Full Dress Gray

by Lucian K. Truscott

  “What happened after the party?”

  “I was so crazy for him, even though I knew he gave that stuff to me, I was like going to forgive him and stuff, but it was like, he’d had his fun. He stopped calling me. I sent him E-mail a few times, but he never E-mailed me back.”

  “And you never told anybody?”

  “I told him. I went to his room one night, and I told him it was wrong, what he did. I said I was going to my Tac. He just laughed. He said he was on the Honor Committee, and Rose was his best friend, and if I wanted to graduate, I’d forget about it. I thought he was bluffing. I said, I’m going to the Tac, I don’t care what you say. He told me if I reported him, he’d get with the other guys who were at the party and they’d deny it. He said the Tac would believe them because they were all Honor reps. He told me I’d pay. They would get somebody to bring an Honor charge against me. He said Rose would make sure the charge stuck.”

  Jacey held the vial in her palm. “Can I have this?”

  “Yeah, but like, keep me out of it, okay? I mean, I’m scared of those guys. They’ve got friends. I’m only a yearling. I’ve still got two years to go, and I’m afraid his friends might . . .”

  “You don’t have to explain,” said Jacey.

  “Did he tell you how they would fix the Honor hearing?” Ash asked.

  “He just said Rose would do it.” She zipped up her jacket. “I know you’re facing charges. I hope this helps you.”

  “It helps. Thanks,” said Ash.

  “Jacey, I think your dad’s a pretty cool Supe. A lot of us do.”

  “Thanks, Debbie. I’ll tell him.” She unlocked the door and Debbie moved silently across the darkened hallway to the stairs. Jacey relocked the door. “We’ve got to call Agent Kerry first thing in the morning. This is an incredible break.”

  “They’re using the Honor Code to threaten people, Jace. We have got to get into those files.”

  “We can’t take that chance, Ash. We should turn this stuff over to Agent Kerry and let them handle it.”

  “He hasn’t been able to come up with anything on Rose or Favro. Sure, give them that joy juice and let them run another autopsy test. I’m going in the Honor Committee room tonight.”

  Jace stood there looking at him. He had his weight on his left leg, and his rangy frame crooked around like a gentle question mark. She loved him very, very much. “I’m going with you.”

  “Jace, you’re not strong enough,” said Belle.

  “If he’s willing to risk going back to the stockade, I can haul my aching butt up those stairs with him.”

  “Belle, have you guys got an empty laundry bag?” Ash asked.

  “Sure.” She rummaged around in the bottom of a drawer. “Here it is.”

  He took the bag and jammed it in the top of his sweatpants and pulled his sweatshirt over it. “If we find anything, we’re taking it out of there.”

  “Do you really think you should?” asked Belle. “They’ll know who did it.”

  “I’m in such deep shit now, a little more won’t hurt.”

  Jacey was trying to pull on the hooded jacket of her sweats, but her left hand was still too sore. Ash helped her.

  “Ready?”

  “Any time you are.”

  “Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER 49

  * * *

  THE HONOR Committee offices were on the fourth floor of the old First Division in Central Area. One of the rooms had been painted and outfitted with a semicircular table and served as the Honor Hearing Room. The American and Military Academy flags hung from flagpoles behind the center chair, where the President of the Board sat. The table was covered with felt the color of the cadet uniform. The walls were hung with black, gray, and gold bunting, the Academy colors. Rose had insisted that they needed something to designate the severity of purpose the room served, and so he had placed crossed sabers and a full dress gray hat at both ends of the table. A single witness chair was placed in the center of the semicircle. Ash had sat in judgment on his share of Honor Boards, and every time he did, he couldn’t help but feel for the person sitting there in front of twelve cadets in full dress gray, their eyes locked on the accused.

  Ash unlocked the door to the First Division. They made their way to the stairs and went up to the fourth floor. Ash unlocked the door to the Hearing Room. It was pitch-black. He told Jacey to wait by the door and felt his way around the table to a door hidden behind the bunting. He unlocked it and flipped on the overhead light, throwing a shaft of light across the table. He signaled to Jacey, she followed the light to the door, and they went inside.

  It was a small, windowless storage room lined with filing cabinets, about twenty in all. Ash relocked the door and they stood in the center of the room looking at the cabinets.

  “The ones from last year and this year are down there at the end.” He pointed at two cabinets standing alone against the far wall. “Let’s get started. You take this year. I’ll take last year.” They each opened the top drawer of a cabinet.

  “The case files are organized like this,” said Ash, holding open the first one. “The first thing you’ve got is a memo from the company Honor rep stating the charge against the cadet who’s accused. The memo will name the accuser and detail the charge. Usually there will be a statement from the accuser attached. The next section is a report from the regimental Honor rep. He or she will hold an informal investigation using Honor reps who are not from the company of the accused. Based on what they hear from the accused, sometimes the regimental rep will dismiss the charges. When that happens, the rep has to detail why they found the charges groundless. If they’re forwarding the charge to the Vice Chairman, the regimental rep will either sign off on the company rep’s memo, or include another memo confirming the charge, including statements made by the accused. The next thing you’ll come across is the report of the Vice Chairman. The Vice Chairman doesn’t hold a hearing. He can dismiss the charge or forward it to the Chairman. If the charges are dismissed, no reason has to be given. Only a signature is required.”

  “That’s a lot of power.”

  “It sure is. The weird thing is, the Honor Chairman can’t dismiss charges. All he can do is forward the charges to the Commandant, who orders the Honor hearing. But the Honor Chairman picks the Vice Chairman. That’s a major source of his power.”

  “So Rose picked Favro. What a lovely little couple.”

  “Favro’s a mouthpiece. It’s Rose calling the shots. If the charges lead to a full hearing, you’ll find the names of the Honor reps picked to be the Board for the hearing, the minutes of the hearing, and the disposition. If the accused is found guilty, there will be a memo in there from Rose forwarding the results of the Hearing to the Com. That’s where the Honor Committee’s job comes to an end. It’s up to the Com from there on out. He’s the one who recommends to the Supe if the accused should be dismissed or not. The Supe almost never overrules the com.”

  “There’s real opportunity for abuse here.”

  “And real opportunity to do things fairly and honestly, don’t forget.”

  “Yeah. Let’s do it,” said Jacey.

  Each of them withdrew a stack of case files, sat down on the floor, and began poring through them. Jacey checked her watch. It was 1:30. They didn’t have a whole lot of time, and it was a complicated business. She pulled a pen from her jacket and began making notes in a little notebook. Ash did the same.

  Jacey was working on her first stack from the second drawer when she slapped a page with the back of her hand. “Look at this!” she exclaimed. “This is the third case I’ve come across where Lessard forwards a charge to Favro, and he signs off and sends it up to Rose, and a hearing is called, and who’s picked to preside over the Board? Reade.”

  “Let me see.” She handed the case files to Ash. “Where is the list of reps who sat on the Board?”

  “Right here.”

  “Let me see the other two cases.” She handed him the files. Ash read through the
m carefully. “The Board is listed in each of these cases, but something’s not right. What’s the case number on that other file?”

  “Bravo 1241.”

  “Go back through the last drawer of files. Check the case numbers on the Board lists.”

  “Okay.” She stood up and started pulling the files she had put away, checking the case numbers. In a moment she sat down next to him holding two case files. “Look at these. There’s no number on them.”

  “Let me see.” He held up the Board list, examining it closely. Then he stood and held it closer to the overhead light. “They’re copies. See how they’re more blurred than the others?”

  She stood next to him. “Yeah. They must have put a little piece of white paper over the number and then copied it.”

  “Look at this. Eight or nine of the Board members are the same in each case.”

  “The verdict is guilty. And look at the accused. All three are females.”

  “I found two hearings that look suspicious. Rose appointed himself as President of both Boards. Let me check who else was on them.” Ash flipped through the files. “Okay. Why am I unsurprised that these Board lists have no numbers on them?”

  “They’re switching lists, aren’t they?”

  “Yeah. Let me check back through my files and I’ll see what I come up with.” He went back to his previous drawer and flipped through the case files, checking the Board lists. He sat down with two new files. “I must have missed that there wasn’t a number on these lists. Let me see yours.” She handed him her unnumbered lists. “Here we go.” He lined her Board lists on the floor next to his and checked off the names. “Okay. This is it. I see what they’re doing. You’ve got three cases that went from Lessard to Favro to Rose, a hearing was ordered, they came down with a guilty verdict, and each time, the Board list is unnumbered. My two unnumbered cases went from Reade to Favro to Rose. Both are guilties. So we have a total of five cases with guilty verdicts, and each case file has a Board list that’s unnumbered, and all five lists have different names of reps who sat on the Boards. Now let’s take the five unnumbered Board lists we found scattered through the other case files.”

  Jacey handed him the five lists. “They’re nearly the same, Ash. Look at them.”

  “Yeah. On two of yours, seven names match with two of my lists. On your third list, eight names match my phony lists. Every time at least two of the remaining seats are taken by Ivar or Reade or Lessard. And in my two cases, it’s topped off by Rose presiding.”

  “Yours are guilty and guilty. One female, one plebe.”

  “Put your case files aside and let’s keep looking.”

  They worked their way through another drawer and were starting on the third when Ash looked over at her. “It’s almost five in the morning. How many have you found?”

  “I’ve got my original three and two more that have no numbers on the Board lists.”

  “I’ve got the two I showed you and three more. Let’s grab the whole bunch of them and get out of here. We’ve got ten cases they fixed. Every time, they swapped the real Board list with an unnumbered list in another case file. Make sure you get the other files, Jace.”

  “Don’t worry. Did you notice the verdicts in those other files?”

  “Sure did. Not guilty.”

  “They concealed the names of the Board every time they fixed a case, so it couldn’t be traced.”

  “This stuff would have sat in here gathering dust for years, and nobody would be the wiser,” said Ash.

  “How do you think they came up with this scam?”

  “I don’t know, but we’ve got enough heat to fry some asses, big-time. Somebody’s going to get theirs on the hot seat and want to get off. Somebody’s going to blab.”

  “You think so?”

  “What did you say about guys when they’re scared?”

  “They’ll do anything to save their ass.”

  “There you go.”

  Ash pulled the laundry bag from his belt and they shoved the case files inside. Downstairs he unlocked the back door and checked his watch. It was 5:15. “You go first. Jog. Try to look like you’re out for an early run.”

  “I can’t jog. I’m too sore.”

  “So shuffle.”

  She grinned, kissed him, and headed out the door. He watched as she painfully moved down the hill in a halting half-step. He waited until she was out of sight and slipped out the door, locking it behind him. He broke into a run. As he came around the corner of the barracks, he ran straight into the Officer in Charge, a female major. It was dark, and a light drizzle had started to fall. He had the hood of his sweats up and hoped she couldn’t make out his face.

  “Morning, ma’am!” he exclaimed, snapping a salute.

  The officer was startled. She had barely said “Mister,” when Ash sprinted past her through the barracks door and up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

  “Halt, mister!” the Officer in Charge called out from the area.

  Ash stripped, threw the laundry bag of files and his sweats into his hamper, and got in bed. He heard her coming up the stairs. She started opening the doors of cadet rooms, ordering the cadets out of bed. She was next door. Ash heard her shout at the cadet and then slam the door closed.

  The door to Ash’s room flew open and the overhead lights came on. “Out of the rack!” she commanded.

  A stark naked Ash Prudhomme leaped from his bed to the position of attention and saluted. The Officer in Charge stood there wide-eyed for an instant, then she backed out the door, turning off the light. “Excuse me. I’m sorry,” she said. Ash stood at attention until she closed the door. Then he collapsed on the floor, laughing.

  CHAPTER 50

  * * *

  AGENT KERRY went back down to New Jersey a couple of days later and checked the car-rental agencies in more towns near Rutgers, turning up exactly nothing. He was in his sixth rental office, about to give up and drive back to West Point, when he noticed the local news on a television in the corner. It was a live police chase. They were trying to recover a stolen car when the driver took off.

  Then it came to him. What if they stole the car?

  He started with the Bound Brook Police Department. He showed his ID and asked if there had been any car thefts reported the week-end of the Rutgers–Army game.

  “Let me check our books,” the desk sergeant said. He disappeared into another office and returned with a thick register. He turned the pages back and stopped. “One.”

  “Which night was that?”

  “Saturday.”

  “That doesn’t help me. I’m looking for a theft on Friday.”

  “Why don’t you try the Edison PD? They’ve had some problems lately.’’

  “Thanks.” Kerry got back in his car and found the Edison Police Department about ten miles south of Bound Brook. He made the same inquiry and was referred upstairs to the car-theft division, where he was greeted by a genial plainclothes sergeant by the name of Browne.

  “What was that date you were looking for?” asked Browne as he went though a stack of papers.

  “Two Fridays ago. The weekend Army played Rutgers.”

  “Right. Gotcha.” Browne leafed through the sheets and pulled out a handful.

  “We had five that weekend. Let me see . . . here they are. Two on Friday.” He handed the reports to Kerry. One car was stolen around midnight from the parking lot of a 7-Eleven. The other was a Pontiac stolen from a parking lot at a mall around six o’clock. That fit the time frame.

  “Was the Pontiac recovered, by any chance?”

  “Let me check.” Browne walked over to a chalkboard on the wall and ran his fingers down a list of numbers. “What’s the case number on that Pontiac?”

  “Two-Two-Three-Eight Delta.”

  “Here it is. Yeah. It was recovered maybe ten miles from here, out behind a closed gas station. They found it two days after it was stolen.”

  “Where was it, exactly?”

  “I’m not
sure of the address, but they found it up there around Bound Brook.”

  “You don’t think I could have a look at that car, do you?”

  “It’s been returned to the owner.”

  “Do you have the name?”

  “It’s right there on the theft report. Here, I’ll make a copy for you.” He took the theft report from Kerry and photocopied it on a machine in the corner. He checked the address as he handed the copy to Kerry. “Fourteen-sixty-six Meadowbrook. That’s on the other side of town. You take this road out front of the station and go straight for about three miles. You’ll come to University. Turn right and go two lights. That’s Meadowbrook. Take a left. Should be on the first or second block. It’s down there near the university.”

  “Thanks a lot,” said Kerry.

  The anticipation was killing him. Everything fit. American car. Good-size trunk. Dropped off in Bound Brook. Stolen in time to make the drive back to West Point. He found University and turned right. He made a left at the second light. There it was: 1466. The Pontiac was parked under the carport. Kerry pulled into the drive and got out. He knocked on the door. A middle-aged woman wearing a hair net came to the door. “What do you want?”

  “Police matter, ma’am.” He showed his ID. “My name is Agent Kerry, Military Police. I’m from up at West Point. I have been trying to find a stolen car that was used in a crime up there. I think your Pontiac might be the car. It was stolen a couple of weeks ago, right?”

  “Yeah. I was in the mall. I came out, and the damn car was gone. They jimmied the steering column. Cost me three hundred bucks to get it fixed.”

  “Would you let me have a look at the car, ma’am? I’m looking for some evidence. If this is the car that was used in the crime, we might be able to get your money back for you. Pay for your damages.”

  “You’re kidding me, right?”

  “No ma’am.”

  “Let me get the keys.” She closed the door and returned wearing a shopworn raincoat and slippers. She led the way to the Pontiac and handed Kerry the keys. He popped the trunk open. The light didn’t work, so he got a flashlight from his car and shone it inside. He couldn’t see from outside the car, so he climbed into the trunk and lay on his side, shining the light into the corners of the trunk. He checked the left taillight fittings. Nothing. He twisted himself around and shone the light into the right corner. There it was, caught on the shiny end of a bolt.