“All right! That’s a wrap!” The producer, Ms. Stapleton, a ten-year veteran of network news coverage yelled from behind the camera.
Chet turned to Alan. “Why don’t you wait for me at the Chief? I’ll only be a minute.” Alan nodded then walked to the edge of the two-lane highway and looked both ways before darting across through traffic. On the other side he walked to his corvette, opened the trunk, and pulled two bottles of water from the cooler. He opened one, took a long drink, and then walked in front of the car to where Chet’s vehicle was parked.
Alan stood there and watched Chet. He was talking to the producer and technicians huddled next to their large van with its network emblem and a satellite dish on the roof. When Chet was done, Alan watched as he too darted through traffic to the Chief. “What was that all about?” Alan asked after handing Chet the other bottle of water.
“After this morning’s interview, all the major networks sent crews out here to cover the story. When they found out I have the exclusive to your interviews, they each tried to outbid the other for the scoop. These guys had the best offer. Isn’t that great! I get to work with Dan Rather!” Chet hadn’t been this excited about a story in years.
“What about the other networks? Where are they?”
“They’re trying to cover the story as best they can, but I just found out from the producer that the others just purchased the rights to this interview in order to run it on their programs,” Chet said, excitedly. “Of course, I’ll get a large chunk of that payment as well. This story is bigger than the O.J. trial and it’s all mine!”
“Well good for you!” Alan congratulated him.
“Everything’s working just as you said it would,” Chet said quietly. His earlier apprehension about Alan’s plan had faded and been replaced with child like wonderment. “Look at them pour in.” Chet pointed at the highway. Vehicles of all sorts filed by- small cars pulling tent trailers, trucks with campers, Winnebagos, and fifth wheelers.
“Look.” Alan pointed to a license plate. “That one’s from California.”
“The TV crew has to stay in Centralia because the motel we’re in is booked solid,” Chet informed him.
Even Alan had to admit that the public’s reaction to the story was more than he had expected. “This seems to be working better then I thought.” He smiled as they leaned against the side of the Chief enjoying their water and watching the traffic go by.
After a few moments, Chet turned to Alan. “Explain to me again how we have the best of both worlds. I don’t think I understood it very well this morning.”
“Well, Chet, it’s like this,” Alan began to explain. “If the lead I got this morning pans out and I get a line on this smuggling operation, then we’ll nail Phantom and walk away with all the glory on national television.”
“But what if the guy in the truck comes forward and says he didn’t shoot Henderson?”
“He won’t,” Alan replied. “I bet he’s holed up somewhere trying to figure out who in the organization is trying to pull a double cross and wondering if he’s next. Then when we capture him, who is going to believe a drug smuggler? Definitely not a court of law.”
Chet started to worry again. “But then it will look like I reported lies about it being Cooper. I’ll be ruined!”
“Relax,” Alan assured him. “When it’s all over I’ll do another interview. I’ll explain that I concocted the Cooper story in order to make the smugglers think that I was off their track and lull them into a false sense of security while I continued to search for them. I’ll also explain that you knew nothing of the lies and that you reported the facts as you knew them. That way you keep your integrity, and I look like a clever cop.”
Chet nodded with relief. “But what if you don’t find them? What happens then?”
“That part is developing as we speak,” Alan answered with a smug smile on his face. “It’s important that I don’t get blamed for a botched case. That’s why it was essential that the Sheriff take charge. You heard him in front of all of his deputies, he officially took over the investigation.” Alan laughed.
“Then these hordes of people will comb the forest looking for Cooper, and you can claim that they destroyed any evidence that may have led you to him.” Chet added.
“Exactly.”
“How did you know the Sheriff would take over?” Chet asked after a moment.
“Actually I didn’t think a small town Sheriff would have enough brains let alone balls to do it, but he was right. There isn’t enough evidence to bring in the Feds. Actually, I was expecting Cranston to show up and take over. That’s why I worked those deputies so hard this morning. I wanted to have at least one lead to follow up on my own when Cranston showed up.”
“Yeah, where is that guy? I would’ve expected him here by now.” Chet asked curiously.
“I don’t know. The old geezer must be slipping more than I thought,” Alan remarked.
“After today’s press, you should easily slip into his position,” Chet said with a smile on his face.
“Forget Cranston, you’ve got to think bigger than that.”
“What are you talking about?” Chet cocked his head with the question.
Alan looked at his friend and decided it was time to let him in on a small portion of his master plan. “How would you like to be my press secretary when I’m elected Mayor of Seattle?”
Chet’s eyes lit up. “Wow! With a job like that I’ll be able to control which stories go out to the media and how they get developed. I’ll really be able to change things then!”
“That’s right,” Alan told his friend in a firm voice. “If you keep your cool and do everything I tell you, I’ll be able to lay the whole Emerald City at our feet.”
Chet stared out at the mountains for a while thinking about the possibilities, then another question hit him. “But what if the public doesn’t believe you? I mean, after all, there’s no way you can give them Cooper. What if they see that as a chink in your armor and don’t elect you?”
Alan slowly swept his arm out in front of him, pointing to the wave of vehicles passing by. “Look at them, Chet. They’ll believe because they desperately want to believe. They see Cooper as some sort of Robin Hood hero who put one over on the government and got away with it. Each of them probably has their own idea about who Cooper was and what he did with the money. Heck, the beauty of it is that they don’t really want me to find him.”
“They don’t?” Chet asked, questioningly.
“No! Right now, the hunt for Cooper is a shining spot in their otherwise pathetic lives. They don’t want to know the truth about Cooper because that would ruin their image of him. They don’t want him found so that they can go back to their family and friends and say they went searching for D.B. Cooper. They want to believe that Cooper is clever enough to outsmart the authorities one more time then disappear. Finding him would only ruin the adventure for them.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It is the perfect setup.” Chet was amazed at its simplicity. “What do we do now?”
Alan looked at his watch. “I’m going to the Sheriff’s Station. I need to pull in the reins a little and get some help working on this lead. I want you to start hitting the campgrounds. Get lots of photos of the chaos and confusion for the morning papers.”
“Good idea, lets get going,” Chet replied starting to turn away, then stopped. “Hey, Alan.” Alan stopped and turned back towards his friend. “What do you think really happened to Cooper?”
“I don’t know,” Alan shrugged, after he thought for a moment. “One thing is for certain though.”
“What’s that?” Chet asked, curiously.
“If he did survive—he won’t be showing up here to call me a liar.” Alan laughed then turned around, walked to his car, and got in. Chet did the same and started up the Chief. After watching his friend merge into traffic, Chet waited for the traffic to clear, then spun a U-turn a
nd headed up the highway in the opposite direction.
* * * *
Chapter 16
Revelations