After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 51

January 19, 1993. 1:34 PM.

"Officer Lenardon" Dana Barnes began in that all too confident voice of hers. Jack couldn't tell how much of it was an act to maintain the image of having the upper hand, and how much of it was genuine arrogance. Perhaps, Barnes was full of false confidence and true arrogance all at once. It was possible, Jack knew, because he could be both those things at once too. "Upon your arrival at the island on January 27th 1991, what post were you assigned to by your commanding officer?" she asked the Marine Corps officer.

"As the EFR team oversaw the forest where most of the flames were engulfed, my team and I were assigned to do the sweep of the island around the beachfront, including the area where we first made contact with the surviving boys" Officer James Lenardon explained.

"And what was it you found in your initial sweep?" Barnes asked in her I-already-know-the-answer voice. Jack tried not to scoff, mostly successfully.

"The first thing we did was gather the sticks that were in the boys' possession before they were divided into their respective groups for takeoff in the helicopters" he began to share.

"Sticks?" Barnes questioned for clarification.

"Yes, most of the boys were carrying or had dropped semi-large sticks, presumably from inside the forest, in their possession when Commanding Officer Baines and his team first made contact" Lenardon said.

"How long were these sticks, Officer Lenardon?" Barnes asked with dramaticized intrigue.

"They were fairly tall. About the height of the boys, give or take a few several inches. Maybe an inch or so in diameter in terms of thickness. They were all sharpened at one or both ends" he expanded.

"They were sharpened? Can you explain that in a little more depth for the members of the court, please?" Barnes requested.

"All the sticks we found in the immediate area were manually sharpened using some kind of sharp tool or naturally sharp edge that could be found within a typical forest, like the one on the island" the responding officer explained further.

"Is there any chance that the sticks could have just been sharp naturally, without the efforts of man?"

"I suppose I can't prove that it isn't possible, but it's incredibly unlikely" the officer confirmed. "Based on my experience and knowledge, I would argue with complete certainty that these sticks were all hand-sharpened with either a knife or off the edge of a sharp-edged surface of some kind."

Barnes retreated over to the prosecution table for a moment, retrieving a large plastic. "Permission to approach the witness, Your Honor?"

"Proceed."

"Officer Lenardon, does this knife look like one that could've been used to sharpen the sticks in question?" Barnes prompted him to answer.

When Jack got a good look at the bag from his spot in the middle of the gallery, his heart stopped for a brief but notable moment. He would've known that knife anywhere. It was his own after all, the one he brought with him in his military uniform jacket in case of emergency. He used it to carve out shapes and sculptures in rocks on the island when he was bored. He used it to cut vines for the building of the shelters. He used it to cut fruit down from trees. He raided Ralph's camp in the middle of the night to get it back after starting his own tribe. He used it to sharpen his hunting stick, lent it to some of the other hunters to sharpen theirs.

Seeing it was like being transported into the memory of the island, an experience that was very common for Jack as of late.

"Yes, something like that could've easily been used to sharpen the sticks" the officer willfully confirmed.