Chapter XXXII

illiam was on a mission.  He had a 'disk delivery chamber' to build, and he had it all figured out.  He had an old cooler motor in his garage that would work just fine.  Cassette tape, recording tape, eight track tapes, and, the three and one-half inch computer disks all used a magnetic medium.

The sound is recorded on this medium by passing current through a head that works on the same principle as a speaker.  It aligns the electrons up in patches and arrays, and they stay there as long as they are not near any kind of a magnetic source.

His idea was to pull the ends of the motor off, remove the rotor, and leave the stator, the part that holds the windings, intact.  Anything, whether it be credit card, cassette tape, or floppy disks, if placed inside the stator will receive an astounding amount of magnetism.  Whatever is on the disks will be instantly erased without any chance of ever being restored when a current is passed through the windings.

He wired a simple electric lamp cord onto it, placed it in a box which had a handle on it, set it in his truck.  He could hardly wait for the chance to use it, and he would do it in front of Len Mathers, Melinda Pierce, Lane Wardlow and whoever else may be present.

He wanted to go by Stillwell Mortgage and talk to a few of the people there before taking the reins.  He hoped he wouldn't be known except by just a couple of people.  The secretary was new, and several of the offices were occupied by newcomers.  Jeff was no where to be found.  One man, Wayne Combs, a friend from way back did recognize him, and they talked a little while.

"I hear the place is all employee owned now," he ventured.

"Yes, it is . . . but, I know that you have retained sixty percent of the company.  What we need is someone who knows what the heck they're doing to come in and run it.  You planning on coming back?" Wayne asked outright.  "Man, we sure need you."

"Thinking very serious about it," William said.  "Would you introduce me to the president of this place, and some of the big wigs." Introduce me simply as William."

"Sure, come on," Wayne responded, and started off down the hall.

A while later he left the place having met several new people.  They were Tina Jasper; president, James Cooper; vice president, Constance Landers; Waynes supervisor.  They seemed like a nice lot of people.  He would see how nice they were when he stepped up and took the place over.

After some lunch, he made a trip down a little road he'd walked one night not knowing who he even was.  He drove past the Wheaton house, and then parked in front of the property where the Hastings house once stood.  He still owned that property.  He reminisced a moment or two, and started his pickup and drove to Lanes office.

There were a few cars there already, and he picked up his little box, and walked into the waiting room.  Several people he did not know were in the room, but everyone of them eyed the box he was carrying.

One person he did know stood up, walked over to him and stuck out his hand.  "Hello old friend," he said.  "How are you doing man?"

"Well, I guess I'm about as well as could be expected.  I'll be a lot better off in a little while." He motioned toward the box.

Len looked at the box and said, "I didn't know there was that much to the 'collection.' I thought there was only like a dozen three and one-half inch floppies."

"Well, there's more in this box than you know!" William said matter of factly.  Then "excuse me, I need to visit the men's room before I attend this meeting."

"Sure, we'll all be here."

He walked toward the door which led to the hall where the restrooms were.  He opened the door and what he feared most came out of the ladies restroom.  He sure didn't want any women coming in there while he was in there.

Melinda stepped out of the restroom, looking as stunning as ever.  "Hello!" she exclaimed.  "How are you?"

"Fine, but the meeting is about to start, and the mens' room is occupied" William lied.  "Would you stand guard over the ladies room while I make a short visit?"

"Why heavens yes!  Of course I will!  You go right in!  I'll be right here!"

So, William was able to get into the ladies room without risk of being seen.  He secured the disks, taped them together, opened the box and placed them inside the stator.  He plugged the cord into the wall socket for just a second, and the disks were rendered completely useless.  All content was erased in an instant.  He unplugged the cord, wrapped it back into the box, secured the lid and left.

The meeting was just being called when he opened the hall door.  All the people in the room were getting to their feet.  They were being herded into the conference room where all the meetings were held around a huge table.  Just before the door closed, Chief of Police Walter Bension walked into the office with Wade Melton.

All were seated around the table, with William's box sitting on the floor beside him.  Lane called the meeting to order.  Sandy was over against the wall recording the proceedings in shorthand.  "We all know the reason for this meeting, and it is a momentous occasion in that we are closing an era in Stillwell History."

"The man who owns the disks, Mr. William Travis, who also, at this time, retains title to same, has decided to relinquish his claim to their title, will hand the disks over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

"But first, I have a couple of questions for Mr. Travis.  Mr. Travis would you stand for everyone to know who you are."

William stood momentarily, then took his seat again.

"Mr. Travis.  Do you have the disks in question on your person?"

"Yes sir Mr. Wardlow.  I do."

"Do you intend to relinquish title and all claim to said documents of your own free accord?"

"Yes sir Mr. Wardlow.  I do."

"Are you aware of any other copies or any such manner of material related to these disks"

"No sir Mr. Wardlow.  I do not."

"OK then, who at this meeting is chosen to receive the disks?"

A gentleman close to the far end of the table raised his hand.

"Please identify yourself sir."

"My name is Boslo Wilson sir.  I am a federal agent of the FBI.  I am also the lead liaison to the California chapter of the FBI.  Also, I am an ATF agent, the liaison between the FBI and the ATF." he responded.

"Are you prepared to receive said articles Mr. Wilson?"

"Yes sir, I am." Mr. Wilson responded.

"OK then, Mr. Travis, will you please place the disks on the table in front of you?"

"Yes sir, I will . . ."

At that, William reached down, picked up the metal box containing the disks and the 'disk delivery chamber,' placed it on the table in front of him.  He glanced at Len Mathers who was watching him intently.  He unlocked the box, lifted the lid, and undid the latch that held the sides up on the box, so that they all fell down flat on the table.  Exposed was the simple stator of an old cooler motor.

The 'disk delivery chamber' sat revealed with the neat little packet of disks secured in the middle of it.  Many of the men had no idea as to what the deal was here.  Len leaned forward and said "what the . . .?" and his voice trailed off as he realized what was going on.

Then, he started laughing.  Some of the men around the table looked confused, some looked mad, the remainder of the group around the table had a look of relief on their faces.  Len was now laughing his head off, and Boslo Wilson was getting royally ticked off.

"Just what is the meaning of this?" He sputtered.

"The meaning of this, Mr. Wilson, is William has done the absolute smartest thing anyone could have ever done with those disks.  He destroyed them!"

At that, Boslo stood up, and started out the door.  "Wait," Len said.  "Don't you want your disks?"

Boslo returned to the table, snatched the disks out of the stator, shoved them into a little bag, and threw the bag and its contents into the trash can.  He slammed the door on his way out.

By then, the whole crowd was laughing, congratulating William, and were standing up, getting ready to leave.  Melinda came around the table and gave William a huge hug, then kissed him on the cheek.  "I am so proud of you William.  Sharon is too."

"Too bad she was not here to see the end of this thing called the 'Crawly Caper,'" William said.

"Well, she knows what's going on," Melinda said.  "She knows more about what's going on that you'd ever expect!"

"What do you mean by that?" William asked.

Melinda just winked and walked away ignoring that last question.

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