“Yes. John Gross. I’ve known Hunter for years.”
“From your days in the Corps.” I could never keep Pete’s old marine buddies straight.
Pete nodded. “Hunter called me again. He’s truly concerned about his nephew.”
“Go on.”
“I think I told you John’s at Camp Lejeune awaiting an Article 32 hearing.”
An Article 32 is the military equivalent of a grand jury. The purpose is to determine if sufficient evidence exists to proceed to court-martial.
“John’s been accused of killing Afghan civilians.” The story was coming back to me. “Which he denies.”
“A court-martial will ruin the kid’s career. Though that’s the least of his worries. If found guilty, he could serve life in a federal penitentiary. Or worse.”
“What’s he supposed to have done?”
“According to the charge sheet, he shot two unarmed villagers during the search of a compound.”
“What’s his version?”
“It was dusk. The scene was chaos. The men came at him screaming about ‘Allah!’ One made a move as though reaching for a firearm. He claims he shot in self-defense.”
“Turned out the men had no weapons.”
“You’ve got it.”
I thought about that.
“Gross is holding, what, an M16? The victims are unarmed? Yet they rush him? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Heat of the moment? Personal jihad?” Pete shrugged. “Who knows?”
“There has to be more to the story.”
“Here’s what I know. As a lieutenant and platoon leader, John had to make a lot of difficult decisions. With serious consequences.”
Pete paused, perhaps recalling his own difficult choices while in service.
“One such decision involved a corporal named Grant Eggers. After repeated corrective interviews, John was forced to remove Eggers from his position as fire team leader. Eggers was furious, apparently bad-mouthed John at every opportunity, but never confronted him.”
“Let me guess. Eggers is the one making the accusation.” I went for a powdered-sugar frosted.
“Yes. He says the men weren’t running toward John, but away from him. He claims John shot them in the back.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah. Crazy ten ways to Sunday. Hunter is convinced his nephew is being railroaded.”
“Why?”
“Uncle Sam isn’t exactly beloved over there. Two unarmed civilians dead. An American marine the shooter. The locals want blood.”
“Politics.”
Pete shrugged. Who knows?
“The solution couldn’t be simpler.”
Pete reached over and brushed a thumb across my upper lip. I batted his hand away.
“Sugar mustache,” he said. “Go on.”
“The medical examiner checks the bullet entry and exit points.”
“That’s been impossible.”
“Why?”
“The men are buried in a Muslim cemetery. NCIS has repeatedly tried to get access, but the Afghan authorities have repeatedly refused to allow either an exhumation or an autopsy. After a lot of diplomatic maneuvering, they’ve now reversed their position.”
I had a sudden suspicion where this was heading.
“They’ve agreed to an exhumation,” I guessed.
“Yes. But there’s no guarantee they won’t change their minds again. So speed is of the essence. The Article 32 hearing has been recessed to allow time for the exhumation to take place.”
“Uh-huh.”
“How well preserved do you think the bodies will be?”
“What was done with them postmortem?”
“Hunter’s intel says the men were bathed, shrouded, and buried. Just laid on their right sides, heads toward Mecca.”
“A year in the ground. No caskets. I’d expect advanced decomp, if not full skeletonization.”
“U.S. experts will only get one shot at these bodies. If base personnel aren’t top-notch, John could be screwed.”
“Determining bullet trajectory is not rocket science.”
“You know that. Will they? According to Hunter, this is John’s best hope to clear himself. The defense wants a say in who will exhume and examine, and the prosecution has told them to propose someone who might be mutually acceptable.”
“You want me to go to Afghanistan.” Said with the enthusiasm I reserve for boils and sties.
“Yes. Your prosecution background will satisfy the government and the defense will go along with Hunter’s recommendation.”
Pete leaned back, eyes intense on mine. He’d presented his case. Now he waited.
Deep breath.
“Don’t get me wrong, Pete. I feel for John and his family. But military physicians have a lot of experience—too much—with traumatic injury. Any doctor in Afghanistan will have seen hundreds of gunshot wounds.”