Free The Wrangler: The only thing standing between the beautiful kidnapped heiress and death was -- The Wrangler. by Pat Powers Page A

away.
    The DAs all scribbled furiously as he talked, pausing to pepper him with questions designed to get as much detail as they could out of him, and to trip him up if he were feeding them any lies.
    "Very accurate descriptions, Mr. Potter," said Culpepper, using his third alias. "We generally don't get this level of detail from an eyewitness."
    "It's kind of funny," said the Wrangler. "I remember certain things prior to the bomb blast with crystal clarity, but after the blast, everything is hazy for a week or so. Probably the meds they have me on -- some very serious stuff."
    "Speaking of the blast, we had another bombing that same day, down on the Altamaha," said Culpepper. "We don't get a lot of bombings down in these parts -- we like it that way -- and we're pretty sure they're linked. Would you have any knowledge of that other bombing, Potter?"
    "No," said the Wrangler. "Did anyone get hurt in it?"
    "Strangely enough, no," said Culpepper. "Someone blew up an empty trailer for no apparent reason. But I think you knew that. It's obvious that the two bombings are linked. The trailer was rented by phone, and paid for with a money order that doesn't appear to have been purchased by any real person -- just like the condo that was bombed. We're thinking maybe the trailer was used as a staging area prior to making the pickup on the money. Two million dollars -- that's quite a payday you missed, Mr. Potter."
    "I didn't miss any paydays," responded the Wrangler. "But I wonder if I'm in for any kind of reward for helping find Ms. Willock."
    "You'll get your reward for what you've done, have no fear," said Culpepper. He clearly was talking about jail time, not money.
    "In addition to the blown-up trailer, we also located a corpse that seems to tie in with the activities of your gang," said Culpepper.
    "Not my gang," said the Wrangler calmly. He really didn't have a choice about the calm -- he was too weak to get excited. And he'd been subjected to much tougher grillings under much more dangerous circumstances during his days of feckless youth.
    "What we found was the body of a man, one Jimmy Dawson, wanted for a long list of minor crimes in New York and Brooklyn," said Culpepper. "Two bullets in him, both to the head at close range. Two sets of ID on him. And nothing else to connect him with ... anything at all, except that forensics has established that he died some time after the first bombing and before the second bombing. Now, this COULD be a coincidence, but he is from the Northeast and has multiple sets of ID on him, just like you and Mr. Carlucci. We're looking at you for killing him, because we tested you for powder residue while you were unconscious and you had recently fired a weapon. But the ballistics on the bullets in Mr. Dawson don't match the gun we found on you. Still, you could have done it with another gun, or the missing members of your gang could have done it, and you could have been the one who ordered it. Why DID you fire your gun at that condo?"
    This was a knotty question and one that the Wrangler knew he'd be asked.
    "Never heard of this Jimmy guy," said the Wrangler. "Sorry to hear he's dead, though. I fired my gun at some cans in the woods just for practice earlier that day. When the bomb went off I remember reaching for my gun instinctively. Maybe I fired by reflex when the explosion hit me. Lucky I didn't shoot myself, I guess. I really don't remember well."
    "Why do you carry a gun?" asked Culpepper.
    "I like to shoot," said the Wrangler. "Not hunt so much, just target practice. And there's that thing with the Scientologists. They scare me, to be honest."
    "Mm-hmm," said Culpepper. "What we figure is that Mr. Dawson was part of your gang and you had a falling out about the usual thing -- the money. You or one of your gang shot Mr. Dawson and dumped his body in the marshes, then went on to collect the money from Mr. Willock. But before that happened, the disagreement flared up again, leading to bombing