SACRIFICES (30 page)

              Brad nods his head as he agrees. “Chief, what has the FBI found out about the bodies?” Brad wonders as he notices the mass gathered in front of the second precinct as he looks out of a window on the third floor.

              Chief Carlin starts to explain the news. “The FBI has found some skeletal remains at the sight they were looking. The thing is they only found fragments of bones and partial remains.”

              Brad walks back into the office of Chief Bryant and closes the door. “What exactly does that mean? Fragments how’s that possible?”

              Chief Carlin starts to read the fax and reflects on the conversation. “It turns out that they are going to have to keep working the area. It so happens after they found the remains they talked to the farmer since they were only planning on finding two intact bodies in that one spot. He said back in the early nineties he had thought about farming part of that field. So he used combines to till the land. He tried to grow some crops but it didn’t pan out due to the heavy tree coverage. Instead of cutting down those huge oak trees he moved the crops the following year over an acre.”

              Brad grits his teeth. “The remains they found. What were they?” He starts to feel like they won’t get the evidence they need.

              “They found a leg, and two arms, a trunk and a few chunks of skull. Plus about sixty-one fragments of bone, and teeth, some jewelry a woman’s blouse and two woman’s shoes and a mens size 12 tennis shoe. They need more time to sift through the area. Until they find more fragments of skull or more dental evidence they wont’ be able to positively ID the remains.” The chief rubs his fingers through what remaining hair he has and replies. “At this point Brad we’d be happy to just find enough for a positive ID, let alone all the remains.”

              “Has any of the evidence been identified as male or female? Can they tell from the fragments or teeth?” Brad asks feeling sick that this
sure thing
wasn’t as sure as he thought.

              “For now they don’t know positively, so they are staying tight lipped until some preliminary results come back. But between you and me...they said they have fragments of both male and female it appears, but that’s off the record. They said the bones could be anywhere in the field. They also said that since the bodies weren’t buried very deep that it could take longer to find the remaining parts, the equipment churns the soil as it lifts it. They might find the other parts on the other side of the field, half an acre away or possibly ten feet away. It‘s hard to know. They’re going to be bringing in some state of the art equipment to survey the area. It‘s supposed to be able to x-ray the area in small sections to find anything that‘s not dirt and rock. It should be able to speed up the process. It’s the same type of equipment used by archaeologists, just hang in there.” Chief Carlin explains.

              “
Jesus Chief
, what am I suppose to say then? That was my ace in the hole if we could identify the bodies. Now I don’t have shit.” Brad forcefully hits his fist on the wall.

              “Between you and me it’s just a matter of time. They will identify the bodies. That’s all I can tell you for now. Just keep your fingers crossed.”
              Brad asks hoping for some comfort. “What do I tell the press chief? I mean if it were you what would you say?”

              “If I was you Brad I’d tell the press that you have found a location that is supposed to be the spot of the missing couple’s bodies. Bone fragments were found, and as soon as a positive ID can be established we will let them know. I’d leave it at that and not tell them anymore or any less.” The chief explains to his close friend.

              Brad sighs and nods his head. “Alright, when’s the press conference?”

              The chief looks at his watch. “Its 10:30 now, you and Todd need to talk to get our facts straight. Not too many people know about the involvement of Stein and Howard besides us. So this is going to shock everyone. The last conference we had, none of this was known, so…” The chief coughs into his hand and looks toward the ceiling. “I’ll have the governor schedule it for three. That’ll give us some time.” He leans back and stares at the ceiling.

              Brad nods his head and tells the chief. “Ok, we’ll be headed back shortly. See you then.” Brad closes his phone and walks out to look for Todd.

THE PRESS CONFERENCE IS ABOUT TO START

              Brad, Todd and Chief Carlin go over things in the chief’s office. The media has recently been all over the task force, especially Brad. They have been accusing them of not doing their job and not releasing as many details as they should have.

              The powers that be strongly believe that with so much still up in the air at this time Brad should give a statement and not take any questions, at least not yet. In time they will allow a question and answer conference but today is not the time with everything that happened today.

              Brad goes over in his head what to say. He knows that he will release pertinent facts. On the same lines he doesn’t want to say too much. A lot of the new testimony and the stories have not been confirmed and they are still hoping to find out the results from the FBI as far as the remains found at the Vance farm.

              Brad can hear the noise from the crowd gathered before the elevator door opens. It sounds like the buzz shortly before a prizefight prior to the boxers being announced. He walks with the chief and Todd through the corridor and the audience starts to come alive with anticipation with the entrance of Brad.

              Brad, without much expression, walks to the podium and takes his reading glasses out. He removes his notes and adjusts the height of the microphone. The governor is not in attendance today so Brad’s on his own. He clears his throat and says. “Good afternoon.” He looks around and smiles at a few of his supporters he sees in the front row. “Today I’m here to give a statement to update the media and the good people of the Illinois and the rest of the country as to the recent developments in the ongoing case we have been investigating...” Brad takes a sip from his prearranged glass of water. “There will be no questions from the audience today it will be a statement only...” The huge crowd starts to get restless and there are some boos a large amount of hostility. “...Today at the second precinct Mr. Alex Stein of Canton, Illinois was in fact taken to Chicago Memorial Hospital with a gun shot wound. He was pronounced dead on arrival. We will not be releasing all of the details as to what happened until we are able to sort everything out, out of respect to the family...” Brad clears his throat and takes another sip of water. “...During our investigation into the connection of the Illinois football team and the missing couple during the 1985 school year in Champaign we have made some progress. As far as how much progress we’ll know more after further investigating those leads and witnesses...” Brad takes a deep breath and smiles to the crowd that’s still showing frustration. “...We were informed of a possible location of the missing couple’s bodies. From our information the FBI special crime scene unit was sent to the supposed sight of the bodies...” Brad clears his throat again. “...At the sight the FBI was able to find some evidence of human remains...” The crowd begins to go crazy. Everyone starts to yell with questions. Brad lets them let it out of their system for a brief moment and says in an elevated voice as he moves close to the microphone. “
Now people
, if you are not going to cooperate I will end the conference now.” The noise starts to dissipate with the exception of a few toward the back. Brad remains silent and looking at the crowd. When the noise stops he continues.

              “As I was saying they found human remains. We are checking samples and records to find out if indeed it was the missing couple as originally thought but…” He pauses and holds up his hand. “But, as of this moment, there has not been a positive ID of the remains. So it is our position that until we know for sure we cannot give you our findings. This is a sensitive area and the last thing we would want to do is to mislead the public, especially family members of the couple.” Brad takes another sip. He pauses for a moment and looks around the crowd. Brad smiles and says while he reaches into his jacket pocket and removes his hanky and wipes his forehead. “Like I said we don’t want to give false hope. Continuing, at the last conference we touched on the team’s connection to the disappearance. At this time we are still extensively checking out facts and statements from prospective witnesses and people who have information. But I am unable to give you any
confirmation
as to the accuracy of those accusations. Now I’d like to say in closing that the Chicago PD as well as the FBI is working with every means at our disposal to bring this tragic case to a close. More information and details will be made available as soon as we confirm our findings. We are out to see that justice is served. Thank you very much for coming.” Brad walks toward the small steps that lead him from the stage to the corridor. Todd walks over to address the crowd that continues to yell questions and comments as Brad walks out of sight.

              Brad walks up to his office and feels lightheaded and is greeted by the chief. “Good job out their son. I thought you did great.”

              Brad tries to force a smile and says. “Thanks chief.”

The chief can sense that there is something wrong by the look on Brad’s face.

              He follows him to the elevator and asks. “You all right Brad?” The chief places his hand on his shoulder.

              Brad nods his head and tells the concerned chief. “Yeah, I’m just exhausted. I guess I should be getting more sleep.”              

              The chief starts to lead Brad away from the elevator and says. “Go home. You’ve had a tough day. Go home and I’ll see you in the morning.”

              Brad looks away. “Chief, I’ll be ok. I promise. I won’t stay long but I do need to go check some of my files. And call to check on my boy and see how they’re doing. After that I’ll call it a day.”

              The chief nods his head and explains. “After that I want you to go home alright?” Brad smiles and walks to the elevator. 

              When he walks from the elevator toward his office he stops in and calls his son. The phone call is brief just like normal. It mostly consists of Brad telling his son how much he misses him and how much he loves him, at least for the most part. Then they talk about what his uncle’s been doing for the boys to entertain them. Brad looks forward to the call everyday. Today he snuck in an extra call.

              After making the call he stops in for some coffee and grabs a donut off of Tammy’s desk.

              “Hey Brad!” Tammy approaches him from behind carrying a handful of envelopes.

              “Yes.” Brad turns and smiles holding the donut he took from her desk.

              “We have another letter from you know who? The lab already checked it. It’s like before. The prints were just the prints of people employed by the federal postal service.”

              Brad takes it from her hand and asks. “Did you read it?” He places the last chunk of donut in his mouth.
              Tammy nods her head. “No. I had it taken directly to the lab. Lyle said it was printed on the same printer as the other ones, it was in a different letter font but it was still the same printer Lyle said. The ink was an exact match.”

              Brad starts for his office anxious and nervous. He’s not at all sure what to expect from this one. He only hopes that it might give some more possible clues.

              Brad seats himself. Takes a sip of his coffee, and leans back. The letter is already open so he knows nothings going to jump out or blow up. So he starts to unfold it and it reads:

            
 
Mr. Jostler                           

              I’m not sure if you understood me? I’m trying to figure out if you have a

problem with comprehension. Because it would appear that you do. I never wanted this to come to the point that it now has now reached. I made a request. It was not followed. I gave you details as to what to expect. You didn’t care. I’m not doing what I’m doing to hurt anyone who’s innocent. I’m out to make sure that justice is served. Once it is, I will be gone like the wind and you’ll never hear from me again.               But since you have taken this to the next level to show me that you don’t appreciate what I am capable of doing I have no choice now but to make an example out of someone you care about. I do apologize but you have got to learn sooner or later that I am someone to be taken seriously. Very, very fucking seriously. If you had done what I requested this would be over now and you and me both could have moved on with our lives. Now it’s too late for that. I will still complete my work. Unfortunately for someone you care about life‘s about to take a turn for the worse. I never wanted it to get to this point. You must have. If you’re a good investigator and you figure this out, then you’ll see my point of view. I just hope it’s not too late for you. Sorry but I did warn you. Hope your son’s having fun in Texas with his friends.

              P.S. You have got very nice taste in women. Even I’d like to have a little fun with that red head. She’s just my taste; great body, nice lips. I bet she’d look good on all fours. Who knows, maybe I‘ll have to see for myself.