Page 75 of At Midnight Comes the Cry
“Ms. Zhào did. One’s registered here, two in Washington County, and one in Warren County.”
“Hmm. Hmm.” Turner rubbed his chin in thought.
“None of the registered owners have any records,” the lieutenant prompted.
“I was just going to ask that. Thanks, Charlie.” Pelletier winced slightly at the nickname.
“It’s not unusual to find members of a white supremacy group with no priors,” Yíxin said. “One of the standard ways of recruiting is to start with a hard-core cadre, like Cal March in this instance, and recruit other sympathizers through a mix of real-life and online interaction. Several of the persons of interest on my list have been outspoken in their racist and nativist activities, but have been careful to stay on the right side of the law.”
“So what we’re looking to do here is what? Rescue Van Alstyne? Didn’t you say his wife got a message he’s okay?”
“Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that a law enforcement official was shot and killed in our county, in proximity to this group, who we know are armed.” The lieutenant stood and crossed to the door. “Jason, can you bring me the warrant application?” He returned to the table. “We want a search warrant to see if the bullet retrieved from Ranger Laduc’s body comes from one of the weapons in that camp.”
“So all this other stuff, about the militia and the members and what all—that’s mostly irrelevant.”
“It goes to showing likely intent to fire on an officer of the law.” Yíxin gestured to the photos on the board. “Several of these men have been in physical altercations with cops.”
“But you don’t know if any of them are members of this—what’s it called?”
“Knox’s Noble Train. And we do know Cal March is a member.” Yíxin handed Turner a folder. “Here’s his list of offenses.”
“Is he actually up there in the mountains with the rest of ’em?”
Hadley and Yíxin looked at each other. “No,” Hadley admitted.
“It’s just—” Turner folded his hands and looked at each of them earnestly, in order. Hadley was reminded of when she and her ex had suffered through a time-share salesman’s spiel for a three-day trip to Catalina. “There are quite a few folks here in our county who might sympathize with aspects of this militia. Freedom to assemble. Freedom of speech, exercising their Second Amendment rights.”
“Sheriff, the constitution doesn’t guarantee anyone the right to kill a law enforcement official.” Paul’s voice was tight.
“No, no, of course not, don’t be ridiculous. If they were up there shooting and there was a terrible accident, we need to uncover the truth, absolutely. But we need to make it clear—and I can’t emphasize this enough—that my deputies aren’t moving against these men for their political beliefs. There’s no law that says you can’t give yourself a silly name and go marching around in the woods.”
The lieutenant glanced at Paul. “I believe the state rangers will be willing to give us assistance in executing the search warrant.”
Paul nodded. “I guarantee they will.”
“We can brief everyone in advance to keep it tight and focused. A weapons search only, as I said.”
“No arrests.” Turner pointed at Pelletier. “I mean, not until you’ve done the forensics and found the weapon.”
“Well, if we get resistance—”
“No arrests,” Turner repeated. “Half the folks around here are flying those thin blue line flags and the other half are stockpiling tokeep the government from taking over. We need to thread the needle, Charlie.”
The lieutenant nodded. “No arrests, Sheriff.”
Turner slapped his hands on the table. “Glad we could iron this out!” He stood. “I’ll need the public information officer to write me up a statement. When do you think all this will happen?”
Paul answered him. “Tomorrow. We’ll need that much time to get the rangers in place and everyone organized.”
“Good. I want the statement by tonight, Charlie. I keep having to rewrite the things; that girl has no political sense at all.” He smiled at everyone. “Nice to meet you all, and best of luck in the future.” He exited the room, leaving Hadley with the feeling she had just bought the time-share condo after all.
11.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16
She was in her office in St. Alban’s when Lyle MacAuley checked in with her Tuesday morning. “I’ve got good news and bad news.”
“Well, I’m all about the good news, so hit me up.”
