Mystery at Deadfall Lake

by Terry McGhee

  “Keep holding the gauze pads, and I’ll tightly wrap these three areas that look the worst. We’ll have to splint this one leg with something. Why don’t you go get our vehicle and radio for an ambulance? It looks like our nutcase is going to live. I’m betting the ranch that he was involved in the kid’s disappearance, and if not, definitely knows what happened.

  Hannity did a gimpy half-sprint back up the incline to the forest. The black and white drove out of the forest a minute later. He parked next to Sam and their wounded attacker. Sam looked up to see him on the radio, giving their location and telling Sarah to get an ambulance ASAP. “Contact the forestry office in town and see if they may have anyone closer to us.”

  Hannity elevated Darrel’s feet above his head and then grabbed bottled water from the car. “He’s breathing OK,” he said to Sam. To Darrel, he said, “Drink this…as much as you can.” Darrel glugged down half the bottle. His color was returning to his face. Sam covered the guy with a blanket and placed another folded blanket under his head.

  Hannity had retrieved the camera and took several shots of the cabin and their wounded attacker.

  Sam got in Darrel’s face and said, “Why don’t you tell us all about your nephew and the two kids that disappeared seventeen years ago.”

  Darrel spit in Sam’s face. “I’m not tellin’ you nuthin’. I want me a lawyer! Get me some pain pills now. This looks like police brutality to me. I’m gonna sue you assholes.” He seemed to lapse in and out of semi-consciousness.

  Hannity motioned for Sam to walk a few yards away with him. “We’re in the middle of nowhere, and it’s just the two of us. Any idea about how to get this guy to open up a little before the ambulance arrives?” He whispered. “Any out of the ordinary ‘pressure’ we put on him could hurt our case in court,” Sam said.

  “OK, why don’t you go up into the cabin and check again for clues?”

  “Sound like a good idea,” said Sam.

  When Sam had disappeared inside the cabin, Hannity leaned down to give a close inspection to the leg wounds. “You’re bleeding pretty bad, Darrel, I’m going to have to try and slow the bleeding. Can’t have you bleeding out in your own front yard.” Hannity exerted some heavy pressure on Darrel’s legs. The screaming started again. “Shit, I can’t stop this heavy bleeding. I’m not sure you will make it until the ambulance and paramedics get here.” Darrel’s eyes widened as he screamed in pain.

  “I think you’d better tell us what you know before it’s too late. You don’t want to leave this world with that much guilt, do you? It will definitely go better for you—if you live—to tell us the truth. You know we have evidence that you were involved in the disappearance of those kids and the murder of the girl—Wendy. Your nephew is in jail in Boulder, and he is spilling his guts. He’s negotiating a plea bargain right now. I’ll bet that he’s put the finger on you for two murders.”

  Hannity kept his weight on the wounds. Darrel was pleading. “Stop! You’re positive things will go easier on me if I tell ya what happened? I need a guarantee.”

  “No guarantees, Darrel. If you don’t tell us the truth, it will go very badly for you…that I will guarantee.

  “The truth is always the best way forward. You know what they say, ‘the truth can set you free,’ or in your case…free from the maximum sentence allowed by law, maybe. If you don’t confess the truth, you can be sure your life will be hell. You’re going to prison, Darrel, assuming you live, at minimum for attempted murder of police officers. I’ll bet the bullet we dug out of Jake’s wall matches your gun. We are told that your nephew is ready to roll over on you. His parole hearing has been cancelled.”

  Darrel grabbed Hannity’s arm. “OK, just stop the bleedin’. I don’t wanna die.”

  Hannity turned and called to Sam. “Sam, come here, I need you.” Sam raced out of the cabin, fully aware of what had just transpired, but thankfully, he was not a witness to it. “Darrel has decided to tell us the truth about what happened.” Hannity said.

  Sam withdrew a tiny digital recorder from his shirt pocket, held it close to Darrel’s mouth, and hit the on switch. Tears were flowing from Darrel’s eyes. “Darrel,” Sam said, “I’m recording your confession so we can get it into evidence.”

  “I didn’t have nuthin’ to do with killin’ the guy. That was my nephew’s job. He hated that guy Roy. The asshole dissed him in front of friends. He told me I had to kill the girl Wendy. I hit her on the head with a rock and then sank her in that lake. That’s all. Ya gotta save me. I don’t wanna die.”

  Hannity pressed a little harder on the broken leg and shotgun pellet wounds. Darrel started screaming again. “OK, Darrel this is good. Where did your nephew kill Roy? Did you see the body? Where is it?” Hannity asked.

  Darrel whimpered. “I don’t know…somewhere up the hill from the campsite. We waited until they were separated. We heard this Roy kid say he was going to gather firewood. He left the campsite and I never saw him again. When he disappeared was when I took care of the girl. Al followed the kid, and that’s when he offed him.”

  “Did your nephew tell you he had killed Roy? Where exactly is the body? Did Al bury the body?” Sam asked.

  “Al told me that he took care of the kid and that he buried the body, but he didn’t say where. Pro’ly not far from the campsite up the hill.” Darrel was breathing hard and looked about ready to pass out again.

  Hannity and Sam looked at each other. Sam clicked off the recorder and said, “You did the right thing Darrel. The ambulance will be here soon.”

  Sam and Hannity stood a ways from Darrel, and Hannity said, “I wonder where Darrel got the pistol? The rifle, I’ll bet, is the one reported stolen from the deer hunter living in town.”

  Sam retrieved both weapons. “Look here, the Glock is old and has the serial number ground off. I’ll bet this guy bought it on the street. There won’t be anything on file. The rifle has to be the one stolen.” Sam turned on the digital recorder, inserted a new tape, and verbally described the scene and all the action as he recalled it. “We need to call Officer Jordan in Boulder to give him the latest news. Our Al Jerkovick isn’t going anywhere yet!”

  Chapter 18

  The ambulance pulled into the clearing with the siren emitting a low wail. Hannity and Sam told the driver where to park. Two paramedics and a deputy from the county sheriff’s office quickly jumped out. The medics took Darrel’s vital signs and then lifted him onto a collapsible gurney. He was loaded into the ambulance while the sheriff’s deputy met with Sam and Hannity. The deputy’s name was Tom Ainge. Everyone did a quick introduction

  Hannity briefed the deputy on the situation and introduced Sam Jenkins. “We have a recorded verbal confession to murder from this Darrel Jerkovick and his accusation that his nephew killed the second camping companion in 1995. You’re probably familiar with this missing person’s cold case that was opened earlier this year. I sent a progress report to the sheriff, and he will get an account of the latest developments, including our takedown of the guy in the ambulance. This Jerkovick came at us firing two weapons. We gave him two verbal warnings to stop, but they were ignored. I used the shotgun to put him down. The rifle he used was reported stolen yesterday. He also stole a parked white bread delivery van that you may have passed down the road.” The deputy was nodding his head acknowledging the presence of the bread truck. “You’ll have all the particulars tomorrow. We will get prints at the van and take the two weapons back to our station for analysis.”

  “We are pretty sure the body of the boy is buried somewhere up the hill, and not too far from what was the campsite,” Sam said. “We could use some manpower help when we can get back here to do a search. Finding that body is critical to our case against both Al and Darrel Jerkovick.”

  Hannity said, “We did a search of the site area back in ’95, but found no evidence of a grave. It doesn’t mean it’s not somewhere up on the side of that hill among the pines and Manzanita bushes. We will need more manpower and a t
op notch cadaver dog when we get back here.”

  Deputy Tom Ainge replied, “Thanks guys, I’ll see what we can do. I was asked to get up to speed when it appeared that the situation moved away from your town and into the county.

  “I’ll ride back with the ambulance and see that this Jerkovick is admitted into the hospital. A guard will be posted as well. Let’s talk tomorrow after I brief the sheriff.”

  “The inspector and I need to go through the cabin once more and check out the stolen van. Thanks for your help, and give the sheriff our regards,” Sam replied.

  The ambulance pulled away and Hannity and Sam made their way into the cabin. Hannity said, “We need to do a thorough search this time, looking under and behind everything.”

  Hannity and Sam walked up the cabin steps. Sam entered the bedroom and did another check of the tiny closet, as well as the chest of drawers. All items of clothing were checked. Drawers were removed, their undersides checked, as well as the back and bottom of the chest itself. He flipped the mattress off the bed and against the wall. “Hey, Inspector, check this out.”

  Hannity saw that Sam was holding a copy of the Mountain Herald and a county newspaper. “Both papers are dated at the time of the missing persons report. It looks like our murderer was keeping close tabs on the story. These papers should be logged in and cataloged as evidence.”

  Hannity replaced the newspapers on the box springs and snapped a few photos. Sam had already lifted clear prints from the coffee pot, cups, dirty glasses, toilet handle, and fridge handle. “Alright, let’s get out of here. We need to check out the van and put a ‘police property’ warning sign on it, as well as crime scene tape.”

  Both men climbed into the black and white after loading the weapons and other items into the trunk. Hannity pointed the patrol car down the road. After about seventy-five yards, they could see the van parked in a pull-out. Sam said, “I want you to call this Officer Jordan in Boulder and bring him up to speed on the confession and that our murderer is accusing his nephew of murdering Roy. This should quiet those wimpy, liberal parole do-gooders, and undoubtedly the ACLU that is now involved.”

  Hannity pulled up to the front of the stolen van. He snapped some photos, opened the door, and saw yesterday’s Mountain Herald on the passenger seat. He took more digital shots while Sam dug out the fingerprint kit. Sam said, “I’ll dust the steering wheel and door handles. We will need to prove that Darrel stole the van and drove it here, although I really believe that he is ready to confess to everything. The newspaper is purely circumstantial evidence. It could be the bread truck driver’s paper. The keys are in the ignition. Why don’t I drive the van and follow you? I want to stop when we get to the top of the ridge and call Jordan. We can also call the bread bakery and tell them we recovered their van. Sarah needs to be told that we caught the mook and he confessed to Wendy’s murder.”

  “Definitely,” Hannity replied. “But I want Jake to know that he is now really ‘rid of the asshole.’ His wife, Barbara, will be relieved as well. Ya know, Sam, I want to do something for Jake and Barbara…do you think the FBI could help?”

  “I agree and have some ideas. Let’s talk about this later when we have cleared all this evidence and Darrel is checked in to your local jail.”

  Twenty minutes later, Hannity pulled the patrol car to a stop at the top of the ridge. Sam parked the van behind him and walked up and climbed into the passenger seat of the black and white. Hannity opened his cell phone. “Hey, I got five bars.” He dialed and Boulder police office answered. The call got routed to Jordan and he came on the line.

  “Hello, Inspector. Please tell me you’ve got some good news.” Hannity relayed all that had happened and the resulting confession to murder.

  “Your local jailbird has been fingered by his uncle as the murderer of Wendy’s boyfriend back in ’95. We now have a good idea where the body is buried and will be conducting a thorough search starting tomorrow. Al Jerkovick needs to know that his uncle has fingered him as the murderer of the kid Roy.”

  Hannity quickly pulled the phone away from his ear as Jordan yelled, “Yes! Way to go!” Sam smiled when he heard the verbal celebration coming from the Boulder police officer. Hannity handed the cell phone to Sam.

  “Officer Jordan, this is Sam Jenkins with the FBI. You know we’re working with the inspector since we have different states now involved in this crime. By the way, Hannity and his team have done a great job. The real catalyst that broke open the action was our retired local private investigator, Jake. We all owe him a ton of thanks.”

  “You know I agree, but it’s still only the uncle’s word against his nephew’s. This bad apple we locked up is up for parole. If we can’t positively nail him with concrete evidence, he’ll be paroled when the dust clears. The ACLU is stirring the pot here. They accuse us and the prison authorities of treating him as a victim. His case is legitimately being reviewed, and if he passes muster, he’s out. Finding the body of this kid Roy will definitely give our case some merit, but let’s face it, the uncle may have killed both Wendy and Roy. He confessed to the murder of Wendy, and he’s going down for this. Why would he even accuse his nephew of murdering this guy Roy? There has to be some bad blood between Nephew and Uncle. I suggest someone confront this Darrel Jerkovick with the question.”

  “We can probably do a taped interview with him in two days. He’s having a shattered leg operated on and set. His other wounds are not so serious. His nephew could skate unless we find some concrete evidence,” Hannity paused, “or he cracks and fesses up. Finding the grave of the victim could reveal some clues—we hope.”

  “OK, keep me posted. I will be pressured to give a public statement in light of your good work in grabbing our suspect’s uncle. I’ll get a statement cleared by our legal advisor, but I want to announce that Al Jerkovick has been accused of murdering this Roy kid seventeen years ago. The damned ACLU will be all over this. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Chapter 19

  Jake’s cell phone lay on his kitchen counter. As it began to vibrate and ring, it jiggled toward the edge. Jake jumped at the sound and almost dropped his wine glass. He opened the phone. “Yeah, Jake here.”

  “Hey buddy, did I wake you from a nap? It’s Hannity.”

  “No way. I’ve been waiting to hear from you. What in hell is going on?”

  “Well, Detective, I’ve got good news. To borrow your entry password phrase, I can now inform you that you are rid of the asshole. I’ll fill in the details tomorrow at the station. Making a long story short, our suspect stole a vehicle and a gun, drove back to his cabin just like we had predicted, and he went crazy…well OK, he was crazy to begin with. He charged the cabin, shooting his semiautomatic rifle at us. I dropped him with some double 00 buckshot. He’s alive and on his way now to the hospital, accompanied by a sheriff’s deputy. Are you ready for the good news?”

  Jake was nervously tapping his fingers on the counter, and nodding his head up and down, ready to jerk Hannity through the phone. “Get to the point, Inspector.”

  “The nutcase confessed to killing Wendy. He thought he was going to bleed out and maybe got some religion. He told us that his nephew took care of Roy. He gave us an approximate location of the grave.”

  “Congratulations! That’s fantastic. Give Sam a big pat on the back from me. This means I can now turn on the lights in the house and not duck under every window that’s not covered.”

  “Yes, you and Barbara are in the clear. Jake, we got it wrong about this crazy. He wasn’t protecting his nephew. He was looking out for his own butt. He’d been better off to just lie low and stay quiet. His crime was committed seventeen years ago. I think he got spooked when he read the article in the paper that asked for anyone to come forward that knew the kids. He had to be closely watching, and quickly figured out that you were investigating for us and decided he would try to scare you off. In fact, I can’t figure why he would even rat out his nephew. There’s more to that story I expect to uncover w
hen we can interrogate Darrel at length. Our challenge now is to find proof that Al Jerkovick killed Roy.

  “Tomorrow, I will have to visit Wendy’s mom with this new information. I think it will still hit her hard even with the passage of so much time, but her knowing who was responsible should help with final closure of this tragedy. I will also call Roy’s parents to bring them current on events.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow. We need bodies to head back to the lake to look for Roy’s grave. You’re welcome to come along…gotta go. I need to call Sarah. Later.”

  Jake hung up and poured himself a glass of wine, did a spin in the middle of his kitchen, and shouted “Yes!” He opened his phone back up and punched in the speed dial for Barbara. She answered immediately and Jake announced: “Is this the wife of that famous retired criminal investigator who lives with his gorgeous wife and faithful dog Murphee?”

  “Yes it is. Jake you sound exuberant. What’s the good news?”

  “We or I should say Hannity and Sam, caught the bastard.” Jake related the news.

  “I hereby request that you terminate your luxury vacation and immediately return to nuestra casa here in paradise.”

  “Oh, Jake, I’m so relieved. Murphee is wagging his tail. He senses some excitement in the tone of my voice. I’ll wind up things here and plan to leave in the morning. I’m happy for you and hope you have just completed your first and last pro-bono detective work.”

  “I have absolutely no desire to get involved in police work—at least not in the near future. We should talk about using some of my frequent flyer miles and hitting the road for parts of the world not yet visited. I love you. Talk to you tomorrow. Kisses to the big guy. Bye.”

  I was up at the crack of dawn the next morning, having slept only about four hours. I was just too excited about not having to fear a gunshot ripping through a window of our house or my jeep. Barb was coming home with the Murph. Things just might get back to normal. Hallelujah.