A Tale from the Hills

by Terry Hayden

  “Coffee please.” he replied.

  Bill was impressed with William’s politeness. They both ordered the lunch special and got acquainted while they waited for the food. By the time that lunch was over they knew each other well enough to be comfortable with each other. William told Bill that he was born in Virginia, but that was the only true portion of his life story. William was a very good liar and imposter when he wanted to be. Bill in turn offered William a ride all the way to Richmond in exchange for sharing expenses. Bill did not seem to be as interested in the money aspect of the agreement as he was in the companionship, because he liked having someone to talk to along the way. He said that he did not feel exactly safe driving that kind of distance alone. William agreed whole heartedly to the terms of the exchange only after he found out that Bill would not be leaving until after the fireworks show. He very convincingly explained to Bill that he had never seen a fireworks show like the one that was planned for Charleston. Even though Bill said that he had seen many fireworks shows, he agreed to stay.

  The way that William had the timetable figured outfor the big event, he could easily steal his file, set fire to the office, leave the docks, and meet with Bill with at least half an hour to spare. Hell he might even get to watch the show if he was lucky.

  They agreed to meet on the morning of the show for William to pack his belongings into Bill’s car. Bill could tell that William was very proud of his possessions just by the way that he delicately packed them into the car. William had never trusted anyone with his treasures before, but he figured that he had no other choice this time. He kept his money and his pistol because he could never part with those two items, they shoot hands and agreed to meet at the previously selected time and place.

  Everything went like clockwork. William was able to break into the office without even a hitch. He laughed to himself when he thought about how easy it would have been for a German spy to do the very same thing. He only saw two security guards and they were each smoking a cigarette. He could have popped both of them with his little gun and walked away as easily as he pleased.

  He put the highly flammable cleaning fluid to good use for a second time. The paper and wood that made up the old office spaces were as combustible as the fireworks in the harbor. He did not of course wait around to see the full production of his own fireworks display, because he wanted to make sure that he reached Bill’s car in plenty of time. He quickly maneuvered his way through the sea of cars and throngs of people with minutes to spare, but Bill was no where to be found. William did not panic because he realized that Bill might not have allowed for the extra people to be there. He waited and waited until there was no good reason to wait any longer. Bill was not going to show up, and he had never planned on showing up in the first place. William had been taken by a con man. He was suddenly so angry that he would have shot Bill right between the eyes if he could have found him. Thank God that he still had his gun and his money because all of his other treasures were long gone. He tucked his tail between his legs and slowlywalked back to the boarding house.

  ***********

  Chapter Ten

  There was nothing anymore to keep William from traveling the rails again since he had lost nearly all of his worldly goods. He was by then a seasoned traveler with lots of experience of all kinds under his belt. If he had known back in those days when he first ran away from home, that he would be a man of the world by the time that he was in his early twenties, he would have been amazed at himself, but he would have still been very much afraid. At this point of his life he was not afraid of anyone or anything that took a breath, because he could stop things from breathing very easily, and in more ways than just one or two. He was an independent force and a man to be reckoned with.

  From Charleston he jumped a train to Savannah. He thought that the city itself looked all right, but he knew that he could never get used to that swampy smell well enough to live there. And besides, it was much too close to Charleston for comfort. He left Savannah after two days and one dead sailor, bound for Macon. Macon was more of a working town like Wilkesboro, but it was not populated enough to suit his growing needs. Besides he had heard a lot of stories about Atlanta, and he was more than ready to see a few big city lights.

  **********

  It was much bigger than he even imagined that it would be, and so spectacular at night when he saw it for the first time from the train. Where in the Hell had Atlanta been all of his life? It had just been sitting there waiting for him to take her by storm, that’s exactly where Atlanta had been. William could hardly wait to jump from the train and get a closer look. In fact he was in such a big hurry that he jumped from the train a bit too soon for his own good. The train was moving faster than he thought and he landed very hard, especially on his right foot. He let out a painful cry inspite of his apprehension about being discovered by railroad personnel. But since he was not suddenly surrounded and arrested for trespassing, he figured that no one heard his cry. Although he was very relieved, he was nevertheless in pain. He hobbled away from the tracks as soon as he saw a bridge which indicated that a road was above him. As close as he was to the city, he knew that the road would eventually take him downtown. His right ankle was very sore, but not so bad that he could not walk.

  He reached the outskirts of the city just as the morning Sun was weeping over the horizon behind him. It would not be very much longer before the cool night air would be replaced with Summer heat. He knew that he would no longer have the ocean breezes to rely upon. He was confident that if he stayed in Atlanta, that there would be plenty of opportunities in relation to jobs and his social life as well. But he would definitely have to adjust to the central Georgia heat.

  He found a mom and pop type restaurant in a working class neighborhood that was completely surrounded by factories. The people were friendly but not really talkative, and the food was very good. When he finally asked a couple of men who were about his same age, about the work situation, one of them suggested that he try any of the mills or factories in the area. He said that all of the factories were booming with work. Many of them furnished goods that were sent to the Allies in Europe, and since France was now under Nazi occupation, the Allies depended upon America more than ever before. The other man told William not to worry too much about finding a job because they would all have one with their Uncle Sam sooner or later, and probably sooner. Word was spreading all across the country that a military draft was in the works, but actually William had not given too much thought about serving. He was so used to being on his own and making his own decisions, that the idea of taking orders was beyond his grasp.

  William quickly found a job in a paper mill similar tothe one in Wilkesboro, but he was far from being happy. The heat from his machine, when combined with the heat from the Georgia Sun that constantly beat down on the metal roof of the old building, melted him down a little more each day. He was completely exhausted by the time that he left work in the evenings. It took him several weeks to get into the habit of working there. His coworkers told him to hang in there if he could, because it was not that bad when the Autumn winds began to blow.

  He became lean and well defined because of the hard work combined with the heat. When he visited the bars on the weekends, heads would turn in his direction. He was in the city for a full month before his first victim met God. The next week two more men met their maker, but not at any of the local churches. They were at the bottom of the Chattachoochee River when they took their last gasping breaths. Moss and dirty water filled their bruised lungs. By the time that Autumn had finally arrived, William recognizedthe fact that he was truly in the land of plenty.

  ***********

  In October of 1940 the first peacetime military draft lottery was held. William along with most of the men in the country that were his age or older, were subject to a call for military service. The war was raging in many countries of the world and there was no
foreseeable end in sight. Most of Europe was under Nazi or Fascist control, with Great Britain barely holding on to its borders with Hitler’s vicious Blitzkrieg attacks under way. The President along with many members of Congress were almost certain that the United States would be pulled into the conflict sooner or later. It would be in the country’s best interest to be prepared for that scenario.

  William’s keen interest in the news was multiplied by the dreaded draft lottery. He based his own luck on many different facets of his life, and all in all he considered himself to be somewhat charmed. Otherwise there were times in the last two or three years that luck was the only thing that kept him from getting caught. Complete incompetence on the part of the police helped to some extent, and the people that he chose as his prey also aided in his ability to avoid capture. But with the draft lottery he had the same chance as Joe Blow down the street, and Harry Hardass way out there in California. He was completely at the mercy of a God that he did not even believe in anymore. The horseshoe that he had up his ass could do little to help him with the draft.

  His draft number was smack dab in the middle of the scale. When the government began drafting, he would not have to go until many thousands of other men had already shipped out. He took comfort in that fact but he was still somewhat concerned. He had a hard time understanding the concept of a draft system anyway. How could he be forced to do something that he did not want to do, necessarily? He finally decided that time would help him unravel his feelings about the whole thing. In the meantimehe would continue to enjoy his new city.

  *********

  The Atlanta police realized that a certain segment of the city’s population were being murdered when the two men’s bodies were pulled from the Chattahoochie river. Even though both of the men died from drowning, their naked bodies were beaten and strangled almost to the point of death before they were thrown into the water. The man who was found previous to those two men was in almost identical condition, except he was dead before he was thrown into the river. A week after the two men were found, another man was discovered a little further down the river. Instead of patrolling on a random basis, the police set up a regular schedule of patrols along the huge river, and the area surrounding the river.

  The bodies were always found early in the week, leading the police to conclude that the men were killed on the weekends. Undercover policemen were posted in pre selected bars on Friday and Saturday nights, in order to try and lure the killer into a trap. They had their work cut out for them.

  After a rough week at the mill, William was almost too tired to go out on Friday night. A yearning feeling deep in his bowels forced him to go out anyway. He needed to let off some steam, and he knew the perfect way to do it. He chose the bar that featured a blues singer with the voice that made him want to cry. She sounded so much like much like his favorite singer on the radio, that he could honestly not tell the difference. In person the singer’s voice was smoother and sadder and sexier than the voice on the radio.

  As luck would have it, it was also one of the bars that the police had selected to place undercover men. Their job was to walk the walk and talk the talk, and mingle in with the rest of the crowd.

  William had a usual routine at all of the bars. First he would order a beer. Then he would walk a few feet away from the bar and pan his eyes over the crowd. On Friday nights there was always a good crowd regardless of the weather. If he saw an interesting prospect, he would slowly gravitate to that section of the bar. There was a particular look that interested him more than any other. Although a few of his victims had none of the characteristics of that look, it was out of necessity or some other reason that they were killed. They might have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He would never admit to it, and subconsciously he might not have even realized it, but he always chose men who looked a lot like he did. The psychiatrist in Charlotte was dead right about that particular detail of the killer’s profile.

  Even though the dead men that were found by the Atlanta police were beaten and bruised and swollen from the water, the police saw similar characteristics in all of them. The undercover policemen had that clue to aid in their work at the bars. Each of the men gave William a double take on that particular Friday night. But unless he or another of the countless number of men that he resembled acted suspiciously in any way, none of them were given any more attention by the undercover policemen.

  A goodly portion of the police department felt like they were wasting their time and money trying to catch the killer anyway. They actually thought that the killer was performing a public service by ridding Atlanta of a few of its undesirable elements. They secretly hoped that the killer would not be caught for at least a while longer.

  William spotted a likely looking prospect acting as if he was out of place and somewhat uneasy, standing in a corner all by himself. He watched the insecure man for several minutes to make sure that he was all alone. When he was finally sure that he was, William eased over beside of the timid man and began to make small talk.

  “How’s it going?’ William asked.

  “Ok I guess, and you?”

  “Just fine now. Can I buy you a beer?” William askedshyly.

  “Sure thanks.”

  William got two beers from the bar and made his way back to his new friend. They drank in subdued silence. William enjoyed listening to the music, but most of all, he did not want to scare the shy man away by appearing to be too eager. The new man kept one eye on the singer and the with the other, he would sneak an occasional peek at William every so often. When the beers were almost empty, William made his second move.

  “Would you like another beer Buddy?” he asked.

  “Sure why not. By the way, my name is Vincent. And you are?”

  “Billy, Billy the kid.” he lied. “A robber of hearts.”

  “It’s my turn to buy Billy.” Vincent replied.

  Vincent walked toward the bar and returned a few minutes later with two more beers and a big smile on his face. He seemed to be genuinely glad to have met someone with whom to share his first bar experience. William pretended to be just as glad. He was a very good actor.

  The two of them left the bar together right after the singer had finished her second show. No one paid any attention to them as they walked down the dark street. It was late and people all over the city were going home, either to their own or to someone else’s.

  William finally arrived at his rooming house very late and all alone. He might have gotten there much earlier, but he had to make a couple of stops first. One of them was at the river, the other at an all night diner. There was something about Friday night adventures that always made him so hungry. Vincent on the other hand, never made any further than the river.

  **********

  When Vincent’s body was found, the poor fisherman who saw him all spread eagled in the bushes had to stop and vomit twice before he could even call the police. The man was so spooked by what he saw that he vowed never to go to the river alone again. He found the body of a young man who had been beaten and tortured unspeakable acts, and whose death had to have been a welcome release from the things that he had endured. He found someone who had been murdered by an angry and very sick individual. An individual who obviously very much enjoyed the things that he was doing to the poor dead man.

  The police realized that with each murder the violence and gruesomeness was more intense than the last. In spite of the undercover officers and more patrols on the river, another man had been murdered. And the madman seemed to have plenty of time to do the horrible deeds to the man without the fear of being caught. Obviously more attention and importance was going to have to be placed on the case. That fact was enhanced by the discovery that the latest victim, named Vincent, was the son of a Georgia State Senator. Without realizing or perhaps even caring who he had just killed, William had become a very important man in Georgia p
olitics. Policies were about to change, and heads would soon be rolling unless the killer was quickly found.

  ************

  Several months had passed since William’s foiled tripwith a man named Bill was supposed to have taken place from Charleston. Bill had absconded with William’s prized possessions and treasures, all the time thinking that the things might have some actual cash value. He was very surprised and quite horrified when he opened the storage box that held the so called valuable collection. He found among other things, a bloody and soiled sailor’s hat, odd shoes, shirts, pants, and belts, along with countless newspaper articles about the Waterfront Killer in Wilmington, and the killings in Charleston. There were also some copies of a Charlotte newspaper that were scattered among the treasures. Since he had come into possession of the so called treasures by less than honorable means, he waited for all of those long months before his conscience finally got the best of him. He also found out that a reward might be given for any information that might pertain to the savage killer that was on the loose in the South. On that note he turned the storage box into the Charleston police.

  It was a very welcome breakthrough in the murder investigation of at least three cities. Although the charges were eventually dropped against the insane man in North Carolina, he was never again released into the public arena. Wilmington and Charleston police fully cooperated with each other to share the evidence that was found in the storage box. Those things along with information that was supplied from a witness named Bill Thomas, they finally deducted that all of the unsolved murders had been committed by a man who was originally from Virginia, whose first name was William, with no last name yet. William came to Wilmington by way of a train from Burlington. He killed two or three men on the train before beginning a killing spree in Wilmington. From Wilmington he traveled to Charleston by unknown means, and soon began a reign of terror in that fair city as well. Since a huge fire had destroyed all of the records of the busiest dock in Charleston, police believed that William probably worked at that dock and destroyed all of the records in a fire that he set on the night that he was supposed to leave the city with