Wish You Well(106)

nobody figured that out before now."

Cotton said, "I guess a person goes in a mine and dynamite goes off, they just believe

that's what killed him. You ever seen such injuries before?"

"Yes. Explosion at a manufacturing plant. Killed a dozen men. Same as Jimmy. Literally

blown apart."

"What was the cause of that explosion?"

"Natural gas leak."

Cotton turned and looked dead-on at Hugh Miller.

"Mr. Goode, unless you care to take a shot, I'm calling Mr. Judd Wheeler to the stand."

Goode looked at Miller, betrayed. "No questions."

A nervous Wheeler fidgeted in the witness box as Cotton approached.

"You're Southern Valley's chief geologist?"

"I am."

"And you headed up the team that was exploring possible natural gas deposits on Miss

Cardinal's property?"

"I did."

"Without her permission or knowledge?"

"Well, I don't know about—"

"Did you have her permission, Mr. Wheeler?" Cotton snapped.

"No."

"You found natural gas, didn't you?"

"That's right."

"And it was something your company was right interested in, wasn't it?"

"Well, natural gas is getting to be very valuable as a heating fuel. We mostly use

manufactured gas, town gas they call it. You get that from heating coal. That's what fuels

the streetlights in this town. But you can't make much money with town gas. And we

have seamless steel pipe now, which allows us to send gas in pipelines a long way. So

yes, we were very interested."

"Natural gas is explosive, right?"

"If properly used—"

"Is it, or isn't it?"

"It is."

"Exactly what did you do in that mine?"

"We took readings and did tests and located what appeared to be a huge field of gas in a

trap not too far underneath the surface of that mine shaft and about six hundred feet in the

mine. Coal, oil, and gas are often found together because all three result from similar

natural processes. The gas always lies on top because it's lighter. That's why you have to

be careful when you're mining coal. Methane gas buildup is a real danger to the miners.

Anyway, we drilled down and hit that gas field."

"Did the gas come up in the mine shaft?"

"Yes."

"On what date did you hit the gas field?"

When Wheeler told them the day, Cotton said loud and clear to the jury, "One week

before Jimmy Skinner's death! Would somebody be able to smell the gas?"

"No, in its natural state gas is colorless and odorless. When companies process it, they

add a distinct smell so that if there's a leak people can detect it before it overcomes

them."

"Or before something ignites it?"

"That's right."

"If someone set off a dynamite charge in a mine shaft where there was natural gas

present, what would happen?"

"The gas would explode." Wheeler looked like he wanted to be blown up himself.

Cotton faced the jury. "I guess Eugene was real lucky he was so far away from the hole

where the gas was pouring through and his lamp flame didn't ignite the gas. And he was

even luckier he didn't strike a match to light that fuse. But the dynamite going off sure

did the trick." He turned back to Wheeler. "What sort of explosion? Big enough to cause

Jimmy Skinner's death, in the manner described by Dr. Barnes?"

"Yes," Wheeler conceded.

Cotton put his hands on the frame of the witness box and leaned in. "Didn't you ever

think about posting warning signs telling people that there was gas there?"

"I didn't know they dynamited in there! I didn't know they used that old mine for

anything."

Cotton thought he caught Wheeler shooting an angry look at George Davis, but he

couldn't be sure.

"But if anyone went in, they might be overcome by the gas alone. Wouldn't you want to

warn people?"

Wheeler spoke fast. "The ceilings in that mine shaft are real high, and there's some

natural ventilation through the rock too, so the buildup of the methane wouldn't be so

bad. And we were going to cap the hole, but we were waiting on some equipment we

needed. We didn't want anybody to get hurt. That's the truth."

"The fact is, you couldn't post warning signs because you were there illegally. Isn't that

right?"

"I was just following orders."

"You took great pains to hide the fact that you were working in that mine, didn't you?"

"Well, we only worked at night. Whatever equipment we carried in, we took out with us."

"So nobody would know you'd been there?"

"Yes."

"Because Southern Valley was hoping to buy Miss Cardinal's farm for a lot less money if