SONG OF THE WHALE
BY
BOB WRIGHT
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As is sometimes the case with what I write on here, this rushed full speed into my head, and I felt it only right that I write it out. As noted in the logline, this story begins right after the end of the original film, which I see as the true full canon, and will ultimately branch off into a somewhat different direction than what we got in the remaining two films, which I'll confess did not have the original's magic for me, and thus this story can, I suppose, be seen as a way of giving the tale what I hope would be seen as a stronger overall conclusion. As with my previously written Chuck Vs. the Month of Shocktober, though, if you are one who adheres strongly to canon, you could approach this story from the angle of being wholly in Jesse's mind after the events of the first film. Or you could again see it as-is. The choice, dear readers, is entirely yours.
Free Willy and all related characters and indicia are registered trademarks of Warner Brothers Pictures, Regency Enterprises, and Le Canal Studio +. And now, once more, sit back and enjoy the story.
AUGUST 28TH
"Well, here we are," the man declared, pulling his truck up in front of the courthouse. He turned sideways. "You ready, Jesse?"
"Ready as I'll ever be, Glen," the boy took a deep breath, "I hope I can help put Mr. Dial behind bars for everything..."
"Well that'll be up to the jury to decide in the end," the woman in the passenger seat reminded him, "But just do the best you can, Jesse, that's all we and the prosecution can ask for. Glen and I are proud of you for wanting to take the stand. We'll be right there in the front row for you."
"Thanks for coming, Annie," Jesse shook her hand, "You too, Glen," he did the same with her husband, "I feel stronger with you guys here."
"Good to know," Glen cracked a small smile. He climbed out of the truck, then walked over and let his wife and foster child out. Jesse followed the two of them up the steps of the courthouse. His mind raced with each step he took. He'd been waiting weeks for this moment, to finally confront Mr. Dial in person and let the whole world know what the man and his stooges had been planning that fateful night, and what they'd try to do to stop him and his friends from ruining their plans. Although he'd succeeded in ultimately setting Willy free, thankfully, it had still devolved into utter chaos once the police had finally shown up at the marina afterwards, with Dial and his associates screaming that it was Jesse and his friends whom they should arrest, and vice versa. Ultimately, fortunately, it was Dial who had been charged, for animal endangerment and insurance fraud, and now his day in court had come-and Jesse was glad to be there to testify against the man.
Had it been just three weeks already? It seemed like an eternity to him. Perhaps because it had been the wildest day of his life: the premiere of Willy's show at the park, only to have him refuse to perform at the critical moment...his return to the park after dark once he'd decided to follow Perry out of town to tell Willy goodbye and how he'd felt betrayed by him...his breaking off of this plan after realizing exactly why Willy had been miserable, and his discovery of Dial's dark plan to kill the whale to collect the insurance money...his rounding up of his friends to get Willy to freedom once he'd decided that would have been the best for him, and the wild ride to the ocean, culminating with Willy's tremendous leap over the breakwater-and he himself-to freedom. It was so close, and yet seemed a lifetime away now.
And Willy...where was he now? He'd heard no news in the weeks since then. Had his friend left the area for good? Perhaps, he thought, that might be for the better, if it meant he'd avoid future whale catchers-but there was no denying, he missed Willy. The whale had been someone he could share his most intimate secrets with, someone he'd truly felt comfortable being around, someone who had gotten him through a rough patch, someone who, he wouldn't deny it, had changed him into a different person, a better person. Hopefully, he begged deep down, the goodbye he'd told Willy before the final epic jump to freedom would not be the final goodbye for them, that the whale would return to his life again somehow.
He snapped back to reality as Annie and Glen led him into a room off the courthouse's main hall. "Mrs. Shuler, Glen and Annie Greenwood, this is Jesse," Glen told the red haired woman in a blue suit seated behind a desk, gesturing to his foster child.
"So you're Jesse? It's good to meet you," the woman shook his hand cordially, "I'm Lauren Shuler, Esquire; I'll be handling the state's case against Mr. Dial. I want to thank you for agreeing to testify to what you saw at Northwest Adventure Park that night."
"It's only right, Mrs. Shuler," Jesse told her, "What Mr. Dial tried to do to Willy, it was just horrible. I'd be glad if he faces some justice for it."
"So would I. Given what some of the other witnesses have claimed, it appears Mr. Dial showed complete disregard for that whale's life, among other sins. Just a warning, though, be on your game on the witness stand," Shuler advised him, "He's being represented by one Anita Corwin, otherwise known as Anita the Assassin in our legal circles. You know why?"
"Why?"
"Relentless badgering of witnesses on the stand. Once she grabs hold of something she finds out of place in a witness' testimony, she doesn't let go until she tears them down. So be prepared; she's probably going to jump on what you were doing at the park in the first place, and the fact you moved the whale out of the park..."
"Well we didn't have a choice, Mrs. Shuler; Willy would have died if I and my friends hadn't..."
"I know that. Just be prepared to emphasize that you had the whale's interests at heart the whole time. I think we have a strong case with what the rest of your friends are willing to say, I just hope we can sway the jury enough. Come on, the others are waiting in the courtroom."
"Rae, Randolph!" Jesse quickly recognized his friends and fellow rescuers from the park the moment he entered the courtroom, the first time he'd seen them since that fateful day. The former whale trainer and park general manager both beamed to see him again. "Jesse, glad you could come," a smiling Rae hugged him, "You been doing good?"
"Yep, I'm actually coming to like living with Annie and Glen now," Jesse turned back to his foster parents, who, true to their pledge, had sat down directly behind them, "Say, you guys hear anything about...?" he had to ask them.
"No word yet, Jesse," Randolph shook his head, "We've asked around; Willy may have left the area for the time being."
"We may find out soon, though," Rae added, "Randolph and I quit the park, and we've been offered jobs with a research facility not far from here. We're probably going to take them, and if we do, you're welcome to come out with us. Maybe we'll cross paths with Willy soon enough."
"Hope so. I do miss him," Jesse admitted.
"I'm sure you do," Randolph nodded knowingly, scooting his chair sideways to allow Shuler to sit down next to him, "But just keep in mind, Jesse, where friendship is real, no one ever truly leaves us. Willy'll be with you the rest of your life no matter what."
"I think so," Jesse agreed. He turned sideways to the defense table, where Mr. Dial and his main henchman Wade, who'd also been charged with breaking Willy's tank as part of his boss's murderous scheme, sat with their defense team, notably featuring a very stern-looking woman in a black suit with her hair in a tight bun, whom Jesse assumed was "Anita the Assassin." The owner of Northwest Adventure Park turned, perhaps realizing he was being watched, and gave Jesse a harsh, angry glare. Jesse returned the glare; while he'd never liked Dial to begin with once it became clear how greedy and indifferent the man was to Willy's well-being, he now flat out hated him for trying to kill his friend. Hopefully, he wished deep down, the jury would convict him convincingly...
"All rise," the bailiff declared out loud, "Criminal court is now in session for The State of Oregon Versus Robert Charles Dial; the honorable Judge Simon R. Wincer presiding."
Everyone in the courtroom rose for the judge, who quickly sat down at his bench. "You may be seated," he informed the court, "As noted in the records, due to time constraints, we were only able to get in the opening arguments in this case yesterday; if there's no objections from the counsels, we can begin the presentation of witnesses this morning."
"No objections, your honor," Shuler declared, and the defense counsels all nodded in agreement.
"Very well. The prosecution may call their first witness."
"The state calls Randolph August Johnson to the stand," Shuler rose to her feet; her strategy, she'd informed Jesse and the Greenwoods, was to use the words of a person who held a position of authority in the park, as Randolph had been, to start off the state's case to give it more of a sense of gravity. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" the court clerk now asked Randolph.
"I do," he nodded.
"Be seated," Shuler told him, "Mr. Johnson, explain to the court your position at Northwest Adventure Park," she instructed him.
"Officially the park's general manager, although often times, the defendant and those closest to him would go over my head on matters," Randolph said, gesturing at Dial and Wade.
"Did you have any role, then, in the selection of the whale in question for display at Northwest Adventure Park?"
"I did not. The decision to get an orca was made entirely by Mr. Dial and his team, to replace the dolphins that had previously been displayed in the aquatic theater, which were shipped out after they had developed..."
"Objection: irrelevant to the line of questioning," Anita Corwin rose to her feet with a scowl.
"Sustained," the judge agreed, "The witness is advised to stay on point with his answers," he reminded Randolph.
"Understood," Randolph nodded.
"Mr. Johnson, explain what happened on the night of August second," Shuler asked him.
"I had gone to bed around ten thirty that night," Randolph related, "At twelve thirty, I was awakened by a loud banging on my door. It was Jesse, who'd been part of the park's proposed whale show that had not gone to plan earlier that day. He told me there was a hole in Willy's tank, and that he had witnessed Robert Dial's main assistant Wade and some other men break it."
"So let the jury consider, Wade Edward Lackey, top assistant to Robert Dial, was at the park that night after midnight, when there was seemingly no reason for him to ordinarily be so," Shuler gestured at Wade, making the fat man slide down in his seat, embarrassed, "Continue, Mr. Johnson," she urged Randolph.
"When I reached Willy's tank, it was clear that it was more than just 'a hole,' that the whole tank was broken, beyond any possibility of repair," Randolph told her.
"And there was no chance that the tank could have broken from any ways other than sabotage?"
"It was definitely sabotage," Randolph nodded firmly, "I could see where a blowtorch had been used."
"And you suspected Mr. Dial had ordered the tank broken?"
"It was obvious once the extent of the damage became clear that it could only have been him."
"And why so?"
"Willy was worth a million dollars thanks to the money that had been put into his insurance fund; if he'd died, Dial would have collected it..."
"Objection; unless the witness saw the park's or Mr. Dial's bank funds, no way he could have known who the beneficiary would been," Corwin rose to her feet again.
"Overruled," the judge shot her down this time.
"In line with the defense's objection, how did you know Robert Dial would have collected any insurance money?" Shuler asked Randolph.
"It's standard procedure in the amusement business for park owners to make sure their parks are reimbursed if a performing animal was to die on the job," Randolph explained, "Dial had been convinced to put a lot of money into Willy's performing show; when it didn't work as planned, he stood to lose a lot of money. Killing Willy would have gotten him that money."
"So you believe his scheme was to break the tank and make it look like an accident?"
"That is indeed so."
"No further questions, your honor," Shuler informed the judge, stepping aside. Corwin rose up and strode towards the witness stand. "Mr. Johnson, what would you say your relationship with Robert Dial was, in general?" she asked him.
"Generally, quite strained," Randolph admitted, "He was a hard man for anyone to get along with."
"So allow me to get this straight: you get a call in the middle of the night that the whale tank was broken, and instead of calling for the police or a repairman, you decide to take the whale out of its enclosure and release it into the ocean, without consulting anyone who had better knowledge of the situation?"
"There was no other choice," Randolph insisted, "There was no way the tank could have been repaired, and it completely broke down a few minutes after we'd started our efforts to get Willy to safety; he would have died for sure."
"Except, Mr. Johnson, as far as I see, there's no additional witnesses to collaborate that account," Corwin leaned towards him, "So let me lay out what I think is a more believable scenario: you and the other star witnesses for the prosecution were upset the whale show failed and made you all look bad, so you decided to break the tank yourselves and frame Mr. Dial for it so he'd go down for it, and released the whale so you wouldn't have its death on your consciences."
"That's ridiculous," Randolph scoffed, "I didn't like park management, but I'd never resort to sabotage..."
"It's rather convenient, though, that you only had a certain amount of time to get the whale to safety before the tank collapsed; too convenient if you asked me."
"Objection: illogical leap," Shuler rose up.
"Sustained; please remain on point, counsel," the judge informed Corwin.
"Right," Corwin took a deep breath, "My point being, ladies and gentlemen of the jury," she turned to them, "Is that the real conspiracy here was one dreamed up by disgruntled park employees who hated the defendant so much that they'd do anything to ruin him, including wrecking Northwest Adventure Park's prize attraction. And the defense will prove this beyond any doubt. No further questions with the witness, your honor."
"You may step down," the judge told Randolph. "The prosecution may call its next witness."
"The state calls Raeleen Lori Lindley to the stand," Shuler announced. Rae got up and walked towards the stand. Randolph sat back down what had been her seat. "Yikes!" he mumbled to Jesse under his breath.
"She's a real witch, yeah," Jesse agreed softly. He turned back to the stand, where Shuler was asking Rae, "Miss Lindley, how long were you employed as a whale trainer at Northwest Adventure Park?"
"Nineteen months," Rae told her.
"You had experience as a trainer?"
"Reasonable; I'd worked shows at the nearby aquarium before that, and I've had lots of experience with whales from when I was a girl..."
"Objection: biographical information is not relevant to the case," Corwin cut in again.
"Sustained," the judge agreed. Shuler nodded in affirmation. "Miss Lindley, when did the whale that the park named Willy arrive at Northwest Adventure Park?" she turned back to Rae.
"In early May."
"Did you have any qualms about it?"
"A lot of qualms."
"Which were what?"
"That Willy was given much too small a tank, that he was too big and old to have been caught in the first place, and that, given the highly social nature of orcas, that leaving him in these conditions alone was highly detrimental to him. I could probably go on and on."
"Did you relay these concerns to the defendant?"
"I did, and he denied them all."
"And why do you think that was?"
"Because Robert Dial, in the time I worked for him, showed himself to be a selfish man who cared more about profit than anything."
"Objection: hearsay."
"Overruled."
"So you believe the defendant had zero concern for the whale in question?"
"To Mr. Dial, Willy was just a thing he could make money off of," Rae agreed with a strong nod of the head, "He made it clear he wouldn't build him a bigger tank unless he knew the whale shows would be profitable."
"So you believe that when the show in question failed to work, he resorted to killing the whale to make that profit?"
"I do."
"Explain your participation in the events on the evening of August second."
"I received a call from Randolph Johnson at quarter to one in the morning, asking me to come to Northwest Adventure Park as quick as I could. When I got there, he informed me that Willy's tank had been broken, and that they were going to set him free to save him."
"And what was your reaction to that?"
"I was skeptical at first, thinking that maybe there could be a less explicit way of rescuing Willy, maybe calling the police or something. But it soon became clear that freeing Willy was the only way to save him."
"So let the jury know," Shuler turned to them, "That not all of the witnesses were fully convinced of letting the whale go initially, which severely undercuts the defense's argument of a conspiracy. So you let the whale go?" she turned back to Rae.
"We did, but Mr. Dial must have gotten word of it. He hired men to block the entrance to the marina, and ultimately tried to block the way out too. Fortunately, Willy did get out alive."
"So the defendant was still trying to make a profit off the whale to the very end?"
"He was."
"No further questions, your honor," Shuler announced, stepping away. Jesse took a deep breath, girding for another of Corwin's onslaughts. "Miss Lindley, allow me to jog your memory of a conversation you had with Wade Lackey on the afternoon of June twenty-first," the defense counsel began the cross-examination, "One where you got into a rather harsh argument with him and were rather unreasonable..."
"I remember that day well, but I was justified in being angry," Rae insisted.
"To what ends were you reasonable?"
"It was time for a routine medical examination for Willy, and due to the lack of spending for his well being, the medical staff was forced to hold him in a net to try and hold him still for the duration. I made it abundantly clear to Wade Lackey that this seriously risked his life, but he brushed off my concerns."
"You say your concerns were brushed off, but the statements I've heard from those who were there make it clear it devolved into a hard shouting match where you refused to be reasonable, Miss Lindley. That Mr. Lackey made it clear they simply did not have the money to give the whale any more coverage than was available..."
"Robert Dial has cried poor ever since I signed on at Northwest Adventure Park, yet he lives in an expensive house and drives a luxury car everywhere. I simply don't believe that they didn't have the money..."
"So let me wager this, Miss Lindley: you and Mr. Johnson and the prosecution's other so-called witnesses decided to test that theory, by first convincing the whale ahead of time not to perform so the show would fail, then breaking the tank and relieving Mr. Dial of the whale so he'd be forced to reveal his finances..."
"Are you crazy!? I checked in on Willy right before the show in question, and he was normal then. From what I heard later, a mob of guests had been pounding on the glass of his tank during the show; Willy probably had traumatic flashbacks to when he was caught..."
"So you thus confess, Miss Lindley, that the tank was already damaged long before Mr. Lackey allegedly broke it that evening."
"Well...they might have weakened it, but pounding alone wouldn't have broken a tank like that..."
"So you say, but now we've established it's possible. And that you had motive to humiliate my client. No further questions, your honor," Corwin walked away with a bounce in her step. Jesse shook his head. She was a better lawyer than he'd feared. Facing off with her might be a real challenge.
He took a deep breath as Shuler now announced, "The state calls Jesse Jason Richter to the stand," and walked towards the stand. He sat down and shot a glance at his fellow witnesses and the Greenwoods. All four gave him a supportive thumbs up. "Place your hand on the Bible," the court clerk instructed him, "Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
"I do," Jesse nodded. Shuler approached him now. "Jesse, explain to the court your relationship with the whale known as Willy?" she asked him.
"Well, Willy and I, we ended up really good friends," Jesse admitted, "I wouldn't have thought it possible earlier this year, but once I met him, things just came together for us, and I liked it."
"Objection; irrelevant," Corwin cut in.
"Sustained," the judge agreed. Shuler let out a frustrated sigh at having so many objections upheld, but quickly recomposed herself. "OK, more to the point, Jesse, tell the court exactly what happened on the night of August second," she told him.
"Well, like Rae just said, the show we'd pressed Mr. Dial to spend on Willy didn't work," Jesse related, "I was angry and frustrated, and felt like Willy had betrayed me, after everything I felt I'd done to get all that for him. I decided to run away, but I came back to the park to tell him goodbye and to vent on him. Just as I was about to leave, though, he started wailing in agony like he'd done a couple of times before. I knew something was wrong, so I climbed up to the highest point I could, and saw his family out in the ocean, calling to him. And I realized that, in addition to being scared with everyone pounding on his tank, that Willy wouldn't perform because he was sad and homesick, that it really wasn't his fault."
"And then what happened?"
"Right as I realized this, there was the light of a welding torch from the viewing area of his tank. I climbed down to take a look, and I saw some men...welding away at the tank," he shuddered at the memory.
"With the clear intention to break the tank?"
"Yeah."
"And could you identify any of those men if you saw them?"
"Absolutely. And he was the ringleader," Jesse pointed hard at Wade, who slid down even further in his seat, "I wouldn't mistake him for anyone."
"Again, let the jury consider, a positive identification of Robert Dial's right hand man as being in the park at night, actively working on the tank," Shuler reminded them. "Then what happened?" she turned back to Jesse.
"I watched them pound on the spot they'd welded until it sprung a leak. They started packing up to leave then, so I hid until they were gone, then went down for a closer look."
"And what did you find?"
"The tank was..." he shuddered again, "...it was gushing out water in buckets, and I knew it couldn't hold up for long."
"And what did you do next?"
"I knew Randolph lived on the park grounds, so I ran to his house and woke him up. He came with me to the tank, and when he saw what had happened, he told me, 'Dial's trying to collect the insurance. Willy's worth a million dollars.'"
"So you decided to set the whale free then?"
"It just hit me to do it, because I knew there wasn't much else we could do. Willy would die otherwise. So we called Rae, and eventually we got him out of the tank and back into the ocean, and he's free now."
"So everything you did do was in Willy's best interests, and in direct response to negligent and even criminal actions by Mr. Dial?"
"Absolutely."
"No further questions, your honor," Shuler walked away, staring daggers at Corwin, as if to say, "Don't roughhouse him, or you'll pay for it." Corwin ignored the glare. "Well, Mr. Richter, that was quite the touching story," she told Jesse smugly, "Now let's fill in the rest of the story for the jury's benefit. Namely how you first came to Northwest Adventure Park. You remember that, don't you? On the night of May tenth, you broke into the park and spray painted the entire whale viewing area in a hideous act of vandalism. You don't deny that, do you?"
"No, I don't," Jesse conceded, "But I cleaned it up afterwards..."
"After being ordered by the courts to do so to avoid more serious charges. Which would not be the first time you've been in trouble with the law, would it, Mr. Richter? Very far from it, in fact..."
"Objection; badgering the witness," Shuler stood up.
"Overruled; the information may prove relevant," the judge shot her down.
"Thank you, your honor. In fact, Mr. Richter, let's take a look at your criminal record," Corwin held up some papers, "It's a very interesting read: breaking and entering, vandalism, petty theft, entering restricted areas. You're far from the saint you want us to believe, that's for sure."
"I had some problems, yeah, but I'm better now," Jesse insisted, cringing at the reminder of what he had once been.
"So you say, Mr. Richter. But I happen to think otherwise," Corwin leaned smugly in his face, "I'll buy that you came to like the whale, but I find the rest of your Pollyanna tale about setting him free to save him very hard to believe. Namely how convenient it was you were in the park that night yourself. You'd been in there before, you knew where everything was, and you just admitted you were furious at the whale for letting you down earlier in the day. You know what I think, Mr. Richter? I think your anger got the better of you, and you decided to teach the whale a lesson about humiliating you."
"No, no, I'd never hurt Willy!" Jesse cried, "I was angry, but I'd never have done anything like that to him...!"
"Just admit it, Mr. Richter: you broke the tank yourself!" Corwin thundered, "You got the tools from the maintenance shed and broke the tank, then realized you'd be in hot water if the whale died! So you then called your accomplices in the park, and the three of you decided to cover your tracks by moving the whale out and blaming Mr. Dial for it; just admit it, Mr. Richter...!"
"Objection: overt badgering of the witness!" an enraged Shuler jumped to her feet.
"Sustained," the judge sided with her this time, "Do you have any hard proof to assert this claim, Counselor?" he challenged Corwin.
"At the moment, not directly, your honor. But I ask the jury to think this over carefully: a lifelong juvenile delinquent with clear anger management issues just happens to be in the park at the exact moment the whale's tank breaks. A coincidence? I think not. What this is, ladies and gentlemen, is a conspiracy against my client by angry, vengeful former employees who hated him so much that they would be willing to destroy him to prove a point. No further questions, your honor."
"Understood. You may step down, son," the judge told Jesse, who slouched off the stand with his head down, feeling like he'd failed.
"I'm sorry, Miss Shuler. I let her get the better of me," he apologized to the prosecutor as he and the Greenwoods left the courtroom at the end of the session.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Jesse. Now you know why they call her Anita the Assassin," Shuler absolved him, "I think your testimony landed some good points; we've now firmly established Dial's people in the park working on the tank, and that Mr. Dial wanted the insurance money."
"But she undercut me and everything Randolph and Rae said with her insane theory that we were out to get Mr. Dial..."
"Your friends also established probable cause for them to try and kill Willy, so I think our case still holds up. I have some other witnesses that'll take the stand in the next few days that'll push our case further along, so we still have a strong hand to play."
"Please convict him; Willy deserves justice," Jesse begged her.
"I'll do the best I can, Jesse, I can promise that," she told him.
"You won't need Jesse again after this?" Glen inquired.
"I'll have my office call you if we would need extra testimony again. Thanks again, Jesse, you were a big help," Shuler commended him before walking back to her office. "See, you did good," Glen rubbed his foster son's shoulder, "How about we get a bite to eat?"
"Sounds good to me," Jesse agreed. He followed Glen and Annie out the courthouse door, and saw Rae and Randolph conversing out front. "Hey, you think we made enough of a case?" he walked over and asked them.
"Hope so," Randolph said, not looking fully confident.
"So do I. Anyway, if you guys do get that research job, let me know; I do want to help. I'll work any hours..."
"I'm sure you would, but let's not forget that school starts in ten days," Annie reminded him with a firm look.
"Do I have to, Annie?" Jesse protested.
"According to state law, yes," Glen told him with his own firm look. "But look at what happened at the park, Jesse; you thought that would be terrible having to go there and clean up that mess you made, but it turned into the greatest moment of your life. School might just be the same for you, a wonderful experience."
"I've been in school before, Glen, and it's terrible..."
"Sorry, that's the deal," Glen shook his head. Jesse sighed, seeing no way out of it. "Well, I'll try and be over after school then," he told his friends from the park, "And here's hoping that we can find Willy."
"Here's hoping," Rae crossed her fingers, "I want to see him again too and make sure he is all right."
"Same here. See you guys soon," Jesse bid her and Randolph farewell as he left with his foster parents, hoping more good times would be right around the corner for himself.
