It was ten the next morning and the New York State Thruway was fairly empty. They were moving along at a good pace.
“What would you like to look at?” Lowell swiveled on his bolted chair and reached to fiddle with a knob.
“How about the real thing?” It was sunny and the temperature was a balmy fifty degrees. Melinda opened the windows and let the fresh air fill the limo. “It’s so beautiful up here this time of year.” A little snow had stuck in the shade of the hills where the sun never hit. Lowell always marveled at how the landscape and weather could be so different so near such a large city.
“I suppose.”
“Oh, dad, will you get your nose out of your damn work for just a minute and appreciate being alive?”
Lowell put the charts down. “All right, I’m looking.”
Although the foliage was past its peak there were still occasional brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges passing by. Lowell took a deep breath and absorbed the scenery. “I hope this trip isn’t a waste of time.”
“I had to depose Colonel Marshal anyway,” said Melinda.
“You could have done it on Skype.”
“I know, but this is an opportunity for you to look around.”
“And for you to get out of the office for an afternoon.”
“There’s that.”
They exited the thruway at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains and headed up into the back country, passing through several small towns, all displaying signs welcoming the men and women in uniform.
The army camp was situated down a long road cut deep into the woods. Except for the fences lining the side of the road and an occasional no trespassing sign, there was nothing to denote this as anything more than a sleepy country byway, until they came to a gatehouse and a soldier in uniform. The limo was stopped at the gate, a phone call was made, and they were ushered into the camp. The colonel was waiting for them outside his headquarters.
“Would you mind if we walked around the compound while we talked?” asked Colonel Marshal.
“Not at all,” said Melinda.
He was wearing a light brown topcoat casual uniform, and his walk was stiff and purposeful, like one would expect of a career military man. The site was much larger than it first appeared. They strolled slowly through the compound past the barracks.
Lowell followed the two at a few paces. He stroked his ponytail once and looked about as they walked. He didn’t love things military.
Melinda turned on her portable recorder. “Would you tell us a little bit about Johnny Colbert?”
“Private Colbert can be a pain in the ass,” said the colonel. “She always has to do things her way, and it makes for some difficult moments.”
“And how long has she been in the reserves?”
“Three years.”
“So she was almost thirty-seven when she signed on. Wasn’t that a little old to be joining up?”
“I suppose so, but you should have seen the fight in her. She took out women and men twice her size. Could run the obstacle course in record time, and was smart as a whip.”
“How was her discipline?”
“Well, discipline was not her strongest suit.”
“Was she a problem?”
“She wasn’t a problem; just had her own way of going about things.”
“She didn’t like rules, is that it?”
“You’ve met her. What do you think?”
“Any trouble with alcohol?”
“Absolutely not. Whatever our reservists do in their off time is their business, but when they are under my command, I demand a clear head. No booze and no drugs. Besides, Johnny took her time here very seriously. She was always sober and conscientious. I never saw or heard of her even having a social drink while in camp.”
“And her specialty?”
“All types of explosives.”
“Isn’t that a bit of a broad subject?”
“When she first joined us, she showed a great interest and aptitude for them. She studied with our trainers and learned all they could teach her. Then she went off and studied the subject on her own. She would sit in front of the computer for hours researching any new inventions that came along and trying to stay on top of things. By the end of her second year with us, there wasn’t any conventional bomb she didn’t know how to build, detonate, or dismantle, sometimes under direct fire.”
“Isn’t it true that at the request of the New York police department you took an inventory of the explosives in your unit?”
“Yes ma’am, that is true.”
“And what did you find?”
“There was a substantial amount of one type of explosive missing.”
“And what type is that?”
“Semtex.”
“The same type of explosives used in the bomb that killed Judge Winston. After discovering that the explosives were missing what did you do?”
“I reported it to my superiors and gave a copy of the report to the New York City police.”
“Had Johnny been on active duty in the previous period before the explosives went missing?”
“Yes, she had been in camp about a week before.”
“And being one of your main experts on explosives, did she have access to them?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think she could have built and detonated the type of bomb used to kill Judge Winston?”
“Well, I, that is…”
Melinda turned off the recorder. “Colonel, we’re here to help Johnny, not hang her. That’s the district attorney’s job. I have to consider everything the state will bring up and be prepared for it. Just tell us the truth. We’ll sort it out later.”
“I understand.”
She turned the device back on.
“Yes, Johnny could have built the bomb.”
“Isn’t it true that Johnny Colbert received the highest commendation awarded in the peacetime reserves?”
“That is correct. She risked her life under fire to dismantle a bomb that had been planted by the enemy.”
“She saw combat?” asked Lowell, incredulously.
“Well, domestic combat. We got into a skirmish with Justice Corps, one of those survivalist groups based further upstate. Somehow they got into our camp and put a bomb under one of the barracks and trapped twenty-three men and women inside. Then they tried to hold us off with semi-automatics until the timer could detonate. Johnny ran right in the middle of the battle and dismantled it. Saved a lot of lives too. As far as I’m concerned, Johnny Colbert is a hero.”
“Okay,” said Melinda, “we’ll see if we can figure out how you can say that on the witness stand.”
They passed a group of men and women doing calisthenics.
“Isn’t it true,” continued Melinda, “that the explosives found missing from your camp could have been taken at anytime over the previous month?”
“Yes. I’m sorry to say that there was a lapse in security that only required us to account once a month for some of the rarely used munitions. In large part because of this case, the army is in the process of correcting that oversight. And since the theft was only discovered in the inventory taken at the end of the monthly cycle, it could have been removed anytime within the previous thirty days.”
“Perhaps even the day before the murder?”
“Yes, that is possible, although it would be difficult for someone without clearance to get into camp.”
“Justice Corps managed to.”
The colonel nodded grimly.
“How many people are there permanently placed in the explosives unit?”
“Seventeen.”
“And how many of them have the knowledge to produce a bomb such as the one used to kill Judge Winston?”
The Colonel thought for a moment. “I would say five.”
“And how many of those five people live in New York City and would likely have had knowledge of Judge Winston?”
“I don’t know. I’d have to look that up.”
“Let me save you the trouble,” said Melinda, with a heavy sigh. “The answer is one. Johnny Colbert.”