Title: Arm's Length

Author/pseudonym: Tina

Fandom: The Sentinel

Pairing: None

Rating: Gen

Status: Complete

Archive: Yes

Feedback: Yes

E-mail address for feedback: addictedtofiction@yahoo.com

Disclaimers: I just borrowed them to write this they are not mine.

Notes: This was written for the Lyric Wheel

Summary: The Ellison and Sandburg team is sent out on a case that tries their patience.

Warnings: None

Comments: Beta'd by Caro



Arm's Length
by Tina

It was a slow morning and Jim and Blair were doing the loathed paperwork.

Simon was in his office on the phone, a frown on his face as he listened, "Someone will be right there," he said and hung up the receiver. Then he hollered, "Ellison, Sandburg, my office now."

Blair challenged the order. "We're almost finished on this report."

When Simon saw Blair's lips move as he kept on typing, Simon's eyebrows shot up. Jim grabbed Blair by the collar and hauled him out of the chair before Simon could say anything else. "Chief, he means now."

Blair fought to free himself. "Hey, just a few more words and I'll be done."

"Now!" Jim growled, his eyes on Blair, who knew at that moment he was tempting his fate and, straightening out his shirt, he followed.

"I got it -- I'm coming."

They both went into the Captain's office and sat down.

"A dead body has been found at the Mennonite community outside of town and I want you two to handle it. I am hoping that you two can do this without ruffling any feathers." Simon took a moment to meet both their eyes, but stayed on Jim's, waiting for conformation. Jim gave it with a small nod. "When you get there contact a Mr. Wolfe -- he's the leader of the community."

"Yes, Sir, got it." Then Jim walked out of the office and headed for his desk to grab both their jackets before hurrying towards the elevator.

Blair caught up with Jim at the elevator and Jim handed him his jacket. "This could be interesting. You know, the Mennonites live in communities to separate themselves from the rest of the world."

The elevator door opened and they joined the few people inside which stopped any conversation they would have had.

As soon as they exited the elevator Blair started talking as Jim knew he would. "Mennonites are not the same as the Amish. People often get the two confused. They have a lot of the same beliefs but there are a few differences."

"Will they talk to us?"

"I don't see why not. Did you know they are pacifists?"

"Doesn't it seem a little strange that a group of Mennonite pacifists found a dead body in their community?" Jim asked, opening the door to the truck and getting in.

<><><><><><>

Jim stopped the pickup and leaned forward staring in disbelief at the yard full of people. The clothes were different colors but all from the same pattern and homemade, women with scarves on their heads, kids running all over the place. No one seemed to be paying any attention to them.

"So much for evidence. Who reported this? I assumed the coroner would be here already, not to mention a black and white unit," Jim asked.

Blair undid his seatbelt. "We better go find out. What kind of people would let kids run around with a dead body nearby?"

Jim sighed and moved to get out as well.

One man separated himself from the rest of them and headed for Jim, putting out his hand as he got closer. "Hello, you must be the police. I am Mr. Wolfe."

Jim took out his badge and held it up as he shook Mr. Wolfe's hand. "I'm Detective Ellison and this is my partner, Blair Sandburg. Where is the body?"

"Over there just inside the trees," Mr. Wolfe said, as he led the way.

"Who called this in?" Jim asked, as he walked beside Mr. Wolfe.

Blair came up close and placed his hand on Jim's back. Not knowing what they would find, he quietly advised, "Jim, turn smell way down for now."

Jim could smell the blood and he hadn't even turned up his sense of smell yet. He felt Blair's hand on his back to ground him. He turned his sense of smell below normal for now. He noticed the field they were heading across was clear of any trail and the grass was long enough that any path having been made would have shown.

"I did, I have the only phone in the settlement," Mr. Wolfe said in his heavy accent, as he watched how close Blair had moved, his shoulder touching his partner's shoulder.

Mr. Wolfe stopped and pointed to what looked like a pile of bloody rags from where they stood.

"Sandburg, call and see if the coroner is on the way? Who found the body?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he heard Mr. Wolfe's heart rate speed up. When he didn't answer, Jim knew the man was trying to decide whether to lie or not. His heart sped up again and Jim knew he was going to lie. Jim looked right into his eyes as he got ready to speak.

The moment Mr. Wolfe's eyes came to meet Jim's his heart rate returned to normal as he answered, "I did."

Jim knew that, as such, he had told the truth but he was leaving out a lot that Jim was going to have work hard to get at. This was not helping Mr. Wolfe on his credibility as far as the detective in Jim was concerned.

"How did you discover the body?" Jim once again noticed the faster heart rate but this time it stayed faster as he answered and he knew he was going to lie.

"A calf escaped his pen and I caught up with it here." Mr. Wolfe said. This time his eyes did not meet Jim's.

Jim looked over the ground around the dead body. Bringing up his sight a little, he circled the area but no evidence of anyone chasing a calf could be seen; the only trampled grass was right around them and the obvious trial they had left where they had come across the field. He didn't know anything about calves but he assumed there would have to have been two separate trails as Mr. Wolfe had tried to head it off and catch the calf. A trail that did not exist.

"What is his name?" Jim asked, looking back at the body.

"David Platt. He lives just on the other side of these woods."

"You stay here while we examine the body and when the coroner arrives tell him where we are." Jim said to the man who refused to look at him.

"Okay Chief, let's get this over with," Jim said, carefully leading them to the dead body and getting down on his haunches to get a better look at it.

Blair hunched down beside him, placing his hand on Jim's shoulder, instructing as he did. "You have your sense of smell lowered?" When Jim nodded, he continued, "Good, now bring up sight. What do you see on the body that would help us?"

"There's so much blood it's hard to tell. An autopsy might be the only way to tell here. I would say he was beaten badly." Jim continued his search.

Blair started talking to help Jim keep from zoning as he was only using sight. "Talk to me, Jim. What do you see?"

"There is something on the lower half of his pants."

"Look at it again. Can you make out what it is?"

"It's pollen," Jim answered.

"Good, Jim. Now bring up smell but block out the blood smell and bring out the new smell on his pants."

Blair lowered his hand to the middle of Jim's back as he spoke, a fact not missed by the man watching them.

"It smells like flowers. It's as if he was rolling around in a patch of flowers -- it's all over his legs." Jim sniffed again. "This is interesting -- he had sex recently."

Mr. Wolfe watched the two men, his eyes glued to Blair's hand on Jim's back with such familiarity. He heard them softly conversing but he couldn't make it out, so he slowly moved closer until he could hear what they were saying. What he heard made him gasp and give himself away.

The two kneeling men turned simultaneously to see terror in the face of the man behind them. They instantly stood up. Jim moved towards him and Mr. Wolfe backed up, his face turning white in fear. Jim stopped so as not to scare him anymore than he already was. "Mr. Wolfe, what's wrong? I told you to stay back."

"What are you? Evil! I want you off my land now and don't come back," he whispered, his eyes wide with fear. "No one can see such things -- only someone possessed by the devil would know this."

Jim met Blair's eyes. Blair moved forward, his hands out in supplication. "Mr. Wolfe, listen to me. I do know how you feel about what you think you heard but Jim is a police officer and has seen a lot of dead bodies and he has very good eyes and a good sense of smell."

"No, there is more to him than that, and men should not be close to men like you are -- I saw how you touched him. That is not right. I want you both off of my land now."

Jim saw the coroner's van come into the field with a black and white following. "The coroner is here now and we need to speak to him. I'm sorry but Sandburg and I will be finishing the investigation."

Mr. Wolfe walked away as fast as he could. Jim watched him for a minute then turned back to work. "Let's finish this," he said, heading towards the crime scene.

Jim stopped at some scuffle marks in the dirt. "It was more than one person;" Jim knelt, "over here is where he started beating him and kept beating him after he fell probably unconscious after the first blow." Jim pointed at the tracks in the mud. "Over to the right you can see a couple more prints and it looks like someone stood and watched."

"Now move a little outward from here and see if they left something behind and if you tell which way they went?" Blair prompted.

Jim stood already searching for more evidence and he found it. Slowly he followed the trail and Blair followed Jim. The trail led them farther into the woods. Fifteen minutes later, they came out behind another farm. The path led Jim right to the back door. Jim knocked. When no one answered, he assumed they were all at the farm with the dead body.

Jim led the way back through the woods. He stopped and sniffed the air. "What would marijuana be doing on a Mennonite farmer's property?" He led the way to a corn field on their right.

"Are you sure, Jim?"

"Oh, I'm sure," he said, as he walked into the field, following his sense of smell towards the plants that were now evident in between the rows of corn.

Blair turned in a circle as he looked at what was obviously Marijuana plants very abundantly growing among the corn. "I don't believe what I am seeing here, Jim."

"Let's find out who this field belongs to." Jim held his hand out. "Your pocket knife?" Jim asked. Blair passed it over and Jim cut off a piece of the plant and dropped it inside a plastic evidence bag from his pocket.

They came back to the scene just as the body was being lifted onto the stretcher. Jim headed towards the group Mr. Wolfe was talking to. Jim stopped beside him. "Mr. Wolfe, who owns this farm?"

The reaction from the Mennonite man surprised both Jim and Blair, as he ignored them totally. Jim looked at Blair, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Mr. Wolfe, if you don't talk to us we can't complete this investigation and get the truth about who killed David."

Mr. Wolfe turned to walk away and everyone followed him. Jim and Blair watched as the whole group left.

"This is going well," Jim said sarcastically. He looked around and, noticing the barn and a small movement in its dim interior, he headed towards it. "There's someone inside," he said softly.

Jim came to a stop just inside the spacious barn, listening for a heartbeat which he found to their left. "Left, behind that door," Jim whispered as he lead the way quietly. Jim lifted the latch and opened the door slowly. "I know you're in there. It will be easier if you come out here."

There was a shuffle and a girl of about fourteen came out of the shadows. Head down, she stood in front of them. Jim could smell her fear and had no doubt she was terrified.

Blair spoke gently, "We just want to talk to you."

"My father said you are the devil."

"Your father as in Mr. Wolfe?"

"Yes, they will all listen to him and no one will talk to you."

"But you will?" Blair asked. "You stayed behind to talk to us, didn't you?"

She nodded. "I want you to catch who did this."

"What's your name?"

"Susan."

"Susan, tell us what you know about David Platt. We know he lives on the north end of the woods but why was he in the woods?"

"David was walking with my sister, Eva, but she is not supposed to be seeing him. Father said he is not right for Eva and she is not to see him. He wanted her to see Isaac Friesen but Eva does not want to marry Isaac."

"Why not?" Jim asked, his suspicions rising with these answers.

"David and Eva were thinking of leaving together. Isaac found out and him and David had a disagreement."

"Argument, or did they physically fight each other?" Jim asked.

"They talk loud, David said he had found out what Isaac was doing in his field and Isaac said he will make sure that David does not see Eva anymore if he says a word to anyone."

"Did he say how he was going to do that?" Jim asked.

She shook her head.

"Isaac's father gave him a field to grow crops in and he grows plants that are bad in the field."

"How do you know they are bad?" Blair asked.

"Because bad men come late at night with trucks they park on the road and Isaac talks to them and helps them put it in their truck. I heard them talking about how bad it was to smoke but good to make money from."

"What were you doing out there?" Jim asked the young girl.

"Sometimes I meet my friend Helen and we walk in the trees beside the road so no one can see us. We have seen them sometimes."

Jim looked at Blair whose eyebrows rose. They were both thinking the same thing. Jim looked back at the girl.

"One more question, why does your father say David was not right for Eva?"

"He says David's father is lazy and so David is lazy. Eva knows he is not lazy. He does a lot of the work on his father's farm and fixes other people's cars and tractors. David and Eva love each other and unless Father gives his blessing they can never marry."

"I think we get the picture," Jim finally said. "We will take it from here. Thank you for talking to us."

She left the barn by another door and Jim and Blair slowly walked back the way they came. "I guess we are going back through the woods, right?" Blair asked as Jim quickened his pace.

"What would a young Mennonite man know about Marijuana?"

Blair thought for a moment. "Everyone thinks these young people are so sheltered and don't know what goes on outside their world and, like all young people, I'm sure they explore where their parents say not to."

"David found out about Isaac's drug dealing. When Isaac found David and Eva together in the flowers, he killed him. After all, he would want his wife a virgin. I get the feeling that since Mr. Wolfe is the leader here, marrying his daughter would be a good thing."

Blair nodded. "Sounds good to me, but how do we prove all this when no one will talk to us, except Susan?"

"We're going to have to find a way." The Coroner had left while they were talking to Susan. "We are going to talk to Isaac now."

They came out of the woods and were heading towards the house when they heard shouting from behind them. Turning, they saw a young man running at them from the barn.

"What are you doing here? Mr. Wolfe told you to leave?" he said, huffing a little from his run from the barn.

"We were just following the evidence," Jim answered.

"On my father's property?"

"Is that whose corn this is?" Jim asked. "What is your name?"

"Isaac Friesen."

"Isaac, we would like to take a walk in this corn. Is that all right with you?"

"Not without a warrant," the young man answered.

That surprised both Jim and Blair -- they had assumed that he would just say yes -- but they both knew he had something to hide and anyone who would grow Marijuana would also know the law.

"In a small community like this, I imagine there aren't too many secrets. Tell us about David."

Isaac looked at the two men and shuffled his feet, his body language clearly showing he was uncomfortable. "David... there is not much to say."

"Try," Jim prompted.

"Isaac!" A voice shouted from the house and all three turned to see Mr. Wolfe standing there. As they moved towards him, he continued shouting in a foreign language, which Blair whispered to Jim sounded like a form of German. As soon as Isaac was close enough, Mr. Wolfe took his arm and dragged him quickly towards the house and ushered him inside.

Jim and Blair had followed and now they knew they would not get any information here. "Mr. Wolfe, do you want to know who killed David? We need to talk to people if we want to find out what happened," Jim said quickly before the door could close.

"Why would no one want to find out who killed someone close to them? It makes no sense," Blair asked.

"Unless they know who did it."

"You think they know?"

"I know that Mr. Wolfe isn't telling me everything. His heart rate was too fast as we got to the body but settled right down once I asked questions. That tells me I was asking the wrong questions. And that young man is smart enough to get rid of any evidence before we get a warrant. Let's go talk to David's family."

"Jim, doesn't it seem strange that David's parents were not available when we arrived?"

"Everything about this is strange. Mr. Wolfe probably told them he would handle it."

"How are we going to find out where they live?"

"I think we will find he lives on the other side of Isaac's field. Which is also through the woods north of Mr. Wolfe's."

"Jim, why don't we go back to the scene and find David's scent and see if we can find where he came from. So far, we've only followed the perps' prints. Maybe we should try and find out where David and Eva had been and maybe where David had come from."

"Lead the way, Einstein," Jim said, as they turned to go back to the woods. Once they arrived at the crime scene, Jim closed his eyes and concentrated on his sense of smell, with Blair's hand on his back like always, grounding him as he worked. "This way," he said as he led the way further into the trees in a different direction than they had gone earlier. After a five minute walk, they came across a glen and a small stream with flowers surrounding the edge. "This smells like the pollen on David's legs."

"Bring up sight and see if you can find out a flattened area and maybe we can find out some more from there." Blair suggested.

"Already on it, Chief, and it looks like it's over there under that tree with the low hanging branches." He pointed to their right and they both headed over.

Blair automatically placed his hand on his partner's back as he worked his senses. When Jim knelt, Blair followed him down as well. After a few minutes, he stood up.

"This is definitely where they had sex." Jim walked a short ways from the site and then came back, trying another direction, and this time he kept going. "This is the direction David came from. We know Eva came the way we did; I recognize the scent now that I've smelled it here. It was with us from the crime scene."

"Do you think she saw who did it?"

"That could be; we are going to have to find out. Let's go talk to Mr. and Mrs. Platt." Jim led the way.

They came out behind a dilapidated building. Blair recognized Jim's listening stance. When Jim headed around the building, Blair followed without question. Jim lowered his head as he walked through the low doorway, calling softly, "Hello, I'm Detective Ellison and I would like to talk to you for a few minutes."

The room smelled like old oil and gas, probably from the old Chevy in the middle off the room. Sitting in the front seat of the car was a young woman with a scarf over her hair, her head down.

"Eva, can we talk to you?" Jim asked gently. "I know this is hard for you but we need some help finding David's killer and we can't if no one will talk to us. We will wait outside. You let us know when you're ready."

Blair saw her nod. They moved outside and Jim looked around to verify that no one could see them with an overgrown shed in front of them.

When she finally came out, she wouldn't meet their eyes at first. "We are sorry for your loss. Could you tell us something about David and who would want him dead?" Jim gently asked her.

Playing with the hanky in her hands, she sniffled. "Sorry for crying."

"Take your time. We understand how hard this is for you and I apologize for having to do this."

She nodded. "David had no enemies. I don't know who would want to do this."

"We spoke to your sister Susan and she said that your father didn't like David. In fact, he wants you to marry Isaac."

"Isaac doesn't want me and I don't want him."

"You both agree on this?" Jim asked.

"Isaac and David have been friends since they were small. My father and Isaac's father want us to get married," she said, finally looking at Jim shyly.

"Now that David is dead, what is going to happen?"

"I suppose they will try to have us marry."

"Do you know anything about Isaac growing Marijuana?" Jim asked, listening to her heart as he did. It did speed up slightly but not much. He could see she was thinking. He waited and, when her heart sped up, he knew she was going to lie to him.

"No, he wouldn't do that," she said.

"For living in such a protected environment you all know what it is."

"Our parents don't know a lot of things."

"Like what?" Blair asked

"It is my parents' belief that everything the world does is a sin. We go to Cascade to get something to eat, like other kids we go to movies. Some of the others laugh at us but some are nice."

"Going to movies is a sin?" Blair asked.

"Yes, most things are a sin unless we are doing it in church."

"What grade are you in, Eva?" Jim asked.

"I don't go to school anymore. That's why my father is trying to get me married."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Forgive me for asking this, but now that David is gone, will you do as your father wants and marry Isaac?"

"No, I don't think I will be marrying Isaac."

"You sound sure," Jim said.

"I am sure, he won't marry me."

"I think that's all for now, Eva, but we will come back if we have more questions. Right now we would like to talk to David's parents. Do you think you could help us?"

All they got was a nod as she headed around the over-grown shed. The rest of the yard was mainly weeds with a few areas of grass. They passed a garden with as many weeds as plants. On the porch was a woman who did not look like she had an easy life. She watched as the three of them approached. As they walked up close, she started speaking Low German. Eva answered her in the same language. Then she spoke to Jim.

"My father has told her not to talk to you. I told her you wanted to find out who killed David so she will, but she does not speak English so I will have to translate."

"Ask her if she knows anyone who would want to kill her son?"

Eva having translated listened to Mrs. Platt for a minute. Jim could see she did not like what had been said. Eva became upset as Mrs. Platt spoke, in fact, tears ran down her face.

The two men looked at each other. "Eva?" Jim asked gently, knowing she was upset.

With a strangled cry, she ran off as the three watched. A man came out of the barn off to the left. After looking at the scene, he walked back into the barn.

"This is getting ridiculous," said Jim.

"You know, Jim, actually they are no different than other people with things to hide. Add to that their fear of the world and this is what you get."

"We are not giving up. What are the odds that he speaks English?" Jim asked as he hurried towards the barn.

Once inside the gloomy interior, they waited a few seconds for their eyes to adjust. Jim headed towards the pen where they could see a shovel throwing manure into a wheel barrow.

"Mr. Platt, I know Mr. Wolfe has asked you not to speak to us but we have to find out who killed your son and, if no one talks to us, we're going to have to do this the hard way."

"The hard way?" he asked, leaning on his shovel.

"Bring you into the station and put you in a small room and talk to you until you tell us what we need to know. I am sure no one wants that?"

He looked at them and nodded. "No, we don't but what I will say will cause a lot of trouble. But then I guess they have done nothing but give me trouble all these years. My son was not good enough for Eva Wolfe because her father is the leader. Those two cared a lot for each other. Eva was here a lot since David could not call on her. Mr. Wolfe wants her to marry Isaac but David told me last night that Eva is pregnant and they are going to leave as soon as he can get some money together. He was a mechanic for everyone around here. He was good at it too. There wasn't anything he couldn't fix," he said sadly.

"Does Eva's father know his daughter is pregnant?"

"No, she is afraid of telling him."

"What will happen to her now that David is dead?"

"When her father finds out she is pregnant, she will be excommunicated."

"Where will she go?" Blair wanted to know.

"If we take her in, we will be excommunicated too but we will take care of her, because it is our grandchild."

"Who would want to see David dead?" Jim asked.

"There really isn't anyone I can think of. Everyone brought their cars, tractors or any other engine that needs work. He is--*was* the only mechanic…." he said, his eyes shining as his throat closed up with emotion.

"Thank you for your help and could you tell me what your wife and Eva argued over to make her run off?"

"My wife was telling her that the only one who didn't like David was her father and maybe he had done it."

"Mr. Platt, do you think that Mr. Wolfe is capable of something like that?"

Mr. Platt looked down at his manure-covered boots and then up at Jim. Taking a deep breath, he let it out.

"Mr. Platt, do you think Mr. Wolfe could kill David?"

When he didn't answer, Jim decided to ask another question. "Did you see David's body?"

"No, Mr. Wolfe told me we did not want to see his body -- it was so badly beaten -- and that he would take care of everything."

"You just trusted him to do that?"

"Yes, of course."

"So much of this does not make sense, Mr. Platt. What can you tell us about Isaac?"

"Isaac and David have always been friends."

"Would the fact that Mr. Wolfe wanted Eva to marry Isaac, and not David, have come between them?"

"No, the last I saw the two of them together they were fine. Isaac supported David and Eva; in fact, he would pretend to be calling on Eva and then escort her to David or they would also invite Eva's good friend, Elsie, along."

"I know I can't talk to Isaac, but what about Elsie? Where will we find her?"

"She lives two miles past Isaac's home, in the house with all the flowers leading to the house."

"Thank you, Mr. Platt. We will let you know how we are doing on the case."

Mr. Platt's eyes shone with unshed tears as he held out his hand to shake theirs. He nodded and said, "Thank you."

Jim and Blair walked through the woods and back to Jim's truck. Just as they climbed in, Mr. Wolfe showed up beside Jim. "I thought I asked you to leave. Where have you been? If you harass my people, I will have to talk to your Captain.

"You do that. We are just doing our job and you are hindering it, which means we can charge you with obstruction of justice. I know you're not telling me everything you know and we will be getting a warrant and you will be coming down to the station. We are going to talk to people so we can find out who killed David and we will find out who did it. If you don't talk to us, our Captain will send someone else and they will ask the same questions."

"Let him send someone else. You are the devil and I do not want to see your face around here again."

Jim closed his door and started the truck and pulled out of the yard. "Let's see if we can find Elsie and talk to her."

The house with the flowers could not be missed and they pulled to a stop beside a pickup already in the yard. A girl with a black scarf over her head came out from behind a building with a basket of eggs. She stopped for a second, looking at the two men in her yard, and then walked right up to them. "You must be the two detectives Mr. Wolfe said for us not to talk to."

Jim smiled at her honesty, even if it seemed she was only doing it because she was defying authority. It didn't matter to him as long as she told him what he wanted to know. So he asked, "Who would want David dead?"

She laughed a bitter, short laugh. "That is easy, Mr. Wolfe. I know he did it."

Jim couldn't believe his ears. "How do you know he did it?"

"David had found out that Mr. Wolfe was growing Marijuana in Isaac's field and they were arguing over it last night."

"Can you tell me what they said?" Jim asked.

Blair took out his pen and note pad and started taking notes as she spoke.

"David and Eva had been at David's and he was walking her home when they met Mr. Wolfe and Isaac talking about the next harvest."

"How do you know this?"

"I was there, hiding in the bushes. I knew Isaac was up to something. For months now, I have known there was something he was hiding. I was keeping an eye on him. I had asked him to take me out for ice cream that night and he said he had to do something and couldn't."

"So you followed him. What did you see?"

"They were talking about how a Mr. Summers was expecting the crop to be ready and cut down for him in a week. That they would be picking it up then."

"What was the crop?"

"I wasn't sure at first. It made no sense to me until David and Eva came out of the trees. Mr. Wolfe took one look at them and told David if he wouldn't leave Eva alone, he would have to do something about it. Then he sent Eva home. After she left, David said he and Eva were leaving in a month and he couldn't stop them."

Blair's pen was flying over the page as he tried to keep up with her.

"Mr. Wolfe said, Yes, he could do something about it and that David very well knew it. David said he would tell the police about Mr. Wolfe's growing marijuana in Friesen's corn field."

She stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. "I have never seen Mr. Wolfe so angry. He said that if David thought he could speak to him like that he deserved discipline. He picked up a stick from the path and hit him so hard in the head there was blood everywhere, David fell down from the first hit. Isaac was shouting for him to stop but Mr. Wolfe kept on hitting him and wouldn't stop. Finally, Isaac left and so did I."

Jim looked at the silent tears falling down the young woman's cheeks and put his arm around her. She pushed him away. "You know you are going to have to testify. Can you do that?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. Please, don't tell them I told you."

"If he is your leader, don't you think people need to know what he is capable of?"

She nodded. "I will try because you are right."

"We're going to go pick up Mr. Wolfe right now."

They walked back to the truck and drove off. Elsie stood there, staring after them, and not moving at all until they were totally out of sight.

"They keep the world at arm's length but their leader, Mr. Wolfe, forgot what they wanted to accomplish and sold his soul for money from the world," Blair said sadly, as they headed back to pick up Mr. Wolfe.


END

Arms Length (by Sinch)

Sold the instructions to their souls
as they bask in the material world
so many things I would like to change
and I am bending over backwards
and it's just like everyone tries so hard to stay
at least about an arms length away
don't you remember what you wanted anymore
I know I stayed so young
so there is hauntings in your soul
at least as far as everyone knows
so many things you would like to change
but try bending over backwards
and it's just like everyone tries so hard to stay
at least about an arms length away
and you don't remember what you wanted anymore
I know I stayed so young
educated masses play the slaves
and you might be better of to suffocate the stage
then you would see that perception is your disease
and I know that look in your eyes
that you are shoving something down
where it won't be found
when it's just like everyone tries so hard to stay
at least about an arms length away
don't you remember what you wanted anymore
I know I stayed so young
and it's just like you.