Read Online Night Fall by Nelson DeMille - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Nelson DeMille
Tags: Fiction, General, Suspense, det_political, Thrillers, Mystery & Detective, Suspense fiction, Police Procedural, Large Type Books, Government investigators, Terrorism, Investigation, Long Island (N.Y.), Aircraft accidents, Aircraft accidents - Investigation, Corey; John (Fictious character), TWA Flight 800 Crash; 1996, Corey; John (Fictitious character)
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give a friendly witness a short break and a chance to reflect on what he or she was getting into. It was a chance for me, too, to think about what I was getting into.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The breeze had picked up and the temperature was dropping.
I heard the screen door open behind me and without turning I asked Captain Spruck, “Do you think it was a military war games exercise that went very wrong?”
“No.”
“I thought that was one of the stronger conspiracy cover-up theories at the time.”
He stood beside me and replied, “It is absolutely impossible to cover up an accident of that magnitude. Hundreds of seamen and airmen would have to be involved with a cover-up of an accidental or mis-aimed missile launch.”
I didn’t reply, and he went on, “The average sailor talks too much when he’s
sober
. When he’s drunk, he’ll tell everyone at the bar his sailing orders, fleet strength and capabilities, and anything else he knows. Where do you think the expression ‘Loose lips sink ships’ comes from?”
“Okay. So, if I said Arab terrorists, how would you feel about that?”
“If I couldn’t even see where the missile came from, how am I going to know the race or religion of the people who fired it?”
“Good point. How about if I said some group that wanted to harm the United States?”
“Then I’d say there was an El Al 747 right behind the TWA 747, and the El Al flight was running late and may have been the intended target.”
“Really? I don’t remember that.”
“It was in all the papers. Another theory.”
“Right. We got lots of theories.”
Captain Spruck asked me, “Do you want to hear about the explosion?”
“I do, but I’m not as interested in the explosion as I am in the streak of light. Let me ask you this-five years have passed since you saw what you saw. You’ve read and heard a lot of stuff in those five years. Right? Has anything caused you to reconsider your original statements? You know, like you think you may have made a mistake, or what you saw could be explained differently, and now you’re kind of married to your original statements, and you don’t want to recant or retract because it would make you look a little less than smart. You understand?”
“I understand. I am not being stubborn or egotistical, Mr. Corey, but I know what I saw. Within sixteen hours, Miss Mayfield was in my living room asking me what I saw. At that point, I had heard not one other eyewitness account of this incident-nothing that could have colored my perception of what I saw.”
“But there were news reports by that time about people seeing a streak of light.”
“Yes, but immediately after the incident, I called on my cell phone to this Coast Guard station and reported everything I’d seen, including the streak of light. At that point, for all I knew, I was the only person on the planet who saw what I saw.”
“Good point.”
“I made this point with the FBI people, who kept asking me about my perceptions being colored by subsequent news coverage. How the hell could my immediate report to the Coast Guard be colored by subsequent reports?” He added, “My call to the Coast Guard station is on file, though I was never allowed to see what the duty officer wrote.”
He probably wrote, “Nut job,” I thought, but then subsequent calls and events caused him to black that out of his log.
Captain Spruck continued, “Plus, I’m only one of two witnesses, to the best of my knowledge, who has actually seen a surface-to-air missile, live and in color, up close and personal.”
This guy was perfect. Too perfect? I asked Captain Spruck, “Who’s the other guy who’s seen a real, live, up-close missile?”
He replied, “A man who was an electronic warfare technician. He’s made public statements that coincide with my private statements.”
“You know this guy?”
“No. I only read his statements in the news. He was frustrated by the direction the investigation was
CHAPTER SEVEN
The breeze had picked up and the temperature was dropping.
I heard the screen door open behind me and without turning I asked Captain Spruck, “Do you think it was a military war games exercise that went very wrong?”
“No.”
“I thought that was one of the stronger conspiracy cover-up theories at the time.”
He stood beside me and replied, “It is absolutely impossible to cover up an accident of that magnitude. Hundreds of seamen and airmen would have to be involved with a cover-up of an accidental or mis-aimed missile launch.”
I didn’t reply, and he went on, “The average sailor talks too much when he’s
sober
. When he’s drunk, he’ll tell everyone at the bar his sailing orders, fleet strength and capabilities, and anything else he knows. Where do you think the expression ‘Loose lips sink ships’ comes from?”
“Okay. So, if I said Arab terrorists, how would you feel about that?”
“If I couldn’t even see where the missile came from, how am I going to know the race or religion of the people who fired it?”
“Good point. How about if I said some group that wanted to harm the United States?”
“Then I’d say there was an El Al 747 right behind the TWA 747, and the El Al flight was running late and may have been the intended target.”
“Really? I don’t remember that.”
“It was in all the papers. Another theory.”
“Right. We got lots of theories.”
Captain Spruck asked me, “Do you want to hear about the explosion?”
“I do, but I’m not as interested in the explosion as I am in the streak of light. Let me ask you this-five years have passed since you saw what you saw. You’ve read and heard a lot of stuff in those five years. Right? Has anything caused you to reconsider your original statements? You know, like you think you may have made a mistake, or what you saw could be explained differently, and now you’re kind of married to your original statements, and you don’t want to recant or retract because it would make you look a little less than smart. You understand?”
“I understand. I am not being stubborn or egotistical, Mr. Corey, but I know what I saw. Within sixteen hours, Miss Mayfield was in my living room asking me what I saw. At that point, I had heard not one other eyewitness account of this incident-nothing that could have colored my perception of what I saw.”
“But there were news reports by that time about people seeing a streak of light.”
“Yes, but immediately after the incident, I called on my cell phone to this Coast Guard station and reported everything I’d seen, including the streak of light. At that point, for all I knew, I was the only person on the planet who saw what I saw.”
“Good point.”
“I made this point with the FBI people, who kept asking me about my perceptions being colored by subsequent news coverage. How the hell could my immediate report to the Coast Guard be colored by subsequent reports?” He added, “My call to the Coast Guard station is on file, though I was never allowed to see what the duty officer wrote.”
He probably wrote, “Nut job,” I thought, but then subsequent calls and events caused him to black that out of his log.
Captain Spruck continued, “Plus, I’m only one of two witnesses, to the best of my knowledge, who has actually seen a surface-to-air missile, live and in color, up close and personal.”
This guy was perfect. Too perfect? I asked Captain Spruck, “Who’s the other guy who’s seen a real, live, up-close missile?”
He replied, “A man who was an electronic warfare technician. He’s made public statements that coincide with my private statements.”
“You know this guy?”
“No. I only read his statements in the news. He was frustrated by the direction the investigation was
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