CHAPTER 28

HAROLD PULLED OUT OF the hospital parking lot and headed toward Greybull.  Monster was in the passenger seat and Jan was in the back.  Monster had given the emergency people twenty minutes to clean his wound and wrap his chest, although he wouldn’t allow them to x-ray him.  “I can breathe, so forget it.  I’ll come in tomorrow and let you do whatever you want.”

As the cruiser crossed the Big Horn River in Greybull, heading east toward the mountains, Harold told them, again, what he knew.

“One of Olson’s men, Franklin James, was watching the cabin.  He saw Melissa arrive in the afternoon.  Neither she nor Campbell came out of the cabin for a couple of hours.  James heard what he thought was a series of gunshots, so he began sneaking up on the cabin.  But then Melissa came out on the porch with a cup of coffee and stared at the scenery.  Said he didn’t know what to do.

“When she went back inside, James heard yet another gunshot so he approached the cabin again.  This time he peeked inside the window and he could see Campbell handcuffed to the bed and Melissa slumped over the table.  He entered, confirmed they were both dead, and went to his car to radio Olson.  That’s all I know, John.”

Jan had called Ginny from the hospital to break the news to her.  She had taken it badly.  Jan realized Ginny was in a rough spot psychologically.  They all were.

***

They stopped briefly at the roadblock set up at the turnoff to the Hansen compound, where a flotilla of government vehicles was parked.  Flack-jacketed agents and state troopers milled around.

George Olson came over to the passenger-side door of the cruiser.  Monster rolled down his window.  “Sorry to hear about Melissa, John,” Olson said, noticing the blood on the sheriff’s khaki shirt.  “You OK?”

“Yeah,” Monster said.  “What’s your estimate of the situation here?”

“Well, I really don’t think we are going to have a lot of trouble,” Olson said.  “Harold radioed me about Hansen while you were in the hospital.  With both Hansen and Campbell dead and the compound 

wired like a fireworks show, I think the folks here will be glad to let us in to disarm the explosives.  We really don’t have warrants for anyone.  We just want some cooperation.”

“Yeah, you’ll be alright,” Monster said.  “You don’t need me; I’m going to the cabin.”

“Absolutely, John,” Olson said.

The cruiser pulled away toward Shell Canyon and the Medicine Wheel.  Soon they approached the switchbacks that led them up the canyon walls to Shell Falls.  The full moon stood overhead.  

Just a month, Jan thought.  Just a month since the machine gun attack on his ranch by Hansen’s two disciples, both of them now dead along with too many others.  

They continued past the turn-off to the ranger station, turning west at Burgess Junction by Bear Lodge.  At the turnoff to the Medicine Wheel they encountered a state trooper who waved them through to the cabin.

***

Outside the cabin, six vehicles cooled in the thin, mountain air: Campbell’s pickup, Melissa’s sedan, two state cruisers, Doc Albertson’s Land Rover, and the county EMT ambulance.  The two EMT’s sat outside on the porch smoking, looking away as Monster mounted the steps.

Inside, Doc Albertson studied the scene while one of the troopers photographed it.  When he was finished the trooper turned to the sheriff.  “We were first on the scene after the ATF agent.  This is your jurisdiction, so if you don’t mind, we’ll just turn this over to you.  I’ll have these prints on your desk first thing in the morning.”

“Thanks, Lee,” Monster said to the chisel-faced trooper.  “Yeah, me and Harold have it under control.”

Monster walked across the room to where Melissa’s body was slumped over the table.  He stroked her hair for a moment.  He picked up the letter and note, turned them over, and laid them back down on the table.

All eyes eventually made it to the nude body on the bed which was difficult to recognize as Campbell.  He was handcuffed to the four bedposts.  A nail gun lay on the floor.

More than a dozen nails were buried in Campbell’s body—the force of the nail gun had driven them flush to their heads.  One was in his right knee, one in his genitals, one in his navel, and two in his chest.  His right hand and right wrist were penetrated.  A nail had punctured through his mouth to protrude through his throat just behind his chin.  Another penetrated the bridge of his nose.  One in each eye, each ear, and one in his forehead.

No one spoke for two full minutes.

Finally agent James said, “The nail gun sounded exactly like gunshots from where I was.”

Then Monster said, “Jan, see if you can get Deck Edwards on the phone.”

“Sure, John.”

***

 “Well, it’s classic,” Deck’s voice said over the phone.  “The nails in the knee, the navel, and chest correspond to the marks in the Mormon temple garment as well as those in the temple veil itself.  The wrist and hand correspond to the First and Second Tokens of the Melchizedek Priesthood as revealed in the temple.  The genitals and facial nails represent the anointing ceremony in the temple.”

“My Lord!” Jan said.  “She didn’t miss anything.”

“Well, as a matter of fact she did.  Are you sure there isn’t one in his feet?”

Jan said to Monster, “John, move that sheet covering his foot.”

“Bingo!” Jan said into the phone.  “What is the significance of that one?”

“It’s also part of the anointing ceremony.  So ‘you may run and not be weary and walk and not faint.’”

“Well, Campbell won’t be running,” Jan said. “Listen, Deck, are you going to be around tomorrow?  I need to go into this with you in detail.”

“I’ll be here after church.  Call me in the afternoon.”

***

When Jan hung up, Monster asked if he could be left alone in the cabin for a few minutes.  Everybody filed out.  Monster opened the note from Melissa and read:

Dear John,

Wow, that salutation sounds so wrong.  But actually it is correct, because this will be my last message to you.

Let me tell you that I have come to love you.  You are so kind.  So hard on the outside, but soft on the inside.  So caring toward me.  How I wish I would have met you years ago before I became corrupted by this evil.  “This present darkness”—you can find that phrase in the Bible.

I wish it didn’t have to be this way, but it does.  I can’t go on.  I am too deeply damaged, my soul is too weary.  I just have seen too much, I’ve been used too much, and now after today, I’ve done too much.

I hope with all my heart that by the time you read this, you will have dealt with Hansen.  I hope if I go to hell, he is there already.  Somehow, however, I think he and I will never face each other again.  I really do have a hope of a better future.  Maybe I’ll see you there one day.

I leave you Campbell as a gift.  I know it looks excessive, but I think his end is just.  Does that make me evil? You wouldn’t know, poor dear, because you are not evil and you have not lived with evil—not with real evil.

I guess I am having trouble saying goodbye.

The letter accompanying this note is to my Mom in Connecticut.  I know you, though; you won’t mail it, you’ll take it.  That isn’t necessary, but I can’t stop you and I love you for it.

You are my one regret.

Your friend,

Melissa

***

Outside the two EMT’s continued to smoke.  Doc Albertson raised his eyebrows at Jan and shrugged his shoulders.  Harold sat on the porch and put his elbows on his knees.  Jan leaned on the Doc’s Land Rover and looked at his feet.

Ten minutes of silence was broken by what sounded like a soft moaning wind coming from inside the cabin.  After another five minutes Monster emerged.

“All yours,” he said to Doc Albertson.  “Harold stay here, secure the cabin after everybody is out.  Jan and I will take the cruiser back and I’ll send someone up for you.”

“You got it, Sheriff.”