Murder in Gatlinburg

by Steve Demaree

  I had learned all I was going to learn about Miss Friendly. I could tell that Sylvia thought I was more concerned about the old lady than I was Inez, so I shifted the conversation back to Sylvia's traveling companion.

  Finally, there was nothing else we could do, so we headed to where our vans were parked to see if Inez was there. There was only one van left. There were three irritable-looking people and a driver inside. And three empty seats.

  Sylvia told the driver her friend was missing and asked him if he could call the other drivers to see if she was in another van. He called, got hold of all the other drivers, but only one was in transit. The others had just let out the group they were carrying. There was nothing for us to do, but go back to the bus and see if Inez showed up.

  22

  This was the third day of the trip, and so far there was good news and bad news. The good news was that the sun had shined all day, each of the three days. Oh there were times when it went behind the clouds, but we hadn't had any rain. No slick, winding road as we drove up to Cade's Cove. No losing a shoe that got stuck in the mud as we hurried from one place to another trying to find Inez at our lunch stop. Which brought me to the bad news. We had been gone for three days. We were missing three people. Had we really lost one person each day? And would we continue to lose another person each day for the rest of the trip? In the end, would either Lou or I have to drive the bus home?

  +++

  Sylvia was a nervous wreck, and when one of the other passengers started to get out at the next stop, Sylvia gave her a dirty look and the woman sat back down. The time we took to look for Inez made us far enough behind any of the other vans that we didn't see any of them until we got back to the bus. We saw a few deer. A couple of them came almost close enough to us for us to reach out and pet them. We saw a wild turkey, too. I wasn't sure what it was. I didn't even see it at first. Our van driver pointed it out to us, midway back in one of the fields we passed. Luckily, we didn't see any bears. The way our luck was going I was afraid a mama bear might do more than paw the van and slobber all over the windshield. We didn't see Inez, either. Well, not until we got back to where we had left the bus. She was standing near the bus, frantic. When she saw our van pull in and recognized Sylvia, it was all our driver could do to keep from hitting her as she charged toward us. Saner minds allowed Sylvia to fly out first. The rest of us got to experience a reunion that hadn't been that long in the offing. I listened to the reunion as I stepped out of the van. Inez was bringing Sylvia up to speed.

  "So, you're okay, too. I saw a guy back at that mill who looked like one of Ernie's henchmen. So, I sneaked behind some cars and made my way to where the vans were parked. I tried to call you, but I didn't have any bars. When we got to the next stop I saw the guy again and realized that he only looked a little like Ernie's stooge. By then, I thought the best thing to do was beat it back to the bus and wait for you. I was beginning to worry about you, since it took you so long to get here."

  "We were looking for you. We searched the mill area. We even looked in the water to make sure you hadn't fallen in. And Cy even looked in the men's restroom," she said laughing. "He said there was a woman in there bound in toilet paper, but she didn't look like you."

  The two women hugged again and then Inez and those of us who arrived last joined the others on the bus. I was glad that neither of them hugged Lou or me for our efforts. Well, it would have been okay if they had hugged Lou. As it turned out, all was well and we were about to head back down the mountain. I felt better about going down. As long as the brakes continued to work. And I doubted if anyone was headed up the mountain that time of day. It helped that I pretended that someone widened the road while we were at Cade's Cove.

  The sun was still shining. Well, I assumed it was. It was hard to tell through the covering of trees. And we had found one of our three missing people. I wondered if that meant that Earl and Miss Friendly would be sitting in the dining room having dinner when we returned. Somehow I didn't think so.

  +++

  I was right about one thing. On our trip down the mountain we didn't encounter any late charging tour buses on the way up. We arrived back at Westgate a little after 5:00. Sunday's itinerary said that dinner was included, as long as we ate it at Westgate. And since we didn't have to eat dinner together, or at any certain time, Lou and I went back to our rooms to catch a nap until time to head down to dinner.

  +++

  Other than our search for a missing person, Lou and I had been sitting most of the day. True, we got out at most points of interest, but none of them were a long walk from where the van was parked. So Lou and I walked to our rooms instead of taking the shuttle. I was breaking out into a sweat when we passed one of the pools, but I refrained from going over and taking a dip in the pool fully clothed. It only took us about ten minutes to get to our rooms, even though each step was uphill. A year earlier it would have taken me a couple of days, provided I lived through the experience.

  On the way up the hill, I got an idea. I waited until Lou went inside to take his nap. I hiked up the mountain some more until I came to the next log cabin on steroids and climbed the steps. I wanted to get up and down quickly, without being seen by anyone I knew, or looking suspicious to anyone who didn't know me. I climbed to the top, walked over and looked at the unit number, then jotted it down. I hurried back to my quarters and picked up the phone.

  I asked whoever answered if someone could take some more towels to Miss Friendly's accommodations. I didn't mention her by name. Only by unit number. I was told that someone would bring them shortly.

  I went to the outside door to keep watch. I wanted to catch housekeeping before he or she dropped the towels off and left. I saw someone heading up the hill riding a golf cart, and stepped out onto the walkway. I had gone only a few steps until I ran into a familiar face.

  "Having trouble sleeping?"

  "No more than you. What are you up to, Cy? I saw you head up the hill and back, and now you're going out again."

  "I won't be long. I just have to catch a guy on a golf cart. I'll explain when I get back."

  Lou uttered his favorite new saying about being retired and on vacation, then muttered something about going inside to see if he had enough money for bail.

  The person on the golf cart had a head start on me and ended up being a woman. I hoped that improved my chances of learning whatever I could about Miss Friendly. I didn't catch up with her until she was coming out of the outside door.

  "Did she say anything when you handed her the towels?"

  "We got a call that someone was anxious to receive some more towels. Evidently they weren't in that big of a hurry, because there wasn't anyone there. I left them on the counter."

  "Listen, that's my mother in there. She's getting up in age, and sometimes she wanders off. Could you please go back in and check on the towels she already had, and see if it looks like her bed has been slept in? I haven't been able to get hold of her."

  The woman hesitated.

  "Please. I'm worried about her."

  "Okay. But you can't come in with me."

  "That's okay. I'll wait here."

  She came back out with a puzzled look on her face.

  "What's the matter? You didn't find her, did you?"

  "No, nothing like that, but there were plenty of towels. Only one of them has been used, and the bed doesn't look like it's been slept in. When was the last time you talked to her?"

  "Friday. After that every time I tried to call her she didn't answer the phone. She was mad at me, so I didn't think anything about it at first, but now I'm getting worried."

  "I would be too if I were you. Do you want me to report this to security?"

  I nodded my head and walked away before she could ask me which unit was mine.

  23

  I made it back to my home away from home without seeing Lou. As soon as my head hit the pillow, my phone rang.

  "What did you find out? Did you stumble upon the first of your
dead bodies?"

  "Don't you remember? We're retired. We're no longer in the dead body business. I was just checking with housekeeping about some more towels."

  "If you had bothered to check the counter when you came in, you would have seen that they left you more towels while you were out."

  "How did you know? Have you been in my suite?"

  "No, but I don't think it will be much longer before the police pay you a visit. If they ask me, I'll tell them I've never heard of you."

  +++

  I had a nap followed by a quick shower, and then called Lou up to see if he was ready to go to dinner.

  "Dinner? Yeah, mine was good. Too bad they're already closed for the night. Are you out on parole already?"

  "I am. And I was willing to let you dine at my table tonight."

  "Won't Sylvia be jealous?"

  "She told me she prefers the weak, silent type. Haven't you seen how she's been looking at you?"

  +++

  We had a delightful dinner, and since there was still a little daylight left when we finished, we checked out the lobby and the store attached to it, and even headed down to the indoor water park. When we walked in the door the average age of the people there jumped by at least twenty years. I thought about going back to the room and switching into my swim trunks and showing those kids a thing or two, and then I remembered that I didn't bring any swim trunks. And I never learned how to swim. That didn't matter. For the most part, none of the water inside the water park was much deeper than the Little Pigeon River.

  I looked around, checked those lounging to see if any of them was carrying a knife or a gun. One of the young women looked at me like I had looked at her a little too long. And when some guy who might have been her boyfriend started walking toward me, I turned and walked away. I didn't think he would be impressed that I used to be a homicide detective. Used to be. It sounded weird to say used to be. I shook my head back and forth and reprogrammed it to vacation mode.

  After strolling around the grounds for a half hour or so, and realizing that Westgate would be a nice place to spend a few weeks a year, Lou and I retreated to our rooms. I had read the itinerary, and the next day, Monday, Lou and I would be off to Dollywood, our first experience at an amusement park.

  +++

  The temperature was perfect, so when I got back to my room I slid open the glass door, walked out onto the balcony, and had a seat at the table there. It was a lovely evening. It wasn't too hot. It wasn't humid. And no one had alerted the mosquitoes that dinner was currently being served on the balcony. The balcony would have been a perfect setting for cracking open one of the books I had brought. But I just sat there and soaked up the experience. I would keep reading in mind in case one day we decided to turn in early or Gatlinburg decided to trade the sun for a rainy day.

  The more I got used to the place, the more I was sure I could retire to Westgate. There was transportation and food nearby. The washer and dryer were two steps outside of the inner door. There was a grocery, and a full-size kitchen in case I wanted to cook. There were only a couple of stumbling blocks. One, while I had invested my money well and had enough to live on back home, I was sure it would cost more to spend fifty-two weeks at Westgate than it would at my house in Hilldale. Plus, Jennifer and my other friends were back in Hilldale. I would miss them if I were gone for long. Even George and Frank.

  I turned the chair away from the table and faced the trees. From what I could tell from the sounds forty or fifty feet below was that our building ran parallel to the road between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. But the trees that prohibited me from seeing the road were also a buffer to the noise, and I could barely hear the traffic moving. And when I went back inside and shut the door, it was impossible to hear any outside noises. But I sat there for a few more minutes, and once again I contemplated all that was happening in my life. I was enjoying the vacation, and unless things changed I would want to take another one before long.

  But once again my brain kicked into its detective mode. For some reason my thoughts changed to Miss Friendly, whom I hadn't seen since we arrived. I wondered what had happened to her, and if she would be accompanying the rest of us on our short trek to Dollywood. My guess was no. Either by her choice or that of someone else, I doubted if she would take part in the rest of our trip. Also, I doubted if there was any chance I would see Earl again. And I wondered if the missing persons report would grow any more before our vacation was over. Were these two people dead? Could one of them be dead and the other one be responsible? Or was all of this merely a coincidence?

  I looked at my watch and decided to pop open one of my books. But instead of reading outside under the dim porch light that would soon attract flying insects, I headed back to the air-conditioning and the comfortable couch. I read for almost an hour, then turned in. I lay in bed for a few minutes, looking out at the trees that would be gone from my life in a few days. I wondered if Lou or anyone else in our group was having as good of a vacation as I.

  24

  Having aced the itinerary final, I knew that Monday morning we would eat breakfast at Westgate, and then board the tour bus at 9:30 to head to Dollywood, where we would remain until 5:00. At 5:00 we would head to Mellow Mushroom to enjoy pizza, or whatever else we wanted to order, before returning to Westgate. I wondered what percentage of Americans have never been to an amusement park. Well, it wouldn't be long until that percentage went down slightly.

  Once again we enjoyed a delicious buffet breakfast, and I had time to return to my suite to brush my teeth before boarding the bus.

  A few minutes later, Lou and I boarded the bus and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw we didn't have our third bus driver of the trip. I counted the number of people already on board and added two more. Lou and I brought the total to fourteen. I counted each person that boarded after we did, and when the bus took off our number totaled twenty-two. I was sure something had happened to Miss Friendly. It was time to find out what her name was, and to do some investigating. So, I stood up and got the group's attention. I hoped doing so wouldn't agitate the murderer, if he or she was on board.

  "May I have your attention please? Is Mildred Jenkins or Agnes Trueblood on board?"

  One woman stood and looked at me.

  "I'm Mildred Jenkins. Is something wrong?"

  "No, before I left home I made it a point to meet all of my traveling companions, and you were the only one I hadn't met."

  "So, who is Agnes Trueblood? And how did you know my name and I not know yours?"

  "Agnes Trueblood was a woman I met the other day, but I didn't get her name. As for your name, I'm psychic, but after my concussion I get names mixed up sometimes."

  "So is Agnes Trueblood a member of our group? If so, where is she?"

  "I'm not that psychic."

  I was getting dirty looks from Harlan, our bus driver, and I had no answer for Mildred Jenkins, so I sat down and hoped everyone would forget my faux pas by the time we got to Dollywood.

  +++

  "Are you scared or excited?"

  "What are you talking about, Cy?"

  "Today will be our first rollercoaster ride."

  "I guess I'm game to ride with you, but I'm not starting with one that goes upside down, and I'm not riding right after I eat."

  "I have no problem with your rules. And if I get sick while I'm riding, I'll remember to turn in your direction."

  +++

  A few minutes later we arrived at Dollywood, and I waited to be the last one off. I told Harlan that we were still missing one tourist, and he informed me that it was a tie, because they were still missing one bus driver.

  A tram took us close to where we were to pick up our tickets. While I could tell as we returned from the national park on Sunday that a lot of people had already left Gatlinburg to go back to work, a new batch must have shown up because we had to wait in line for a few minutes to pick up our tickets. After we did, we walked inside and studied the map. What should we do first?r />
  We felt that the safest thing would be to look around a little first. There were rides, shows, a gift shop, and craftsmen making their wares. But I forgot about what I wanted to do first when I saw Jack and Angel stroll by. They seemed to be following Sylvia and Inez, but when Jack looked over his shoulder and saw Lou and me watching them, he whispered to Angel and they broke away from the two women. I was going to have to be more discreet in my surveillance. When Lou noticed what I was doing he whispered two words to me, vacation and retirement. I could remember when Lou's favorite word was "food" and then later when it was "Wii." I wondered how he would act when we got back home and I twitched if I heard that another body had fallen. I was sure that he would remind me that Heather and Dan could handle it.

  Lou and I walked, looked around, tried to decide what to do first. From what I had heard, most people arriving at an amusement park either make a mad dash for a certain attraction or take their time and look around. We were of the taking our time persuasion. Besides, we were rookies. We were more likely to dip our toe in the water rather than dive in.

  As we walked by a show that had just begun, where the music sounded professional, Lou and I stopped to take it in. Once the show was over, I knew that we needed to go ahead and try a rollercoaster, or we would never do it. I knew the wooden coasters didn't do loops, and Lou said he wasn't starting with something that turned him upside down. Someone in charge of Dollywood thought Thunderhead was a good name for the ride. I had mixed emotions as we stood in line, and I was anxious when the ride took off and headed slowly up the hill. I knew enough about rollercoasters to know that they don't go slow forever. What goes up must come down. As we plummeted to our graves below, I think Lou reached for the cord to pull to get off. He said he was only gripping the support in front of him because he had to put his hands somewhere. Days later the ride ended and Lou and I walked like two drunk men as we tiptoed down the ramp. Lou smiled as he pretended that he had had the experience of his life. Evidently, whoever runs Dollywood knew that Lou and I were coming. They had put benches near the end of the ride. Lou and I stumbled over to recover and talk about our first rollercoaster experience.