Estelle motioned to a chair, and the rancher sat down, his movements quick and graceful. The undersheriff closed the door.
“May we get you something, sir? Coffee? Soft drink?”
He waved off the offer. “Not now, thanks. This whole thing has my gut a little upset.” He rested a hand on his trim belly. Estelle caught the faint aroma of his cologne, a fragrance that reminded her of kelp beds along the seashore rather than the high prairie.
She slid a recorder across her desk, stationing it directly in front of Waddell. “Sir, your deposition is important to us. If you don’t mind, I’ll record our conversation, and then when it’s transcribed, you’ll have a chance to read it for accuracy before signing.”
“Fine with me. You got to do these things. I know how the drill goes. Are you going to be reading my rights next?” His crows feet deepened.
“Do I need to, sir?”
“Nope. It’s my land out there, but I sure as hell didn’t put that corpse in that cave.” His grin was tight, his eyes watchful.
“We appreciate your cooperation, sir. I’d like to start with your comments earlier about the identity of the skeleton found in the small cave on your property.”
“Eddie Johns? I think it’s him. I think that’s who it is.” He nodded vigorously.
“And your reasons for believing that?”
Waddell held up a finger. “Number one, like I told you. The holster rig. I’ve seen that often enough. Wish you had the gun. That I could positively identify.”
Estelle rose and walked to a locked file cabinet. From the top drawer she pulled a large clear plastic evidence bag that contained the semi-automatic Smith and Wesson recovered from Freddy Romero’s four-wheeler. She handed it to the rancher, whose eyebrows shot up in surprise. “We believe that this automatic was recovered from the same area.” She did not add by whom.
“Well, damn. You did find it.” He laid the gun on his lap, smoothing the plastic. “That’s it. Well, now…” and he tipped his head. “I might not be able to swear that this belonged to Eddie Johns, but it sure as hell looks like the one he had. Carried it all the time. Probably slept with it. These grips look like the ones, the way the rosewood is inlaid into the black rubber like that.” He leaned back away from the gun, as if wanting no further part of it, then held it out to Estelle.
“Other than the pistol and the holster, is there anything else that leads you to believe that the remains are those of Eddie Johns?”
“Not enough left…other than the boot, maybe. That could be his.” He shifted uncomfortably on the wooden chair, taking his weight on his forearms as if he had hemorrhoids. “Isn’t there DNA or something that can tell you?”
“We have to have someone to match with the DNA, sir.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “So you got to find DNA that you know is his, and go from there. Match that with whatever you found in the cave.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Look, here’s what bothers me.” He leaned forward and lightly chopped his hand down on the edge of the desk. “Like I told you out at the site, I haven’t seen Eddie Johns for the better part of five years. You know, you asked me earlier about that, and I did check my planners. I don’t keep a diary or anything like that, but I jot stuff down. You never know.” He shifted again, and pulled a scrap of paper out of his left breast pocket. He extended the moment of silence by fishing a pair of narrow reading glasses out of a pocket case. “May 28th, 2006. Eddie and me were walkin’ the mesa top. You heard of StarGaze?”
“The astronomy proposal?”
“That’s the one. See, they’re an Aussie company that puts in these tourist-based observatories. I think they have maybe six of ’em so far around the world, different spots. That’s what they call it. Tourist based. They put in an observatory, facilities, the whole nine yards. And folks supposedly come to star gaze. The developers are looking for spots where there’s no light pollution. That’s what they call it now, around cities, interstate interchanges, things like that. Light pollution. ”
“Posadas County would be a good choice for that.”
“Damn right. And some other things, too. We’re convenient for transportation. Well, sort of convenient. We have a flow of snowbirds comin’ through that probably haven’t even seen a real night sky. Easterners, star buffs. Folks like that. Even from down south of the border. There’s lots of tourist money there. We’ve had a few preliminary talks with the Aussies, but nothing definite. For one thing, I was thinking that I don’t really need to partner up with some big firm, ‘specially foreigners. I mean, hell, all it takes is money, right?” He shrugged. “I can see a facility right on top of that mesa. Observatory, gift shop, maybe even a restaurant. A star gazers’ recreation area. Maybe even a camp ground. Hell, maybe even one of those little excursion trains.” Waddell leaned back in the chair, spreading his arms wide. “And you got a view of the whole damn universe up there. Every star there is.” He laughed dryly. “We were even talking about a lights-out policy at nine o’clock in the evening…no parking lot vapor lights, no outside lights on the buildings. Something really special. The Aussies have some good ideas, so it might be best after all to go with them.”
“And this is what you and Eddie Johns were talking about the last time you saw him?”
“Yep. And you know, I never should have mentioned the idea to him. Don’t know why I did, except I was so damned excited about the whole notion. But I did, and that’s that. He takes the idea and runs with it. That’s what old Eddie does, you know. He hears an idea he likes, and away we go. Trouble is, I don’t always think much of the direction he takes ’em.” He stroked the top of his hat thoughtfully. “First thing he starts to do is talk money, and all these ideas he has about where to get it. See, he wasn’t thrilled with workin’ with the Aussies. I don’t know why.” Waddell shot a glance of contrition at Estelle. “That’s where I should have stopped it, sheriff. I should have just told Eddie to go to hell. I mean, I didn’t ask him to come in on the deal. He just elbows his way around, you know. Kind of a bully in ways like that.”
“And why didn’t you refuse his offer, sir?”
“Don’t know. For one thing, it wasn’t an offer. And you know, sheriff, sometimes he can be an engaging son-of-a-bitch. I don’t like to admit it, but…” Estelle waited patiently. “I’m not too easy with that guy, you know what I mean? Sometimes he’s okay, Eddie is. Sometimes he’s a royal pain the ass. Rubs me the wrong way sometimes. Makes me nervous.”
“There’s reason to be a little afraid of him?”
Waddell frowned. “Don’t know as I’d go that far, but maybe. Anyway, I tried to head him off a little. I told him that the first thing we…I… needed to do was create some access, you know. If you can’t get up on top of that mesa, then the whole thing is a pipe dream. So I started with the idea of gradin’ that new road up the side of the mesa. There was an old washed out cattle trail there already, but not enough to be practical. More like a deer or cattle run. Half the time, you couldn’t get up there with the best Jeep.”
“But you and Johns managed on that day? The day five years ago when you and he were on top, talking about the project?”
“Drove some, walked too much. But yeah…we got up there. Eddie drove his big old four-by-four, and it did pretty good.” He frowned. “The trouble was that Eddie had all these ideas where we were going to get funding.” Waddell looked up at Estelle. “And see, that’s what I mean about him. He just assumed that he was partnering with me on this. I know, I know. We done a land deal or two together in the past. But he didn’t ask or anything. Just bulldozed in, you know. That kind of got my goat. Eddie was pushy. I mean, sometimes, he was just a nice guy, kinda fun to be with. But when he got ideas, he got pushy. You didn’t agree with him, he got belligerent. He said he could get funding, no problem. But see, I knew what he meant, and didn’t want any part of it.”