Chapter 31

INVESTIGATOR ALAN LAPINSKI of the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation was testifying in the inquest.

“I arrived at the scene in Bartley County at three in the morning. At that time, Mr. William Enders had already been airlifted to MedicOne in Des Moines. Evidence from emergency room doctors has been submitted, indicating the level of toxins in Mr. Enders’ blood. My responsibility was the scene where he and Mr. Lee Smith were found by State Troopers. Investigation took most of the morning, as it was still dark when we began.”

“Aside from Mr. Enders being moved from the scene, had anything else been disturbed when you arrived?” Daniel Hoffman, defense attorney, asked.

“No, sir. I was assured by troopers at the scene that nothing had been moved and there was a minimum of disturbance, consistent with the removal of Mr. Enders by medics and checking to determine that Mr. Smith was indeed deceased.”

“Please go on.”

“The firearm, entered as evidence 21B, was lying on the floor where Mr. Enders’ feet would have been. It appeared to have fallen there. A search of the car revealed a single shell casing entered as exhibit 21A. The projectile, entered as exhibit 21C, had passed through Mr. Smith and lodged in the door of the vehicle. That suggests the weapon was fired at a low angle and that Mr. Smith had to have been leaning over the shooter at the time. The deceased then staggered away from the vehicle and fell some twenty feet away. Ballistics confirmed that the projectile that killed Mr. Smith was the one recovered at the scene and was fired from the firearm in custody.”

“Mr. Lapinski, was there any sign of a struggle having taken place?” Hoffman asked.

“Yes. A one-pint bottle had the fingerprints of both Smith and Enders on it. Liquid found on the body of Mr. Enders suggests that he was not ingesting the alcohol willingly.”

“And what was in the bottle?”

“Laboratory results, included with the bottle as exhibit 20A, indicate the bottle had contained a mixture of 90% alcohol with three parts per thousand of fentanyl. A deadly combination.”

“Is that consistent with the examination of Mr. Enders’ blood?”

“Yes. Hospital lab reports indicate Mr. Enders ingested approximately 650 micrograms of fentanyl with approximately three ounces of the potent alcohol. This would indicate the bottle contained a total of over 3,000 micrograms of fentanyl. One thousand micrograms are enough to give near-certain death to even a consistent user. When multiplied by the effects of the alcohol, doctors are frankly puzzled by how Mr. Enders is still alive and breathing, though deep in a comatose state.”

“Thank you. Your Honor, taking into account Mr. Lapinski’s assessment and the descriptions of the crime scene given by Trooper Moran, I would like to move that the death of Mr. Smith be ruled as self-defense as Mr. Enders was in fear for his life as he struggled with Mr. Smith over the bottle,” Hoffman said.

“Does the Medical Examiner’s panel concur?” Judge White asked.

“We concur, your Honor,” Mr. Reisner said. “No matter what brought Mr. Enders to the site, it is clear to all of us that Mr. Smith was attempting to kill Mr. Enders and that the gun was fired in a last effort at survival. Further, Mr. Enders may yet not survive. We believe his family deserves to know that he was acting in self-defense and no charges are pending.”

“Since we are in concurrence, I’ll rule that Mr. Enders acted in self-defense and no prosecution is pending. Trooper Moran, since you were at the scene and since you took word of the incident to the Enders family, I will ask that you use our next recess to call the family and let them know our decision immediately. Appropriate papers will be drawn up and filed. We’ll take that one-hour recess for lunch now.”

Judge White brought his gavel down and dismissed the room. It wasn’t every day that he could confidently dismiss suspicion against a person and he was pleased with the outcome.

“I say we continue to act as we always do,” Natalie said to her gathered teammates. “If the cheerleaders can’t take the heat, let them get out of the locker room where we’re cooking.”

“I think my ankle is feeling weak,” Brenda said. “I know Diane is getting both her ankles taped. I think mine need to be supported, too.”

“What about Leanne? Honey, we don’t want you to take any risks on your ankles today. Right?” Natalie asked.

“Right,” Leanne agreed. “I thought I felt a twinge yesterday.”

“That means Dennis will need to be in the locker room with us the entire time we’re getting ready to play,” Natalie concluded. “Are we all in agreement?”

“Agreed,” the rest of the team replied. They left the cafeteria where they’d stopped to pick up drinks for the long ride up to Fort Dodge and headed to the bus.

Ardith, Ms. Sanders, and the cheerleaders were standing outside the bus waiting for the team. Dennis joined the girls with his first aid kit and clipboards. As the team filed by the cheerleaders, the cheer squad yelled for them and roused the kids who were gathering to catch the fan bus in an hour. The girls immediately led Dennis toward the back of the bus, where they usually sat, and made sure Dennis was tucked back in the corner, completely surrounded by the team. Amy won rock/paper/scissors against Roberta for the privilege of sitting next to him on the way up. When the cheer squad got on the bus, it only took a second for Susan to assess the situation. She led her girls back and took the next row of seats forward, smiling and giggling with enthusiasm over getting to show their school spirit and support of the Angelines. They turned and showed the team the new banners the Boosters had provided that proudly announced the Bartley Angelines.

“Nobody thought it was right to wave Wolverine banners,” Susan explained to the girls. “You’ve all brought fame to Bartley High. Did you know you’re ranked number six in the state among 3A schools?”

“That’s cool,” Judith said. “We never pay attention to things like that. Coach tells us that every game is a championship game. We just go out to win every time.”

“Wow, talk about cool,” Linda said. “So, um ... some of us were wondering what a team manager does for you. It always seems like the boys’ team managers are just there to wash the towels and clean the locker room.”

“I think that’s going to change next year,” Brenda said. She’d sat closest to where the cheerleaders would sit because she’d been one. “Our team manager is setting an example for the other coaches. He leads our warmups, makes sure we have practice balls, provides us towels and water, tapes our ankles when they need it, gives us massages, washes and irons our uniforms, and maintains the schedule of who is going to be a scorer and timekeeper for all our games. He’s almost like an assistant coach. We depend on him for everything.”

“And coach says he comes into the locker room while you’re dressing,” Susan whispered. “Is he like gay?”

“Take it from a lesbian, he is so not gay!” Daniella laughed.

“But you just let him perv on you?” Linda whispered.

“I don’t think Dennis has a pervy bone in his body. He wouldn’t even look up at us if he weren’t invited,” Roberta said.

“If anything, we’re the pervs. Isn’t that what an exhibitionist is?” Judith asked.

“Shh!” Brenda commanded. “Listen, girls. I know every boy on the varsity team has seen every one of you naked. I used to go to those parties. The difference is that I always felt like a victim when I was there, just like I think you feel. If you want to feel truly liberated and feel in control, come dress in the locker room with us. He’ll notice, but he won’t perv on you.”

“Please dress near me,” Daniella said. “I’ll definitely perv on you!”

“We’ve got half an hour on the court to get warmed up,” Dennis said. “You’re all dressed for that, so we’ll shove our stuff in the locker room and head for the gym. I’m going to get practice balls, but it’s a light warmup to get the kinks out after a 90-minute bus ride. We’ll have the left end of the court from the bench. The Temple team will be taking the extra warmup on the right end. Hustle up and meet me on the floor in five.”

“Yes, Team Manager,” the girls answered. The cheerleaders just looked at them as they stashed their bags in lockers and pulled off their sweats. The team was dressed in their matching sports bras and bikini cut shorts.

“Can we join warmups?” Susan asked.

“Sure,” Natalie said. “Just try to follow along and not get in the way. Warmups are exercise. You’ll figure out why we dress this way for practice.” She looked around the locker room. “Angelines! Let’s go!” she shouted. They piled out of the locker room and through the door to the gym. Dennis met them on the court and started them in on warmups immediately. He noticed the cheerleaders following along but didn’t acknowledge them. They were not doing well. He looked over at Brenda and she nodded to him with a motion toward the cheerleaders. He went over to them as the team efficiently turned to do knee grabs as they walked from one end of the court to the centerline.

“Excuse me, Ladies,” he said as he approached the four. They were looking at the team and trying to copy them. They looked at him. “We don’t want you to get hurt copying what the team is doing without knowing how to do it correctly. This stretch is really good for loosening the glutes and lower back muscles. Bring your right knee up to your chest and grab your calf to pull it snug. Don’t stress it, but just enough to feel the pull. Then step out on that foot and pull the left up to your chest. Don’t worry about making it all the way to the centerline and back yet. When the Angelines started, they couldn’t make it halfway to the centerline. Now they do a full court down and back. Ready? Right foot.”

Dennis had taken the girls so much by surprise that they didn’t say anything but just followed him as they worked their way down the court. When they met the team coming back, they switched directions and followed them. He noticed the home team watching their warmups from the other end of the court. A few of them copied the moves and then talked about them nodding their heads. Several of the exercises were duplicated at the other end of the court.

“This next one is good for the hamstring and quads,” he said as the team turned to make their next pass of ‘over-the-fence.’ He took command as if he just expected them to follow him and they did. He showed how to bring the leg up with the heel under their butts and swing the knee out to stretch and kick out their legs. They giggled a little at the absurd position, but followed his instructions. Then he switched to ankle pops and then butt kicks. By the time they finished the stretching exercises, the cheerleaders were sweating and one had stopped at least three times to pull her underwear out of her butt crack. Dennis excused himself to run the shooting drills.

“Way to work them, Team Manager,” Natalie whispered as she took the ball back and waited for the next rebound.