(no subject)

[seymoure]

47.
“There Are Always Clues”

Pappy called Archie again, this time to request some help from Evan Turley.

“Hey, Pappy, how is it going out there?” Archie said as he came on the line, sounding light hearted and not at all dead.

“Same as usual,” Han said.

“Now, with your own Congressman, I understand,” The FBI man insisted, “Must be nice having an ‘in’ at the state capital?”

“Not sure that I do, but politics is not as important here as where you are,” The old man told him.

“What can I do for you?” Archie offered.

“I need to get in touch with Evan Turley, now that he’s working with you folks,” Pappy said.

“Had lunch with him the other day, and I think I can get him sent over to you all for a few days, if that would help,” The Agent put forth.

“That would be great,” Pappy affirmed, “The other thing is that I would like a preview of the autopsy information you sent to me.”

“I can tell you that they found out that the burn marks on the boys was bleach,” Archie said.

“Like someone was burning off something?” Pappy said, thinking of the figure with the initials on its face in much the same place as the burn marks on all the dead boys.

“That’s right,” Archie agreed.

“Hmmm,” Pappy tried to put things together.

“What else do you need?” Archie asked.

“Did Wiley Earl have any unusual markings on his body?” Pappy carefully questioned.

“Like birthmarks or such?” Archie ventured.

“More like such,” Pappy prodded.

“Well, he did have a tattoo,” Archie told him, “Not a professional job, though.”

“Oh?”

“What we call a ‘home made’ some even call them ‘jail house’ tattoo.”

Pappy gripped his fist in success. Then he asked the most important question.

“What was the tattoo of?”

“Just some letters,” Archie said, intrigued at the direction this was taking.

“Letters?”

“Yeah,” Pappy could hear papers shuffling in the background, and then Archie continued, “That would be ‘B.O.U.’.”

“Thought that might be the case,” Pappy said, and then continued, “When will I see Evan?”

“He should be there tomorrow, if you need it,” Archie said, the confusion of being left out evident in his voice.

“That’s great, thanks Archie,” Pappy said.

“You got something?’ Archie asked.

“Almost, Archie, almost. I’ll tell you more as soon as I know,” The old man had hung up the phone before another question could come.

Now to go over the information the Troopers had gathered. He knew that Gates was more interested in breaking the case on his own, so the old man was sure he had not been forthcoming with all the facts. With Evan by his side, he might be able to glean enough evidence to close this thing out for good.

 

© 2005 by C. Wayne Owens