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Mark Stevens
Porterville 15
Britt left Devon's apartment early Monday morning and headed for the Tribune. As he came inside the building, he called, "Sam, you around?"
"You're out this morning awful early, aren't you?" Sam greeted, standing in the doorway of the print shop.
"Yes, I am," Britt answered. He asked if Sam had a few moments that he had something to run by him.
Sam followed him to the file room, a puzzled look on his face. He remained silent and waited for Britt to speak what was on his mind.
"Sam, this is confidential shit here. You promise to keep it to yourself?"
Sam nodded. "You have my word, Britt."
Britt told him what he and Devon had discovered. After telling the man everything he added, "So you see now why this has to be kept quiet? I wanted to get here before Alice did so I could talk with you."
"My God, what is going on here, Britt?" Sam asked. "Or has been going on? What will Alice think when she finds this out?" he wondered.
"She already knows, Sam," Britt answered. As he turned the computer on, he said, "Devon and I went to see her Friday night. She knows as much as we do."
"All these years it was the McKenzie's rather than some insurance company that was paying the Coopers. I wonder why?"
"I have not a clue," Britt said. "I do think it's odd, and even more so when it all started."
"What are you going to do now?" Sam asked.
"I'm going back and look into some files. I thought I was very thorough, but perhaps I missed something. That's my plan for now."
They both heard the front door open and close, and Sam called out, "Alice, that you?"
"Good morning, Sam." She joined them in the file room. "Britt, you're here early," she said, a surprised look on her face.
"Yep, that's me, Alice. A real go getter here," he added with a grin.
"Alice, Britt has told me about the McKenzie's. It surprised the hell out of me."
"Me too, Sam, me too," she said. "I just don't know what to think."
"Well, Alice, like I told you the other night, and like I just told Sam, above all else, for now, this has got to be kept under the table. Nothing can be said."
"You have my word," Alice assured him. "I would never do anything that would get your friend in trouble."
"Your friend?" Sam asked.
"Actually a friend of Devon's," Britt corrected the older man. "Someone he knows went out on a limb for him, and he could stand losing is job because of it."
"I understand," Sam said. "You have my word," he promised.
Sam and Alice left him alone to start their day, and Britt turned his attention to the computer. He searched through his files until he found the one marked "1973". He started with January 2nd, as there had not been an edition on New Year's Day. He read each article, digesting every word displayed on the screen before him. By the time he had finished with the month of January, he had not missed one comma, question mark or period.
Just before noon his cell phone rang, and he greeted Devon. "Hey, what's up?" he asked.
"You about ready for lunch?"
"I'm not going, I don't think. I have too much to do."
"You need to eat," Devon reminded him. "How about me dropping by with something?" he asked.
"That would be great, Dev."
Britt ended his telephone call and went back to work. He was now in the month of May, and he worked so hard, so intense was he, that he was suddenly startled when he discovered Devon standing before him, with a sack and two drinks.
"Hey," he greeted.
"Talk about `getting into your work'," Devon grinned.
"Sorry," Britt apologized. "It's just that I feel I had to miss something the first time, and I'll be damned if I miss it twice." He smiled. "Thanks for lunch."
"Hey, someone has to take care of you." Devon walked over and gave Devon a kiss. "Love you," he said with a smile.
"Love you, too."
For a few minutes, Britt allowed himself a break, enjoying his sandwich and Devon's company. He soon swallowed the last of his food and said, "Please, don't leave, Dev. I can work here while you enjoy the rest of your lunch."
"I understand," Devon assured him. "Go on, get to work, and I'll just sit quietly here watching you."
"Gee, thanks," Britt laughed.
Britt focused back on the computer screen before him as he slowly read through the remainder of the month of May. For some time, he read nothing but just general news of the town. Suddenly he sat up in his chair, and exclaimed, "My God!"
"Find something interesting?" Devon asked, putting his drink cup down. He walked over and looked at the words on the screen.
Britt read aloud the article dated "June 5th, 1973:
ACCIDENT KILLS SMALL CHILD, FOUR OTHERS INJURED. A VEHICLE DRIVEN BY THOMAS COOPER SR. RAN THROUGH THE STOP SIGN AT THE INTERSECTION OF MAIN AND GROVE THIS AFTERNOON, HITTING A VEHICLE CARRYING JOHN AND ELAINE MCKENZIE, AND THEIR EIGHTEEN MONTH OLD SON, DEVON. DEAD IS THOMAS COOPER JR. HE DIED ON THE SCENE. MARGARET COOPER AND DAUGHTER, ALICE, WERE TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL. MARGARET WAS ADMITTED IN CRITICAL CONDITION. ALICE WAS TREATED FOR MINOR INJURIES AND RELEASED. ELAINE MCKENZIE AND SON, DEVON, WERE TREATED AND LATER RELEASED. JOHN MCKENZIE, DRIVER OF THE MCKENZIE VEHICLE WAS UNINJURED. A FULL INVESTIGATION HAS SHOWN THAT TOM COOPER, DRIVER OF THE COOPER VEHICLE, HAD BEEN DRINKING.
"What the hell!" Devon exclaimed. "I have never heard this before."
Britt read the article once more, forcing his brain to absorb each word. Judging by the article he was reading, along with the ledger sheet showing the first deposit into the Cooper checking account, the money had started rolling in the very next day after Tom Cooper Jr.'s death. Why, he wondered? He asked Devon the same question.
"I don't have a clue," Devon said. "I don't even remember such an accident happening."
"Why should you?" Britt asked, smiling. "You weren't even two years old at the time. I don't remember much of anything before I was five."
"I'm not sure," Devon admitted. "It just seems to me I should remember something that big."
"The accident happened June 5th, and you weren't two until the twenty-first of July. There's absolutely no way in hell you could remember the accident."
"Maybe so, but this had to have been quite a trauma for a child. I just think something would stick out in my mind."
"Well, who knows, perhaps you will remember something now. The mind is funny that way. "I've read where a jolt to the subconscious can do a lot for a person if it involves something from the past."
"Maybe so, but right now, all I have is a blank," Devon assured him.
Britt made note of what he had discovered thinking it might come in handy later. At the moment, however, he had nothing in mind, but it could very well come in handy later.
Devon soon left for Porter Textile, and Britt continued on with his research. At five o'clock, his eyes tired and strained from his research, shut the computer down. He came into the outer office and discovered Alice leaving for the day.
He gave her a smile, and asked, "Calling it a day, Alice?"
"I am," she answered.
"Me, too," he told her. Stopping at the door, he turned and asked, "Alice, do you remember how your brother died?"
She nodded and said, "Well, sort of. I know he died with some sort of childhood ailment. I thought I told you that."
"You did tell me. Sorry, I must be slipping. Getting older, you know," he said, forcing a grin on his face. "Night."
As he walked to his car, Britt thought, what the hell is going on here? A `childhood ailment' had been the cause of Tom Cooper Jr.'s death. That's what everyone said. Even his mother had told him the same thing. Yet he had just read for himself that Thomas Cooper Jr. had died at the scene of an automobile accident.
A short time later he walked into the house, calling his mother's name. "Mom, you here?"
"In the kitchen, Britt," she answered.
Britt walked in and found her closing the oven door. "Hi, Mom," he greeted.
"Hi yourself," she said, smiling. "I thought you might be home this evening for dinner."
"We do seem to be on the same track most of the time, don't we?" He planted a kiss on her cheek and went to pour himself a glass of wine. He offered her one as well.
He poured two glasses and handed her one. "Mom, I realize we have had a difference of opinion on a couple of things. Please, don't be upset with me, but I really do need to know something here. For several reasons," he added.
"My, what a speech," she said. She took a sip from her glass. "What is it you need to ask me?" she asked. She gave him a smile.
"Something you said a few days ago has been on my mind this afternoon."
"Oh my, I can't imagine anything I might have said in the past that would still be running through your mind."
"A few days ago you told me that sometimes a person just `knows things'", he reminded. "You said sometimes a person wished he didn't know them, but that was just the way it was. Do you remember telling me that?"
He thought at first she was not going to answer his question. She looked at him, a look of silence etched strongly on her face. Finally she said, "Oh, Britt, you just can't leave well enough alone, can you?" The words were low, almost mournful.
"Mom, didn't you tell me Alice Cooper's twin brother died because of a childhood ailment?"
"I believe that's correct. My God, Britt, that happened years ago."
"Alice told me the same thing," he said.
"Well, I'm certain she would know," Catherine said. "He was her brother after all, and even though I'm sure she doesn't remember too much about it, Margaret has told her."
"I'm certain of one thing," he agreed. "It was a childhood thing. Everyone agrees on that."
"Then if everyone is in agreement, why does it bother you so much?"
"I guess I am bothered' as you put it because the truth of the matter is, Thomas Cooper Jr. did not die because of some childhood ailment, as everyone is led to believe. I am bothered' because he died in an automobile accident. An accident involving John and Elaine McKenzie, and their son Devon," he added.