Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2016 08:42:00 -0700
From: h.schreiber@hushmail.com
Subject: Chapter 38 of Come Christmas Steve (Revised)

Come Christmas Steve

Chapter 38

Grandfather can tell Time

Once all were assembled and the judge was in place, the prosecutor called
Colt to the stand. Once again, he was looking sharp in a blue-striped dress
shirt open at the collar with a pair of grey, Wrangler dress jeans and his
shiny new boots. He had one of his bull-riding buckles prominently
displayed on his black leather belt.

"Colt, please start by telling us everything that happened when you first
met Shane Steele in the roadside bathroom this spring."

Colt then began to tell the same story he'd recited over and over numerous
times. He made a point of emphasizing that I had stared at his penis while
he was using the bathroom since there wasn't a partition between the sink
and the urinal. I was sure it was emphasized to him that he should include
that detail following the pedophilia expert's testimony and implication
that I had that particular urination fetish.

"Thank you, Colt. Now please tell us about how you and Shane reconnected
back in Kalispell."

Colt spoke about calling me on Jaime's phone and how I'd told him not to do
that because of his father hanging around our house as part of the
protection detail. Then he started in with the lies about my leaving notes
on the telephone pole just down from his house. When he'd see a note, he
knew I wanted a meeting with him. He claimed again that he was asking for
advice about how to know if he was straight or gay. As he had lied and put
me at risk of going to prison, I mentally knew I should hate him for it,
but my heart wouldn't let me. I felt pity for him. He was already in his
own psychological prison, and he was doing hard time under a very harsh and
cruel warden. He was simply doing what he had to do in order to survive his
own living hell.

The prosecutor stopped him frequently and asked him to give details of what
I'd done with him. Following along the pedophilia expert's pattern, he
claimed that at first, I just talked with him while leaning against the big
oak tree. Then, he described how I progressively came up with reasons for
us to get naked together and finally, to start touching each other.

Ultimately, he got to the part where he came over to my house on July
12th. When the prosecutor asked Colt to describe what happened with photo
taking and internet posting, Colt cried as he looked at the photos. "I
didn't want to do that," he said convincingly. He added, "I hate this." I
realized that was kind of what he'd said to me in my bedroom just before
running off. No wonder it was easy for him to sound so sincere when he said
it, it was true. He didn't want to do it. He was being forced into it, just
not by me. I really wanted to testify. I wanted my chance to tell the
truth. The prosecutor asked Colt if I'd taken more pictures of him than
just the ones that were posted on the internet and Colt said that I had. He
said I'd taken a bunch and moved around the room to get different
angles. When asked where the other pictures might be, he replied he didn't
know. He said I'd taken the pictures with a small silver camera with a zoom
lens on it.

The prosecutor ended with asking, "Colt, how has all the things Shane did
to you affected your life?"

"It makes me really, really sad. I cry a lot. My best friend quit coming
around. I don't think his parents want him to anymore. He just makes up
excuses why he can't. That makes me the saddest of all." He wiped tears
from his cheeks.

The prosecutor waited patiently for him. "Kids at school make fun of me and
call me gay," he carried on. My mom is sad all the time, too, and that also
makes me sad. I'm pretty sure my dad doesn't like me anymore, because he
hates the gay stuff I did. He looks at me like I'm dirty and stuff. I'm not
gay, Dad. Please don't hate me. I won't let anyone do gay stuff to me
anymore. I promise." More tears fell. He was good.

He went on, "I can't stop thinking about it every day, and my stomach hurts
a lot." Then he dropped his gaze to his feet and added softly, "And I feel
really bad about Shane. I thought Shane was my friend, and he said he liked
me, too. I trusted him. I didn't want to tell all this on him. But, I had
to." He looked up at me, bit his lip, and said one more time as if to
convince me, "I had to. I'm sorry, but they made me tell."

When he was finally done, his mother was weeping and so was mine. Colt was
crying into his hands. I was crying in spite of myself. I struggled so hard
to keep the courtroom face on, but I couldn't stop the tears from trickling
down my cheeks. I saw the judge fighting his emotions. The prosecutor let
the moment hang in the air and then walked slowly back to his table and
said quietly, "Prosecution rests."

Adam stood up and said, "Your honor, in light of the emotional state of the
witness, I'd like to ask permission to call my first three defense
witnesses instead of my doing my cross with Colt right now.  I think we
need to give the boy a chance to settle down before I cross examine him."

"Agreed." Turning towards Colt, he instructed, "Young man, you have been
very brave. You can go sit with your parents now. I will call you back up
when you've had a chance to calm down a little."

Colt nodded and walked slowly to sit next to his mom, who hugged him
tightly. He turned into her and convulsed with great, heavy sobs.

"Your honor, I'd like to call Jordan Gillespie as my first witness," Adam
stated.

A greying man in his sixties took the stand. He carried himself in a
confident manner. Adam had him describe his credentials, the same as the
prosecutor had done with his witnesses. I supposed that was a requirement
or maybe just an unwritten rule. This guy had street cred. He'd retired as
a senior detective with Miami PD. He bought a small ranch in Montana and
did private investigations for a select group of attorneys.

"Mr. Gillespie, on July 10th, a call was made to the Steele's home phone
which was doubling as their business line. Did you investigate the source
of that call?"

"I did. The number that was traced by the police investigators was what we
refer to as a burner phone. That means that it was purchased either for
cash or with a one-time use credit card. It is only good for a limited
number of minutes purchased and is therefore not traceable to any
individual. We do know that the phone was purchased at the Wal-Mart in
Kalispell."

"What was the purpose of the call that was made on this untraceable phone?"

"The caller identified himself as a Mr. Thomas Anderson and told
Mr. Steele, meaning the elder Mr. Steele, that he was an experienced farm
implement distributor and that he and his wife wanted to meet with Mr. and
Mrs. Steele as well as with the young man who was living with them and was
active in the business. As a result, they all traveled from Kalispell to
Butte early that morning to meet."

"And from your investigation, did that meeting take place?"

"It did take place at the Stockyard Restaurant in Butte; however, it was a
fruitless meeting. The man and his wife were clearly inexperienced and the
Steeles reported that it seemed like a complete sham. I tried to locate the
Andersons but was completely unable to do so."

"This meeting did accomplish one thing, however, didn't it?" Adam asked.

"Yes. It took three of the five people at the Steele home out of the house
and away from the area."

"Objection, speculation," the prosecutor said.

"Overruled," the judge responded.

"Another call was received on July 10th, only this one was placed to Billy
Steele's cell phone, is that correct?"

"Correct. This call was from a "Damien Matthews." Damien is a former
classmate of Billy from high school and was also on the hockey team with
him. They also used to attend the same church together. The relationship
was strained when the original sex abuse charges were made against Billy's
brother."

"And what was the purpose of that call?"

"Damien invited Billy to go on a fishing trip from Friday night, July 11th,
through Sunday, July 13th, along with a couple of other boys. I interviewed
both Damien as well as the other two boys regarding this trip. Billy was
surprised that Damien had invited him because they'd had strong words and
even went to blows over the issue of Shane's being charged as a sex
offender. When I questioned Damien about that, he claimed that he'd decided
it was stupid of him to hold a grudge against Billy because of Billy's
brother and that it would be Christian of him to mend the friendship. The
other two participants both said how surprised they were that Billy had
been invited, since Damien had been continuously bad-mouthing the Steele
family. On Friday night, the 11th, Damien borrowed Billy's phone and
sometime the following week, Billy discovered that all of his videos on his
phone had been wiped and were irretrievably gone."

"What was Damien's explanation for that?" Adam asked.

"He denied any involvement in wiping the videos. He claimed he needed to go
into town where he could get reception and make a call to his father, which
he'd actually done, but he had sole possession of the phone for over two
hours."

"So through very suspect circumstances, Billy was also lured away from the
house on Saturday morning the 12th, leaving Shane home alone, correct?"

"That's right."

"Now let's move on to the morning of July 12th. There were two more phone
calls received at the Steele household. Please describe where those
originated from."

"According to subpoenaed records, the first call came in at 10:00 am on the
dot and was placed by another untraceable burner phone. According to police
reports, from their interview with the defendant and the defendant's
father, that caller had inquired if anyone besides Shane was at home and
when the caller established that Shane was alone, the caller hung up,
refusing to tell Shane why he was calling. The next call came in at 10:14
am and was also placed by an untraceable burner phone. Police reports
indicate that this caller claimed to have delivered a package by mistake
and requested Shane to go look for it. Shane left the house and did just
that, according to security camera footage."

"In your experience as an investigator, does that seem like an exceptional
set of coincidences?"

"Absolutely. We call it a "red thread." You start pulling on it and the
whole cloth of your case unravels. However, even more ridiculously
coincidental is that these other two burner phones were also purchased from
the same Wal-Mart in Kalispell as was the phone used by the mysterious
Mr. Anderson. Furthermore, the numbers were all leased to Tracfone by
Verizon, and the calls all went through the Verizon network. All three
calls were placed from a downtown Kalispell location, even the one
supposedly being made from Butte. All of that belies coincidence."

"Thanks. Let's move on. I'm going to show the security video from the
Steele's home security system. On the monitor at my left will be the
footage from inside the house showing the front door, the family room,
which is doubling as an office, a doorway, and the bottom section of the
stairway leading to the second floor. The monitor on my right will display
the simultaneous footage from the camera outside covering the driveway area
and the shop and barn entryways."

Adam started the video. He stopped it when I was seen crossing the front
entryway from the office to the kitchen and then returning with a piece of
pie and a glass of milk. That was right after the first annoying phone
call. There was no time stamp on the video. I hadn't figured out how to set
it and had left it off. Adam switched to a zoomed and enhanced view of the
grandfather clock in the entryway beside the front door. It clearly was at
10:09. He then went back to full speed video. Adam had an erasable white
board setup and he noted that time event on it. The next event was at 10:20
when I left to go look for the stray package in the shop. Again, Adam
confirmed the time with the grandfather clock. The outside monitor picked
me up as I crossed from the porch to the shop door. I left the shop door
open after I entered.

Shortly after I went into the shop, Colt emerged from the side of the barn
wearing a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops. He stopped and peered into the
open door of the shop. Then he quickly stepped up onto the porch and
appeared next on the inside camera. He rushed quickly up the stairs and out
of view. I came out of the shop and looked around the yard a minute,
reacting to the noise of Colt going into the house. Then, I went back to
looking for the box. There were tons of boxes the size that I was looking
for and when I didn't find it, I started over to make sure I hadn't missed
it. I really didn't have anything else to do. All of this, Adam recorded on
the white board.

At 10:40 am, I switched from the shop to the barn and looked in there
briefly. At 10:45, I came back in the house and went into the office where
I called the delivery guy back and gave him the bad news that there was no
such package.

I felt foolish that there never had been any package. Adam figured out that
it was all a ruse to get me out of the house so Colt could get in. At
11:05, I appear on camera at the foot of the stairs. I am obviously having
a conversation with someone above me, and then I sprint up the stairs. At
11:19 on the grandfather clock, Colt comes running down, naked, carrying
his clothes and beelines it out the door, crosses the yard to the side of
the barn and tears off on his bike, still naked.

 Turning off the security video, Adam said, "Mr. Gillespie, let's shift
gears a minute here and talk about what was found on Shane's computer. You
engaged a highly qualified computer expert to examine the computer under
the supervision of Officer Emmett."

Adam addressed Judge Stern and said, "You have the detailed report in my
evidence packet if you want to follow along with it." Adam then handed a
copy of that file to both the prosecutor and to Mr. Gillespie while the
judge located his.

"Mr. Gillespie, in your tenure as a detective in Miami, how many child sex
abuse cases did you handle?"

"I don't know, directly or indirectly, fifty maybe."

"That's a pretty good sampling. In how many of those cases, did the
perpetrator first view or first upload child pornography on the same day he
started offending?"

"Never."

"What did the analysis determine on these photographs?"

"The pictures depicting the boy masturbating were uploaded to boyzfun.com
at 10:58 am. The single picture with the ropes and hair brush was uploaded
at 11:04 to ropebois.net." Mrs. Withers let out a little gasp and I turned
slightly to see her staring down at Colt and Colt purposely looking at his
boot tips.

"All of the pictures were taken by a compact, point and shoot camera. Based
on the pixilation, it was definitely a high end camera with zoom capability
and could not have been a cell phone -- possibly, with a Sony Cybershot or
something similar. They were all taken from the same vantage point. By
evaluating the range of view, it can be determined that all of the pictures
were taken by resting the camera on the desk, next to the keyboard. Most
likely, then, the delay timer was used since it would be difficult or
impossible to manipulate the camera in that position."

"This picture with the ropes and the brush," Adam started. "What can you
tell us about that?"

"The knots are sloppy. There is not any real restraint involved. The knot
around the closest bedpost is a granny knot that wasn't even pulled
taut. The other rope just drapes down between the bed and the wall and
isn't tied off at all."

"Okay," Adam said, "There are two photos in the packet, which are
enlargements and enhancements of the accuser's nylon gym shorts that he was
wearing as he arrived. Can you describe what is clearly evident in the left
pocket of the accuser's shorts?"

"It is clearly a rectangular, hard object with an inch and a quarter
circular piece on the front of one end. It looks very much like a compact
camera."

"And in the other one?" Adam asked.

"It is bulging out, indicating that it is stuffed with something."

"Now look at the masturbation photos in the chair and on the bed that were
uploaded to the porn site. Where are the red shorts located in those
pictures?" Adam questioned, in a rush. He was hot on the trail.

"They are lying on the floor, centered between the desk chair and the bed."

"And is the bulge still in the right side pocket?"

"It is."

"Now look at the photo with the ropes around the accuser's wrists. Where
are the red shorts now?"

"They were moved over next to the bed and the right side pocket is
flat. The shorts are laying very flat. It is apparent that whatever was in
the pocket has been removed."

"As a trained investigator, what conclusion do you draw from this
evidence?"

"My conclusion is that the pictures were staged by the accuser himself. The
camera was consistently used from a point of rest on the desk. It is
telling that the shorts moved and the pocket flattened once ropes are
included in the pictures. The knots used were quick and
simple. Furthermore, it would be impossible for the accuser by himself to
tie off his other wrist to the second bedpost after the first wrist was
tied. The reasonable assumption is that it was simply draped down along the
wall instead. It is also consistent that there were no signs on the
accusers wrists of rope burns. The knots weren't even pulled taut."

"Thank you. Your witness."

The prosecutor stood up and asked, "Mr. Gillespie, regarding the police
reports describing the nature of the phone calls that were received on the
morning of July 12th, who was the interviewee?"

"That was Shane Steele."

"The defendant?"

"Yes."

"So he could have fabricated that?"

"He could have, but his actions in going out to look for the boxes in the
shed immediately after hanging up with the second caller, corroborate his
account given to the police. Also, his parents and friend did in fact go
meet with the mysterious Mr. Anderson and his wife. There are witnesses to
that."

"Is it your theory then, that the use of three burner phones, all purchased
from the same Kalispell Wal-Mart, was purposely done to lure everyone
except Shane away from the house that day?"

"Yes. That seems like the only reasonable conclusion," he stated
emphatically.

"Then it was likely done by someone who wanted to be absolutely sure that
Shane could be alone with the boy, correct?"

"That's the obvious conclusion. Yes."

"Is there any reason that you can think of, why that person who so
desperately wanted Shane to be alone with Colt that morning, was Shane
himself and that he purchased those phones and set it all up?"

 "No. I suppose Shane could have done so."

The high I'd been on just dropped like a rock in a well. I never even heard
my case hit bottom.

"When you investigated the crime scene, did you see any other access to the
second floor other than the main stairway that we saw in the video
footage?"

"No. I did not."

"Could there be a back side access that you didn't see?"

"There may be. I didn't see one, but I didn't really look."

"Okay. Why would you assume that the bulge in the gym shorts pocket was
rope?" the prosecutor asked.

"It's logical. There was a bulge and no rope, then there's no bulge but
there is rope."

"But you agree that it could be anything, wadded up toilet paper, perhaps
even his underwear that he wasn't wearing?"

"I cannot say with certainty that it is the rope in the pocket. It's only a
very reasonable conclusion."

"Thanks. That's all I have." I started trembling as the prosecutor sat down
and our star witness left the witness box. I felt like all was lost. Adam
remained stoic.

Adam called Damien Matthews, Billy's ex-friend. I didn't understand why?

"Damien, do you know Reverend Lewis?"

"Sure. He's the Reverend at my church."

"Do you like him?"

"Yeah. He's cool. For a Reverend."

"Back on July 10th, did Reverend Lewis enlist your help with something?"
Adam asked, making clear he already knew the answer by the way he asked the
question.

"Yeah."

"What was that?"

"He said he needed to get some information off of Billy Steele's phone for
the police. He said they didn't have the right to confiscate it because he
wasn't accused of any crimes, but Reverend said the information could help
put his pervert brother away."

"And you agreed to help him with that?" Adam asked.

"Yeah."

"How did you help him?"

"So like, we cooked up a fishing trip idea over at Hungry Horse. I knew we
don't get reception up where we camp, so I like made up a story that my
phone died and I had to call my dad about something. So I like borrowed
Billy's phone and drove into town."

"Did you call your dad on Billy's phone?"

"Yeah. But just as a cover in case Billy checked, you know."

"What was the real reason that you took the phone to town then?" Adam
asked.

"I met up with Reverend Lewis at a motel there and gave him Billy's
phone. He like plugged it into his laptop and did whatever he like needed
to do for the cops."

"Does Billy's phone have a password to log on?"

"Yeah. How did Reverend Lewis know what it was?"

"I gave it to him. I like asked Billy for it when I borrowed his phone."
Damien said it like he was talking to a stupid kid.

"Of course. I should have figured that out. Do you know what was on Billy's
phone that the Reverend wanted?" Adam asked.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure." Damien said smirking.

"What was that?"

"I got like curious, you know? So like I looked at Billy's phone while I
was driving into town and I found it."

"What did you find on Billy's phone that you think the Reverend was
probably looking for?"

"A vid taken of him and some cop."

"Who is him? Who are you referring to?"

"Like, Reverend Lewis. It was like a vid that Billy shot, I guess, of
Reverend Lewis letting some big cop into a motel room and Reverend Lewis is
like kissing the cop, ON THE FREAKING LIPS. And then Reverend says like, `I
hope you got your handcuffs with you, it's my turn to be on top'. F'n
gross."

"Did the Sheriff say anything back to the Reverend?"

"Yeah. He told him to knock that shit off in the hallways, but the Reverend
just laughed it off."

"Did Reverend Lewis ask if you'd looked at Billy's phone?"

"Nah, I just would have denied it, but he never asked."

"Did Reverend Lewis reward you for getting the phone?"

"Yeah. He gave me two hundred dollars, just like he promised."

"Can you describe the policeman?"

"Big dude. Tall, broad, brown hair. The vid didn't show the cop too well,
but it was definitely Reverend Lewis inside the room."

"Thanks." Adam turned Damien over to the prosecutor who pretty much
shredded his credibility. There was no copy, he couldn't recall specific
details of the video such as what Reverend Lewis was wearing and asked why
he never told anyone about it before bringing it up now? Once he'd
accomplished discrediting all but a minor value in the testimony, he was
done. It all seemed totally irrelevant to my case as far as I could
see. There wasn't even any real proof that it was Colt's dad in the
hallway.

Adam stood and said, I now call Sheriff Patrick Withers. The Sheriff jerked
his head around. He seemed surprised, and he should have been. He was only
added to the witness list the day before. Adam had done that on purpose, I
assumed, but the big sheriff's shock quickly turned to a smug confidence,
as he strode up to take the oath. He'd testified in many trials, so he was
completely at ease.

"Sheriff, you don't like the defendant very much, do you?" Adam asked.

"No. I despise him."

 "Your son, Colt, indicated that you required him to watch the news reports
on the boys home sex scandal as well as Shane's initial charges in
Montana. Why did you do that?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you. I'm not on trial."

Adam was non-plussed and immediately asked, "Have you ever threatened to
cut off Colt's dick if you ever caught him doing anything gay?"

"I don't have to answer that. I'm not on trial here."

"Answer the question, Mr. Withers," Judge Stern instructed firmly. "In
fact, answer both of them."

The sheriff pursed his lips and glared at Adam. "No. That's ridiculous. I'd
never say that."

The judge spoke up and asked the court recorder to read back the prior
question so that the sheriff could answer that one also.

Sheriff Withers glared again and said, "I required him to watch those news
reports because I wanted him to be informed about the kind of monster your
defendant is."

"Were the bruises on Colt's body that show up in the medical exam of July
12th put there by you?"

"OBJECTION!!!" the prosecutor cried out.

"Sustained," the judge said. "Now you're just badgering, counsellor."

"Excuse me, your honor. Sheriff, where do you go every Wednesday evening
after work and before going home?"

The sheriff wavered. "I meet with Reverend Lewis of the Christ Church. I
assist him with things at the women's shelter they sponsor."

"That's a noble cause. Why do the two of you meet in room 213 at The
Country Inn Motel for that? That seems like a rather inconvenient place to
hold such a meeting."

The Sheriff studied Adam for a minute trying to make a calculated decision
on something. Then he answered, "I've told Reverend Lewis the same
thing. That's where he houses families when the shelter is too full, I
think. Maybe that's why he meets me there. I don't know why, other than
that's just where he wants to meet me."

"Sheriff, where were you on the afternoon of Sunday, May 4th?"

"How the hell should I remember that? At home probably."

"All day?"

"I told you, I don't remember exactly where I was every day for months
back."

"This would have been the day after the junior rodeo that you didn't attend
and that my client did attend. That evening, you paid a visit to my client
to take a statement regarding the severe beating he received at the hands
of a large, white male driving a white pickup truck with dark letters on
the bed."

"Okay, so you already know I went to the hospital. Why ask me then?"

"What I want to know is where you were at earlier that day -- in the early
afternoon when Shane Steele was beaten nearly to death by someone matching
your description.?"

"OBJECTION!!!"

"Sustained again. Counsellor. Don't go there again."

"Yes, sir."

"Sheriff, have you ever heard of the PhoneSheriff app that tracks a phone's
exact location by GPS signal? It's a great app for parents who want to
track their children's movements and location."

"Yes. I've heard of it."

"You installed it on Colt's phone, did you not?"

"Yes I did. So what?"

"You also confiscated Colt's phone from him when you picked him up from his
friend's house on that Sunday morning in question, didn't you?"

"I don't remember."

"I was able to subpoena the records for that particular tracking
app. Here's a copy," Adam said, handing a stack of papers to the sheriff
that he refused to take.

"That's all right. I'll just read you what they show. Colt's phone was
located near the big oak tree on the canal road from 12:15 pm until 1:34 pm
on that Sunday. Just before a cable news van for WXCT News pulled up. They
have tracking on their vehicles as well it seems. Colt's phone started
moving at a high rate of speed along the canal road until it reached
Madison Street where it made a left turn and quickly found its way back to
your home. At that same time, the news crew witnessed a man matching your
description and a truck matching your personal truck's description flee the
scene of the assault that was perpetrated on my client. How do you explain
that Mr. Withers?"

Adam folded his arms and glared at the sheriff. I wanted to jump up and
start cheering, or at least start clapping.

The sheriff flinched. His tough exterior cracked wide open. He got red
faced and jabbed a finger in the direction of Adam and me, "Yeah, I was
there. I went to try and prevent the very thing that ended up happening. I
should have killed the fucking pervert when I had the opportunity instead
of just trying to send him a message. Messages don't work with perverts
like him. They're like foxes, who once they get a taste of chicken meat,
they won't stop going after the chickens until you shoot them. I was only
doing what I could to protect my boy and that creep attacked me first. I
simply defended myself," the sheriff added quickly, coming to his wits and
realizing what he'd just done under oath.

At that, Adam burst out laughing and then immediately apologized to the
judge.

"One last question, Mr. Withers." Adam stopped calling him Sheriff. "Did
you despise Shane Steele so much that you enlisted your son, Colt, to try
and frame the defendant in an elaborate, but flawed scheme?"

"NO!" the Sheriff exploded. He stood up and screamed at Adam, "NO! NO! NO!
I would never subject my son to that kind of thing. That's despicable. That
little faggot's despicable and you're despicable for defending his ass. He
groomed my son. He lured him in. He abused him. He ruined his life and he
needs to pay for it. He needs to pay!"

The judge was banging his gavel, Mrs. Withers was bawling and the bailiffs
were rushing the witness box. Finally, Brahma calmed down and sat on the
chair with two bailiffs flanking him. Adam said, "That's all I have."

The prosecutor stared in disbelief at the sheriff and finally said, "No
questions at this time."

Adam requested to have Colt called back to the witness stand. Colt didn't
seem much calmer, especially after his father's outburst. Colt reluctantly
peeled himself from his mother's protective grasp and made his way to the
stand. He didn't have to retake the oath but was reminded that it was still
in effect.

"Colt, are you okay? Are you ready to answer some more questions?" Adam
asked softly.

"I guess. Sure." There was a tiredness in the way he said it. His eyes were
puffy and red and his face was flushed.

"Good. I just want to make sure we get to the truth behind all of this, and
some things just aren't making sense to me. So don't be upset if I ask you
some questions about your story that I'm having a hard time with, okay?"

"Okay. Sure."

"Did you know that there were security cameras at the Steele's house when
you went over there?" Adam asked.

"No. One of the lawyer guys told me."

"The lawyer guys? Who are you talking about specifically?"

"I don't remember his name. There's a bunch of them I talked to. It was the
guy with the silver glasses and super black hair."

"One of the prosecutors who works with Mr. Thompson over there, you mean?"

"Yeah. One of them."

"I know you've told your story lots of times, but I want to walk through it
once more. Sorry."

"It's okay."

"Thanks. You testified that you saw Shane in the bathroom on your way back
from an out of town rodeo. But you'd seen him before that on television,
hadn't you?"

"Yes sir. From the news."

"You said your father made you watch the news reports about the boys home
scandal, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why did your father insist that you watched those news reports?"

"He wanted to talk to me some more about why it's bad to be gay and what
can happen if you are."

"He doesn't like gay people very much, does he?" Adam asked. He was talking
to Colt as if he was an understanding counselor who could be confided in.

"No. He hates them bad."

"Bad enough to hurt them?" Adam asked.

Colt shrugged and then said, "Maybe."

"You told the prosecutor that you were staring at Shane's penis while he
was urinating in that roadside bathroom. Why did you do that?"

"I was curious, and he'd stared at mine too, so I just did."

"And did you tell him that you knew who he was?"

"Yes sir. I said `hey, you're the gay guy on the TV'. He said he wasn't at
first, but then he admitted it to me."

"What did you two talk about in there after he admitted he was the one
you'd seen on TV?"

"I asked him how to know if you were gay or not."

"Because you were worried you might be?"

"Yes sir."

"Did it frighten you that you might be gay since your father was so against
them?"

"Yes sir."

"Were you afraid he might do something bad to you if you were gay?"

"A little. Yes."

"Had he ever said what he thought should happen to those guys who abused
the boys at that orphanage?"

"Yes. He said lots of things."

"What are a few you can remember?"

"Umm, he said like they should get hung by their privates from a tree, or
tied to a bed and let their victims take a baseball bat to them. Stuff like
that."

"Violent. Is your dad a violent guy?"

Colt shrugged. "Just tough. He has a tough job. My mom says we have to
understand he has to deal with bad people all day long so it makes him kind
of tough on us, too."

"Is he tough on you then?" Adam prodded.

"Sometimes."

"Did he ever say those gay guys on the TV should have their dicks cut off
as a punishment?"

"Yes, sir. He said that, too."

"Did he say that might happen to you if he caught you doing anything gay?"

"No. He never...," Colt was going to say more but stopped. He was
squirming.

"Do you like to carve things with your pocketknife?"

"What?" The sudden shift of questioning caught Colt off guard.

"Your pocketknife. Do you like to carve things out of wood with it?"

"Yes, sir."

"What kinds of things do you like to carve?"

"Animal heads. I did an eagle once."

"Very nice. Ever leave a knife out in the rain before? I did once and it
rusted," Adam said.

"No. Dad would be mad at me if I did that."

"Did your knife get rusty?"

"What?" Colt asked.

"When you carved the bar of soap, did it get rusty?"

"No."

"Did you dry it off?"

"No. It didn't get wet."

"Oh, were you sitting in the bathtub while you were carving the soap?" Adam
asked.

"Umm, yes."

"And you cut yourself just above your private parts. Right?"

"Yes, sir."

"If you were sitting in bathwater, how did the knife slip all the way down
there," Adam pointed to his crotch, "without getting wet?"

Colt fidgeted and looked at his dad. "Maybe it did get wet. I'm not sure,"
he finally answered.

"Okay. That's just a little thing." Adam moved on, "Was it a long time
before Shane called you after that first meeting in the gas station
bathroom?"

"No, sir. Like the day after or maybe two days after."

"So he must have been anxious to meet up with you?"

"No, sir. He called because he thought I'd told my dad on him." I was
surprised Colt actually told the truth about that.

"Why would Shane think that?"

"My dad got assigned to help protect the family or something like that and
Shane thought he was there because I told what happened in the bathroom. He
said it would be too dangerous for us to meet up in case my dad might find
out."

"Interesting. Did Shane call you on his phone?"

"No sir. On his brother's girlfriend's phone."

"And he told you he didn't want to meet up with you after all since he'd
met your dad?" Adam asked.

"Kind of. He didn't want my dad to know and I didn't either. He said we
could meet up by this big tree out near the canal road and that's when he
made the idea up of leaving me notes on a telephone pole."

"That was his idea?"

"Yes."

"But you kept calling for him on the phone after that according to the
phone records. Why did you do that? Why not just look for the notes?"

"I don't know."

"You must know. You made the calls. Why?"

He looked at his dad and Adam looked at him looking at his dad and then
Adam looked at the judge. Then Adam moved right up in front of Colt where
he couldn't see his dad and Colt actually tried to look around Adam.

"Don't look at your dad, Colt. He doesn't know the answer. Only you do."

"I just wanted to talk to him, I guess." That scored a point in my favor.

"Okay, Colt. So you met at the big tree and you said Shane left you notes
telling you when to meet up there, correct?"

"That's correct, sir."

"And at first you just talked together about your concerns over whether you
might be gay or not, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did it help you figure things out? These talks."

"Some. But they also made me wonder more, kind of."

"So you kept meeting more times and he started asking you to get naked with
him and started to do sex things with you, correct?"

"Yes sir." Colt answered.

"But you didn't like it?"

"No sir. I told him I didn't want to."

"But you kept on going back over and over again whenever he left you
notes. Why did you keep going back over?"

Colt looked at his dad and Adam slipped in between them again. "Umm, Shane
said he'd tell on me, if I stopped coming. He said he'd show my dad the
pictures he took of me doing stuff with him."

"Well, Colt, there's one thing about that I just have a hard time
understanding. Hopefully, you can explain it to me. If Shane was making you
do things you didn't want to do and if he was threatening to show pictures
of you to your dad if you didn't keep doing it, why would you invite him to
go to one of your rodeos?"

Colt really fidgeted then. "I guess I secretly liked it. Shane said he was
my friend." That shocked me. I looked over at his father who glared back at
me. I looked quickly away.

"Okay. Let's finally talk about what happened on Saturday, July 12th, when
you went over to get a condom from Shane's house. When did you get the note
telling you to go over to his house?"

"On the day before."

"Okay, good. When you arrived at the ranch, you parked your bike by the
side of the garage. Why did you hide it?"

"Umm. I wasn't hiding it."

"But that's so far from the house. Why not just ride it up and park it by
the porch?"

"Umm. I don't know."

"Okay. Well you stopped and looked into the shop on your way into the
house. Why?"

"I saw Shane in there. He told me to go upstairs and get naked so he could
show me how to do the condom right."

"So did you do that?"

"Yes, sir."

"How long was it before Shane came up?"

"Not too long."

"Did he say what he was doing in the shop?"

"No, sir."

"Were you paying attention earlier when I was showing the security tape
video?"

"Mmm. Kind of," Colt answered honestly. I'd taken a peek over at him
occasionally, and he had been huddled close to his mom seeking her comfort.

"It's okay. We can show it again for you."

Adam started the tape and stopped it as Colt entered the house. "This is
you going upstairs. The time is 10:28 am."

Adam showed Colt the enhanced pictures of Colt's pockets and asked, "Do you
see the bulges in your pockets in these pictures?"

"Yes, sir."

"What is that rectangular thing in your left pocket, Colt?" Adam asked.

Colt shrugged. "I don't know, he said."

"You must remember what you put in your pocket to go to such an important
meeting. Think hard, Colt. What is that rectangular thing in your pocket?"
Adam asked.

"I don't know! I don't remember!" Colt got a little belligerent for the
first time in Adam's questioning.

"Okay. I suppose you remember what's in your right pocket, though. That's a
big bulge. It's hard to forget something that big. What was in that pocket,
Colt?"

Colt fidgeted again. Adam made sure he couldn't see his father. Colt
continued to pause. His father actually slid over one seat and shrugged. "I
don't know," he answered with a mimicking shrug. Adam spun around and
glared at Sheriff Withers then addressed the judge.

"Your honor! Did you just witness what happened? I already questioned
Sheriff Withers. I can't have him coaching his son from the gallery. I
insist he be removed for the remainder of my questioning."

The judge addressed his bailiff, "Please escort Mr. Withers out for the
remainder of this testimony."

The sheriff bellowed, "No fucking way! I am not leaving while this creep
manipulates my son. I'm his father. He's the victim. I have a right to be
here!"

"Bailiff," Judge Stern said calmly, "Place Mr. Withers into custody for
contempt of court. I'm done with him." The scene was ugly as two bailiffs
half-escorted and half-dragged a fuming Brahma from the room. Colt started
to sniffle.

"Don't hurt my dad," he cried out.

The prosecutor tried to get a recess for lunch to allow Colt to calm
down. Adam strongly objected to that arguing it would adversely interrupt
the flow of questioning.

"Son, I'm sorry you had to see that. I promise that no one is going to hurt
your father. They are just taking him somewhere that he can cool off and
calm down. If I give you a minute, do you think you can calm down and
finish Mr. Christopherson's questions?"

Colt nodded that he could and wiped his tears on some tissues.

Adam approached Colt again after he was somewhat settled down and just
sniffling a bit.

Adam started the video again. When it got to the point where Shane stopped
at the base of the stairs, Adam stopped it and mentioned the time at 11:05.

"It looks like Shane was talking to someone there, was he talking with
you?" Adam asked.

"Yes sir." Colt answered honestly.

"What did he say to you?"

"Umm. Something like it was time for some fun, I think."

"I thought you were in the bedroom waiting for Shane to come in from the
shop?"

"I was, but, umm, I heard him, and I walked out to talk to him."

"That makes sense. So, after the two of you talked, he ran up the stairs?"

"Yes, sir."

"And that's when everything you did together started. Had he been upstairs
with you before then?" Adam cleverly asked to lock Colt into the timeline.

"No, sir."

"So it was quite a little while that you were up there alone. What did you
do for all that time?"

"Just got undressed and waited, like Shane told me to," Colt lied.

"Did you masturbate while you waited?" Adam asked.

"No. Gosh. I just lay on the bed."

"Did you play on Shane's computer?"

"No. I just laid on the bed."

"Okay. So, Shane came rushing up the stairs, and what happened then?"

"Shane said before I could get the condom, I had to pose for some
pictures."

"Did you agree to that?" Adam asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Why were you so willing to do that?"

"He'd taken pictures of me before so I was used to it, I guess." Colt's lie
spilled easily off his lips. He had told this story many times by then.

"What pictures did he take of you?"

"I had to pretend I was jerking, umm, masturbating while sitting in a chair
and then lying on the bed and then he wanted one of me tied up on his bed."

"Is that last one the one with the brush stuck up inside of you?" Adam
asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Hmm. Well this is another thing that I just have a really hard time
understanding. Dr. Bernstein testified that you told him that because
Shane's penis wouldn't fit inside of you, he went to get the brush to
loosen you up. But now you're saying he used it and took your picture with
it before he got naked and tried to stick his penis into your bum. That
doesn't make sense does it?"

Colt fidgeted some more. Then, he sat up and said, "I guess I got
confused. He took the last picture of me tied up later on, not at first
like the other pictures."

"Oh, okay. So, he did that part right before he untied you and then went to
start the shower, so you guys could clean up?"

"Yes, sir. I remember that's how it was now."

"So, you never saw the brush and Shane never put it into you until right
near the very end. You're sure of that now?" Adam clarified.

"Yes, sir. I'm sure."

"That would make more sense, except I'm still confused a bit. According to
the computer expert's testimony, the pictures of you tied up and with the
hair brush sticking out of you were posted at 10:55 am. Look at this blown
up frame from the security video, Colt."

Adam showed Colt the blown up frame of Shane just starting up the
stairs. "Colt, this is a blown up image of Shane just starting to run up
the stairs to meet you in his bedroom for the first time. What time does it
say it is on the grandfather clock?"

"Like five after eleven," Colt answered.

"Four minutes to be exact, right?"

"Yeah, four minutes."

"See. That's my problem. That's why I can't understand this. The pictures,
all of them, were uploaded by five minutes before eleven, but Shane didn't
even go upstairs with you until four minutes after eleven. So Shane wasn't
even there to take the pictures or to upload them on the internet. See my
problem Colt? Can you explain how that could be?"

"I, I, I don't know. Something must have...," Colt was squirming and
getting worked up again.

Adam piled on, "The photo expert said that all the pictures were taken with
the camera sitting on the desk, next to the keyboard, Colt. But you said
Shane took them. You said he took some from a bunch of different angles,
but he wasn't there, Colt. Who took the pictures, Colt?"

"Objection! The defense is badgering," the prosecutor cried out.

"Overruled. Mr. Thompson, tone it down," Judge Stern advised. Addressing
Colt, the judge said, "Young man, please answer the question about who took
the pictures of you."

"Colt looked down and said, "I did." His mother gasped. My parents clapped
softly. The judge warned them all to refrain.

But then Colt looked back up steely eyed and said with a set jaw and firm
look, "But everything else happened to me! Just like I said it did."

"Okay Colt. Thank you for being honest about the pictures," Adam said in a
calming voice. Colt relaxed a bit. The prosecutor started frantically
flipping through his folder of notes and evidence.

"Colt," Adam began again, "Where did you get that camera and the rope that
was in your other pocket." The rope hadn't been established yet, so that
was clever of Adam to mention it.

"I don't know."

"You don't know, or you don't want to say?"

"I don't know."

"Did your father give it to you? Did he suggest you post those pictures?"
Adam prodded. I expected an objection but the prosecutor didn't bother.

"NO! Not my father. My father didn't do anything. I told you that! Stop
talking about my father!" Colt bellowed.

"Okay. Sorry. Calm down. So, if it wasn't from your father, it all had to
come from somewhere. Where did you get the camera from?"

Colt cocked his head and said, "I found it." Adam just smiled. I think he
would have congratulated Colt if they had been playing chess, because that
was a brilliant counter move.

"And the ropes?" Adam pursued.

"From our shed out back of our house," Colt said.

"Why, Colt? Why did you decide to fake it that Shane had taken those
pictures and posted them on the internet?"

"I had to so it wouldn't just be my word against his," Colt answered.

"Okay. That was pretty wise for a young guy. So Shane ran up the stair at
11:04 and while he was up there, he didn't take any pictures, but he did
get naked, rub your privates and suck on them until you squirted out your
semen, and he made you suck on his privates until he squirted out his semen
in your mouth and also on your face and neck. And you wiped it all up with
your underwear and his boxers. Then you said he rubbed his penis against
yours and even tried to force it into you, right?"

"Yes, sir." Colt said defiantly. He was on defense.

"Oh, and I almost forgot, he also showed you how to put on a condom. That's
the whole reason you went there to meet with him that day. Is that
everything that happened? Did I forget anything?"

"No. That's all I think," Colt had stopped saying sir.

"That sure is a lot to happen. How long do you think all of that took?"
Adam was very soft spoken about it all and careful not to pounce on the
obvious lies.

"I don't know. A while."

"Because Shane ran up the stairs at 11:04 and then you came running back
down at 11:19. That's only fifteen minutes, Colt. How could all of that
have happened in only fifteen minutes?"

"I don't know! It just did. He did it all real fast. It all happened,
okay. I'm not lying. I'm not."

"Okay. If you say it all happened that fast, I can't argue with you. I
wasn't there. Only you were. You and Shane," Adam said in a conciliatory
voice. Colt's chest was heaving as if trying to catch his breath after a
long run.

"One more question, Colt," Adam said reassuringly, as if to say it was
nearly over with. "If you went over to Shane's house with just the intent
of getting a condom, why did you think you needed to bring a camera and
ropes with you to try and frame Shane on a pornography crime? That doesn't
make any sense to me. Can you explain why you did that?"

Colt lost it. "Because! I wanted to. I wanted it all to stop! I could make
it all stop if I did that. I hate you. I hate you all. I hate what happened
to me. I hate everyone who let it happen to me. I don't want to talk about
it anymore. I'm not going to talk about it anymore!" He said the last part
looking up at the judge and started to cry again.

The judge looked at the prosecutor and sighed. "Counsellor Thompson, are
you planning to redirect?"

He paused, sighed himself and responded, "I have to. I'm sorry, but I have
to."

"Understood. However, it must wait until after we recess. It's time for
some lunch and some reflection. Before we reconvene, I want to meet with
both of you," he pointed at Adam and the prosecutor, "as well as you, Colt,
and you, Mrs. Withers in my chambers at 1:15. I need to determine whether
or not I will allow any further testimony today." He struck his gavel to
the block. We all stood and he exited with his arms full of files and
notes.

I ate my sandwich and chips alone in the prisoner waiting area. It included
apple slices, which was a phenomenal treat. I love crisp apples. The
sweetness on my tongue could not begin to compare with the renewed
sweetness of hope I was feeling. The morning had been a roller coaster, but
Colt's cross-examination had gone unbelievably well. I could not see how
the judge couldn't also see the lies that were being stacked against me.

When it was well past time that the court should have resumed, I was still
waiting. And I waited still an hour after that. I was pacing and
sweating. No one came for me and every time a bailiff would come for
another defendant, they would have no news for me and no interest in
finding anything out for me. At three o'clock, one busload of prisoners
left to return to the detention center and still no word for me. I couldn't
imagine that the meeting in the judge's chambers could take that long.

I was desperate for a cell phone so I could text someone and remind them
that I was still waiting. But, of course, I had none. I'd gotten somewhat
used to not having access to instant communication, instant information and
instant stimulation from a smartphone while being in jail, but there were
times like this when I craved it nearly as much as a good orgasm.

Finally, at a quarter past three, a bailiff came to get me. He had no
explanation for what had taken so long.

####***####

What was the long delay about? It will all be revealed in the next chapter.

Hans

h.schreiber@hushmail.com