Sunday went along more or less as expected, with no new revelations, and, thankfully, no new crises. To the great satisfaction of Jason, and the pleasure of the others as well, it was announced at Mass that the position of music minister had been offered to and accepted by the candidate who played on September 19. This turned out to be Dr. Carolyn Harrison, an adjunct member of the faculty of the School of Music at the University. Sunday was technically Hallowe’en, and some students continued to celebrate. As Bryce and Damon made their way to Pat’s after the soup kitchen, they saw quite a few children already making their rounds, trick or treating. Tomorrow would be the day for which this day is named, the Feast of All Saints, or All Hallows, although only a small number of people would be aware of that. We have lost so much of our cultural heritage.
At Pat’s, there was a full contingent of those who worked at the soup kitchen ... Mike and David, Jason and Nate, and, of course, Damon and Bryce. They spent the evening analyzing and re-analyzing the recent events on campus, but could not come up with anything new. Bryce introduced the matter of Peter Gruber, and mentioned his effort to recruit Greg Lenihan for a white supremacy group. Everyone knew who he was, as until this past week he had been the captain of the football team, but no one knew him personally.
Monday began as usual, with a workout for Bryce, along with Curtis and Roland. Both of them mentioned getting a note of thanks from Greg Lenihan. Bryce had supplied him with a list of those who made up the self-named Rescue Team on Saturday, and evidently Greg sent thanks to each one. The lad had good manners.
In French, the cold war between the two sides on the Moslem issue continued. The fellow who had been called down by Dr. Anjot on Wednesday was back, although sulking and non-participatory. The professor tried to be even-handed, calling on individuals from both sides of the classroom, but it was awkward.
After English class, as he was checking his campus mail, Bryce noticed Hunter Matthews, and so hailed him. “I’m surprised to see you here with all the snail mail,” Bryce joked.
“Snail mail? Oh, you mean the campus post office. Yeah, I guess I knew it was here, but I’ve never used it. No, I was checking on a new DVD in the bookstore,” Hunter said, pointing in that direction.
Somehow it did not surprise Bryce that Hunter was only vaguely aware of where the campus post office was located. He probably had a campus box absolutely stuffed with useless announcements and circulars, untouched since the beginning of the semester.
“Has anyone contacted you about a follow up job on the blog you analyzed for us last week?” Bryce asked.
“Oh, yeah. The local police contacted me yesterday. Seemed to want me to do a job for free. I don’t work that way,” Hunter replied.
“Well, if that’s what it takes, I’ll pay you. It’s important,” Bryce said.
“Oh, they eventually gave in. I guess they thought it was important, too. But thanks. I sent them my analysis this morning,” Hunter revealed.
“Any chance you could let me know the results?” Bryce more than hinted.
Hunter grinned. “Oh, what the heck. You paid for that other job, and sent these folks to me. Okay, the e-mail from ‘the Leader’ was sent from the home computer of someone named Peter Gruber. It’s an apartment over on Wade Avenue.”
“Thanks, Hunter. This confirms something several of us were beginning to suspect,” Bryce responded.
So, Peter Gruber was the Leader, or at least so it seemed. It was pretty obvious that Hunter had no idea who Peter Gruber was, but that only made it all the more fitting that he was the one to identify the Leader. With that news ringing in his ears, Bryce attempted to contact John Zoeller. He was unable to get through to him that morning, and so would try again later.
Rather than go to lunch with Damon as he usually would on a Monday, on this Monday, 1 November, Bryce drove over to St. Boniface for the noon Mass. It was the Feast of All Saints, which is a holyday of obligation. Just as on a Sunday, Catholics were expected to attend Mass. This was an obligation often neglected, and the turnout for that Mass reflected this fact. There were only about half the numbers present on a typical Sunday. Among them were Isobel and Mike Sandoval, so they sat together, and afterwards spoke some about campus events.
Mike had to drop his mother off at the restaurant, so they parted, and Bryce returned directly to campus. He spent the remaining time before class catching up on medieval England, as he had skipped class on Friday. Fortunately, he would get notes from a fellow student, and so find out at least some of what Dr. Dickinson had to say, as well as what he learned from his readings. Poor King Richard II had been deposed and probably murdered by his cousin, who was then proclaimed King as Henry IV, the eldest son of that John of Gaunt who played such a significant role in the previous generation. This was the beginning of the unrest which, by mid-century, would result in the civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Basically, Henry’s cousin, descendant of Lionel of Antwerp, claimed a superior right to the throne, and passed that on to her descendants.
Leaving his history class and walking towards the apartment, where he would encounter Damon, Bryce tried again to contact John Zoeller. This time he was successful. Zoeller said he had some additional details which would be of interest to the two, but he was on the job for another hour. Bryce invited him to the apartment when he got off, as he did not seem comfortable talking about these matters on campus.
At home, after greeting Damon, Bryce checked his e-mail. There was an extended letter from his father, which included admonitions to keep him and the other two lawyers fully informed of campus events. He also had words of praise for Bryce and the others for their handling of events on Friday. Sterling went on to say that, somewhat reluctantly, the three lawyers had decided to hold off on another appeal to the Governor. The release of the blog information to the local police, and the establishment of the committee to investigate violence, on the surface at least, was sufficient to counter anything they could do at this point, but they would all three continue to monitor the situation closely. He urged Bryce to communicate with Mark Castleman, as he was the man on the scene.
The e-mail from Bryce’s mother was full of concern that he was taking unnecessary risks and might get hurt, but at the same time she was clearly proud of his successes in helping to bring the culprits to justice. Bryce thought it too early to speak of justice, as two of those arrested on Friday had been out on appeal for having attacked Damon at Homecoming last year. October 24 had been the anniversary. He composed a reply which sought to reassure his mother that he and Damon were both fine, and in no danger. His response to his father was more lengthy, and contained all the latest information, including the identification of the Leader of the Gau as Peter Gruber, until recently the captain of the football team. He also sent his father a copy of the statements he and Damon made to the police on Saturday.
John Zoeller arrived at the apartment shortly after four o’clock. Damon kidded that he did not recognize him in civilian clothes, but he was now no longer on duty. He told the two that he did have a private life, including a wife and children that he had to get home to, but he thought they deserved a run-down of the latest information, as they had been so involved from the start.
Mack Campbell, Bick Lomax, Buck Lomax, and Ed Cuttlesworth appeared before the judge that morning. Despite the best efforts of Everett Cuttlesworth, Ed’s father, they were remanded for trial, although, as there seemed little chance of flight, they were released on bail. There had been no response from the University administration as of the time Zoeller left campus at four o’clock.
But the campus officer did have some additional information from the city police. Although he insisted on being paid his standard fee, Hunter Matthews had provided the police with an analysis of the e-mail from ‘the Leader,’ which showed that it originated at the computer of Peter Gruber, in an apartment off campus. This was already known from what Hunter told Bryce earlier. What was not known was that the police had then raided Gruber’s apartment, and confiscated his computer, much like they did that of Sean Rollins and Barry Miller on Friday. In addition, they found in the apartment some equipment belonging to the ROTC program. Included was a handgun and a rifle, with quite a bit of ammunition for each, as well as some other equipment. Gruber was not a member of the ROTC battalion, nor did he have a license to possess guns. He was, therefore, arrested, and was spending the night in jail awaiting his hearing in the morning. Ev Cuttlesworth had volunteered to represent him, which Zoeller said almost insured his conviction.
Things seemed to be falling into place in a most satisfying manner.
Tuesday was memorable for only two things. First of all, that afternoon, Bryce and Damon were again the guests of Dr. Caldwell for tea. The retired professor was naturally curious about all the goings-on lately, especially as they had spilled over to involve his tenants. Dr. Caldwell was not acquainted with any of the other students currently accused of crimes on campus, but he did relate that, years ago, when he was still active, Everett Cuttlesworth had been hauled before the student Court of Honor and accused of cheating on an exam. He was found guilty, and suspended for a semester. Normally, that would involve expulsion, but things have not changed that much, and his family influence got him reinstated. There were also stories, unsubstantiated but persistent, that Terry Lomax was involved in some excessive hazing in connection with a Sigma Alpha Tau initiation. Even a generation ago, SAT was moving away from such excesses, but Lomax was among those resisting change. Nothing was proven, so no disciplinary action was taken, but the rumors seemed to be in character to those who knew him.
What’s the old saying? The apple does not fall far from the tree.
The other interesting thing was a long talk with Tyler Rollins after the SAT meeting that evening. Tyler was greatly relieved to find that his role in exposing the plot to maim Greg would not be public knowledge. He felt bad about his brother being arrested, and he did not want to have to live with constant hostility from Sean at home. He was also not sure how his parents would react to the entire situation. That remained to be seen. Bryce explained that the e-mail from the Leader, which Tyler shared with him, and which set off the rescue operations on Friday, had also been discovered by the police on the computer confiscated from Sean on Friday, and had been confirmed as coming from Gruber on Monday. That was sufficient to be introduced as evidence in any future trial. Tyler need not be involved at all.
On Wednesday evening, Bryce and Damon hosted a grand dinner for the student members of the Rescue Team. Zoeller begged off, having a family obligation, and Curtis was spending the evening with his wife, who was celebrating her birthday. But Josh and Marc, Mike and David, Jason and Nate, Roland and John Luke, and Scott all attended a sumptuous feast prepared by Damon, with behind the scenes help from Caroline, and served by Bryce. From this time on, they managed to get together about once each week for the rest of the semester. By the time final exams were over, and everyone departed for the Christmas holidays, they were back to discussing eternal verities in what Jason persisted in calling their philosophical roundtable.
The police did not detain Sean Rollins or Barry Miller more than a few days, but they, too, were remanded to trial, and were out on bail. The police kept Sean’s computer as evidence. Both of them were juniors, and so still had a way to go before graduating. It was not immediately clear what impact all this would have on their academic careers. They were back in the carriage house by the end of the week, having been in jail for the intervening time as it took a while to contact their families and arrange for bail. Sean was especially angry about that, as he was heard to complain that he expected Mr. Cuttlesworth to get him off, as Ed promised, but there had been no support from that quarter.
Not long after, an anonymous tip led the police to obtain a search warrant and visit the Lomax home. Despite threats of lawsuits, they carried out their search of the rooms of both Lomax brothers, and discovered in Buck’s room most of the missing ROTC equipment which had not been accounted for in the Gruber apartment. So Buck was also now indicted for theft as well.
That seemed to settle the last issue related to the violence on campus during the fall semester of 2010.
Breakfast with Scot was a success. It drew on a much larger audience than the membership of the LGBT Club, and had to be repeated the next evening. Not only was the film appreciated, but it earned a profit for the club. Perhaps more importantly, after each showing there was lively discussion about a whole range of issues, from homosexuality itself to a gay couple being responsible for a child to the use of the term ‘abomination’ in the Book of Leviticus. On the whole, even Josh Young had to admit that it was a good choice.
Caroline Koehler was placated for the guys’ skipping the Hallowe’en concert of ‘scary’ music when they not only attended the opening night performance of How to Succeed in Business put on by the School of Music, but also encouraged a large turn-out from Sigma Alpha Tau.
As he had last year, Damon accompanied Bryce to his home in Lincoln for Thanksgiving. This year, things went much more smoothly. Both boys were warmly welcomed by Sterling and Martha, and by Bryce’s sister Nan and her boyfriend Brian. His elder brother, Chip, had evidently been told to behave himself by his parents. He turned up for the mandatory Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, and managed to get through the entire visit without saying a word to either Bryce or Damon, but he did not stay long. Sterling sighed, but no one seemed especially upset by his absence.
They returned to campus by way of Chicago, where they visited Damon’s sister Vanessa and her children. To Damon’s considerable satisfaction, they seemed to be doing very well, making their own way, and avoiding the traps into which other members fo the family had fallen. Vanessa’s job was working out quite well, and the kids were doing well in school. They even had time for a short visit to the Navy Pier before continuing their journey to Clifton, to the delight of young Nathan.
The semester wound up with considerable success academically. Despite his constant complaining, Damon earned an A in Political Theory. Bryce racked up a 4.0 this term.
Final exams ran until Wednesday, December 22, but neither Bryce nor Damon had exams on that last day. Hence, they were again on a plane headed for Lincoln. The welcome was as warm as that for Thanksgiving, and the stay even more relaxing. On Christmas Eve, before midnight Mass, Nan and Brian announced their engagement, with a wedding planned for shortly after they graduated in the spring. That was certainly something more to look forward to, especially as Brian asked Bryce to be one of his groomsmen.
On Christmas Day the family opened presents first thing. As a guest in the house, Damon was naturally included. Everything was going along smoothly and predictably until Damon was handed a large envelope.
“What’s this?” Damon queried.
“Open it and find out,” Bryce replied.
Wondering, Damon did just that. On top of a fairly thick stack of papers was a certificate certifying that Damon Antwon Watson was a member of the Nebraska Society, Sons of the American Revolution, by right of descent from Pompey Watson. Damon could not believe what he was seeing. He looked at Bryce, then at Bryce’s parents, then back to the sheaf of papers on his lap. He looked at the second sheet, which certified that Pompey Watson had served in the First Rhode Island Regiment from December 1777 until discharged on 15 June 1783, including the terrible winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge and the great victory at Yorktown in 1781, rising to the rank of sergeant.
Damon was speechless. He looked back and forth as the Winslows smiled at him. He began to weep. Bryce came over and sat next to him, holding him as he wept tears of happiness.
“I think Damon needs some time to adjust to having a background,” Bryce said with a grin, and led his partner out of the room.