Read Under Suspicion - The Legend of D.B. Cooper Page 57

Deputy Rissley had been watching Sheriff Harper and Deputy Milhouse talking in the courtyard. She was glad Jim was finally here and instantly felt sad for him because of the loss of his friend. He must feel horrible, she thought.

  As she watched him, she could tell he was upset. Showing up late didn’t help matters, which clearly added to his frustration. She too had shown up late and was also frustrated with the direction this investigation had taken.

  She was in her backyard working on her fastball, when the call came in. The message on the answering machine had been almost an hour old before she had gone in the house. She immediately changed her clothes and rushed out to Mineral Lake fully expecting Jim to be here and have everything under control.

  When she found out that wasn’t the case, she tried to call him but there was no answer. So, she joined the investigation already in progress hoping Jim would get there soon. When Joe arrived, Deputy Milhouse had taken charge of the others and was handing out work assignments, while clearly under the direction of Agent Bradley.

  When Tom explained who Bradley was and told the stories of his exceptional exploits, she was very impressed—they all were. She gladly accepted her job assignment, to log in evidence, so that she could examine it and quickly catch up on the case.

  It didn’t take long before she started questioning the validity of some of the evidence. Her questions were swiftly rebuked by Agent Bradley, however, and she backed down. After all, he was a Special Agent of the DEA, an expert criminal investigator while she had never investigated anything more complicated than a fender bender.

  She continued to log in the evidence, quietly scrutinizing it and eventually became more skeptical. She had watched the interview from the porch and by the end of it she was flabbergasted. There was something not right about Agent Bradley and his investigation—she was sure of it.

  The only intriguing item in the evidence box was Buck’s journal. She hadn’t the time to look at it yet, but wanted to in depth. Physiologists often have patients write stories as a part of treatment. Reading the stories helped the doctor get to know the patient better and helped in diagnosis.

  Although she had known Buck for years, she always wanted to get to know him better. But now, sadly, that would be impossible. She hoped by reading his journal, she might get a glimpse of who Buck was on the inside and not just what she knew about him on the surface.