Justification For Killing (60 page)

“
How can we do it
Bud?”

“
We know from all accounts
Oswald left the School Book building walking. After a couple of
blocks, he got on a bus. It went a few blocks and got stuck in the
Presidential parade traffic. Oswald got off the bus, and hailed a
taxi that let him off a block or two from this rooming house. With
all that’s going on we should be quite able to return to our car,
drive the couple of miles or so and be here before Lee Harvey
Oswald gets back. Then we can follow him and see if he meets
anyone.”

“
Good idea Lou, but let me
throw this at you. What if we don’t come back here to the rooming
house, but goes instead to the vicinity of 10th Street and Patton
Avenue. That is where Oswald was reported to have killed J. D.
Tippit, the Dallas police officer. It is only about three quarters
of a mile from here.”

“
Good Bud, a fine idea, a
lot better than mine. We will pick a spot around 10th and Patton
and watch what happens. We did bring our camera with the telephoto
lens didn’t we?”

“
You betcha, Lou, I’ll get
us some fine photos. You just get us close to the
action.”

Chapter
Forty-Nine

“
CAPTAIN IT IS YOU, ISN’T
IT?”

Getting up from the
kitchen table Captain Scarburg looked at Clem and Penelope, “I know
all I have just told you is strange. Well strange may not be strong
enough a word. What about crazy, out of my mind, farfetched or
science fiction, are any of these better? Anyway, trust me, what I
have told you is ‘cross my heart and hope to die’ the
truth.

“
Before I leave I want to
thank both of you for the hospitality you have shown to me, not
only on this trip, but on my first jump from 2012 to your 1963 time
period too. I would especially like to tell you how much I
appreciate you taking Forrest and Olive Marie into your home during
this blizzard. I believe God has a special place reserved in Heaven
for people such as you two. You are certainly the salt of this
Earth.”

“
Captain, please don’t go
back out into that there freezin’ weather. Stay the night with us,
you can leave in the mornin’.”

“
Thanks Clem, but I don’t
have time to wait. I have to be going regardless of the
weather.”

Walking past the closet
door on his way to the front door Clem said, “Oh, sorry Captain, I
plum neer forgot. Them younguns of you’rn took a couple of pieces
of mine and Penelope’s clothes.”

“
What? Clothing? What are
talking about Clem?”

“
I didn’t ‘member ‘till I
seed this closet – them grandkids of you’rn took my black, Reverend
Pickett’s Cadilack drivin’ suit and Penelope’s waitressin’ outfit
too. What yer reckon they wanted them fer, Captain?”

“
I have a fairly good idea
– Clem, Penelope I hope I get a chance to stop by before I leave
and say goodbye, but you will have to forgive me now, I have a
party to go too. Don’t worry about your clothes when I find the
kids I’ll make sure they return your things.”

The snow and blowing
wind from the night before had begun to abate somewhat, but the
temperature had to be close to zero. Penelope had supplied him with
an extra sweater and coat belonging to Clem, a woolen scarf and an
additional pair of pants.
Actually,
he thought
, it’s cold,
but I can make it... I have to... for Forrest and Olive Marie’s
sake. By-ned, I’m sure glad I’ve got this Army Jeep. I don’t
believe I could get through this snow without
it.”

The freezing trip from the
Ponderosa to the outskirts of Dallas took the better part of four
and one half hours. By the time, he reached the north side of
Dallas and turned off Highway 279 it would be just a mile or so to
45 Ash Hill Lane. Ash Hill Lane was only thirty miles from Celina,
Texas, usually a drive of less than an hour, but it was nearing
midnight when Captain Scarburg pulled up and stopped at the
entrance to Murdock’s long driveway leading to the large
mansion.

Fortunately, the snow had
tapered off considerably as he neared Dallas. The snow in the
driveway was only a couple of inches deep. The Captain could tell
by the tracks it had been a couple of hours since any vehicles had
traveled the roadway. The tire prints from previous cars were
almost snow filled, and none appeared to have been made
recently.

Only three options were
available: If Forrest and Olive Marie attended the party they were
either still inside the house, or they had been found out, and
possibly moved somewhere else, but they could have gotten the
information they came for and left on their own. He could not
afford to guess – he had to scope out the house first. If they were
not there, he would have to draft his next move.

It was after midnight, it
was time to go. Leaving the Jeep parked across from the entrance to
the drive he decided the only method to approach the house
unnoticed must be by foot. The driveway was a few hundred yards
long, but his feet were almost numb anyway so more snow and ice
were not going to hurt much more. The giant two hundred year old
live oak trees formed an almost perfect umbrella over the middle of
the driveway, sheltering the drive from one side to the other. As
the Captain viewed the driveway from the street end, the arched
canopy of tree branches gave him the appearance of gazing into a
snow-covered tunnel. Taking his time he began to slowly walk across
the snow, trying to be as quiet as possible, but every step created
a crunching noise seemingly as loud as a herd of horses running
toward the house; however, his nerves had amplified the noise
considerably above their actual decibel reading. The actual noise
his feet made against the snow could not be heard more than a few
feet away, hopefully, no one was aware he was coming.

His utmost concern as he
walked through the snow: a dog. He wondered if the Murdock’s had a
watchdog. A dog would start barking at the smell of his mere
presence, and worst still it might be a Doberman Pincher or
Rottweiler with teeth like a crocodile. His mind raced, forget the
dogs, they probably have a watchman and all kinds of security
surveillance devices such as infrared detectors and hidden cameras.
Then it hit him, nah, this is 1963, things such as surveillance
devices this sophisticated were not in use back then, but a
watchman – he could be a real possibility.

Nearing the house, he
paused behind one of the large oak trees and spent a second or two
scanning the house. A few lights were visible in the lower floor
windows, and a couple of windows on the second floor indicated,
possibly, someone was up there too. He carefully surveyed the area
around the house – he did not see a watchman or a guard. He could
see the snow on the grass, being illuminated by the glow of the
lights from the lower floor windows. He could see no fresh
footprints in the new fallen snow. He did see some older prints
that had been partially filled with windblown snow. Those
footprints indicated the persons who had walked there earlier had
gone around the left side of the house. Why would they be going
around there?

His decision was to inch
his way around the left exterior keeping away from the windows,
hugging close to the shrubbery to avoid detection. Hopefully, he
could get around to the rear of the mansion without being
discovered. He moved from his hiding place from behind the trunk of
the tree. The Captain was about to take his first step toward his
objective when a form suddenly appeared from behind a nearby tree
blocking the sidewalk between himself and the house.

Oh, by-ned, they do
have a guard
! At first all he could see
was a head.
What was on the head? Is that
a cowboy hat? Yes, it is,
he
thought,
but for a guard he is not
exceptionally large
. Considering his small
size he surely must be armed.
That’s
okay
, he thought reaching into the pocket
of his coat for his own .45 caliber automatic
pistol.

Raising the pistol up into
firing position, he waited for the shadowy figure to make his move
before he fired. He knew the noise of the Colt automatic would
arouse everyone in the house, but if it were his life or the
ghostly figure next to the tree, this wasn’t going to be much of a
choice. He pulled the hammer back into the cocked position –
looking over the pistols sights he drew a bead dead center on the
‘watchman’s’ chest. Slowly placing his index finger on the trigger,
the Captain knew it was now or never.

“
Captain, Captain
Scarburg, is it you?” The phantom like apparition said in a voice
barely above a whisper.

“
Yes, I am Captain
Scarburg. To whom am I addressing?”

“
I am Anhur Captain. It is
me Anhur,” he said stepping out from the shadows of the trees into
the dim light. The Captain stood stunned as he watched Anhur slowly
approach closer.

Firmly keeping his pistol
‘at ready’ Captain Scarburg hesitantly moved toward the petite
figure advancing toward him. As the person neared, he could plainly
see, it was indeed Anhur.

“
Anhur, my friend. Is it
really you? What are you doing? Why are you here?” The Captain
questioned in a quiet whisper. “By-ned, where in the blazes did you
get my cowboy hat?”

In a hushed voice, Anhur
replied, “Ah, the hat... yes… later, but as always Captain
Scarburg, I cannot keep my nose out of your family’s business. That
is funny!”

“
Funny? Funny! Anhur how
can helping me be funny?”

“
No, not that kind funny.
Funny because I do not have what you Earthlings call ‘a
nose’.

“
Right,” said Grandpa,
“point taken. How are you going to help Anhur? I am trying to find
Forrest and Olive Marie before something dreadful happens to
them.”

“
I am sorry to inform you
Captain something dreadful has already happened to
them.”

“
Tell me Anhur... they are
not... not... dead, are they?”

“
No, but alive only for
the moment. They are being held captive in this house. Their
captors intend to eliminate them tomorrow after the
‘event’.”

“
Yes, I know about the
‘event’, give me a quick run-down on their situation.”

Anhur moved in close to
the Captain and explained how both Forrest and Olive Marie were
being held in the basement. They were bound, blindfolded and
gagged. One Secret Service agent was sitting just inside the
basement entrance, and another was stationed at the top of the
stairs leading into the main house. The only other person in the
house was a woman by the name of Margaret White. All the others had
departed immediately after the party. There had been a number of
people at a guesthouse within twenty feet of the basement door, but
it was now unoccupied.

“
Do you have a plan,
Captain?”

“
No, not exactly Anhur,
but I’m working on one.

Chapter Fifty

EARLIER THAT
AFTERNOON

“
What time is it
Rocky?”

Opening the gold cover on
his pocket watch, Rocky replied it was close to 11:00
a.m.

Turning on the digital
recorder and the camera monitor Rocky, reasoned it was about time
the Mafioso were supposed to begin arriving.”

The two of them, Lonnie
Joe and Rocky got comfortable in the car the city of Dallas had
unintentionally ‘loaned’ them; however, they did not have long
before the Cosa Nostra leaders began arriving. One by one they made
their way into the back room taking a seat at the circular table.
Lonnie Joe and Rocky could hear every word spoken. Not only could
they hear, they were also recording every movement the mobsters
made.

The infamous Jack Ruby
made his entrance completing the little party. Reaching into his
coat pocket Lonnie Joe removed a piece of paper. It was the seating
arrangement of the men sitting at the table. Captain Scarburg had
received it from one of the waitresses at the Carousel Club. As the
gangsters took their seats, Lonnie Joe checked their names off the
list. The last two arrived and seated themselves to the left of
Jack. Those two were mystery guests.

The Captain related his
visit to the Carousel Club in detail; he said the waitress, Linda
Lou Dearmann had never seen the last two before. Captain Scarburg
explained to Lonnie Joe and Rocky that they were to be especially
interested in those last two; they must have a crucial role in the
‘event’ of 22 November.

He explained that the
waitress heard their names. One of them was referred to as ‘the
handler’ and Linda thought his name was Donald Atwood Pearson, the
second person’s name was Dan or Danny. That was about all she could
recall.

As Lonnie Joe and Rocky
sat watching and listening to the group at the table in the back
room of the Carousel Club, they were first hand witnesses to
information so explosive, so sensational no one would ever believe
them. Thank goodness it had all been recorded.

The “handler” began the
meeting. He explained the CIA had everything set. The ‘event’ was
to take place around 12:30 tomorrow as the Presidential motorcade
traveled around the square at Dealy Plaza. He assured the mobsters
the CIA would take care of their problem. He introduced his partner
Danletsky. Danletsky goes by the name of Danny he said. Danny was
there to help solve their problem.”