Hell's Roundabout. Benjamin Vance
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that a VIN could not be located. That gave rise to the possibility the vehicle and/or tag was stolen. The verification then came down to DNA and fingerprints so even a dog tag verification helped.
Leslie Gilbert alone had the silent, grim task of sorting out fingers for finger printing and sending to Sacramento for I.D. checks. If any one of the finger or thumb prints could be verified, it would make everyone’s job a lot easier and tidier, and if Leslie enjoyed anything, it was tidiness.
Sheriff Shepard knew Leslie did things properly and respected life … and death, and would do the best job possible with regard to reassembling the bodies. The one thing Leslie didn’t have to work with was a full length photograph of each of the supposed victims. It would be nice to know what the victims looked like in life so he could approximate the segregation into separate bags to eventually bury in respectable caskets. Andy Shepard had asked all parties to bring or send photographs.
The Davis’ daughter arrived with her husband and they stayed at a local hotel. When they checked in with Sheriff Shepard they provided photographs of Sara and Art Davis and stopped by the hospital lab so the daughter’s blood could be drawn for DNA tests. Army was the deputy who assisted them. He explained as best he could about the tragedy and gave his sincere condolences. He gave them the coroner’s number and confirmed the department was working as quickly as possible to confirm the victim’s identities. It was not a comforting thing for their only daughter, but in the end Army thought she was lucky to have the support of her husband. He thought about the identity of the other victim and intuitively knew somehow, it would actually be Mrs. Lois Peterson of Star Lake, New York.
Mrs. Peterson’s Nephew, John Gilbertson, arrived by air the day after the Davis’ daughter. He was not a nice man. He ended up talking directly to the Sheriff and expressed his disbelief that his aunt’s car, or even its license plate, could be involved in an accident in California. However he did admit that his aunt was missing and inferred the county coroner had to be mistaken about the time of the accident. Of course the Sheriff set him straight in that regard. The nephew did allow a blood draw and soon after removed himself from California to the state of New York so he could oversee the search for his beloved aunt, and her assets, in earnest. In the meantime it would take three days for the fingerprint verification and 10 days or more for the emergency DNA comparison.
The post cleanup crew which Andy Shepard sent back into the canyon, with his daughter as a member, found two other body segments laced into one large pine’s limbs and needles, and some charred fragments of glass. Allie Shepard hadn’t personally found any of it. Don Gilbert, one of the post cleanup crew, thought Allie was too distracted with the wide dispersion of the explosion or splatter of the accident. No one who saw it was unaffected, and Sheriff Shepard suspected it was the primarily cause of the quick departure of Mrs. Peterson’s Nephew.
3.
Friday night came rather quickly and although he’d promised Charley they could check out the eerie lights in the canyon, Army was desperate for an excuse not to go. He rationalized it by worrying that just being there would affect his son in some adverse way. He relented due to Charley’s constant excitement; a magnitude or two above what he usually exhibited prior to a trip. When at last he found out why Charley was so excited he was utterly disarmed. He received a call from Sonora Stottlemeyer, Lucy’s mom, asking what she could bring for Friday night’s light vigil.
“Did Charley invite you Mrs. Stottlemeyer? I had no idea.”
“Oh God … I’m totally embarrassed Mr. Lennox. I thought you asked him to invite Lucy and me. I was suspicious though and that’s really why I called. Don’t worry about it, I understand what kids do sometimes and I completely understand.”
Disarmed by her frank demeanor, he said, “Please call me Army. You know … just forget you called and assume I’m calling you … Mrs. Stottlemeyer. Would you and Lucy like to go with us to see the lights tonight? It would be a pleasure for Charley and I, and you could just bring whatever you like. I assume your coffee is better than mine, but I’ll bring some soft drinks and coffee just in case. Will you come?”
She hesitated for a moment and then said, “Call me Sonora; we’d be glad to come, and I’ll bring some cookies and coffee just in case.” She laughed a bit and he liked the sound it.
“Okay, can I pick you up about dark … say 7:00? It’ll take us about 30 minutes to get loaded and get up there so we’ll have about two hours before they start, if it happens tonight.”
“We’ll be ready about then. Thank you so much for understanding and inviting us. I hope we see some lights tonight. See you about seven, bye.”
Army had a silly smile plastered on his face when he hung up, but his heart rate was up, along with his spirits. It occurred to him to have a frank discussion with Charley about proper etiquette. He also thought that was something his wife could have handled better … unless Charley and Lucy were both playing Cupid.
Charley and his dad were ready to go about 6:30, but decided the half-mile trip to Lucy’s wouldn’t take 30 minutes, so it gave Army a chance to interrogate his son a bit, “So why did you ask Lucy and her mother along on our light viewing trip without asking me first, Hotdog?”
Charley looked like a deer in headlights, but managed, “Aren’t they going with us?”
“Yeah they’re going, but young man you gotta know it really embarrassed Mrs. Stottlemeyer when she found out I didn’t ask her and Lucy. It hurts people’s feelings when they get embarrassed like that.”
“I’m sorry dad, I just asked Lucy this morning and she never told me yes or no or anything. She must have asked her mom or something.”
“Remember what I said about playing Cupid? For your sake, I hope I’m not the brunt of the joke tonight.”
“I promise Dad, I only asked Lucy. She’s always talking about getting you and her mom together, so she may have invited her mom. I’ll ask her.”
“No, no, no, you don’t ask anything. If Lucy asked her mom she’ll let us know tonight, directly or indirectly. Just don’t say anything and see if you can polish your powers of observation while they talk in the car.”
Before they picked up Lucy and her mom, Army radioed Marlene and let her know he was taking his SUV into the canyon with three passengers about 7:00 p.m. for a ride to the lights. When he told Marlene the ID of the passengers she sounded a bit subdued, somehow.
The evening was crisp and clear. Stars were already out and there was a sliver of moon shining over the eastern hills as they drove toward the roundabout. Army definitely hoped there would be lights to see and talk about and not just personalities, occupations and kids. He thought that if Sonora asked his astrological sign he would have to leave her ass in the woods.
They arrived in the canyon, well after dark but there was not even a flicker of green lights. Army positioned the SUV so that Sonora and Lucy could have an unobstructed view if the lights blessed them with a showing. Sonora brought coffee and it actually was much better than Army’s. The kids had soft drinks and he hoped they would stay awake until there was something to see.
Several cars passed back and forth around the circle, and while they were watching the fifth or sixth car go by Army said, “I don’t understand why the county put in a roundabout at this intersection. There’s almost no traffic out of the lake road at night and very little from the cabin area up north in the canyon. I counted a total of eleven cars the other night when I was up here.”
It was quiet for a moment, and then Sonora responded, “I think I read that someone important thought there were too many accidents up here. Perhaps kids driving too fast and running the stop signs caused the reaction. Over the years maybe someone important or their child got killed and the county or state was forced to respond with a roundabout.”
Army said, “Why would there be accidents? I don’t understand it, cars approaching from the north know they have to stop or at least slow down to turn or they go into the lake, and there probably wasn’t a stop sign for the state route; I don’t get