The Jolly Roger Social Club by Nick Foster

Author:Nick Foster
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781627793735
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

7. Darklands

After fleeing Bocas in early June 2010, and eventually crossing the border into Costa Rica, Holbert and Reese had planned to lay low. The problem was, their faces were all over the local television and newspapers. In the middle of July the pair pitched up in a resort town about an hour out of San José and rented a cabin. But the owners recognized them and called the police. Holbert and Reese had a narrow escape and, with the manhunt in full swing—Interpol had been alerted and the FBI was giving chase—they decided to switch countries again. Part of Costa Rica’s border with Nicaragua to the north is the broad, meandering San Juan River. On July 26, Holbert and Reese stole a powerboat on the Costa Rican bank by dumping its owner into the water, and headed for the Nicaraguan side. However, they were spotted by a group of Nicaraguan soldiers who knew that the pair were trying to enter their country illegally before they realized exactly who they were. Confronted by a line of machine guns, Holbert and Reese surrendered. When questioned by the Nicaraguan authorities, Wild Bill and Jane claimed to be Dutch nationals. They had thought up some new names for their purposes. They were dressed in T-shirts, short pants, and flip-flops, every inch the guileless tourists who had lost their way. But their story didn’t wash for a minute. They were handcuffed and taken away to a nearby police station. The law had caught up with Wild Bill and Jane.

On July 29, 2010, William Dathan Holbert and Laura Michelle Reese were deported from Nicaragua and flown in a light aircraft to Panama City. The plane touched down at Albrook airfield, Panama City’s domestic airport, as day was about to turn into night. It had just stopped raining. Reese emerged first from the plane and descended the short steps onto the runway, slowly, unsure, like she was dipping her toes into a hot bath. Then she was ushered to a waiting police car, looking down all the time, perceptibly shaking. Holbert came out next and glanced over at a couple of photographers who called out his name, holding their stares. He then held his head high, back straight, nose pointing up to the sky as he, too, was taken away. His body language was arrogant, even imperious. Both Holbert and Reese were admitted to police custody, the blinking lights of the capital city blurring as their vehicle sped off.

Ariel Barría, then spokesman for the National Police, recalled that, in the days that followed, “we were all amazed to see how the detainee behaved. He waved and smiled at the cameras as if he were a rock star, that’s the only way we had to describe it, even though the circumstances were so tragic.” The precise circumstances of the unfolding drama in Darklands were what Panama’s prosecuting attorneys wanted to uncover. There was some urgency, too; the local media was sensing a big story, calling the police and the state prosecutor incessantly.

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