The Crossing

by Gerald W. Darnell

  “Anything I can do?” Chip offered.

  “Just make sure that Henry makes it safely from Leroy’s jail to the hearing and then the city jail. After that, it’s up to the demonstrators and the Humboldt community as to what happens next. Jack has obtained a ‘protective order’ from the state, so I think the mayor and his police force will see that Henry gets treated fairly,” I answered.

  “We’ll do our best to control the crowds tomorrow. I told Leroy to make sure he had plenty of jail space, because if we see anyone so much as litter, they will spend the night at the courtesy of the county!” Chip nodded.

  “Thanks for your help, it is definitely appreciated. Now, if Jeff will let me go, I’m headed to Chiefs and see if I can’t find myself a drink and some dry clothes!”

  We walked back over to where Jeff was watching Donnie Graves hook up his wrecker.

  “Hey, Carson,” Donnie yelled. “I hope you stick around, you’re good for business!”

  “Very funny,” I said to no one. “Did you get Joe’s car fixed yet?” I yelled back.

  “Fixed!” Donnie laughed. “The only way to fix that car is to BURY it! You tell your buddy I’m declaring it totaled, and he can find himself a new one. Sorry.”

  I turned to Jeff. “Jeff, if you are finished with me, I’d like to get out of here and find some dry clothes. Is that okay?”

  “Sure, go home or go to Chiefs or wherever it is you go. We’ll get this mess cleaned up soon and reopen the highway.”

  I turned the Ford around and pointed it toward Humboldt; I was glad to leave that mess behind. Unfortunately, I was going to find another one before the day ended.

  ~

  Parking in front of my cabin, I wondered which I wanted worse – dry clothes or a drink. I decided on the drink.

  Chiefs was almost empty and I found my usual stool at the end of the bar. Flo was busy working on a full mouth of gum when she walked up behind me.

  “My goodness, ‘Hon’, she giggled. “You been swimmin’?”

  “Yes, and you should try it sometimes. Swimming fully clothed is a pleasure that very few people get to experience.”

  “Oh no, ‘Hon’. I prefer swimmin’ ‘nakid’, now that’s a REAL pleasure!” Flo offered as she walked behind the bar.

  “I’m sure it is,” I nodded. “Perhaps I’ll try that next. Could you see if you can find me a Jack and Coke back there somewhere?”

  “Sure thing, ‘Hon’, but, I think Miss Nickie has a message for you. Let me go find her,” she said as she walked away.

  I wanted a drink, not a message! Sometimes the world wasn’t fair!

  Nickie emerged from somewhere and sat down on the stool next to me. “You been swimming?” she asked.

  “I’ve already had that conversation, thank you. And if I could just get a drink first, I plan on finding some dry clothes. Is this still a bar?” I was getting in trouble.

  “Yes, smart-ass, and the proper procedure is for the patron to place an order and then we do our best to accommodate. Are you familiar with that process?” Nickie snapped.

  “I have already placed the order, now I am waiting on that accommodation!”

  “Jeez,” Nickie blurted, getting up and walking behind the bar. “I can see you are in a good mood today. I’ve been out back taking a meal to your girlfriend and you come in here with an attitude!”

  “I’m sorry, Nickie, I’ve just had a rough morning and need to get into some dry clothes. Thanks for looking after Colleen, and she’s not my girlfriend, just a friend. But, she needs to stay away from her home and out of sight for a couple of days. I knew you would be happy to help.” I was trying to make up.

  “She seems like a sweet girl,” Nickie said as she sat my drink on the counter. “Is she in real trouble?”

  “She’s not in trouble, but there’s trouble all around her. I just feel better knowing she’s here and safe,” I added.

  “We’ll take care of her, you know that. Maybe your mood will be better after you have a drink and find dry clothes, but I do have a message for you.”

  “Thanks, who called?” I asked sipping my drink.

  “Your long-legged stewardess, she said for you to call her when you showed up,” Nickie answered. “I suggest you do that!”

  I left Nickie standing at the bar and went out front to use the pay phone. Liz was feeling better and I promised to be over shortly with some Bloody Marys. She thought that was a good idea and suggested I hurry because she would be scrambling eggs to go with our drinks!

  I went back into the bar determined to finish my drink. Nickie was still standing in the same spot. "Did you hear about the bad accident on the Trenton highway?” she asked as I sat down.

  “No, what happened?” I lied.

  “A trucker was in here earlier and said that three young boys were killed. He said they must have rolled their pickup truck on the slick road. And you know what else he said?”

  “What?” I asked.

  “He said one of them was the husband of the girl that got murdered! Can you believe it?” Nickie sounded concerned.

  “That’s a shame,” was all I could think of to say.

  “Well, don’t come all apart with grief!” she snapped. “Finish your drink, find some dry clothes and go play house with that stewardess. Maybe you’ll be in a better mood the next time I see you.” Nickie walked away and disappeared into the kitchen.

  She was right, of course, so I took her up on her suggestion.

  My third change of clothes for the day felt much better than I had imagined; it is amazing what effect dry underwear can have on a bad mood! And what the dry underwear didn’t fix, the Bloody Marys and scrambled eggs would, I was certain of that.

  ~

  Liz and I spent the next three hours sharing Bloody Marys and scrambled eggs while watching a football game on her small black and white television. She was headed back to Memphis tomorrow and I really intended to share my experiences from earlier in the day, but I never got around to it. The Bears had just scored their third touchdown of the day, when somebody knocked at the door.

  Peeking out the drapes, I saw Leroy’s cruiser parked out front. He wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t serious and I knew that.

  The sun had almost said goodbye and I flipped on the porch light before opening the door.

  “Leroy,” I said speaking through the screen. “Come in and join us in a drink.”

  “I can’t, and you know I wouldn’t bother you if it weren’t important,” Leroy said seriously. “I need your help, if you can.”

  “Sure, I’ll be right with you.” I answered as I walked back over to Liz and gave her a hug and cheek kiss.

  “I’ll call you later,” I said before she could protest. She nodded an understanding and went back to her Bloody Mary.

  Leroy didn’t say anything else and pointed at my car, indicating he wanted me to follow in my car rather than ride with him. We traveled quickly, but without lights or siren, down Main Street, turning north on Central to Mitchell and then to the Crossing. He pulled up next to the loading dock of Beare Ice and Coal and parked next to another Sheriff’s Department cruiser.

  I parked on the street and noted only one other car parked near the dock. It was a 1955 Chevrolet Bel-Aire.

  Leroy waited next to his cruiser, as I walked across the street to join him.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Something we need to keep quiet for as long as possible,” Leroy said with a stern face. “That ‘55 Chevy belongs to Truman Brown. Truman works for Beare Ice and Coal and comes in every night to check the icemakers and see that proper stock is available for the next day’s business. When he got here this evening, he found that someone had broken the lock on a rear door and gained entrance into the building. He called my office and Scotty drove out to investigate, that was about an hour ago. They checked the building and couldn’t find anything missing and it seems whoever it was hadn’t tried to steal anything.”

  “I can’t imagine
what anyone could steal from an ice and coal plant,” I interrupted.

  “They didn’t steal anything, but they damn sure left something! Follow me,” Leroy ordered as he headed up the iron steps and onto the loading dock.

  We walked through a small office door and then through an inner door into the main area of the building. Along the right wall, coal was piled up over head high and stretched almost the entire length of the building. To the left were three large metal freezer doors that contained the ice plant and ice storage, and each was secured by a large latch and bolt to keep the heat out and the cold in.

  Standing in front of the middle door was Deputy Scotty Perry and an older colored man, I presumed to be Truman Brown. Neither spoke as we walked up and Scotty turned around and opened the large freezer door. It was dark inside the chamber; and the cold blast of air got my attention as I tried to see through the darkness. Scotty stepped inside, fumbled with a string switch and eventually turned on the overhead florescent lights. That’s when I stepped into the freezer and saw what the intruders had left.

  Sitting in the corner in an upright position was Yarnell Walker – frozen stiff! His dark black hair was snow white from ice crystals and his eyes were frozen open and staring directly at me. Blood had frozen underneath his nose and it appeared he had taken a pretty good beating before being put in the freezer. Yarnell’s hands were tied behind his back and his feet tied together, both with ¼-inch rope, which was now frozen hard in place.

  I had seen enough, and walked back out of the freezer over to where Leroy was talking with Truman.

  “Truman,” Leroy said with a firm tone. “I’m going to ask you for a favor, and I promise to repay that favor many times over.”

  “Anything, Sheriff,” Truman nodded. “You’ve always been square with me and I’ll do anything I can to help.”

  “I need you to keep this quiet. By that I mean, say nothing to anybody and that includes your boss. Can you do that?”

  “Sure, Sheriff, I can do that,” Truman nodded.

  “Okay, let me tell you what’s going to happen here,” Leroy started. “We’re in no hurry, so I’m going to wait a few hours before moving Yarnell’s body. I’m going to wait until after midnight when we can get him out of here without attracting attention, but when I do, I need you here to meet the coroner, Dr. Barker, on the rear loading dock. He will bring an ambulance and move the body to the morgue where he can thaw it out and take care of it. I will leave Scotty here to watch the building and you should go home until he calls you. We are here investigating a break-in and that’s all. Do you understand? Can you do that?”

  “Yes sir, Mr. Epsee,” Truman nodded again. “I can do that, I’m glad to help.”

  Leroy turned to me. “Let’s go to Ruel’s Cafe. I’ll buy you a beer,” he said.

  Ruel’s Café was just across the street, but we drove our cars so they wouldn’t be parked in front of the Beare Ice and Coal - in case anyone happened to be looking. Leroy was making a radio call when we stopped so I went inside, found a stool at the end of the bar and ordered us a beer. The café wasn’t crowded and that suited both our attitudes.

  The waitress had just delivered our beers, when Leroy walked in and sat down.

  “I had to argue with Dr. Barker,” Leroy said taking a large drink of beer. “Sometimes he is so smart that he seems dumb. The body is frozen solid, so letting it sit for another few hours couldn’t make any difference one way or the other. He’s just going to thaw it out and put it back in a refrigerator!”

  “He’s just doing his job,” I offered.

  “I know and I’m just a frustrated old sheriff trying to do his. He finally agreed to wait, after I told him the whole story and the impact his death might have on this powder keg we are all sitting on.”

  “Who do you think did it?” I asked.

  “You’re a detective and you have to ask me that question?” he laughed.

  “I was just checking you out,” I laughed with him.

  “It feels good to laugh,” Leroy added, “but those boys didn’t have to kill Yarnell. They beat him up, then left him to freeze to death. That freezer has an inside handle, so they probably left him there conscience but tied up, knowing he wouldn’t be able to open the door. As I said, killing him just wasn’t necessary!”

  “Maybe it was,” I offered.

  “What? Why would you say that?”

  “Leroy, those boys were just down right mean – mean to the bone. They tried to kill Joe and me and did kill Yarnell. Beating up or killing a colored person was nothing more than entertainment, but I think they had help. I think somebody was telling them what to do and that ‘somebody’ wanted Joe and me out of the way and wanted Yarnell dead.”

  “Carson, you are crazy. Sonny Blurton probably found out about Yarnell and his wife and decided to beat him up and put him in the freezer. Then they saw you leaving Baggetts Market and decided to take care of you too, while they were on a roll!”

  “Maybe, but I don’t think so,” I added.

  “Okay, Carson. Just what do you think?” Leroy said while ordering us another beer.

  “If I told you what I think, you really would believe I am crazy. My problem is that I can’t prove what I think, and until I figure out how, it’s no more than my thoughts.”

  “I tell you what, Carson. I’m buying the beer and we’re not going anywhere, so let’s just pretend that I already think you are crazy and telling me can’t do any harm,” Leroy offered. “Now, please share your theory with me.”

  Over the next half-hour and another round of beer, I told Leroy my theory. He sat quietly listening and sipping on his beer, not asking questions or commenting. When I finished he looked at me and said, “Yep, you’re crazy!”

  “I’m not crazy if I can prove it, and I intend to try,” I added.

  “How?” Leroy asked.

  “Will you help?”

  “Maybe, but you’ll have to tell me how before I commit.”

  We finished our beer while I shared my plan with Leroy. He didn’t comment, but did offer a couple of nods and a smile.

  “Well?” I asked when I finished.

  “Okay, but can we wait until after the parade and preliminary hearing tomorrow?” Leroy requested.

  “That’s a deal, and it wouldn’t make sense to start before then anyway. What are your plans for tomorrow,” I asked.

  “I’ll have all my deputies on the street and any reserves I can call on. Chip Falstaff will have his men there and we’ll just try to keep the peace. I’m transferring Henry at 9:45 to have him available for the 10:00 hearing. I just hope everything goes smoothly. What are your plans?” Leroy asked.

  “I’m just going to the courthouse and be available if Jack needs me. I have no other plans,” I added.

  We talked for another hour and I finally left Leroy at ten o’clock and headed to Chiefs. I had promised to call Liz, but knew she had an early flight tomorrow, so I decided to let her sleep. It had been a long day, and tomorrow would be even longer.

  When I opened the door to Cabin 4, I found an envelope containing a message from Tommy Trubush. He had followed up on my request regarding the ‘Sugar Shack’ and what his locals might know. Unfortunately, his message was not what I wanted to hear, but it did contain some very interesting information regarding the missing, and now deceased, Yarnell Walker. It confirmed my suspicions.

  Parades and Protests

  Unlike yesterday, I awoke to a beautiful morning. Blue skies, white fluffy clouds and a small breeze would make it a beautiful day for a parade – unfortunately!

  I broke one of my own rules and was up and dressed before 8:00 AM. I had a stop to make before going downtown, and I definitely didn’t want to miss any of the excitement that I expected and dreaded.

  Nickie fixed me a coffee to go and I was quickly off to 812 17th Avenue, the home of Thomas and Nora Whitmore.

  The small white house on a shady street seemed to be a thousand miles away from the troubles brewing
on Main Street, and perhaps it was. Unfortunately, it had felt the brunt of grief and loss this small town had extended over the past several days. They had buried their only daughter yesterday and would soon be burying their son-in-law; this was a sad home.

  Regardless of the poor timing, I needed to have my second visit with Nora Whitmore and I needed to do it today.

  Her 1959 Chevrolet Truck, along with a newer model sedan, was parked in the small gravel driveway. I left the Ford on the street, walked up on the small porch and gently knocked on the screen door; it was only a moment before Nora opened the front door. She was wearing a plain blue cotton dress, partially covered by an apron. It appeared that she and her husband were having breakfast.

  I knew she didn’t want her husband to know about our previous meeting, so I spoke first to avoid her being embarrassed.

  “Mrs. Whitmore, my name is Carson Reno. I am sorry to bother you, and I wouldn’t do so if it weren’t important. I met your husband a few days ago and he invited me to come by if necessary. I wonder if I might have a minute of your time.”

  “Yes, Mr. Reno, please come in. We are having coffee, would you like a cup?” Nora said walking me into their small kitchen.

  Glancing to my left, I saw Thomas Whitmore in their living room area. He was still wearing pajamas and sitting in a straight back chair holding a framed photo – a photo I assumed to be of his daughter, Tammy. Thomas didn’t speak or acknowledge my presence.

  “Please sit down,” Nora said offering me a seat at the kitchen table. “How do you take your coffee, Mr. Reno?”

  “Just black, Mrs. Whitmore. Thank you.”

  Nora sat a cup of coffee in front of me and then took a seat at the table directly across me. “I apologize for Thomas, he’s been quite upset since Tammy’s funeral and I don’t think he will be of much help. Sorry.”