Case No. CS1473-IND
Academy Final Year Assessment

The Brief

On 22 October 2000 a cave-in in the 43rd shaft of the Copperhead Mine in Casper, Wyoming killed 15 miners and injured 20 others. The area that collapsed was inspected by Mining Authority Inspector Joel Grey the preceding day, after he received complaints from senior shift miner, Leroy Bryce. Grey found nothing untoward. Accusations of corruption and a cover-up were levelled at the Mining Authority by the Alexander Sanders of the 212th Miner's Union.

The mid-west evidence response team began work on this case on 5 December 2000; they were joined by FBI trainee Bruce Campbell-Robson and the investigation was to be part of his academy final year assessment. The following is the agents' understanding of what actually transpired.

The Facts

Following the fall of Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 the Ukraine left the Soviet Union and became an independent country. They still possessed many of the USSR's nuclear weapons, but did not have the uranium to make them work. They set about rectifying this matter.

In 1990 Oscar Ross was on holiday in Pakistan, it was there that he met a Ukrainian operative codenamed White. Ross worked at the Copperhead Mine in Casper, Wyoming. A mine that contained uranium. The pair were married, and White took the name Elaine Ross. Whether there was true affection in the marriage, and at what point Ross knew the truth about "Elaine" is unknown. He certainly got her a job at the mine, where she began to put her plan into operation.

Elaine recruited senior shift miner Leroy Bryce to organise some illegal mining at the Copperhead Mine. Bryce recruited two miners, Troy James and Randall Watson. Uranium, a strange green mineral (see unanswered questions below) and other items such as explosives were smuggled out of the mine by truck-driver, Calvin Powell (a friend of the Rosses) and passed to other Ukrainian operatives.

Elaine Ross took steps to provide an escape for herself, Oscar and Calvin Powell. She took out life assurance policies for a number of OAPs in San Francisco (including Alex Long). If anything went wrong she could kill them off, and pick up the payment that would be sent to a bogus address in Chugwater (a small town near to Casper).

Bryce's illegal mining activities caused an instability in the ceiling above the 43rd shaft, and therefore the cave-in that killed him and fourteen others. These deaths were a complete accident, but they completely scuppered Elaine's operation. She would have to return to the Ukraine now her mission was over, but she wanted to stay in America. She therefore put her plan into operation.

Oscar and Elaine Ross booked an expensive cruise from San Francisco, although neither of them boarded the boat when it left on 4 December 2000. Before leaving Casper, they Elaine murdered Troy James and Randall Watson by placing a radioactive source in their drinking water. They also placed a similar source in their own drinking water to make it look like someone was out to kill them. In San Francisco, Elaine murdered Alex Long and the other OAPs to cash in the life assurance policies. Oscar returned to Casper via Colorado Springs, Colorado to wait for the cheques to arrive so he and Calvin Powell could collect them.

However, the Ukrainians wanted Elaine (aka White) back again, so they sent a retrieval team in a big attack helicopter to get her. This team included another operative called Gold. They soon realised that Elaine had betrayed them and was making plans to disappear. They could not allow this because of the information Elaine had on them. The Ukrainians had to clean house.

The Ukrainian commandos fired the sniper rifle that caused Calvin Powell's truck to swerve off the road into the river at Chugwater on 7 December, causing Powell's death. Oscar Ross who was also in the truck (they were travelling to collect the cheques) managed to escape and go to ground at Bryce's now empty house. Realising he was being hunted, Ross booby-trapped his own house with stolen explosives hoping to kill his pursuers. Ross was subsequently killed by the commandos when they raided the local hospital on 11 December 2000.

Despite several casualties at the hands of the mid-west evidence response team, the Ukrainian commandos managed to escape and evade the US air force. Elaine Ross is still at large with more than $8,000,000 in life assurance payments. The secret mining at the Copperhead Mine has, however, come to an end.

Although accusations of corruption against the Mining Authority were groundless, it was discovered that the county council was corrupt in that they kept the mine open between the 1950s and the 1980s without declaring it. The council is currently being prosecuted for tax evasion.

Unanswered Questions

• It is quite possible that the Ukrainians' operation was completely unconnected with the green mineral. The only link between the green mineral and Casper is that the agents received while staying there.
• It is possible that the green mineral was sent to the team by the mysterious Simon, to give one member of the group a fighting chance against the Joker. This is just supposition.
• The Ukrainians probably were just after the uranium, but had they been exposed to the green mineral themselves? Probably not, although they could have been exposed to the same drugs as Apache Joe (assuming there is a connection between them and Vitrano and Lavin).
• Those who survive exposure to the green mineral gain enhanced physical skills and intellect at the expense of their sanity. How does this work, and what will the long term effects of exposure be on Benedict Oaxaca? The agents now know that Benedict is rapidly ageing.
• Are the jade pendants of Mao Sei Ben made of the same material as the green mineral?
• Are the Ukrainians trying to use the green mineral to create super-soldiers? Can we expect to see Captain Ukraine in the future? Vasily Naborakov believed his superiors were installing American technology - is this true?
• What did the Ukrainian Commandos want at the Mary Estate? Did they simply need the facilities to send a message back to their masters?
• Thanks to Valerie Hudson we know one of the Ukrainian soldiers was called Vasily Naborakov. Can we use this information?
• Where are the Ukrainians now? How did they hide a giant helicopter gunship from the USAF? How did they get it into the USA? Was it with Hamblin's magic?
• Where is Elaine Ross? What will she do next?
• What will Joel Grey do with his unexpected $750,000 windfall?
• What has Alan Hamblin III got to do with all this? Was he with the Ukrainians? Did he use magic to move the helicopter?
• The soldiers were not possessed by brain bugs, but are the brain bugs in control of the Ukraine?
• If so, is the Brain Bug faction in charge of the Ukraine acting against another faction controlling Dynamicorp?
• Who was the message sent from the Mary Estate intended for? Was it Vitrano and Lavin?

Related Cases

• Case 0019-GCF: The Disappearance, Reappearance and Death of Alan Hamblin III.
• Case 0015-GCF: Golden Jade Triad
• Case S73: Apache Joe
• Case 0018-GCF: Activities of Vitrano and Lavin
• The Game

See Also

• Artemis Black's Great Conspiracy Theory.
• Rules of the Game