingers. Of course, this may be the only grave with Donati’s victims.”

  “That may be,” Ken said.

  “I’ll write it down anyway, just in case,” Robert said taking out a small notebook and pen. The grave specified that Andre Farber was buried there and had been for three years. Robert took out a second evidence bag and handed that one to Adam who again let Bagel sniff the opened bag. Bagel sniffed the air once but didn’t move. He sat down on his haunches.

  “Maybe they are all in the same grave,” Adam said.

  “It’s possible,” Robert said. “That might be what Bagel is trying to tell us. Let’s try the third finger.” Robert handed Adam the third evidence bag.

  This time when Bagel sniffed the open bag he sniffed the air once and then led Adam to the next grave to the left. “This must be where that victim is buried,” Adam said. “Maybe Cooper ran out of room in the other grave.”

  “Or this is the first grave, and he ran out of room here and started putting them in that grave,” Ken pointed at where they’d stopped before. “Did you write the dates on the evidence bags?” he asked Robert.

  “I did,” Robert said and pulled the first two bags out again and checked the dates. “The date on this last bag is right in between the first two, so I don’t know what Cooper was doing.”

  “He must have had some reason to use two different graves,” Adam said. “Since we found two do you think the judge will sign exhumation orders for both of these two spots?”

  “He will if we can tie some other evidence to them,” Robert said writing down the name from the second marker. It was supposedly the grave for Barbara Higgins. “Let’s go inside and find out who paid for these grave sites.”

  “Good idea,” Ken said. “Maybe they can tell us something.”

  Adam put Bagel back in the car before the three of them went into the funeral home. True to his word, they only waited a minute until Cooper came from the back to greet them again.

  “Yes, what can I do for you now?” Cooper asked in his library voice.

  “We need to see who paid for two of the graves,” Ken said.

  “May I ask to whom the graves belong?” Cooper asked.

  Robert pulled his notebook back out. “The ones we want to check supposedly belong to Barbara Higgins and Andre Farber.”

  Cooper’s face drained of color, and he swallowed loudly. “I see. I’m afraid that isn’t possible. The payment records are confidential information.”

  “What do you think you are?” Robert said his frustration starting to show, “a lawyer, doctor, or something.”

  “No. But my records are still confidential.”

  “Okay. We’ll just get a court order to have you turn them over,” Robert said.

  “That’s what it will take,” Cooper said. “Until you have such an order, you won’t see any of my records.”

  “Okay,” Robert said. “We’ll be back.” And the three of them left the building.

  Cooper watched them drive away not sure what he should do next. He hadn’t wanted to use his cemetery to hide Donati’s bodies, but Donati hadn’t given him a choice. Donati had warned him to do it or suffer the consequences and Cooper had heard about people who had suffered the effects of Donati’s wrath. So, he had buried the bodies when Donati or one of his minions brought them. There had been ten of them over the last eight years. The grave of Andre Farber contained the remains of six bodies, and the site of Barbara Higgins contained the remains of a woman, her husband, and their two children.

  What was he to do? He couldn’t let the cops dig up those graves, but he couldn’t stop them if they got a court order for his records because he had no records for those two graves and without records, he understood it would be a simple matter for Detective Drummond and the others to get exhumation orders. He had initially thought of faking documents for the two graves, but that would have been too complicated, and besides, Donati assured him that no one would ever know about the bodies. He shouldn’t have trusted Donati. But what was he to do now? A decision had to be made. He would leave. Yes, that was it. He would leave. They couldn’t arrest him if they couldn’t find him. But he would need money to run. He would have to go to the bank first. He went into his living quarters in the back of the funeral home and threw some clothes into his only suitcase. He put the suitcase in his car and grabbed his empty briefcase as well. He drove straight to Morgantown and directly to the bank. Once there he filled out withdrawal slips for his personal account and his business account for the funeral home. When he handed them to the teller, she said she needed a minute to confer with the manager.

  “Good day Mr. Cooper,” the manager said as he walked up to the teller window. “I’m the manager of this branch. If you’ll step into my office, we’ll be happy to get you the money you have requested.”

  “Why your office,” Cooper said suddenly suspicious. “Is there a problem?”

  “No Sir. No problem. It’s just that a withdrawal of this amount needs to be handled carefully and bank regulations specify such large transactions are supervised by me. So, if you’ll just step into my office, you’ll be taken care of right away.” There were no such regulations, but he needed to tell Cooper something, and that was the only thing he could come up with on the spur of the moment.

  “I don’t know. This seems irregular.”

  “As I said, sir. It’s regulations. Now, if you’ll follow me.”

  “All right,” Cooper said with a sigh. “Let’s just get it done.”

  Cooper was watching the tellers transact their business for their customers out of the window in the manager’s office when two uniformed police officers came into the bank heading directly for the manager’s office.

  “What is this,” Cooper snarled.

  “I’m sorry Mr. Cooper, but we were ordered by the FBI to let the police know if you tried to withdraw a large sum of money.”

  “But it’s my money. I can take it out of your stupid bank if I want to.”

  “That’s true, but we only did what we were ordered to do.”

  At that moment the two officers came into the manager’s office. One of them said, “We have been instructed to take you to the station.”

  “On what charge,” Cooper was incensed but only because his last-minute plans had been thwarted. He knew he should have ditched his business yesterday when the cops first showed up.

  “Oh,” the officer said, “You’re not under arrest. You’re
only going to be held on suspicion.”

  “On suspicion of what?” Cooper asked as if he didn’t know.

  “I don’t know,” the second officer said. “We were only told to pick you up. Please come with us.”

  “What if I don’t want to?”

  The officer smiled. “It’s not up to you. You can come with us voluntarily, or we can cuff you. But regardless, you will come.”

  “All right,” Cooper huffed in exasperation. “I’ll go with you.”

  Robert, Adam, and Ken greeted Cooper when he was brought into Robert’s office. “Thank you, officers,” Robert said.

  They nodded and left.

  “Were you planning to go somewhere, Mr. Cooper?” Robert asked.

  “And what’s wrong with that. Everybody deserves a vacation now and again. It just so happens that I’ve had this one scheduled for a while.”

  “And are you in the habit of taking everything out of your bank accounts to go on vacation—in cash, I might add. You must throw one heck of a party.”

  “And why are my habits with my money any of your concern?”

  “They aren’t. It’s just that we have a court order for you to turn over the records for who paid for those two plots we asked about. And we can’t serve it if you aren’t at the funeral home.”

  “So…” Cooper didn’t want to give in. He knew if he did it would be all over for his business and probably his life.

  “So this order specifies that you give them to us and you can’t do that if you’re not here.” Robert was getting tired of Cooper’s wordplay. “And you are going to do that right now.”

  “I don’t have them with me.”

  “Are you deliberately being obtuse, Mr. Cooper?” Ken asked. “You know we mean for you to go to the funeral home with us so you can get the records for us.”

  “I guess that will be okay,” he thought he’d try another tactic. “Can someone drop me by the bank so I can pick up my car?”

  “Do we really look that stupid to you?” Ken said his nostrils flaring. Cooper’s audacity was driving him to distraction. “We’re going to drive you. Then, if we’re satisfied with the records, we’ll bring you back for your car.”

  At the funeral home, they all adjourned to Cooper’s office. He leafed through the folders in the file cabinet as if he actually expected to find the records. Turning to Ken, he said, “They’re not here. I don’t know where they could be.”

  “Now that’s convenient,” Ken said. “The two sales documents we need to see just happen to be missing.” He looked at Robert. “Are you buying this detective?”

  “I don’t think so, and I’m sure the judge won’t buy it either. It should be no problem getting him to sign the exhumation orders. I’ll just make them out in the names on the grave markers and explain the records for those graves just happen to conveniently be missing.”

  “So you’re planning on exhuming those poor souls and disturbing their rest,” Cooper tried to look shocked.

  Ken wasn’t buying it in the least. “You knew that’s what we intended. We might not have had to if you’d have had the papers for the buyers of the plots. But since you don’t, we have no choice.”

  “I still think you’re on a fishing expedition, but I guess there’s nothing I can do about it.”

  “Nothing,” Robert agreed with a small smirk. He couldn’t help himself.

  “Well, can you drop me at my car on the way to the judge?”

  The thought that Cooper either doesn’t get it or really does think they’re stupid passed through Ken’s mind. For Cooper to believe they were going to just let him drive away was far beyond reason. “I don’t think so,” he said. “You’re going to be guest of the city until we unearth whoever’s in the graves. Now,” he grabbed Cooper’s arm, you’re coming with us.

  Cooper knew he was beaten. He didn’t resist. Then he had a thought as they left his office. “You know, I can be a witness for you against Donati.”

  Robert was caught off guard by Cooper’s sudden turn. “But I thought you didn’t know anything about him.”

  “I know when I’m beaten. Donati forced me to bury some bodies for him. I didn’t want to, but he gave me no choice.”

  “And the bodies in question are in the two graves we previously mentioned,” Robert asked.

  Cooper nodded. “They are. There are six bodies in the grave marked Andre Farber and a family of four is in the grave marked Barbara Higgins since that was the mother’s name.”

  “A family of four?” Adam asked dreading the answer. His mind flashed back to some of the many times bodies of children had been unearthed based upon his ability to locate them. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that some of Donati’s victims might be children and didn’t know if he could handle being around when their bodies were brought to the surface.

  “Yes, a mother and her two children and a man I assumed to be her husband.”

  “I…I don’t know if I…” Adam said shakily.

  Robert nodded. He knew about Adam’s time as a finder, and why he had quit so Robert understood. “We now know where Donati’s victims are buried, so you don’t have to be there when we…” He paused trying to think of a gentle way to say the rest but couldn’t think fast enough, so he simply blurted out, “dig them up.”

  Adam hung his head as if ashamed of his weakness. “Would it be all right with you if I skip out on that? I…don’t…know…”

  “That’s all right,” Ken said. “You don’t have to say anything else. I know that part is hard on you and I wish I could say I understand, but I have no idea what you experience emotionally. I only know it’s perfectly all right if you skip the excavation.” He deliberately said excavation rather than exhumation to spare Adam as much as he could. “You and your dog have done the important part. Go home and do your best to forget this whole thing.”

  Adam turned back to Robert. “Is that okay with you?”

  “Certainly. As Ken said, you’ve done your part. We can handle the rest. We’ll drive you and Bagel back to your car, and then you’re free to leave with our thanks.” Robert turned on Cooper, How many of Donati’s victims are women?”

  “Five of the six in the Farber grave are women, and only the mother in the one marked Barbara Higgins.” Cooper had entirely given up on the pretense of innocence and was speaking freely now.

  “And how many of the victims are missing their ring finger?” Robert said.

  A surprised expression flashed across Cooper’s face. “How did you know that they were missing their ring fingers?”

  “That doesn’t matter. Answer the question,” Ken said as he squeezed Cooper’s arm to let him know the questions were serious.

  “All of the adults but not the kids.”

  “Well thank God for small…miracles,” Adam said choking back the emotions threatening to break through his façade of composure.

  Chapter 62

  Robert and Ken took Cooper into the judge’s chambers with them after Robert had written up the exhumation orders. Adam had loaded Bagel into his car, and after receiving thanks from Ken and Robert and extracting their promises, they would keep him apprised as to the progress of the cases against Donati and Cooper he left. He stated he would come back if they needed him though he wasn’t sure he would be able to keep that promise. Kids! He didn’t know if he would be able to stand it. After all, that’s why he quit being a finder.

  When Cooper admitted, in front of the judge, he was the one who buried the bodies that Donati gave him in the graves for which Robert had written the exhumation orders, the judge immediately signed them. As they took Cooper to the police station to book him, he wanted to know exactly what law he had broken by burying Donati’s victims. After all, he pointed out, he hadn’t killed the people, he’d only buried them, and that’s what his job was, burying people. And he’d buried them in a legally permitted cemetery. Neither Ken nor Robert knew the cemetery statutes well enough to be able to tell him what law had been broken, so R
obert booked him on conspiracy to keep him in jail. Robert was sure the charge would have to be changed to something else, but he would change it after he conferred with the DA on what charges would be appropriate. But he was certain between the two of them they would be able to come up with something.

  Because it was still early afternoon Robert and Ken led the forensic team to the cemetery and to the graves that needed to be excavated. The forensic team had brought a backhoe that made short work of getting down to the bodies. From that point forward they finished unearthing the bodies by hand carefully sifting the dirt surrounding the bodies, as they were lifted from the grave, so no evidence would be lost. In the end, the only thing found other than the ten bodies was a watch that had a leather band that had rotted and fallen off one of the bodies. As Cooper had said, all eight adults had their ring fingers removed, but the children’s fingers had not been taken.

  It took several hours for the bodies to be transported to the morgue as the city only had one coroner’s van. They would have used the funeral home’s hearse, but no one could find the keys even after a thorough search of Cooper’s office, and he refused to tell them where the keys were. He claimed he didn’t want an exhumed and decomposing body in his hearse. A search of his pockets yielded no keys except the ones to his personal car. Robert called around to the other funeral homes in the area, but they all refused to help not wanting to be associated in any way with a serial murderer.

  As soon as he was back in his car, Adam called Marti before he drove away. She answered his call but said she couldn’t talk for more than a minute or two because her students were currently filing into the room for class.

  “I will call you back as soon as I’m free. I’m glad you’re coming home, but I won’t be there when you get home.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I have play practice tonight and I won't be home till late. My students in the play are taking me out to celebrate their first full-dress rehearsal and our engagement. Naturally, they’re all excited because of whom I’m marrying. They’re almost as excited as I am.”