Chapter 8
FRIDAY, 19:10
"Hey, sorry I'm late" Steve huffed as he hurried into the kitchen. Amanda, Jesse and his father had just started dinner, a healthy looking pasta dish. Steve served himself a huge portion and began shovelling the food into his mouth.
"Do either of you want to explain the concept of indigestion to him?" Mark asked Jesse and Amanda. Steve raised his eyebrows but didn't slow down. "Haven't you eaten today?" Mark asked, more to make him pause for breath than anything else.
Steve shook his head "Was busy with those names" he mumbled before the next fork full was popped in his mouth.
"And?" Jesse asked excitedly
Steve gestured with his hand, gulped the pasta down and began to talk "Yeah well.." he took another fork full "it turns out"
"Steve!" his father scolded "manners". Amanda and Jesse sniggered, being told off at his age for talking with his mouth full! A stern glance from Mark silenced them again. "Why don't we finish our meal, slowly, we have all night to talk" he reasoned.
FRIDAY, 19:35
"OK" Steve started, "our four suspects". He then listed them in a very official, almost regimental tone:
William James Potter, accident involving farm machinery aged 21, was in re-hab for a period which overlapped with Dougies by about two and a half months. The happy ending to his story is that he's alive and well, manages an auto repair shop in Kentucky, married with three kids.
"One down three to go" Jesse exclaimed, his enthusiasm having never faded for playing Detective with Steve.
"Well we can also cross Troy Jenkins from the list. Died of a cocaine overdose in 1984."
"You sure it was him who died?" Amanda interrupted.
"Well, the tattoos covering almost 60 per cent of his body were a bit of a give away. He had a criminal record stretching back to his teens so I'd say we are safe that the ID was good".
"And then there were two" Mark interjected.
"Take your pick time" Steve continued. "Alexander Concannon, fell from scaffolding aged 22, leg so badly broken they were forced to amputate, left paralysed from the waist down. Last record showed him in Oregan in 1989, nothing since."
"Dougie spent time in Oregan correct?" Mark asked, and Steve nodded
"But it's a big state, and it's not illegal to go live there. It does seem suspicious that the trail on him just seemed to end, then again I haven't had time to dig too deep just yet. Let's just say he's holing joint first place in my mind at the moment"
"Joint with?" Jesse asked impatiently.
"Brian Wallace, car smash aged just 19, longest overlap with Dougie, almost 6 months at the end of his therapy. Records of him in the Houston area for about 5 months afterwards and then…." his pause wasn't intended for dramatic effect, but that is what it gave
"What!" The three asked in unison.
"Brian Wallace is Missing Presumed Dead".
TUESDAY, 07:47
"Hey Mark, Mark hold up" Jesse called as he bounded down the corridor after him. Mark rolled his eyes, chuckling a little.
"No Jesse" he began without hesitation "Steve didn't turn too much up yesterday, he was tied up on a homicide Downtown".
"Thought he'd have found something, he was so frustrated at how many of the departments he wanted to contact were closed weekends".
Mark sighed "Yes Jesse, Steve is frustrated. But as I hope you can appreciate whatever he turns up is going to have major implications." Amanda rounded the corner and joined the conversation.
"Morning" she chirped, but Mark was more concerned about putting Jesse straight.
"I know this all seems very mysterious and exciting Jesse, but have you really considered how this will effect Steve". Jesse looked sheepish and half-shrugged. "What if Steve does uncover some awful truth about this man and Dougie, assuming they are two different people? How do you think he'll react to that? Or" he continued "he may be forced to accept that he made a mistake, and with the frame of mind he is in now I think that may actually hit him harder".
"I think we all appreciate that Mark" Amanda added defensively "We all want what's best for Steve".
"I know you do, and I'm not trying to offend you Jesse, I'm just saying tread a little carefully. Steve needs friends, and he needs voices of reason, not somebody ready to jump on the band wagon with whatever theory he comes up with next".
"So you don't believe him?" Jesse asked incredulously.
"I didn't say that" Mark replied "I believe that Steve believes it, I just don't want him to suffer, he's was making such progress with Dr Keller now he's skipping sessions to try and do research. Don't carried away, that's all I'm saying".
Jesse dejectedly made his excuses and left, Amanda and Mark continued down the corridor.
TUESDAY, 11:07
Steve felt like a schoolchild cheating in a math test; the files of Brian Wallace, Alexander Concannon and Dougie were hidden inside his homicide case folder. He looked around for prying eyes then started leafing through the sparse information he had on the trio. He'd blatantly abused his position in the police force to gain what little he had. He picked up the phone and started calling the possible leads and sources he'd scribbled down over the weekend. It was that old moral issue he thought, he'd technically already broken the law so would making a few more calls make a difference now? Kind of like being late, whether it's by a minute or an hour, you're still late.
When a local sheriff who'd dealt with Brian Wallace's disappearance agreed to talk to Steve, he knew he'd made the right decision.
TUESDAY, 21:39
Steve paced anxiously around the beach house, he'd been home twenty minutes now and was bursting to tell his father of his recent discoveries. "C'mon, where are you" he asked out loud. He'd expected Mark and Jesse to be here, but he couldn't even contact either of them at the hospital or on their mobiles. Amanda had been home, but when he'd called and mentioned he'd made significant progress she said she'd be straight over. Steve tried to contain himself, he couldn't figure what this feeling was; fear? Excitement? Relief? He wasn't sure, maybe it was just pure adrenaline pumping through his veins. A car pulled up outside and he raced to open the front door.
Amanda was lifting CJ, still fast asleep, from his car seat.
"You shouldn't have brought him out!" Steve scolded scooping the floppy limbed boy from her arms. He laid him gently on the sofa and stroked his cheek smiling as Amanda placed a blanket over his tiny frame and settled the cushions around him.
She then turned her attention to Steve "Are you OK?" she asked
"I'm fine, sorry if I scared you on the phone, I just really wanted to get in touch with dad."
Just then the door clicked behind them and in strode Mark and Jesse.
"At last" Steve began "I think you'll wanna take a seat, I've got a lot to tell you".
TUESDAY, 21:39
"So" he began, "I didn't get much further with Alexander Concannon, the scaffolding contractor last seen in '89, but our Mr Brian Wallace on the other hand proved to be an open book, almost literally".
"Ah c'mon Steve, just tell us what's going on" Jesse demanded impatiently.
"Brian Wallace" he began, leafing through some papers "was born Brian Dempsy, adopted at the age of seven after his father walked out and his mother had a nervous breakdown. Took his adoptive family's name, became Brian Lawson and led a rather unremarkable life in Houston until he was seventeen".
"Then?" Jesse interrupted again
"Then, he left home, got a job working as a labourer and for some reason changed his name again, this time to Brian Wallace. Was in a serious motor accident aged 19, nobody else involved, he was intoxicated at the time. Spent three months in intensive care, another three and a half months in hospital and then seven months in physical therapy at the same time as Dougie".
"But you have more than that I presume?" Mark asked with some trepidation.
"Oh yeah" he nodded gleefully, "it's the 'what happened next' which will blow your mind".
Amanda and Mark shuffled uncomfortably in their seats, Jesse beamed and clasped his hands. Steve continued.
"There are records of Wallace in Houston for another five months after he finished re-hab, few home calls by a social worker and hospital check up's. The apartment he lived in during that time was specially designed for wheelchair users, two bedrooms. Wanna guess who his room mate was?" Steve couldn't hide the nervous energy inside him now.
Jesses eyes widened and he grinned, Amanda slumped back in her chair, stunned.
Mark leaned over the table looked straight at his son and squeezed his wrist. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you" he sighed.
Steve laughed "Oh god dad, you haven't heard half of it!", Mark looked shocked. "y'see after about five months Wallace and Dougie hit the road together, drove across Texas, into New Mexico, Arizona and up into Utah. Most of that I gathered from Wallaces record, police and medical. Seems he had a habit of getting drunk and getting into trouble. But his next run in with the police was completely different. In 1974 Jonathon Jacob Douglas showed up at a police station near Garrison Falls on the Snake River in Idaho. He wanted to report the disappearance of his travelling partner and good friend".
"Brian Wallace" Amanda finished on his behalf.
"Garrison Falls is a pretty inhospitable place for a guy in a wheelchair so the search was rather localised. Wallaces chair and a couple of personal effects were found the next day on a bridge, smatterings of blood all around, body was never recovered. Missing Presumed Dead, probably somewhere in the Snake River."
"Wasn't the blood cross matched?" Jesse asked
"Wasn't exactly common practice in '74 Jess, and there was nothing to suggest foul play. Mr Douglas admitted his friend Wallace had contemplated suicide, that's why they were on the road trip, travelling about, hoping they'd find somewhere they'd feel at home. The whole thing got a big write up in the local paper, except Mr Douglas refused to be photographed, said he was uncomfortable with his appearance. Then Douglas, or by this time Wallace living under Dougies name, moved on through Idaho, eventually settled in Ingham Bay, Oregan. Attended Community College there for a spell and worked as a shop assistant for several years. He then worked in a processing factory and 'quit' due to health problems, the undertones suggest he was sacked for showing up drunk when he bothered to show up at all. Never married from what I can tell, moved down the coast for a few months eventually settling here a couple of years back, lives on his social security and military benefits".
There was silence for a while as the friends sat in quiet contemplation of the facts. "What about the leg?" Mark eventually asked.
Steve shrugged "I dunno dad, you tell me. If you were in general practice and a guy shows up, got all the ID and stories to suggest he's a veteran, but there is one glaring mistake in his medical file; all the injuries, scars, complaints and so forth fit but it's the wrong stated as being as amputated, what would you do?"
Mark really couldn't think how to answer such a bizarre question. He cleared his throat but didn't speak. "Don't you think you could be persuaded" Steve continued "to believe that in the chaos of a field hospital a ludicrous error may have occurred? And if Wallace never needed any treatment more serious than stitching a few head wounds after drunken brawls or falls, who'd ever discover the truth?"
Steve was right, it all fitted so perfectly, too perfectly Mark thought but he knew now was not the time to air his suspicion.
"So what's the next step" he asked instead "I don't suppose this information was obtained through official channels? Do you have any say over a missing persons case this old, especially one from out of state?"
Steve knew he had no grounds to start and official investigation of the man claiming to be Dougie. He could pass the information over to the authorities in Garrison Falls but whether they could actually prove anything was another matter altogether.
"I'm still interested in Alexander Concannon" Jesse butted in before Steve could reply. "I mean sure this Wallace guy looks like a hot favourite but think about it, he moves up to Oregan, meets Concannon who recognises him from re-hab in Houston. Wallace can't have his cover blown so bumps off Concannon, hence no record since '89."
"Been there Jesse" Steve began dropping his head into his hands "and a million other maybe's too. For the moment I am willing to accept Concannon as a coincidence, once I figure Dougie out I'll check on Concannon. Now dad, back to your question, I've go no official grounds or jurisdiction. Or evidence come to mention it so I'm afraid I'm gonna have to…" he looked sheepishly at his father.
"No Steve" Mark cut him off "I don't think seeing this guy is a good idea. Even if he confessed the whole thing to you, told it just like you did, you'd still have no proof. Probably loose your job, is it really worth it".
"Sure it is" Jesse replied on Steve's behalf "we could tape it all, play the confession back and get him arrested".
"Hold on you guys" Steve reasoned "I hear what you are saying dad, I'm unlikely to get a conviction from this. Even if he confessed Jess, a tape recording would prove entrapment and nothing more. Another factor, no body, no murder. Wallace is missing presumed dead, but there were no indications of foul play, logged as a probable suicide".
"So why go and see him?" Mark asked again.
Steve looked at Amanda for support, she smiled at him softly and nodded. Fixing his eyes on the table he replied "Because I need to dad, because I need to know. I maybe won't get a conviction, but I may get peace of mind. And isn't that what it's all about, figuring stuff out and moving on?"
Mark smiled at Steve, but he was still focussing on the table. "OK, he said, as long as we talk about it properly before you rush off and meet with Wallace. I want you to be careful Steve"
"I doubt he's dangerous"
"That's not what I mean" Mark added "I want to be sure you are ready to hear the truth. It's sometimes true that ignorance is bliss, even if you've longed to get to the bottom of some mystery for years, it can still be a shock to hear exactly what you were expecting".
Steve knew what he was referring too. The least he could do was respect his wishes now and wait a few days before confronting Wallace.