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“I was with Ellis Cooper on the night of the three terrible murders. We were together when the murders took place. We were intimate. That’s all I can say for now.”
I could tell that the caller was frightened, maybe close to panic. I had to keep her on the line if I could. “Wait a minute. Please. You could have helped Sergeant Cooper at the trial. You can still help him. You could prevent his execution!”
“No. I can’t say any more than I already have. I’m married to someone on the base. I won’t destroy my family. I just can’t. I’m sorry.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police in town, or CID?” Why didn’t Cooper tell us? “Please stay on the line. Stay with me.”
The woman moaned softly. “I called Captain Jacobs. I told him. He did nothing with the information, with the truth. I hope you do something. Ellis Cooper didn’t kill those three women. I didn’t believe my testimony would be enough to save him. And . . . I’m afraid of the consequences.”
“What consequences? Think about the consequences for Sergeant Cooper. He’s going to be executed.”
The woman hung up. I couldn’t tell much about her, but I was sure she was sobbing. I stood there staring at the phone receiver, not quite believing what I’d just heard. I had just talked to Ellis Cooper’s alibi — and now she was gone.
Chapter 17
ABOUT FIVE O’CLOCK Sampson and I received terrifically good news: the commanding officer at Bragg was willing to see us at his house on the base. We were to be there at seven-thirty sharp. General Stephen Bowen would give us ten minutes to share the information we had about the murder case. In the meantime, Sampson got through to Sergeant Cooper at Central Prison. He denied that he’d been with a woman that night. What was worse, Sampson said that Cooper wasn’t very convincing. But why would he hold back the truth from us? It didn’t make sense.
General Bowen’s quarters looked to be from the twenties or thirties, a stucco house with a Spanish tile roof. Up on the second floor there was a sunporch with glass on three sides, probably the master suit
e.
A man was watching from up there as we parked in the semicircular driveway. General Bowen himself?
We were met at the front door by an officer aide who identified himself as Captain Rizzo. The general’s staff included an officer aide, an enlisted aide who was part of the general’s security but also worked as the cook, and a driver, who was also security.
We stepped into a large foyer with sitting rooms on either side. The decor was eclectic, and probably reflected the general’s career around the world. I noticed a beautiful carved cabinet that looked German, a painted screen showing rolling hills and cherry trees from Japan, and an antique sideboard that suggested a possible posting in New England.
Captain Rizzo showed us into a small den, where General Stephen Bowen was already waiting for us. He was in uniform. The aide leaned in to me. “I’ll return in exactly ten minutes. The general wants to talk to you alone.”
“Please sit down,” said Bowen. He was tall and solidly built, probably in his mid-fifties. He tented his fingers on top of a well-worn desk that looked as if it had been with him for most of his career. “I understand that you’ve come down here to try and reopen the Cooper murder case. Why do you think we should reconsider the case? And Cooper’s death sentence?”
As concisely as I could, I told the general what we had already found out, and also our reactions to the evidence as homicide detectives. He was a practiced listener who punctuated what I had to say by uttering, “Interesting,” several times. He seemed open to other points of view and eager for new information. For the moment, I was hopeful.
When I stopped, he asked, “Is there anything else either of you wants to add? This is the time for it.”
Sampson seemed unusually quiet and reserved in the general’s presence. “I’m not going to get into my personal feelings for Sergeant Cooper,” he finally spoke, “but as a detective, I find it impossible to believe that he’d bring the murder weapon, plus several incriminating photographs, back to his house.”
Surprisingly, General Bowen nodded agreement. “I do too,” he said. “But that’s what he did. I don’t understand why either, but then again, I don’t understand how a man could willfully murder three women, as he most definitely did. It was the worst peacetime violence I’ve seen in my career and, gentlemen, I’ve seen some bad business.”
The general leaned forward across his desk. His eyes narrowed and his jaw tensed. “Let me tell you something about this murder case that I haven’t shared with anyone else. No one. This is just for the two of you. When Sergeant Cooper is executed at Central Prison by the state of North Carolina, I will be there with the families of those murdered women. I’m looking forward to the lethal injection. What that animal did revolts and disgusts me. Your ten minutes are up. Now get the hell out of here. Get the fuck out of my sight.”
His aide, Captain Rizzo, was already back at the door.
Chapter 18
THE THREE BLIND Mice were in Fayetteville again, headed toward Fort Bragg for the first time in several months. Thomas Starkey, Brownley Harris, and Warren Griffin were admitted through the security gates on All American Freeway. No problem. They had official business on post; they had an appointment.
The three men were unusually quiet as Starkey drove the dark blue Suburban across the base. They hadn’t been at Bragg since the murders of the three women. Not that the place had changed one iota; change happened very slowly in the military.
“This is a trip I personally could do without,” Brownley Harris contributed from the backseat of the Suburban.
“It’s not a problem,” said Starkey, taking control as he always did. “We have a legitimate reason to be here. Be a mistake if we stopped showing our faces at Bragg. Don’t disappoint me.”
“I hear you,” said Harris. “I still don’t like being back at the scene of the crime.” He decided that things needed some lightening up. “You all hear the differential theory of the U.S. Armed Forces — the so-called snake model?” he asked.
“Haven’t heard that one, Brownie,” said Griffin, who also rolled his eyes. He knew a joke was coming, probably a bad one.
“Army Infantry comes in after the snake. Snake smells them, leaves the area unharmed. Aviation comes next, has Global Positioning Satellite coordinates to the snake. Still can’t find the snake. Returns to base for refuel, crew rests, and manicures. Field Artillery comes. Attacks the snake with massive Time On Target barrage with three Artillery battalions in support. Kills several hundred civilians as unavoidable collateral damage. All participants, including cooks, mechanics, and clerks, are awarded Silver Stars.”
