The Stolen Dozen Ch. 03

Mel said, "Let's get my godson into that helicopter."

They picked up the cradle and hoisted it onto their shoulders. When they got to the area where the cables were, six other men took their place, and raised it above their heads so the cables could be reattached properly.

Joseph said, "Mel, you're going with him, now."

"If you say so, I'm going." Six men raised him up, he put his foot on the side of the cradle, grabbed two cables and went flying into the air. 290 feet later, Sergeant Gum grabbed his hand and pulled him on board the Doman, and then the two of them pulled Robert in his cradle on board, and began securing it.

Sergeant Gum dropped the cables once more to pick up two more men. They hooked their feet into the stays for the cradle and were lifted into the helicopter. Once he secured everyone, and closed the door.

The sergeant said, "Do you think you can get us to the hospital now?"

"I have the heading figured out, and I have the horses to get us there in a hurry."

"Then why are we still sitting here?"

"Because you're a pain in the ass, sergeant."

The Doman dropped its nose and bolted northeast towards Pocono, and the hospital therein. Seven minutes later they were circling for landing, in a space very small for his liking.

Once the wheels were down, and the blades slowing, the medical personnel from Pocono Regional closed in on the strange craft, to get to Robert, and his minders out. They took him to the emergency room first to clean him thoroughly, from his time in the forest. As they unwrapped him, they could not understand why they could not raise the dachshund's front paws off Robert's head. A nurse noticed a glistening between the dog's paws, and stated, "It looks like he's glued there."

They took a cotton swab, dipped it in alcohol, rubbed it between the dog's paws, and took a closer look.

The nurse sniffed it. She said, "It's not glue, it's honey."

Mel shook his head. "Those idiots saved my nephew's life accidentally. They shot him, knocked off a piece of the skull, and then sealed it in honey, so the brain could not swell, when oxygen hit it. That's why my he is alive. This is one for the textbooks. This is one for criminal justice, also. I wonder how soon after they shot him, they poured honey on him. I really want to know that for scientific purposes."

"That's very nice Doctor, but how do we get the dog off him now?"

"Simple, use a heating pad and raise the temperature of the honey until it is viscous. Then we can remove the dog, give him a bath, feed him, and bring him home. While that is going on, we can clean up my nephew, operate on him, and get him well. I want to know how much he remembers about the men who did this to him and Carolyn."

An hour later, the Dachshund was on his way back to his pack, Robert was cleaned up and in the hands of Doctor James West and his assistants at Pocono Regional.

Mel watched in awe as Dr. West used a new compound, that was limited to military use only, on his nephew, but somehow wound up in this operating room this morning. Dr. West fashioned a metal plate to be put under Robert's skull, to protect his brain in the future, and then attached this new material to it so the metal, so it would not touch or move against it.

During the operation, Roberts body was being infused with B Positive Blood, his blood type and plasma, to increase his chances of survival. He was also being given massive amounts of Penicillin and the new super weapon 'Cephalosporin' to fight any infection that may have entered his body and brain, because of the brutal attack upon him.

Two women, from the Bronx, were finally allowed to show up. Lenore Graziano and Sistene Riefsynder arrived at the Pocono Regional medical center, just after 1 PM and were escorted to the recovery area to see where Robert was being treated.

Anthony and Robert were there to greet them. Anthony told Lenore, immediately, 'Not To Expect Much.' Their son was alive, but just barely, and was hanging on to life by a thread. Only time would tell, and he had called for a priest just in case.

As Lenore past the edge of the curtain, her knees collapsed, and if it was not for Anthony, she would've hit the floor. Robert's head was totally encased in bandages. You could see his eyes, nose, and mouth, but that was all. He was enclosed in an oxygen tent, and was receiving 100% oxygen to help his systems recover more quickly. The only part of her son she could see was pasty white. He had no color in him at all. He was still being transfused with blood and plasma, as tests were still being run on him to see what was working in his body, and what was not. It would take days for these tests to come back, so no one was taking a chance with him. Three states were waiting for these results. The entire country was involved in this case.

Everyone in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania knew about this case, and it was front-page news in the tabloids and on the evening news. Everyone was asking, "Where is Carolyn's body?" and "How Had Robert Miraculously Survived -- So Far?"

No one was letting this case go, except the 12 young men, who were now in Europe, in the finest universities they had to offer. They had not thought about what was happening back home. It did not concern them one bit.

Even though he was guarded, pictures of Robert surfaced in the daily newspapers, tabloids, and nighttime news programs. They were sensationalized in stories, as hospital personnel told of the specialist who came in to perform the operation on his skull, which had been blown away by a bullet.

The cranial surgeon was soon tracked down, but he refused to comment on the operation, only saying it was successful.

Anthony and Lenore Graziano refused to be interviewed. Robert's life was still too tenuous, and until they knew how that was going to resolve itself, all they were going to do was sit by their son, hold his hands, and pray for him, and Carolyn.

The Riefsynder's made the same statement, and when one of the reporters became belligerent, Robert hit him so hard, the reporter was happy he was already in a hospital. No charges were filed against Robert Riefsynder.

Friday, people with hunting and searching skills began showing up in Tobyhanna. 674 strong they signed in at the ranger station and were assigned sections of the state park to search.

At first light, Saturday morning, they set out using the skills they had learned throughout their lifetimes. If it was there to be found, they were going to find. They had told their employers what they were going to do, and they would be back in a week to continue their jobs. Their employers did not argue with them.

These men were experts, and if a twig was broken for no apparent reason, there had to be a reason why it was broken. They wanted to know the reason behind it, so they searched until they knew the reason. They were meticulous, and even the best of the best made mistakes.

After the fifth day of searching, the first gruesome discovery came about. A human thigh bone was discovered near the den of the bear. It still had some tissue left on it by the joint, where the hip should have been, but was not. The tracker estimated that the remains were almost 2 weeks old, which put it in the appropriate timeframe for the murders, and signaled it in.

This did not cause a stampede like it did as in Grid 1. 673 trackers continued their searches purposefully.

The sheriff, state police, and FBI were headed for the area of this one tracker, and every 10 minutes, a single shot was fired, and returned to see how close they were to one another. Nearly 80 minutes later, they finally met up, and the evidence displayed.

Special Agent Lemon, of the FBI said, "It's not much, but we may be able to get a blood sample out of that."

"Won't it be contaminated by the bear?"

"They will still be able to tell the difference, between human blood, and anything else that shows up."

"Should we go in there to see if there are any other remains to be found?"

Sheriff Fond asked, "You are kidding, aren't you? We have to go in there and search the den. Let's make a dozen large torches, so we can see what's going on in there. If it's deep, we will come out here and make a dozen more. If the bear is in residence, he will let us know and come charging out, before we get too far in. Have your weapons at the ready and aim for his eyes. Handguns do not kill full-grown bears."

The cave was nearly 37 feet deep and 28 feet across, with two high terraces. It was the terraces that caused the most consternation. Was the bear hiding up high, and looking down at them. They left a group of torches at the end, and went out to make 20 more. They didn't light all of them, until they were deep inside the cave.

Tom, the tracker said, "I'll go up to the first terrace, and check it out."

Agent Waters said, "I'm not happy with that idea. Let me go up with you, and I'll continue on to the second terrace, to make sure no one is at home. I can always throw a few torches up there, before I sneak my head above the rim, to see if I get any reaction, and if anything is living up there."

Hank said, "I like that idea, let's do it. I want three of you to go up there. The third man is to carry the extra torches, and be the lookout for the other two men."

John said, "I'll volunteer for that role."

Nick said, "John, you have never volunteered for anything in your life."

"I don't know where you've been Nick, but I volunteered for the submarine service."

"I thought you people hid down there."

"Nicky, I'm going to smack you silly."

"Gentlemen, can we continue on now?"

The walls of the cave where shallow, but slick as they attempted to climb them. As they reached the first terrace, a little more than 14 feet above the surface, they threw two torches towards each end to light the way. Nothing moved, so the area was safe.

Waters and John continued upwards towards the second terrace another 9 feet higher. With Waters being in the lead, John handed him the first torch, instead of throwing it over him. John had two more torches so he handed those up and Waters dispatched them onto the terrace. There was no sound or movement, so the area was considered safe.

Waters started up to search, and John moved down to rejoin the group, and search the cave.

Searching the terraces provided nothing of value. Searching the cave revealed the hip bone, but it was mangled beyond any use. When Agent Waters came down from the terrace, and looked at it, he stated flatly, "It's definitely a small female."

Sheriff Fond said, "You couldn't say it was a rhinoceros, and make my day?"

"Sheriff, we are not out here looking for a rhinoceros. We are looking for Carolyn, and unfortunately, I think we have just found part of her left leg."

Hank said, "By tomorrow morning, I want to know the exact distance from the cabin to this cave. Then I want everyone that is searching to proceed to that exact distance into their grids, and begin a search within 200 yards either side of that distance. These guys were so meticulous, I will wager they even buried the evidence of their crime the same way. If we don't find it within that 200-yard area, increase it by 50-yard increments, on either side. Our evidence will be in that area; I just know it. Guys, we are going to nail these bastards to the walls in court, and then fry them, in the electric chair."

They couldn't move in a straight line, run a string, or drive a Jeep through the forest to the cabin to get close to an exact mileage. The best that they could come up with was an approximation of 1 ½ miles. It was a hearty distance for someone carrying a body part, with the intentions of disposing it, but these men, whoever they were, went through great pains to put the cabin back into 'Perfect' condition, after they thought they committed these 2 perfect murders.

Now this forest would be dissected by men of great skill and tenacity. If it was out here to be found, they would find it. One piece of 'Human' evidence was already on its way to State College, Pennsylvania, and the Police Laboratories located there.

Sheriff Fond wanted the remainder of Carolyn's body to join it by the end of the seven-day search. He was debating burning Grid 1 to the ground, and searching it again, if all attempts were fruitless. He believed he would lose that argument with the State also, but he would try. Maybe they would just let him cut it down, instead.

The animals had done their jobs. They had smelled the bloody remains of Carolyn's body, buried shallowly underground, dug up the white pillowcases she was interred in, slashed them open with their claws, or teeth, and gotten to the flesh inside. Bones, both large and small, were scattered around the sites of each find. Each of these finds were gruesome, but exactly what these men were expecting.

The large bone sites were easy to quantify. It was finding all the bones to her hands and feet that took the most time, because they were scattered all over the forest floor. Most were picked clean of her flesh, others had traces left on them. The two portions of Carolyn's body they had not found yet, were her torso, and her head.

It was the final day of the search, and they were out 150 yards from the original 200-yard mark of the search when they found her. She was in the deepest grave of them all; nearly 3 feet below ground level, and that's what gave it away. Nature had not had time to regrow the area around it to its natural state, and the tracker noticed it. He dug a hole to see what was below the ground, and found a bloody white sheet. He didn't have to go any further to know what he found. He signaled it in.

He did not pull her up out of the ground. He waited for the sheriff and the state police officials to do it properly. At least her parents would now have one part of her body to put her to rest properly.

Now all they had to do was find her head. "What had the psychopaths done with it?"

At the end of the seventh day of searching, the trackers were eager to stay another day to continue looking for Carolyn's head.

Sheriff Fond said 'NO' to their request. He said to them, "Guys, no one could have searched this area better than you have. You have gone through 400 yards of the centerline of what I believe was the target area for the disposal of Carolyn's body and found all of her, except for her head. I believe her head is buried either in the swamp area of this reserve, or they put it into the lake. Either way, I do not believe we will ever find it. She is gone from us forever; may she rest in peace. I, and the rest of the world's police forces have one job now, and that is to find these murderers and bring them to justice. You people have done the job for us to make that possible. I can't thank you enough. Now go home, get some rest, and continue your lives as they were before. Thank you for your service to this community."

The trackers broke up the meeting, and walked to their cars, which were parked along State Road 423. This was illegal, according to state law, but amazingly not one of these vehicles had a citation placed on their windshields, by either local, or State Police officials.

The doctors, scientists, technicians, and staff at the laboratories of the State Police at State College, Pennsylvania had never had to deal with this much evidence from one single source. It overwhelmed them to the point of catatonia. For two days, everything stood at a standstill, until a lowly technician came back with a biological that changed everything.

He said to the lead scientist, "Sir, I have found a different 'Human' blood source, of unknown origin, from the corpses torso. The female's blood type is 'A' positive; the unknown is 'A' negative, an extremely rare blood type. This person should be very easy to identify, if we can find him."

"How sure are you of this finding, Charlie?"

"I would bet my dangling participles on them, sir."

"You know I have a very sharp scalpel, and I'm going to check your work. If you are wrong, your dangling participles are going to be over your workbench from now on."

"If I'm right, can we hang yours over your bench?"

"No, this is your wager, not mine."

"Chicken."

"Let's go Charlie, let's make sure you are right, then we will go to lunch."

"Do you mean you are going to buy?"

"If you are right, yes, I am going to buy."

Charlie shouted, "Hey everyone, the boss is buying lunch."

A loud roar was heard throughout the laboratory.

Dr. Sheehan shouted, "You moron, I'm not buying lunch for everyone, I'm just buying you lunch, and that's only if your test results are correct."

"He's chickening out. He's only buying me lunch."

"Boooo!"

"I'm going to have my scalpel sharpened while we have your test re-examined, Charlie. I won't have to use anesthesia on you, when I cut your balls off, because you won't feel a thing."

"You are correct, sir; first, because I would have fainted when I looked at that knife of yours, and second when Celia would have grabbed my balls to give you a target."

"There would probably have been a mess all over the operating field when Cecilia grabbed your balls, Charlie?"

"You know what that female looks like Doctor. I'm not sure if the Good Lord himself could control himself if she grabbed him down there."

"Amen to that Charlie, she has a form that only the Angels could have made."

"Okay Charlie, down to business. Let's run these tests one more time and make sure you come up with 'B' Negative result."

"That's 'A' Negative, my good doctor. I wouldn't want you to weasel out of buying lunch."

"I was just testing you Charlie, because the girl was 'A' positive."

"Sir, with all due respect, we don't call her 'the girl' in here, we call her 'Carolyn'. We know how we treat the others that pass us by every day, but we feel she is special, because of what they did to her."

"Let's do 'Carolyn's' test, Charlie."

"You got it, boss."

When the antigen tests came back it was confirmed. The extraneous blood sample was from a different blood type, type 'A' Negative. Another piece of evidence would be filed, with all the others, to add to the mounting evidence against these murderers. When they were caught, and brought before the bar of justice, the one with this particular blood type would put them all in the executioner's chair.

He wasn't sure how the families would react on that day, but he knew that the officials in law enforcement would feel vindicated, because of all the time and effort they had put in to solve this heinous crime, and show the public at large, that no one was above the law, and regardless of how good you were at cleaning a crime scene, and attempting to hide your victims, you weren't good enough to beat the law.

Three days after his operation, they removed Robert from under his oxygen tent, and allowed him to breathe by himself. He was still unconscious, but his tests were coming back slowly, and everything was looking good. His lungs were functioning normally, his heart rhythm was up substantially, his pulse rate was now 47, and his blood pressure was 96/52. Nothing was great, but his life functions are coming back slowly. He even had a little color in his face that Lenore could pick up.

They had decided that Sunday Anthony would return to the Bronx, and resume working Monday morning, while she would remain in Pocono, staying at Robert's side. They needed his income desperately to pay the bills that would be coming in soon enough. They weren't sure how they were going to be able to pay the hospital bills that were going to be coming in for Robert.

As they sat on either side of him, at this moment, it was the last thing they cared about. The only thing they wanted was for Robert to wake up, so he did.