Chapter 7: Strategy Session

As our flight to Pueblo began its final descent, I could feel the tension building. I hadn't seen my mother or sister for two years and I hadn't seen Calvin McDermott for six years. Plus, I was introducing them to someone who had been thought dead until recently. Someone neither my family nor Calvin had ever met. To top it all off, I was marrying this woman and accepting her two children as part of our family. I expected it was going to be quite a dramatic meeting for my mother, if not for Juliet and Calvin.

As we exited the arrivals area, I saw my mother, Juliet, and Calvin standing outside nearby, waiting for us. My sister saw me first and began excitedly waving, obviously alerting mother and Calvin that we had arrived. Ten minutes later, having gathered our bags, there was a tearful reunion for me, a warm welcome for Mary and the children, and a firm handshake and hug from Calvin. I did the introductions and while William and Tara were a little shy at first, Juliet and my mother paid special attention to them, making sure they knew how welcome they were. One glance at Mary told me she was happy with the reception. For my part, I felt the tension begin to disappear.

It took the largest people van the rental agency had on hand to get six of us and our luggage jammed into the single vehicle. Calvin had come in his car and was heading back to his hotel to get some work done. He would be having dinner with us tonight and we would be meeting with him tomorrow to discuss our strategy with the state. He seemed to be quite confident, so I left it to him to tell us what he thought would be a good plan of action. We would meet Juliet's fiancé tomorrow.

William had been quite excited with his first flight. Tara spent most of the time talking to her mother, bombarding her with a constant stream of questions about where we were going and why. Mary exhibited enormous patience and I admired her for that. I had a lot to learn about being with and around children. Aside from Juliet when she was young, I had no experience at all.

It didn't take long for Mom to get us all settled in her home. Mary and I had a guest bedroom, while Tara had the third. William, to his great joy, was sleeping on a sofa bed located in the playroom, right near the television. There were two full bathrooms and a half-bath to take care of everyone. Mom was in her element now. She was excited to have a whole family with her, and had been preparing the meal plans and activities for the children for some time.

Juliet had returned to her home, a nearby townhouse that she would soon be selling when she married her dentist fiancé. The wedding had been set for July, only two months away, and we would all return for the big event. Just as Mary had matured and turned into a lovely, attractive woman, so had Juliet. Now twenty-four, she was taller, more filled out, and clearly a very confident, happy young woman.

I knew my mother would share the money I gave her after the settlement with Juliet. It allowed Juliet to have the education she desired but didn't expect. It also allowed her to purchase a car and buy a home. She spent her money prudently. I was impressed with my sister. I felt confident that she would choose a husband wisely, but that would only be confirmed after I met and got a feel for just who Alex Karamanis was.

Dinner that evening was chaotic. Each of us was either trying to explain the past eight years, or asking questions, or both. Alex, Juliet and Calvin were the most inquisitive. The children joined in simply because they could -- not wanting to be left out of the action. My mother was infinitely patient with them, explaining that these would be her first grandchildren when Mary and I married. She may have been practicing, but it looked like she was reveling in the idea.

There was no chance to talk about the strategy for the meeting with the State of Nebraska. We did discuss, in general terms, who did what to whom and what laws were violated. Naturally, the terms and comments were heavily censored to protect young ears, but the gloves would come off tomorrow when we got down to the nitty gritty of what we would be seeking.

I was impressed with Alex Karamanis. He quickly grasped the import of the situation and was equally horrified by what had happened to me. He was the third child of George and Mariam Karamanis, first generation Americans of Greek parentage. He had two older sisters who were married and had produced five grandchildren for their proud grandparents. Now, it was the turn of Alexandros. He was the first college graduate in the family and that fact that he was a doctor of dentistry was a source of enormous pride to his parents, particularly his mother. "My son, the doctor," Alex laughed as he related the story.

I thought he was a good man and Juliet was fortunate to find him. They had met at the clinic in Pueblo where Alex was working, hoping to become a partner in the future. That future looked very bright. That he and Juliet were in love was not in doubt. To him, she was the catch of a lifetime. He didn't come out and say that, but it was the subtle other things that told the tale. Juliet was equally enamored, and my mother was just as happy as well. I was pleased. If what I could see was real, their future looked very bright.

But what about Mother? She was forty-nine years old, but looked younger. That wasn't always the case. The years after my father's death and the period of my imprisonment had aged her far too quickly. Somehow, the last six years had restored her appearance, and the smile on her face took years off her. I hoped that sometime in the near future, she would find someone to share her life with. She deserved that and more.

--I hadn't talked with my sister for some time. That evening wasn't the ideal time, so I saved it for later. The next day was going to be hectic as well when we would meet with Calvin to discuss strategy with him and his father. Calvin included his father because he was well plugged into the politics in Lincoln. I had no problem including the elder McDermott. We could use and all the help and wisdom we could get.

We assembled at 9:30 the next morning in a conference room that Calvin had rented in his downtown hotel. It was large enough for twenty people, but only five of us were present. Juliet had volunteered to mind the children, taking a day off from her work with Alex's full approval. Calvin would chair the meeting and lay out the strategy. I was doubly pleased that Vernon McDermott, Calvin's father, had arrived early that morning to support his son at the meeting. We had the full backing of his law firm. The ninety-minute commuter flight from North Platte had accomplished the deed.

"We're going to divide this meeting into two sections," Calvin began. "The first will be the actions taken by Mary's parents to initiate the prosecution of Ruel, as well as their perjury regarding Mary's whereabouts. I can't see any other areas where they could be prosecuted, since I can find no evidence they conspired with anyone else. It should be relatively straightforward.

"I have contacted Walter and Gloria Trammel, Mary's aunt and uncle and apprised them of what had happened and what her parents had conspired to do to Ruel. They were understandably shocked at having been a part of this perversion of justice. They have agreed to testify that Mary's parents, Murdoch and Rachel Simpson, had information that would have led to the proof that Mary was alive and well in her their home. That testimony would prove that her parents withheld that information about their daughter's whereabouts from the authorities. This element of the prosecution is the most straightforward, since Mary is alive and well and will testify what she knows, including overhearing the phone call that her Aunt and Uncle made confirming her safe arrival.

"The issues surrounding the prosecution of Ruel, the missing letters that would confirm Mary's whereabouts, and the testimony of a number of proven liars in court are not quite as cut and dried. Florence Milligan, the postmistress at the time, has retired, but is still living near Hazard. I doubt she would have those letters in her possession, so she could deny any knowledge of them. The testimony of Mary's aunt that she mailed them, addressed to General Delivery, Hazard, would carry some weight, but it's unlikely that we could provide indisputable evidence of their arrival. The question I have is ... did she destroy the letters on her own, or did she hand them over to someone. Our strategy here is to have her interviewed by federal postal authorities and see if we can frighten her into confessing what she did with the letters. We would also like to know what her motive was to cooperate in the illegal act.

"That 'someone' would most probably be former Sheriff Rolland Biggs. Despite a criminal conviction for suborning perjury, he is out of prison and living in Pleasanton. He doesn't seem to be hard up for money, either. I'm having someone look into his finances to see what we can learn. If Florence Milligan were to implicate him in the destruction of mail, we would have a much easier case to prosecute. He's already a convicted felon, so a judge and jury might be more willing to hear our case.

"Finally, there's Randall Bufflin, the state prosecutor at the time. He left for private practice shortly after the conviction of Ruel was overturned. My father has heard, via the grapevine, that he was advised his advancement in office was very unlikely. I gather he took the hint. We could call him as a witness against the sheriff, but I wouldn't count on any confirming testimony. He escaped censure somehow ... probably the "good old boy" network, considering how he was able to plead only that he hadn't done his due diligence in deposing the witnesses. I think the law society knows he was guilty, but doesn't want the notoriety of a very visible one of their own being convicted.

"So there you have it. The case against Mary's parents is fairly straightforward, and I'm not concerned that we won't get a proper result from that prosecution. The case against Florence Milligan and Rolland Biggs is not so solid, and I'm tasking some people to look into the backgrounds of both our suspects. I don't doubt for a moment that Mary's aunt mailed the letters she claimed. There's every reason to think that at least some of them arrived at the Hazard Post Office. So, once again, that begs the question, what did Florence Milligan do with them?

"I have alerted the Federal Postal Service of my suspicions and I have their word that they will follow up. Right now, they are looking for any other complaints that mail has gone missing at Hazard, or any unusual circumstances over the past ten years. As I've indicated, we're looking into the finances of Rolland Biggs to see what is supporting his lifestyle. Those reports are still to come."

"So, what happens next?" I asked. "It doesn't sound like we're ready to pull the pin."

"No. I don't want to move against Mary's parents yet," Calvin confirmed. "That would tip off the other players that Mary was alive and they would scramble to cover their tracks. As I see it, we need to move against Milligan and Biggs first. The Simpsons will fall from that."

We spent the next hour going over the events of the past eight years. Calvin had been recording the session and was skillfully keeping the meeting on topic. I saw a smile of satisfaction and pride on his father's face as he conducted his business. There was no new information, but we made sure all the details we knew and remembered were on that tape.

It was frustrating that we could not move on the people who had caused the illegal prosecution of me, but I understood the reason and would just have to wait until we had all our ducks in a row. I watched the look of anger on my mother's face throughout the proceedings. Mary was passive, but I knew this whole process was pushed by her and I had no doubts that she was in complete agreement with our strategy.

The meeting broke up at 11:45am and we accepted Mr. McDermott Sr.'s invitation to lunch. He took us to a nice restaurant in the downtown area. He had been in the city a number of times and knew his way around. We spent a pleasant hour or so enjoying the company and comments of my mother and her very favorable impression of Pueblo. She was very happy living here and had no intention of leaving. What she didn't comment on was her personal life. I still hadn't learned anything about that and I planned to find the time in the next couple of days to talk to her.