you okay Dad? You haven’t said much since I got home. ‘You still mad about Lucy Stottlemeyer in her underwear? I didn’t see anything, honest.”
“Oh, God no, Charley, it’s just something that happened last night son. After supper I’ll talk to you about it, okay?”
“Do you think Lucy’s pretty, Dad? She takes after her mother I think. Her mother’s real pretty for an older lady and she’s … single like you are.”
“So you think your dad is older huh? Well I’m certainly not getting any younger, but … Charley I’d appreciate it if you’d stop trying to fix me up with everything in a skirt, Son. I loved your mother very much and I still can’t think of being with anyone else. I’ll let you know through words or deeds when I’m ready to think about another woman. Now finish your roast beef and potato while I get our delicious cherry turnovers warmed up.”
“I will Dad, but I miss Mom a lot too, and I see you trying to do everything and … I don’t know; I’d just like to see you happy like I remember you with Mom.”
“You really are an astute young man aren’t you? Yeah, I was a lot happier with your mom around, because I was in love with her every day and every night, and you didn’t deserve to lose her either, Charley.”
Quickly changing the subject to protect his tender heart, Charley asked, “What does ‘astute’ mean, Dad?”
After Army told his son what it meant, he told him about the lights and his trek through the woods and his pistol moving; not omitting any detail regarding the phenomena, and of course leaving out every other sickening detail of the grim accident. After that, Charley wanted to go to the site immediately, but both knew the weekend would be their only real chance due to school and work.
After dropping Charley off at school the next morning, Army went to the office where his work had piled up a bit from his overnight stint as accident guard and night off. Andy Shepard was already in his office and Army heard his deep voice questioning someone on the telephone. As Army walked further into the squad room he saw Larry and Deputies Clarence Shifley, and Donald Gilbert sitting on desk tops obviously discussing the most recent fatal accident. All three heads turned to the sound of Army’s boots, and Larry spouted, “Les Gilbert found 26 fingers or tips so there were at least three people involved in the wreck.”
Army loudly said, “Mornin’ Sheriff!”, and then in a more gentle tone, “Mornin’ gents, did the site get cleaned up okay?”
Through his office door Andy said, “Morning, Army, yeah the site is washed, but I’m sending some of the folks back up there to give it another going over, maybe a little further up the hill, and wider a bit just to see what’s up. Allie’s going too. I think she might be a positive influence and maybe see things from a different angle.”
Army stuck his head in the Sheriff’s office door and asked, “You mean from a woman’s angle?”
“Of course … okay, yeah she’s my daughter, but she seems to be very good at noticing clues at crime scenes, so why not?”
Army responded, “I hear ya boss, but wait till I tell you guys what I saw up in the canyon night before last. You’re not going to believe it, but I don’t care and it’s going in my report as well.”
All at once he had their undivided attention and that of Beth, who was still on duty. She swung her head around and then her swivel seat, to get uninterrupted viewing and listening.
Andy said, “Well, Army spit it out; I heard Marlene is dying to hear more about it too, so you better let her read your file later, now tell the four of us what happened?”
Army elaborated with hands and facial expressions, “Well I was having my second cup of coffee about 10:00 p.m., when I noticed a greenish light on the hill to my left. I turned to my left to see it better and it disappeared for a few seconds. Then I saw it again, seconds later, in blue or green, I can’t remember which. I thought it was kids or someone with a faint light walking around the wreck site, so I hit the area with my spot light and the lights disappeared. Then I got a little pumped. Next, I turned the spot off and waited, and waited … and finally I saw it again. That time I turned on my night vision scope and looked. What I saw almost blinded my night vision. There were lights everywhere.
“Of course they were all night-vision green, but they danced and glowed and faded and it was like a laser-light show in Vegas. Then I decided to get out and walk up the hill, that’s when I first notified Marlene. Well, once I got through the trees it was even better; the lights were everywhere and all around me. Every time one would pass around or through me, my pistol would move like it was attracted by a big magnet. Then I got past them through a strip of young pines and into a small park toward the middle of the hill. I turned around and I could look down on the lights and I even saw some red tinges.
“It was strange and beautiful at the same time, but I wanted to get back to the SUV so I went back down through the lights and back to the vehicle. Then I moved the vehicle so I could watch the lights through the windshield and they gradually tapered off ‘till about 2:00 a.m. After that I didn’t see any more. What bothered me the most was the movement of my pistol like it was attracted to a magnet, and it’s mostly stainless steel and polymer.”
Larry asked, “Are you sure it was your pistol moving and not your ‘gun’?” He laughed at his own crude joke, Clarence smiled and the Sheriff, who’d come out of his office, said, “Can it Larry. You’ve seen ‘em too and don’t tell me you haven’t”
Andy continued, but addressed Army, “Don’t let the lights get to you, Army, they’ve been up there since before the first white man arrived. Some nights they never appear and sometimes they appear every night. Usually, people see ‘em about midnight so it’s scared the shit out of many a young couple up there necking. I’ll bet there’s a hundred reports about ‘em in the files, but don’t let it dampen your enthusiasm. I think it’s a great tourist draw and someday maybe someone will find out when and why they happen and be able to schedule events around ‘em.
“Meanwhile … all you guys need to get me the data for a full report so I can release the names of the supposed deceased to their relatives and the press. Mayor Simpson, the County and the press guys are bugging me about who died and where they were from, etcetera, so get busy and let’s find out who actually did die.”
Through various mumbles and “Yes Sirs”, the three main office duty Deputies started their roundup of the meager data Larry had consolidated the day before, with Army’s help. Presumed dead in the accident were Mr. Art Davis and Mrs. Sara Davis both of Sacramento California and Mrs. Lois Peterson of Star Lake, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Davis were supposedly visiting Las Vegas and were due back home four days hence. A daughter and her husband from Sacramento were driving to Bishop to identify the body or bodies if Leslie Gilbert could find enough of them to take DNA and confirm a relationship to their daughter. Otherwise the ID would have to be presumptive until confirmed somehow.
That was also the case for Mrs. Lois Peterson. She had many friends, but only one close blood relative; a nephew by her deceased brother. The DNA would be iffy, but there was no choice in that regard. Her dog’s name was “Barf”. There was a problem with Ms. Peterson’s ID though. Her friends claimed she refused to drive herself and “Barf” out of St. Lawrence County, New York.
Mrs. Lois Peterson was 83 years old and was the widow of the late Donald Lynch Peterson of mining fame in New York’s St. Lawrence County. She had plenty of money, few relatives to leave it to, and a large estate in the area of Star Lake. She had many friends, was still active in her church; was last seen with her poodle sitting in the seat beside her, driving from church in her blue Prius at 8:30 p.m. the night of the accident. Even if she had taken a rocket she couldn’t have been in Bishop, California approximately an hour to three hours later. That could mean only one thing; the body parts could not have been from Mrs. Lois Peterson or her dog. But then how could her license plate have gotten from New York and how did it get attached to another Prius?
There were enough automotive parts left so that a chassis Vehicle Identification Number