The Hunter’s Moon
By
Pamela
Ebel
October
11, 1984
Cotton
Mouth
Bayou, Manteca, Louisiana
“Good morning,
everyone. We start with breaking news. The Manteca Police Department reports
that skeletal remains were found this morning in a shallow grave on the bank of
Cotton Mouth Bayou. Don Stedman is on the scene to provide us with the details”
“That’s right
Kate. We’re reporting live from Cotton Mouth Bayou where three hunters discovered
the grave. This is Earl Bonner who found the bones. Mr. Bonner can you tell us
what happened.”
“Well, me and Joe
and Ted were out here tracking hogs. It’s the Hunter’s Moon and you can see um
better. That’s important cause they’ll mess you up bad with them tusks. They
make great chops though and…”
“Yes, I’m sure
they do but how did you find the skeleton and was there any clothing to help ID
the person?”
“Nope. I thought I
saw hog prints in the mud. So, just put my foot in to get a better look and
this skull popped right up and grinned at me. Scared the sh…”
“Yes. Well, thanks
Mr. Bonner. Kate, the sheriff’s detectives are out here and as soon as we can
we’ll update you. In the meantime, I turn it back to you.”
October 18, 2019
Manteca Memorial Hospital
Dr. Pat Steele looked
at a file as he placed the phone call.
“Kendrick, It’s
Pat. Got a minute?”
“Sure Pat. Always
have time for my old high school buddy and favorite pathologist. What’s up over
at Memorial?”
“I’m your only
pathologist, my friend. Right now, I have a corpse with no name. So, I knew I
had to call ‘The Bone Detective.’
Dr. Steele looked
into the faceless skull as he spoke. The skull stared back in silence.
As Chief Forensic
Death Investigator for the Pearl River Coroner’s Office, Kendrick Cooper never
tired of putting faces and names to unknown bones. His obsession with trying to
bring the missing back to life long enough to provide justice and closure for
those left behind had earned him ‘The Bone Detective’ nickname.
“You have a
victim? I haven’t heard of any recent suspicious deaths or declared unidentified
skeletal remains.”
“Well, if you’re
still handling cold cases I may have a really cold one for you. Some of the
interns were down in the Path Lab looking for expired bones they might use for
Halloween and they literally stumbled across a complete skull pushed to the
back of a storage locker. It’s been there since December of Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Some hunters found a partial skeleton buried on the bank of Cotton Mouth Bayou
and the remains were delivered to the hospital.”
Kendrick tapped
computer keys as he and Pat talked.
“I see our office
did some preliminary work to identify those skeletal remains in November of eighty-four.
We were able to determine it was a male’s skull, but we didn’t have the science
we do now. Why would the hospital’s path lab have them?”
“Standard practice
back then. The hospital was the only place that could store pathology studies.
Whoever this guy was, he’s been lost for thirty-five years. I thought your
current tools might be able to identify him.”
“I’ll have one
of
our staff over at your lab this afternoon if that’s okay. I’ll need the skull and
other bones, anything identified as belonging to the corpse. If you have any notes
and lab results, I’ll need those too.”
“Will do. Think
you can really figure out who this guy was?”
“Not who he was Pat,
who he is. There’s someone out there
that probably told our man goodby one day and is still hoping to hear from him
again. Someone is still waiting for answers. That longing and hope never grows
cold. I’ll have to put on my ‘Bone Detective’ hunting cap and call in the big
dogs. It’ll take several weeks but I promise this guy we’ll bring him home.”
“Just be sure those
interns don’t use bones that can help identify other missing persons.”
“Don’t worry.
They’re
using hog bones left from the last hunt.”
November
21, 2019
FBI
Forensic Facial Services Lab, Quantico, VA.
“This is Detective
Kendrick Cooper calling for Dr. Bernadette Casteix.”
“Yes Detective,
the doctor is expecting your call. One moment.”
“Good morning, Kendrick.
How are you?”
“I’m okay, Bernie.
I’ll be a lot better if you can tell me who the Hunter’s Moon man is.”
“Well, I can’t
put
a name on him. But our anthropologist’s work and the DNA we were able to use suggests
he’s Caucasian. We’re going with around twenty-five years old at the time of
death. The tests also suggest that he most likely died a few weeks before being
discovered, putting date of death in the summer or fall of Nineteen Eighty
Four.
We also discovered
a fracture at the back of the skull sufficient to have caused his death. I’ve
just emailed the preliminary report and the facial reconstruction drawing to
you.”
Kendrick clicked
the attachment and looked at the face of a man who had been missing for thirty-five
years until this moment.
“I’m going to
get
this out to the television stations, the papers and on our internet site. I’ll
give a number for people to call in and leave tips. I’ll be sure to mention
that we don’t believe he died of natural causes.”
“That’s fine.
Just
be sure they know this is an approximation of the features. I’ll get this up on
the FBI site for you too.”
“Thanks Bernie.”
“Good luck and
Good Hunting ‘Bone Detective’.”
#
# #
“We have breaking
news to report as we start the four o/clock edition of Eye Witness news. On
your screen is the computer-generated image of a man whose skeletal remains
were discovered thirty-five years ago this month. The Pearl River Coroner’s
Cold Case Investigations Office, with the help of the FBI, has determined the
man did not die from natural causes and is asking that anyone who thinks they
recognize him to call them at the number listed below immediately. We also have
a link to the office’s site on our web page.”
“Carl, come here
quick.”
“I’m right in
the
middle of cleaning these fish. I need…”
“You need to get
in here now! They’ve found Jake.”
“What the hell are
you talking about. Is this your idea of a sick Halloween trick? We buried Jake thirty-five
years ago in the Pearl. We don’t have to worry about him. Dead men don’t tell
tales.”
Ezra Collins stood
in front of the television screen staring hard as his brother stepped next to
him. Both men’s mouths were open.
“You had better be
right about dead men not telling tales, because if they can, Jake is sure to
tell the police who killed him.”
Across town Janine
Wallace stared at the image on the TV screen with tears in her eyes. She opened
a yellowed envelope, and unfolded a wrinkled letter that she had read and
reread for thirty-five years:
Dear Mrs. Wallace,
you know that Jake’s been working with us on our fishing boat. But he said he
done got tired of it and you and he just left. Said he was gonna disappear.
Sorry. Ezra and Carl Collins.
November
23, 2019
Cotton
Mouth Bayou
The next morning Janine
Wallace parked her car and walked to the cabin where she had visited her
husband a month before he disappeared. She watched from a stand of Cypress
trees as the Collins brothers rushed to pack their RV.
“I still don’t
think we need to leave, Ezra. There ain’t no one to tie us to Jake’s murder. We
should just go on about our business.”
“Listen brother,
if we saw that news on TV there’s nothun’ to keep that wife of his from seeing
it. She knew he was working with us and you sent that stupid letter lying about
where he went and put our names on it.
The money’s spent,
but we still got the bearer bonds, including Jake’s share, from that armored
car robbery right in this bag. No one gonna be looking for the bonds or us in
Mexico. So, stop talkin’ and let’s get packed and gone.”
“After thirty five
years that bitch surely done got tired of waiting for him to change his mind
and moved on. Nobody gonna wait this long.”
The brothers
turned at the sound of snapping branches.
“Good morning
boys. Planning on going somewhere? Oh,
by the way I’m Jake’s bitch wife, Janine.”
She raised the
rifle and smiled.
“One of the many
things Jake taught me was how to use a rifle and this seems like a perfect time
to test my skills.”
“Wait just a
minute. Me and Ezra will be glad to give you what’s left of the money. It…”
“Sorry boys, but I
need more than money after all this time.”
“What more do you
want?”
Janine fired in
rapid succession, hit both men between their eyes and watched them drop.
She walked over
and stared at the brothers, who stared back in surprise.
“Just like you
taught me Jake. Hit the prey right between the eyes and they’re done. And boys,
just for your information some people never get tired of waiting and don’t move
on until they know what happened.”
December
25, 2019
Vancouver,
British Columbia
Janine read the
news on her computer detailing the discovery of the bodies of two men found
shot to death on the bank of the Cotton Mouth Bayou in late November.
“According to
Kendrick Cooper, Chief Forensic Death Investigator for the Pearl River
Coroner’s Office, the victims, identified as Ezra and Carl Collins, had been
dead several days. They appeared to have been planning a trip at the time of
their murders. Currently the police have no suspect or motive.”
She turned off the
computer and walked to the terrace of her recently purchased million-dollar
condo overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
She poured herself
a glass of Taittinger’s champagne.
“To You Jake!”
Then
she smiled up
at the late season Hunter’s Moon.
