Swamp Victim

  Chapter 29

  At the state hospital, Harry Smoke did indeed do his best to poison Big Al. Thanks to an alert medical staff, his attempt failed. When he took the poison Harry described as marijuana, he came down with symptoms similar to food poisoning. Then according to routine medical procedures, the staff took a sample of his stool and drew a sample of the contents of his stomach for analysis. They were surprised at the results. It appeared Al had ingested a strange substance, that at first, they were unable to identify. Although they were unable to identify the particular food item, after considerable research they learned it was a chemical equivalent of the poison mushrooms he received from Harry. It was touch and go for several days, but Al was finally revived and was able to tell the staff he had eaten what his friend Harry Smoke had told him was marijuana.

  Of course, the head of the hospital reported to SLED what he suspected was an attempted murder. Al’s connection to the ongoing case against Oats for the other crimes was well known at SLED Headquarters. They got in touch with J.D. Block right away, who was on the scene in Warrenton. When he received the phone call his first words were, “what happened?”

  “Right now the hospital is saying that it looks like he may have received some kind of poison. Although they were able to revive Mr. Ramseth, they still don’t know specifically what kind of poison was used or how he received it,” said the agent at SLED.

  “That’s really strange. He seemed to be in good health, other than being overweight. It must have been something he was deliberately given.”

  When J.D. got off the phone with the agent, he related the news to Caley.

  “This is an interesting development,” said Caley.

  “Well, I don’t think his testimony would be credible anyway, considering his state of mind,” said J.D.

  “No, but the threat of putting him on the stand against Oats, certainly would have a psychological impact on his lawyer. Somebody certainly was anxious to get rid of Al for some reason.”

  I’m not sure whether Oats or Al shot Bubba. From everything we now know, I think Bubba’s shooting was done by Oats.

  “I think so too. Where do we go now is the question. What are your thoughts?”

  “Let’s not spend too much time on this case, since the murder of Cyndi and Daryl will be tried first. By the time it’s over, something else may show up, or if Oats gets a life sentence the shooting of Bubba won’t be that important.”

  “OK, we keep digging for more evidence on Cyndi and Daryl. I am going over everything I have already worked on. Maybe something more will show up. Oats’ lawyer has pretty much cut us off from talking to him, so I want to call some of the other club members back in and drill them again. I am also going to go back to the place on the road where Jeff said Cyndi and Daryl were shot to see if I can pick up anything. Somehow, I just feel that there should be more physical evidence there. ”

  “OK, let’s keep in touch,” said J.D.

  Caley stopped at the spot where the Cyndi and Daryl were shot and got out of the sheriff’s car. She walked back and forth on the road looking into the ditches on each side. She didn’t expect to find anything since this had been done repeatedly by several agents already. A ‘possum ran out of one of the ditches as she approached it. Her mind was diverted to a youthful moment when she saw it. As a kid, she remembered when she and her brother once saw a ‘possum and through a rock at it. In typical fashion, the animal rolled over on its side with feet in the air and played dead. As the memory flashed back, she bent over, picked up a handful of dirt, and threw it at the slow moving varmint. As expected, when hit by the dirt it rolled over and raised its feet into the air. Amused, Caley said to herself, “OK boy you can get up now. Pick up yourself and get out of here and stop playing dead.”

  When she spoke the word “pickup”, the word apparently tripped something in her mind. Suddenly she remembered the pickup that was in the yard at Oats juke joint. It has been thoroughly processed by the forensics department after Bubba’s shooting. She remembered they reported they had found blood matching Bubba’s. They had also reported there was a second blood sample they could not match. Could it be the blood of Cyndi or Daryl? She immediately called J.D. and told him what she was thinking. They both were kicking themselves for not having thought to check it out before. If the blood matched on of the young victims, this would give Jane Wilfrey just one more nail to put into Oats’ coffin.

  The next day J.D. received the blood comparison report. It was a perfect match for Cyndi Cooper’s. J.D. and Caley finally had conclusive evidence to tie Oats to the killing of Cyndi and Daryl. When Jane Winfrey got the news, she was elated. Up until now, the most damaging evidence against Oats was Jeff’s testimony. Jane knew that the loss of his wife would bring into play his mental state, which could possibly be interpreted by a jury as questioning his motives. But the matching of the blood sample found in Oats pickup would go a long way toward corroborating his testimony.