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.The photographer grabbed some great candid shots and the SAR folks stepped forward to introduce themselves and make sure he was all right.Ray shouted out a greeting before turning to get back to his radios.Even Earl stepped forward.“I’ve already called Kerby to let him know that you got back safely,” he said as I approached the fringes of the group.“Thanks to my lovely and capable wife,” Drake said, motioning me toward him, draping an arm across my shoulders.Sure, right.Make sure I get equal treatment in the embarrassment department.But I couldn’t be upset over it.I was too busy observing faces, trying to see if there was someone watching all this who was not happy to see me.Chapter 30Rain pelted the helicopters parked on their pads, the full fury of the storm catching up only moments after we got inside the building.The rain lashed out for ten or fifteen minutes then settled into a steady patter.Drake thanked the SAR people for coming out and they dispersed.I was ready to head home, myself, to find comfort food, the warmth of a fire and the easy love of a warm dog to snuggle with.Unfortunately, first came the paperwork.I pulled out my logbooks and watched as Chuey went into the hangar to write up his own report.He would have to replace the makeshift line with one that was certified and approved, and there would be entries to describe all that.I could only hope that he honored my request to keep it low key and not mention the word sabotage.Eventually, the fact of the tampering would come out, but I didn’t want the perpetrator to know that his misdeed had been discovered.Let him think that the mechanic believed the wear on the line to be natural.He might let his guard down long enough for us to catch him.There was one person I did plan to tell: Chief Branson.I quickly finished entering my own flight data and signaled Drake that I planned to wait in the truck.The rain had settled to somewhere between a drizzle and a mist.I sat in the passenger seat and pulled out my cell phone.“You kids all right?” the chief asked after immediately taking my call.I smiled.There was surely no more than a decade’s age difference between Branson and Drake, but he did convey an air of fatherliness.“We’re fine.Luckily.” I spilled it all.“I would have been at the controls of that aircraft, Chief, any other day of the week.It was purely chance that put Drake there.I don’t know that I would have had the presence of mind or the skills to do what he did.”“You’re saying.?”“That I’ve been asking a lot of questions around town recently.I must be getting close to the answers if someone wants to be rid of me this badly.”“Any particular names come to mind?”“Barney Connell got pretty angry with me last night at the historical society soiree.He’s around the helicopters all the time and somebody said he was pretty good with engines and mechanical things.” I pictured the usually jovial mountain man.“I’m not making an accusation.I just don’t know.”Branson mumbled something and I got the impression he was probably taking notes.“Anyone else?”“Kerby Allen, naturally, knows everything there is to know about the machines, the schedules and the terrain we fly over.He’s made the trip out to Cabin Three so many times, he would know exactly when the helicopter would run out of oil.It’s just that I don’t see any pilot deliberately sabotaging another’s flight.These guys can have big battles among themselves, but there’s a line they don’t cross.”“Okay, Charlie, you’ve given me two valid suspects and then proceeded to discount them as possibilities.Are they, or aren’t they?”“I don’t know, Chief.My head is pounding right now and I can’t think straight.”“Okay, fair enough.You’ve been through a lot.Go home and rest up, think about it.Be sure to call me if anything else comes to mind.”In reality, investigations of malfeasance with aircraft fall to the jurisdiction of the FAA [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]