Stephanie Isn't Here

By C. Norman Noble

Local hero Cort Harper returns from college to teach science at his hometown high school, but despite his fame and spotless reputation, things don't go well. His wife, a local girl and also a teacher, battles cancer and later is murdered in an unsolved crime from which only Cort's airtight alibi staves off his possible indictment -- yet there are those who believe he may have gotten away with the heinous crime. Then, some months later, murder stalks him once again as he is accused of the strange and violent death of one of his young students, apparently after a kidnapping. But this time, Cort is tried, convicted and sentenced to be executed. Story over? Not by a long shot. In fact, it's only the beginning, and the twists and turns of this fast-paced tale will keep you on the edge of your chair through page after page.

• Language: English
• Publisher: C. Norman Noble
• Release date: Jul 31, 2011
• ISBN: 9780978697174

C. Norman Noble

Norm Noble has been writing professionally since 1963 and has published over 100 articles and booklets covering fields as diverse as marketing, sales, aircraft electronics, marine electronics, and energy management. Following a successful career in the aerospace industry, where he managed international sales and marketing groups for major corporations, he was the owner of THE NOBLE GROUP, a publisher of custom newsletters for corporations. In 1989, his non-fiction book titled Advertising Your Church Services was published, and in 2004, his novel, In the Still of the Night, a story of tragedy in the skies, was published. An historical adventure novel, Changing of the Gods, about a con game in 66 AD Corinth, was published in 2006, and in 2007 he published an aviation spy thriller entitled Prophet. Details on all these books can be found on the author’s website, which is located at www.normoble.com. Norm has traveled extensively (up to 150,000 miles a year) and has spent time in 78 countries on six continents.

Book preview

Stephanie

Isn’t Here

*

Another Novel by

Norm Noble

*

Copyright 2011, C. Norman Noble and Ironwood Publishing. All rights reserved

ISBN 13: 978-0-9786971-7-4

ISBN 10: 0-9786971-6-0

No part of this book, either in part or in whole, may be reproduced, transmitted or utilized in any form or by any electronic, photographic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or entry into any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner, by way of the publisher or the publisher’s agent, except for brief quotations embodied in literary articles and reviews.

Published by Ironwood Publishing, Sun Lakes, Arizona

Book and Cover Design: OPA Author Services, Scottsdale, Arizona

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

Author’s Statement

This is a work of fiction. The events described are imaginary. The setting of Rainier Falls and the characters who live there are figments of my imagination; none are intended to represent a specific place, or persons living or dead. I claim immunity for what I’ve written about the Rainier Falls public schools. In the State of Washington, small towns co-op their children’s education into school districts. If Rainier Falls existed, most likely their children would be part of the Enumclaw School District, not standing alone as I have portrayed them.

But, hey, like I said at the beginning, this is a work of fiction. And it’s my book.

* * *

Insights

Ringed by year-round, snow-capped mountain peaks, crisscrossed by fresh- and salt-water, home to urban centers and vibrant small cities—is the State of Washington’s King County—home to some of the most majestic scenery in the United States—nearly twice the land area of the state of Rhode Island—the area where both Seattle and Rainier Falls are located.

From a jet engine, to an espresso machine, to a computer’s hard drive, to pioneering medical research, to grunge rock, to the world’s largest ferry fleet, King County's world-changing events all have their distinct timbre.

Ever heard the blowing sound of an Orca (killer whale) as it breaks the surface of Puget Sound, or the wailing whistle of a freight train as it rolls past the Seattle Mariner’s Safeco Field, or the stillness of a gigantic forest?

I have. I’ve lived in King County since 1955.

Heat is not normally a word synonymous with Seattle. In Puget Sound, when the temperatures get to eighty degrees, natives get restless. When they hit eighty-five degrees, folks get testy. When they reach ninety degrees, there is an outcry for the legislature to reconvene and do something about it.

Seattle is not known for weather extremes. The lowest recorded temperature in history is zero, and the highest is one hundred. Snow is not a frequent visitor, and rain is not as frequent as its reputation would suggest. Of course, it does rain in the Puget Sound region—that's why the area's lush vegetation is always a rich green. But it rarely rains heavily. Average rainfall is thirty-six inches—less than that of New York City, Chicago, Boston, Houston, Memphis, Miami, or St. Louis.

The temperate climate allows residents to enjoy their surroundings year-round. High temperatures in July average 75 degrees, while low temperatures in winter drop below freezing an average of only 15 days per year. Temperature extremes, there aren’t.

Then there are the people. In the 2010 census, the population was an estimated 1,931,249. King County is one of the most heavily educated counties in the nation, with approximately half of the adult population holding advanced degrees; and some without degrees at all—like Bill Gates and Paul Allen and Bill Boeing.

The people of King County are friendly and outgoing . . . and laid back. As evidence of this, Casual Fridays originated here, and the first wave originated at the University of Washington’s Husky Stadium on October 31, 1981. Of course, it was only friendly to the Husky football fans; not to the visiting fans from Stanford University.

Seattle’s Chamber of Commerce says that their city is anything but ordinary. It's a place where bike messengers share elevators with world-renowned researchers; where fishermen have lunch alongside top surgeons. It's a city where the extraordinary is commonplace and commonplace is anything but.

Not only does it have some of the finest restaurants and most beautiful scenery in the United States, it boasts some of the world’s most inventive people. Again, who hasn’t heard of Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Bill Boeing?

King County also has kind people who give of their time to answer countless questions of mine; people like Sergeant John Urquhart of the King County Sheriff’s Office; and Celia Lee of the King County Prosecutor’s Office and daughter of a good friend.

Without their help, there’s no telling how far I would have strayed from accurately portraying police and court procedures of the State of Washington. But then, maybe I did, anyway—when they weren’t looking.

* * *

Dedication

To our children – Debbie, Shan, Jeannie, Cindy, and Eric—the precious loves of my life—the very reflection of all that’s good and right with this world. And, of course, to our fifteen grandchildren – Rory, Barrett, Hunter, Sarah, Will, Connor, Gannon, Bridget, Samantha, Matthew, Meghan, Sophie, Andrew, Kiernan, and Alden—the confirmation that life should go on.

* * *

Characters

Principal

Cortland Thomas Harper (Protagonist)

Jack Wakefield (Retired crime reporter, now freelancer)

Garry Waybright (Detective Sergeant on Rainier Falls Police Force)

Jennifer Moore Harper (married to Cort)

Owen Nysted (Defense Attorney)

Stephanie Ann McCauley (Dead teenager)

Ted McCauley (Stephanie’s brother)

Minor

Alex Waterhouse (bar owner, Alexander’s Ragtime Bar)

Amanda Kavanaugh (friend and classmate of Stephanie)

Archie Madsen (High School Science Teacher who takes over for Cort)

Bergey Mihailov (employee of Ted McCauley)

Billy McGraw (High School Senior—leader of Grey Wolves)

Brian Benedictus (King County Sheriff’s Lieutenant in charge of crime scene)

Burt Allegaert (Cort’s next-door neighbor)

Cailey Harper (Daughter of Cort and Jennifer)

Celina Wakefield (Wife of Jack Wakefield)

Charlie Lebow (Guard at Walla Walla)

Cheryl Sturdivant (neighbor of Stephanie McCauley)

Crazy Pete Vanlandingham (who killed the old Chief of Police)

Dana Twilliger (Cort and Jennifer’s Doctor)

De’Ann Gantt (King County Prosecutor)

Dillon Schoonmaker (Rainier Falls Chief of Police)

Doug Koleske (King County Detective who digs into the case)

Elaine Schoonmaker (wife of the Police Chief)

Ernie Harper (Cort’s Father)

Ev Whiting (Assistant Baseball Coach)

Felicia Moore (mother of Jennifer Harper)

Floyd Bohart (Rainier Falls High School Principal)

Grayson Layne (King County’s Top Prosecutor)

Gordon Askew (One of Lost Boys)

Harold Rewalt (Prisoner in King County Jail)

Harry Birkholz (Reporter from the Seattle Times-friend of Jack Wakefield)

Jeff Helgeland (Pastor of the Christian Church)

Katy McCauley (mother of Stephanie) – born Ekaterina Alekseev

Kevin Egertson (King County Medical Examiner)

Kyle Thatcher (Prison guard)

Lee Langer (One of the Lost Boys)

Lou Hertog (Washington State Patrol Officer)

Larry Elliott (maintenance man in Greenwater)

Margaret Harper (Mother of Cort)

Dr. Mark Moore (father of Jennifer Harper)

Marie Grotewold (Next-door neighbor-daughter of Nancy Grotewold)

Milt Nugent (Football Coach, Teacher, and friend of Cort’s)

Morris Rasmussen (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)

Nancy Grotewold (Next-door neighbor of Katy McCauley)

Nate Schink (Ancient Prisoner on Death Row)

Owen Kalenius (King County Jail Director)

Phil Beckley (Ex-boyfriend of Stephanie)

Dr. Paul Tivkin (Oncologist at Swedish Cancer Institute)

Piotr Demidov (Russian Mafia King)

Philip Wochholz (Orthopedic Doctor who operates on Cort)

Quincy Snowden (Polygraph Examiner)

Roger Eitreim (Judge over the trial)

Sandy Kuglen (Undercover cop)

Skyler (Cort and Jennifer’s dog)

Timberleigh TL Ward (Girl who befriends Cort)

Tim Lunde (Cort’s friend on the cougar hunt)

Tommy Lannaghan (King County Prosecuting Attorney)

Trisha Vincent (Waitress at the Blue Moon Café)

Will Vanney (Detective in Rainier Falls Police Department)

Victor Smethurst (King County Undersheriff)

Wade Snyder (murdered police chief in 1974)

* * *

Preface

Nestled in the foothills of Washington’s Cascade Mountains is the incorporated town of Rainier Falls—45 miles southeast of Seattle and 30 miles east of Tacoma. It has a population of just under 10,000. In many respects, it’s a throwback to the rural towns of the 1950s, proudly touting its small town flavor. You can almost picture wooden sidewalks, but they are gone now—swept away during the record flood in November 1962 that submerged the entire downtown under eight feet of water.

Designed to protect settlers against possible uprisings by the native population, the first settlement, called Muckleshoot after the neighboring Indian tribe, was built as a fort in 1857 just after the Puget Sound War. Visionaries saw a great city rising from the forests as shallow water and rapids upstream on the White River were impassable to the large dugout canoes used to transport goods.

In 1869, a trading post was established and became a hub of the local economy. In the early 1870s, the first mill in the valley was opened at the mouth of the turbulent Helgeland Creek, just downstream from the waterfall and just upstream from the town.

At the dawning of the twentieth century, the Town of Muckleshoot changed its name to Rainier Falls, after the mountain, which looms mightily to the south, framing the waterfall that spills into the town from the passing White River. Today, Rainier Falls is a sleepy, self-supporting community that never reached its imagined potential. Traffic on Highway 410 that passes the town is heavy during weekdays because of massive trucks carrying their loads of freshly cut timber from the surrounding forests to the mills. The only visitors are motorists taking the back road on their way to and from Chinook Pass and Mount Rainier National Park.

Acting as the buffer between the Greater Seattle metropolitan area and the Cascades' alpine wilderness, the State-protected Snoqualmie Forest contains numerous lakes, two major river forks, diverse wildlife populations, and mountains nearing 5,000 feet. Carved out in the midst of this is Rainier Falls, having been established long before land conservation was thought of. Nevertheless, this surrounding forest forever preserves the town from the increasing pressures of development.

Downtown Rainier Falls has only two empty storefronts. Most commerce occurs through the exchange of funds from one store to another. The used car dealer buys from the furniture store; the furniture store buys from the grocery store; the grocery store buys from the gas station/mini-mart; the gas station/mini-mart buys from the tavern; the tavern buys from the restaurant; the restaurant buys from the used car dealer; and so on.

A Baptist church, a Christian church, a Presbyterian church, and a Catholic church meet the spiritual needs of the town’s citizens.

Typical of small towns, there are the assortment of offices and buildings housing a bank, a library, a beauty/barber shop, a lawyer, a dentist, an accountant, an insurance agency, a post office, and a dry cleaner. The two-screen movie theater was closed with the death of its owners in 2001. There’s been talk of its reopening.

There was a newer part of town, which was more modern, made ugly by the proliferation of a cheap motel.

The timber mill just outside Enumclaw provides the major employment for the town, requiring mill workers, drivers, log loaders, office workers, etc. where logs are sawed into lumber and then sent to the Snoqualmie finishing mill for planing, kiln-drying and wrapping for shipping.

Two school buildings stand in close proximity to each other, 500 feet from the White River—one building houses kindergarten through eighth grade and the other houses the ninth through twelfth grades. A ball field with bleachers and a playground complete the small campus.

Nightlife in Rainier Falls happens at Alexander’s Ragtime Bar, owned and operated by 50-year old Alex Waterhouse. If folks want "action, this is not the place they go. By design, Alexander’s offers subdued but peppy background music for social gatherings. Those wanting beer or wine and good conversation gravitate here. Those wanting chaos and a good time," either head to the competitive Grizzly Bar on the edge of town or find the 10-mile drive to Enumclaw more to their liking.

The seven-member Town Council meets at Dilly’s Deli every other Tuesday at 7 pm—as soon as the sandwich shop closes for the evening. They rarely have anything of importance to discuss, so they spend their time gossiping and enjoying the residue of uneaten soup and salads that can’t be served the following day.

Crime is an infrequent occurrence in Rainier Falls. After midnight, no one is on duty at the Police station. A call to 9-1-1 in the early morning hours is routed to the King County Sheriff’s office. They decide whether to wake the town’s Police Chief or not.

Rainier Falls contracts with the King County Sheriff’s Office for selected police services like after-hour issues and high profile cases beyond their capabilities.

Reporting to the Chief of Police are three Patrol Sergeants who are responsible for narcotics, sex crimes, homicide, etc., a Jail Manager, three jail officers, two Detective Sergeants, a School Resource Officer, and ten patrol officers.

The city’s old Municipal Court has limited authority—jurisdiction over all misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, traffic infractions and parking tickets that occur within the city limits. Anything more serious is sent to King County Superior Court in Seattle.

Adjacent to the courthouse is the jail, a squat structure built just after World War II, that houses the police department with four offices, six individual jail cells, one large holding cell, and private space for the 9-1-1 operator. Four patrol cars usually are parked outside.

There hasn’t been a serious crime in Rainier Falls since 1976. Older residents remember when Crazy Pete Vanlandingham killed Chief of Police Wade Snyder,. Pete shot Wade as he marched down the middle of Center Street in the annual Fo urth of July parade; right in front of the whole town. That was a no-brainer. Tried and convicted on the spot. Other than that, the police force’s function is to intercede in domestic disputes and arrest the occasional shoplifter or speeder.

You could say it is typical rural America at its best.

* * *

Chapter 1

October 2005

The day after the trial ended, Jack Wakefield wrote a searing byline for the Eastlake Journal expressing his take on what had occurred in King County Superior Court.

"The performance of Defense Attorney Owen Nysted surprised everyone who knew him. By any reasonable standard of defense, he was superb. It was clear that Nysted had never tried a felony case. His pretrial motions proved that. But once the trial got underway, he rose to the occasion, blasting holes in the prosecution’s case time and time again.

"On the first day of the trial, he made a profound opening argument, pointing out the weaknesses of the State’s case before the State even got to present it. His cross-examination shredded the testimonies of the State’s witnesses. When he put the defendant Cort Harper on the stand and asked him only one question, the outcome was clear. Cort was innocent and no jury in its right mind could find differently. Nysted’s summation was brilliant. He reminded the twelve elect that the State had no evidence or they would have provided it . . . ‘which means,’ he said, ‘that they don’t have any.’"

In conclusion, the Journal’s columnist condemned the twelve who sat in judgment.

"Didn’t the jurors hear what I heard? More correctly, didn’t they not hear what I didn’t hear? Where was the evidence? Where were the eyewitnesses? What did the prosecution have but supposition? Everything was entirely circumstantial. The police work was shoddy. The forensics was non-existent.

"If ever there was a miscarriage of justice, it occurred yesterday in the courtroom of Judge Roger Eitreim when Cortland Thomas Harper was found guilty of the First Degree Murder of Stephanie Ann McCauley."

Wakefield pushed back the keyboard and shook his head in disbelief—not at what he had just emailed to his editor, but that this injustice had taken place. If this was justice, then there was no justice.

***

Murder. What a horrible word. What a horrific act. Hearing about a drive-by shooting on the radio, or witnessing a killing on a movie or TV screen gives murder an ethereal quality—dreamlike. There’s nothing personal about it—unless you’re somehow involved—then the word horrible takes on a whole new meaning.

Since childhood, Cort Harper had an inexplicable fear of being found guilty of a heinous crime—and paying the ultimate price. This notion initially came to him at the tiny Pentecostal Church of Algona, where his family attended before moving to Rainier Falls. He was six, maybe seven. Every Sunday he sat on the hard, wooden pews in the sanctuary and heard how Jesus had suffered and died on a cross for a crime He didn’t commit. He tried to picture a crucifixion, and other than seeing a man on a plank with his arms outstretched, he didn’t get the full sense of it. But he knew that Jesus died . . . painfully . . . and that He shouldn’t have, because he was innocent.

In sixth grade, he wrote a short story about a man accused of murdering his best friend, and, though innocent, was found guilty and sent to prison. In time, this gloomy apprehension passed and his life became normal.

Cort was the only child of Ernie and Margaret Harper. Ernie made the 25-minute drive every day from Rainier Falls to the mill outside Enumclaw, where he was a maintenance mechanic. He moved the family from Algona to Rainier Falls because a wonderful house with small acreage became available—something he had dreamed of owning all his life. Of course, the move was made possible because of the offer from Rodman Forest Management to be the lead mechanic in their truck maintenance division.

Margaret led her family to Jesus. Someone had to be the spiritual leader, and since Ernie wasn’t up to the task, she assumed the mantle. Every Sunday, she saw to it that the three of them marched down the center aisle of the Christian Church and took their usual seats behind the first pew. It was here that Cort learned about repentance, remission, and retribution. It was here that he learned commitment, compassion, and consequences.

When Cort was eleven, he accepted Jesus, confessed his sins, and asked the Holy Spirit to come into his life. He became active in the Awana program at his church, and, before graduating from high school, received the Citation Award—the highest accommodation presented by this Christian youth organization.

The Harpers lived in a house on River Road, just south of town. Money was tight, so they looked for recreation that cost no more than a tank of gas. In the summer, hiking and picnics at the nearby Federation Forest State Park were frequent Sunday outings after church. In the wet months of the year, they looked for indoor activities at home or in the high school gym, which was open for public use on weekends.

Cort was an exceptional athlete. He made the varsity football and baseball teams as a high school freshman. Along with his athletic prowess came popularity, something he tried to keep in perspective—but it was difficult, particularly for a young teen.

Cort’s parents trained him well. He was an only child, but you’d never know it. They taught him responsibility and respect. They taught him honor and the need for truth. They taught him fairness. Most of all, they taught him the privilege and responsibility of being a Christian.

In the middle of his junior year in high school, his father died of a brain aneurism and his mother went to work to feed the family.

* * *

Chapter 2

September 1993

Cort, you’re an outstanding student—perhaps the brightest I have ever had. Milt Nugent had pulled his star pupil aside at the end of Physics class one afternoon in early September. You particularly excel in the sciences. If you aren’t planning on going to college, I want to encourage you to do so. You have a bright future if you do.

Thanks, Coach. Cort looked at his teacher, mentor and football coach. I’ve thought about it. But money’s pretty tight. My Mom can’t help and I don’t know that I can swing it.

I don’t think you’ll have to.

What do you mean?

Milt smiled. Cort was built like a linebacker, with powerful thighs and legs, but he was a running back, the best in his high school conference. A running back built like a linebacker was any coach’s dream. "Any college in the state would be happy to have you—probably any college in the Pac-10. First off, you should qualify for a full-ride scholarship based on your SATs and GPA. But more than that, if you couldn’t start on anybody’s football team, I don’t know who could. You’re the best running back in school history—something you’re going to prove again this season. And if we win State—something I expect us to do—Katy, bar the door! The scouts will be all over you."

***

True to Milt Nugent’s prediction, Cort Harper led the Rainier Falls Raptors to the championship in the 3A Division of the South King County League and was named All-Conference and Most Valuable Player. During the school’s undefeated season in 1993, he rushed for 2,278 yards, caught 34 passes for a total of 604 yards, and scored thirty-one touchdowns. He also passed for two scores. Although league play was not up to the caliber of the 4A Division, there was no question that he would have excelled there, too. Scholarship offers came in from Stanford, Washington, Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State. One even came from Colgate University in faraway Hamilton, New York.

But he wanted to stay close to home so his mother could see him play football if her work schedule allowed. In February, 1994, he accepted a full scholarship to Washington State University because they offered the specific program he sought as a future science teacher. He wanted to model himself after his coach and friend, Milt Nugent, who coincidentally graduated from WSU twenty-five years earlier.

He was built more like a linebacker than a running back—broad shoulders, powerful chest, and very powerful legs, the kind that drove through opposing players. He was a shade over six feet tall and weighed a solid two hundred pounds, perfect for the running game at Washington State.

As predicted, Cort was a standout running back from the moment he set foot on WSU’s practice football field in August, 1994, and spectacular performances followed both at Martin Stadium and throughout the Pac-10.

Sadly, his college football career was cut two years short when a fierce tackle in the 1995 Oregon game at Eugene’s Autzen Stadium permanently ruined the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee.

Near the end of his sophomore year, he met Jennifer Moore, from Tacoma. He had never met anyone like her—beautiful, sparkling, happy. They instantly became inseparable, except for conflicting class schedules. They studied together, ate together, went to church together. She was his inspiration to carry on after his debilitating injury in the Oregon game. Now that you don’t have the pressures of football, she wisely counseled, you can work even harder in your studies. And he did.

Cort proposed marriage to Jennifer at the beginning of their junior year. He gave her a small diamond that he had picked out that summer when he visited a Friedlander jewelry store in Seattle. She proudly displayed the tiny stone to anyone who cared enough to look.

One day before the Christmas break, Jennifer discovered that she was pregnant. In a tearful disclosure, she and Cort discussed what they should do.

Do you want me to get an abortion?

His reply was emphatic. No! We will not kill a baby because it’s inconvenient for us to have one. That’s so far from both our convictions—it isn’t an option. We were wrong, but that’s not the baby’s fault.

What should we do, then?

The only thing that’s left. We get married.

***

Although was far from what their parents had envisioned for their children, they were supportive of the youngsters’ decision