Джордан Шор - The Search

“I remember seeing the captain too,” Jack added. “I remember him because he gave me the creeps. He was almost my size, and he looked pissed off, like he was depressed, or something. I guess he must have noticed his ex-wife in the waiting area. For a minute there, I almost freaked out, and my intuition told me not to board the plane. I was afraid he’d crash… Crash the plane or something.”

Jack Green stared at George with wide eyes and then suddenly pointed at him.

“You think your captain crashed the plane on count of his ex-wife, don’t you, Stanton?”

No, I don’t.

“You thought your captain killed his co-pilot, didn’t you?” Jack asked. “That’s why you’re so upset to learn it was the co-pilot who died in the woods.”

I said: NO. Didn’t you hear me the first time?

George felt as his lips were glued to his teeth. He couldn’t speak anymore, and he was about to be sick, his fever still rising.

“Well, I guess it’s better than the Imam theory, I give you that,” Jack added. “But I think you’re wrong, Stanton. I don’t think your captain crashed the plane. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good theory. But your theory has two major flaws in it.”

George felt an ambivalent sense of relief. He didn’t want to argue his case, but at the same time, he felt curious as to what the flaws in his theory could possibly be.

“How so?” he asked, and then immediately regretted asking.

“I’m going to tell you what my lawyer told me when he convinced me to plead guilty to manslaughter,” Jack said. “It doesn’t matter who started the fight. The guy in the coffin is the victim, and the guy standing trial is the murderer. It’s that simple.”

“I don’t follow.”

“The pilot in the lake is the victim, and the pilot in the woods is the killer,” Jack said. “Your co-pilot killed his captain. It’s that simple.”

“He could’ve killed the captain in self-defense,” George argued.

“Which brings me to the second flaw,” Jack said. “For the past twenty years I’ve witnessed a substantial number of fights, and I’ve participated in several as well. And if there’s one thing I learned, it’s that the big guy always wins. Except for when the other guy has a weapon.”

Yeah, how could the much-smaller co-pilot, Isaac Gregorian, possibly have defeated Captain Daniels in a fight? Daniels even had military training.

“Trust me on this, Stanton,” Jack added. “The only way that small turkey-shaped-looking co-pilot of yours ever could have killed a man of my size is if he had a weapon. And that means, he must have planned for it.”

“Each pilot has to go through the same type of screening as a passenger would. No way he could have brought a weapon on board.”

“You’d be surprised how easy it is to create a weapon out of more or less anything,” Jack said. “You ever heard of a shiv, Stanton?”

“Yes, it’s a sharp object that resembles a knife. I understand what you’re saying, and I’m sure an inmate could produce thousands of shivs from the materials in a departure hall,” George said, and shook his head slightly. “But how would the co-pilot ever explain why he was in possession of such a weapon. What? He just happened to have a toothbrush in his pocket that day? And he managed to break the toothbrush in half quickly enough for him to stab the captain in self-defense? How is he going to explain that?”

George felt proud of his last remark, especially when he noticed how Jack Green’s eyebrows plunged deeper than ever. For some reason, George suddenly thought of Cliff Henderson, security director.

You really shouldn’t frown so much, Jack. It’s not a good look for you.

Jack Green kept frowning, and appeared to be scratching his beard, but he stopped as soon as he must have realized he didn’t have a beard.

“Well, he could’ve drugged him, I suppose,” Jack said. “I’m sure the co-pilot would’ve been permitted to bring medicine through security. At least if the medicine had his prescription and name on it, am I right?”

George thought of the sound recording from the cockpit, and how the pilots discussed the way proper coffee should taste.

“Perhaps the co-pilot slipped some medicine into the captain’s coffee, or perhaps he switched cups, or something,” Jack said, and then made a noncommittal face. “Come to think of it, the feds mentioned something about coffee.”

Does this taste, right? George thought of Magdalene Gregorian’s phone call.

Could it be the other way around? Had the co-pilot, Isaac Gregorian, poisoned the captain by offering him a taste of his coffee? But his mother didn’t recognize his voice. But then again, perhaps she was protecting her son? And he knew the cockpit recording was on, so perhaps he disguised his voice. But why would the co-pilot crash the plane? Was he depressed? Then why did he write a letter claiming Captain Daniels was depressed?

“Did the co-pilot seem depressed to you?”

“No, on the contrary,” Jack responded. “Like I said, he flirted with Julie, and he seemed very happy, as he paraded through the waiting area. It looked as though he was having the best day of his life. He didn’t look depressed at all.”

“Then why would he crash the plane?”

“That’s the million-dollar question.” Jack Green winked, and stared at George with a mischievous smile.

“I don’t follow…”

“During my twenty years of incarceration, I came across men with all kind of difference sentences. But in the end, each one of them was incarcerated for one of two reasons.”

Jack Green paused and kept staring George in the eyes.

“It either involved a woman or the prospect of money. Or possibly a combination of the two,” Jack added.

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me,” George said and felt dizzy.

“I don’t think your co-pilot had a woman in his life. I hate to sound shallow, but I don’t think that guy knew what love was,” Jack said. “So, that leaves money.”

“Money?” George almost yelled. “What money?”

“I don’t want to alarm you, Stanton. But it has come to my attention that I might be entitled to a large sum of money within the near future.”

“Call me, George. And I’m sure you will. In fact, I hope you receive the money. And not to worry, it won’t come out of my paycheck. Our insurance will cover every claim.”

At least, as long as the Imam gets the blame .

“But I imagine the co-pilot would be entitled to a claim of his own, would he not?” Jack asked. “I mean, if he prevented the captain from completing a suicide mission, thereby saving all the passengers. He wouldn’t just be left with fame and glory? He would be entitled to an insurance claim also, don’t you think?”

Suddenly the image of Tom Hanks landing his distressed plane on water popped up in George’s head. Then he imagined a scene in which co-pilot Isaac Gregorian was interviewed by the media.

Captain Daniels was on a suicide mission on account of his divorce, but I managed to fight him off, just as he was about to crash the plane into the Canadian wilderness. Oh, I’m no hero, I only did what I’m trained to do, which is to safely land the plane on water. Besides, the Great Slave Lake is one of the biggest lakes in the world, so it was easy to land the plane safely. It’s not like landing a plane on the Hudson River or anything. What was that? Yes, I’ll be happy to sell you the movie rights to my story.

“This whole thing was about money?” George asked in disbelief.

“What won’t people do to gain wealth?” It sounded like a quote.

To gain wealth? Who talks like that?