Markers (Joshua Stokes Mysteries Book 3) (21 page)

Thirty-Four

The Coalsack

Well, I ought to have known it would have something to do with the stars, thought Joshua as he laid down the book Metcalf had handed him to read. Nearly all polytheistic religious beliefs, like Root Doctor’s and his African Juju, were based on something to do with the position of the stars. The constellations are not just the focus of astrology; they are also fodder for prophesiers and foretellers of the future like Nostradamus and mystics like Edgar Cayce. Even Albert Einstein and his theories of relativity had something to do with the stars…

What he had discovered was that there was no such thing as a ‘crux tree’, but there was something called a crux. After researching it, he’d found that a ‘crux’ was a ‘crucial point’ a
marker
- such as something stuck in the ground that marks a certain spot (ae - the Trees) - Crux spelled with a capital C was the Crux Constellation or more commonly the Southern Cross, a constellation of the southern hemisphere containing four bright stars forming a cross. The smallest of the 88 constellations, it contains the Coalsack, a dark cloud of dust obscuring the stars beyond it in the Milky Way.

Joshua thought of the old black man and his smoldering coals… Instead of obscuring or hiding something - his Coalsack - ‘the dark smoke rising from his black pot’, revealed things to him - He’d stare into the smoke awhile and then prepare the seeker a small cloth sack with several items they would keep on them until their problem was solved. Those things, along with some roots and a few herbs, righted people’s wrongs - equied their librium’s or whatever the hell they did, thought Joshua. Well, now that he had this information, what was he to do with it? He decided to delve a little deeper into the mystic and see what he could find.

He went to his office, called one of the local universities, and asked if they had any classes on astrology and such as that; they suggested that he contact the School of Math and Science to set up an appointment with a professor Haines who was top in his field in lower Alabama. He called and was able to make an appointment for that afternoon to meet with Alex Haines Ph.D, an Astrophysicist and Professor of Physics at his offices there at the School of Math and Science in Mobile.

Joshua arrived fifteen minutes early for his appointment with Haines. He seated himself in a waiting room where the intern told him to go to await his appointment. The waiting room was barren except for a couch, several chairs, and a few magazines on a coffee table. He wanted a cigarette, but did not see any ashtrays. He sat there as long as he could and then stood to walk outside and smoke. Before he reached the door, he heard a woman’s voice ask - are you Sheriff Stokes. Joshua turned saying yes, as he did.

A pretty, brown-haired girl with very short curly hair came out and informed him that the professor would see him now. She led him to an office down the hall.

Alex Haines sat behind an oversized mahogany desk that was piled high with papers-as a matter of fact, there were stacks of papers everywhere Joshua looked. They covered most surfaces, the chairs, and even most of the floor. Haines had not looked up from the papers in front of him. Joshua assumed he was grading them, by the red marks he was making on them. Haines motioned a perfunctory hand toward the one empty chair in the room, but did not speak. After he had sat down and set there a good minute, the professor was still making marks on the papers in front of him; Joshua was getting irritated. He cleared his throat and asked if he could smoke. Haines waived a hand toward an ashtray to Joshua’s right. The metal ashtray was mounted on a wooden stand that stood about two feet tall. A carved horse head topped it. As he sat there and smoked, the professor finished the page he was grading and then lay down his pen and removed his glasses. He cupped his hands on the desk and then looked up at Joshua.

“I am Professor Haines; how can I help you,” he asked.

Alex Haines looked exactly like what Joshua would picture a professor looking like - he had a head of bushy gray hair and wild wiry eyebrows, but his eyes were sharp like a ferrets, they didn’t miss a thing. He even had a curved pipe hanging out one corner of his mouth. As Joshua explained about everything from the sacrificial lamb, the Cruxes he had researched, and the Root Doctor and his referring to his shade tree as a crux tree, Alex Haines gave him his undivided attention - he did not even ask any questions. When Joshua finally ran out of things he wanted to address, he wished he had a shot of whiskey to settle his nerves.

“Sheriff Stokes,” Haines said solemnly “I usually have my brandy about this time of the afternoon; you look as though you could do with a snifter of good brandy yourself.”

“Actually, I’d prefer a shot of whiskey, but at this point I will take anything you have to offer.” Haines opened a side drawer, pulled out a bottle, and set it on his desk. Then he pulled out a couple of Dixie cups and poured each about three quarters full. Joshua downed his in one swallow. Haines offered to refill it, Joshua accepted.

“I believe you have figured some of it out, Sheriff, but you have no idea about Watkins’s Ley lines-”

“Who’s what?”

“Ley lines - there is a grid of lines around the earth, discovered by a man named Alfred Watkins. Imagine you are looking - here, I’ll show you.” Haines stood and walked over to a bookshelf and brought a globe to his desk. “Earth is encircled by a grid of ancient roads and trails, or what most refer to simply as lines. These lines are visible from above, such as in an airplane. These lines are said to be pathways to the spirits, God, and other deities that people worship. The lines intersect at pivotal points across the globe linking ancient landmarks and places of worship where certain rituals were and are performed for such. Many modern landmarks are also located along these lines and at intersections on them. Certain cities are located at the intersections also. There are also places that are considered vortices. There are major and minor vortices and intersections. Stonehenge, you have heard of that, right.” Joshua nodded an affirmative. “It is one of the most famous landmarks-it is located at one of the major intersections. The Vatican is at a major intersection, so are Dallas, Texas, St. Augustine, Florida, and New York City. Several other major cities in this and other countries are also located at major intersections of these lines. Many believe the Bermuda Triangle and all the strange things that have been linked to it, are a result of intersecting Ley lines. It is believed that Atlantis was located at a major intersection - several scientists even claim to know its general location because of these Ley lines.”

“Hmm” said Joshua, trying to absorb all Haines was telling him.

“Do you remember all the hoopla about the strange lights and UFOs seen over Destin, Florida last year?” Joshua vaguely remembered it, so he nodded his head.

“Destin is located at what is thought to be a vortex at a minor intersection. So is Area 51 out in Arizona, no Nevada…” Haines paused in thought. “You mentioned Cruxes - Occultists and practitioners of other religions such as Satanism, Santeria, and Voodoo believe that there are crucial points called Cruxes where these lines meet. These points were marked many years ago… some, like Stonehenge, by giant rocks - others by pyramids - the trees you spoke of could have been planted there many hundreds of years ago to mark those two points here in Mobile County. Nowadays, the people practicing those types religions mostly use animal sacrifice - human sacrifice, which was very common many years ago, would be a much stronger offering if, per se… they wanted to connect with the dead, or Satan - let’s check it out.”

Haines rummaged around in several piles of papers and then a drawer in his desk. He produced a map of the United States, which he laid across his already overcrowded desk. “Show me on the map the ‘Root Doctors’ residence” he instructed. Joshua stood and gazed down at the map. He pointed to the exact location on the map. Haines ran his finger to St. Augustine, Florida. He then took a yardstick and ran it from St. Augustine to Dallas; it did not match up, so he then ran that end up to Nevada where Area 51 is located; that caused it to run right through Mobile County. What was cool to Joshua was that it ran right across Root Doctors property. Joshua quickly looked to where Henry Gills property was on the map - the line also crossed it. Haines marked both properties. He then turned the end of the yardstick to another hot spot on the map and the other end to another - it directly crossed Root Doctors - Haines did the same with another known place, with Henry’s place and then another and another-he drew lines as he went. When he finished, both Henry Gills and the Root Doctors places had multiple lines intersecting right where their trees were. Joshua was surprised. The intersection at Henry’s tree actually had more lines than Root Doctors house did.

“Science and Mathematics tell all,” Haines chuckled. Then, noticing Joshua’s confusion at his mention of science and mathematics, he said, “Let me clarify - Numbers has everything to do with everything in our world, Sheriff. Numerals and the use of them never fail. The study of numbers, or what we in the learned community call Numerology can be traced back to Pytheas of Massalia, a Greek geographer. Everything boils down to numbers… I could show you, but I would need a blackboard and several hours -- See, these two points here in Mobile, would be considered cruxes - minor cruxes though, not major ones,” he said, running his fingers across the map “but that still makes them more powerful than just lying along the Ley. However, I did notice that this one has a number of lines and an altitude that would maybe make it a vertex,” said Haines, running his finger along a singular line that ran through the county. That was when Joshua noticed that the line intersected with another line near his cabin. The lines met right were the remnants of the old main house for Caledonia had once stood.

“What about this intersection here” he asked, pointing to the one at Caledonia.

“That one…” Haines traced several other lines. His eyes widened slightly. “It would appear that this place is most likely a vortex of some sort. - The ley line from Atlanta to New Orleans crosses it, as do several other lines of import. Some believe that the spirits of the dead use these vortexes as entry and exit points to come and go from the spirit world to the living world. Some philosophers, H. G. Wells for one, even thought these vortexes are places where one can travel through time -- hence his Time Machine novel.” Haines chuckled, showing his disbelief in such.

That
certainly explains a few things, thought Joshua regarding his ghostly apparitions and visitors. “What is the difference between a vertex and a vortex?”

“A vertex,” said Haines, is the highest point at which the sides of an angle intersect. The term
Vortex
refers to a whirling mass of matter. Both are often used metaphorically — vertex for the meeting point between two or more things, and vortex for any chaotic, figuratively swirling mass.”

“So, in your opinion, this spot right here,” Joshua placed his finger where Henry’s tree was located, “would likely be a place where someone would want to perform a ritual of some sort… maybe even to use a human sacrifice?”

“Yes, it would definitely appeal to a ritualist as a place to appease the gods or
whomever
, it being an intersecting high point.”

Joshua thanked the professor for the brandy and for his helpful information, and then left. He left the school knowing much more than he needed to know about Ley lines, vertices, and vortices, but still had not a clue as to who had performed the ritual and sacrificed the child… He knew he was out of his league.

As soon as he sat in his car, he pulled the whiskey bottle from under the seat and took a long pull on it. He lit a smoke and sat there pondering what to do next. He didn’t know shit about rituals and sacrifices, nor did he know what made the world go around, but what he did know was criminals and their habits. He decided the best thing for him to do was to stake out Henry’s field. It was a fact that most criminals revisited the scene of their crimes.

Thirty-Five

Fishing in the Dark

Joshua called Ida Mae, went over with her what she knew of the murders of the couple they’d found, asked if the registration on the vehicle had come in from California yet, and then informed her that he needed to meet with all of his deputies as soon as he left Henry Gill’s place. Henry had given Joshua information he did not have before that fueled his belief that the Crux had plenty to do with the ritual performed under Henry’s tree. What bothered him most was that the information Henry gave him was not available to the public. When he reached home that afternoon, he kicked back on his porch and did some more pondering of the situation as he waited on his deputies to arrive. According to Henry, his fourth great-grandfather, Cyrus Gill, was a powerful Illuminatus, a member of an elite group that called themselves ‘the Illuminati.’ Henry said it started in Germany, which was where Cyrus came from, and mentioned something to do with the “All Seeing Eye” on American currency. He also told Joshua that his ancestor was buried under the base of the tree - it was planted atop his grave supposedly, on the day he was buried.

“I always figured that was why the tree was so damn big and healthy - it had good fertilization from the start,” old Henry laughed when he said it.

As he waited, Joshua rolled a joint and smoked it - it had helped him a lot to deal with his pain as he recuperated; right then, he just wanted to mellow out a little. Although he had not specifically asked him to come, Metcalf was the first to get there.

“I know I am not required to come, because I’m from the coroner’s office and this is not a crime scene, but you know me, Sheriff, I like to stay on top of what’s going on. This case is of great interest to me.”

“You’re fine, John,” Joshua replied. “I understand completely.”

Davis, Cook, and Calvert arrived shortly after Metcalf did. Joshua could see that all were quiet and thoughtful, even high-strung Elias Cook was calm for a change. He knew the situation was grim - people did not just sacrifice babies and not be capable of doing more. Joshua had also made the connection of the couple they had found dead with each other, the California van, and the baby. The couple and their child were reported missing from San Francisco a month earlier when they failed to return to California from a trip to see the girl’s parent’s in Pensacola, Florida. Joshua was glad they had names to go with the bodies-the parents of the dead woman were on their way from Florida to identify the bodies or at least pictures, clothing, and other articles found on the couple. Joshua was glad. The apparition of the dead woman had finally disappeared from his yard when the baby’s body was found…

He filled his deputies in on what he had found out by talking with Haines and with Henry. Joshua figured that whoever performed the ritual and murdered the couple and their child had to know Henry personally. They knew the place was a crux and they knew that a person that had a powerful life force when alive was buried under the tree - making it the perfect place to perform a ritual requiring such…

In the end, he told Davis and Cook they were to take the second shift and watch the area from 3 p.m. in the afternoon to 11p.m. at night. He told them that he wanted them to swap out every couple of hours to keep them focused and sharp. He informed Calvert that he would be on the third shift with him from 11p.m. to 7a.m.

When Joshua confronted Henry with his theory that someone that knew of his grandfather’s burial there had done the crime, Henry told Joshua that he thought his great-grandson might have done it - Henry confessed that the boy was a strange one-always had been. He said that even when he was just a boy, he had killed small animals and sacrificed the bodies - “Even though we think Henry’s grandson done this, we don’t know who his accomplices were. If we are going to catch the person or persons who did this horrendous crime, it looks as though we are going to have to do a little fishing in the dark. We definitely have a nutcase on the loose and if we do not catch him or them right away, he and they will most likely continue with this gruesome quest to gain power and strength in the occult, or whatever else the hell they are doing. You boys stay sharp. If you see any activity at all, other than cows grazing, pounce on it; but remember - we want these freaks alive; they have some questions to answer!”



A brisk wind traveled down the long dirt road. It swirled into a small dust devil when it reached the blacktopped main road, because it was forced upward. Joshua saw it in his headlights as he slowed to turn down the dirt road that backed the field where Henry’s pride and joy stood. As he drove through it, he thought of the one he and Hook had stopped in several months earlier. However, this one was nowhere near as large as that one was. He drove several hundred feet down the dirt road and then turned into a small pig-trail to his left. Once turned, he switched off his headlights so they would not shine through the trees and into the field.

Henry had been riding around on his tractor, doing a little investigating on his own. He had found an area he thought the perpetrators had parked while they performed their rituals. Who better than Henry, knew where he and his deputies could park to stake out the field. Henry said they could park where he was now headed and have a good view of the tree without having to worry that someone standing by the tree would see them. Joshua was glad the moon was bright - he drove slowly so that he could come to a stop by shifting gears and not have to apply the brakes and worry that the red glare would be seen from the field. It was just before 2a.m. and he had come to relieve Paul Calvert, who had been there since 11p.m. when he relieved Deputy Cook.

Calvert was leaned against the hood of his car, a pair of binoculars in his hand gazing across the field. He turned to watch Joshua as he rolled up. When Joshua got out and walked over to Calvert’s cruiser, he informed him that all had been quiet so far. They stood and talked a few minutes while each smoked a cigarette.

“I got it the rest of the night, Paul, you go on home and get some rest,” Joshua told him as he got behind the wheel of his patrol car.

“But you said we were to swap out every couple of hours to stay sharp.”

“So, I did - but I’m well rested - you’ve been at it since-what, six or seven a.m. Go home, get a couple of hours sleep before you go in, then knock off around four this afternoon, and sleep until time for you to come in; that’s if we don’t catch the perp before then.” Calvert was not going to argue too much, he was wiped out.

“Yeah, I am tired. Still haven’t recouped good since my hospital stay.”

“I know you haven’t-I can see it in your eyes.”

“You were in worse shape than I was, Sheriff.”

“I might’ve been, but you’ve been back on the job longer - you probably didn’t take off as long as you needed to.”

“Alright Sheriff, but keep a wary eye - all those damn cows of Henry’s a wandering around out there in the dark, can spook a fellow into seeing things that aren’t there. It seems as if every damn one of ‘em has come to the fence to look over here to see what I’m doing since I’ve been sitting here; it’s a little unnerving at times. Didn’t feel like animal eyes staring at me though, to me-they felt human.”

Joshua chuckled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Deputy.”

He knew what Paul meant when he said the eyes did not feel like animal eyes watching him - he had experienced the same thing when Leonard Page and his bunch were camped out in the woods around his cabin watching him before they tried to kill him. He was use to animal eyes watching him as he sat on his porch every night, but when Leonard and them was watching, it was different - an eerie, spooky feeling…

Joshua watched Calvert leave-winced when he saw him tap his brakes just before turning onto the dirt road, but was thoroughly relieved that he did not see him turn his headlights on before reaching the pavement. He needed to rethink this changing out every couple of hours. That was just too much traffic in and out while trying to stay invisible… He would figure it out if this stakeout turned into more than a one-night thing.

Joshua cut a small chunk off a plug of tobacco and stuck it in his mouth. He did not want his smoking to give him away so he had brought the chewing tobacco to keep from smoking - The flare of a cigarette lighter could be seen from a mile away, and the smell of cigarette smoke carried far with a light wind behind it.

He had sat there for nearly an hour before he saw a glow of light down near the tree - he pulled out the binoculars and tried to focus them on the tree, but couldn’t, a bush growing along the fence line blocked his view. He eased the door open and got out of his cruiser. He propped on the hood as Calvert had done and used a spyglass he brought from home to focus on the tree. He watched the glow of light with interest. It did not appear to be gaslight or candlelight; it was an odd formation - more of an oval luminance - somewhat blue in coloration. He needed a closer look. He climbed the fencerow and began a trek toward the tree, stopping ever so often to look through the spyglass at the tree. When he was about a hundred and fifty feet from it, he stopped to look and was stunned to see the glowing apparition of a human form.

“Must be old Cyrus,” Joshua mumbled, thinking to himself that he had never seen a three hundred year old ghost before. He was about to continue walking when he heard two people talking. He dropped down on one knee, raised the binoculars that hung from his neck by a strap, and done a sweep of the field - cows mostly was all he seen, but when he turned back to the oak tree he saw human forms holding a lantern up and looking around for something on the ground. Their voices carried on the quiet night and it did not take long for Joshua to hone in on what they were saying.

“I know I must’ve left it here,” a girl’s voice said. “If I loose it, they’ll never buy me anything else again!” she exclaimed.

“All you said was a necklace - what did it look like?” a male voice asked.

“It was a cross,” the girl replied, asking, “Are you sure Cy did not get it?”

“I don’t think so,” the boy replied, “but we were all stoned out of our minds.”

“I couldn’t believe he killed that kid!” the girl said, lowering her voice as if she was aware that someone was listening to their conversation.

“Well, he did, Janelle, and you and me, we’re in this just as deep as he is… we didn’t do anything to stop him from nailing that baby to the tr--”

“Hush! Johnny, please hush! I don’t want to think about it! We didn’t know he had the kid until we got here. We were already messed up by then,” the girl whispered vehemently grabbing the boys arm and causing the light from the lantern to move wildly around them. “Sh…! Did you hear that?” the girl asked in a whisper.

“Hear what, Janelle?” the boy asked, adding sarcastically “All I can hear is cows swishing their tails and chewing their cuds and you going ape shit!”

“I swear I heard a baby crying!”

“Aw shit, that’s just your imagination-stop being such a pussy!”

“Freeze, you two are under arrest!” Joshua spoke loudly. While they had talked back and forth, he had slipped up behind them and drawn his weapon. Johnny got antsy as if he wanted to run, but then moved back beside the girl and grabbed her hand as if he might try to drag her with him if he did.

“I ain’t in no mood or condition to chase you, Johnny or Janelle, so don’t make a move or I
will
shoot you, do you hear me!” he hollered at their backs. “Besides, you don’t think I’m the only one out here do you? My deputies are all around here,” he bluffed.

Joshua only had one set of cuffs on him so he cuffed them to each other and told them not to try anything funny or he would shoot their legs out from under them; he meant it too. He then marched them up the hill toward his parked cruiser.

After walking a few feet from the outlying branches of the tree, he swore he heard the faint cry of a baby. He saw Janelle make a misstep, stumble, and nearly fall. She turned her head to look over her shoulder toward the tree and looked into Joshua’s eyes. Yeah, he had heard it too, and he knew that she knew he heard it, but there was no way in hell he would acknowledge it.

“Keep walking,” he said gruffly. “You’ll have plenty of time to think about what you done, both of you.”



The ‘Cy’ they spoke of, was Cyrus Gill, the umpteenth, and catching him was not as hard as Joshua first figured it would be. Cyrus was one of those that were brilliantly blessed in the book-smarts department, but very lacking in common sense. Of course, he was also clinically insane on top of all of that, so he had checked himself into the mental ward at the local hospital after murdering the couple from California and sacrificing their child - he said he done it alone, but needed two other people for the ritual. He was very disappointed that the sacrifice had failed to raise Satan; he said that he was planning to try again when released. Both Johnny and Janelle blamed Cyrus for what happened and cried ‘woe is me’, but Joshua felt no sympathy toward either of them. He did not figure the courts would either.