Murder in Gatlinburg

by Steve Demaree

  "I'm not the one you should check with. You can contact someone from security, but I doubt if they would be willing to share any information with you. And, as you probably know, someone in housekeeping delivers towels and other items to each guest. If someone doesn't answer the door, housekeeping unlocks the door, and calls out. If no one answers, they go inside and leave the items. All staff are told to report anything out of the way to security, and security checks it out. Whenever necessary they contact the local police. I'm sure Miss Trueblood has a reason for wanting privacy and will rejoin your group before you depart."

  I thanked the woman and turned and walked away. I walked outside and contemplated what to do. I wasn't as sure as the woman I talked to that Miss Friendly would be rejoining our group. But the Lou of my subconscious told me I should do nothing about our missing sourpuss.

  As far as I knew we had only one other missing person, and I would leave finding Earl up to Harlan or whoever does the detecting for the tour bus company. The resort was so big I didn't think there was any way I would be able to keep up with everyone in our party and see which ones looked guilty. Besides, I already knew which ones looked guilty. I would wait until we were all together and then try to keep one eye on someone without him or her knowing what I was doing.

  Since my detecting was at a standstill and I no longer ate a meal every hour, I headed to my room to rest for an hour or so. By sometime around lunchtime I would check with Lou and see what he wanted to do.

  +++

  When I got back to the room, I saw the light flashing on my room phone. I called to get the message. When I found out what it was about I called Lou.

  "Our concierge called and left a message."

  "I know. She left one on my phone, too."

  "Well, we both like the place. Do you want to take the tour and see how much a timeshare in this place will cost? We can always say no."

  "We don't know how much longer either of us will live, but if we live as long as most men we have another twenty-five years to enjoy this place."

  "Yeah, the only thing is do we want to come back to the same place each year."

  "Let's find out what they are offering. I don't think they will hold us at gunpoint, and like I said, we can always say no."

  Lou agreed and I called our concierge and told her that Lou and I had some time that afternoon and we'd be willing to listen to what they had to offer. She gave me a time and told us where to meet her.

  +++

  Once again the temperature wasn't too hot or too cold. At least for one year the weekend that started the last part of May and ended on one of the first few days in June included ideal weather conditions. Just right for spending some time on my balcony. I stood at the railing and looked down. I knew which unit belonged to Miss Friendly for a week, so I knew she had a balcony similar to mine. It wouldn't have been hard for someone to toss her over the side and watch her roll down the hill in the dark. I called the front desk to offer that tidbit to add to what I'd already shared. Luckily I remembered the name of the person I talked to the first time. She seemed less than excited that I called her, but promised me that someone would check on Miss Trueblood and see if she was okay. At least she remembered the name of the missing person, so maybe someone would follow through. I knew the resort had security, so I figured they would be the logical choice. But maybe they might send a maid by first, and then if Miss Friendly wasn't in her room, or if there were bloodstains on the floor or in the shower or out on the balcony railing, they would call in security to check the matter more thoroughly.

  I called Lou to see what he wanted to do about lunch. Since we had an appointment to check on a timeshare that afternoon, we decided to eat on the premises. We strolled down the hill. I looked over at the pool to my right, but there was no vision in a bikini rising up out it. There were a handful of kids in the pool, and some parents reclining while keeping an eye on them, but I wasn't going up to stare at any of them. After eating a relaxing lunch, we checked to see if we could take a shuttle ride throughout the property. I explained that we came on a tour bus, so we had no car to tour the grounds. An hour or so later, without encountering any bodies despite the way some of those people drove, we felt we had an even greater appreciation for the property. Also, I was impressed at how much higher the top of the property was than it was down where we checked in. From there, most everything is up, and even though we had somewhere around a fifty foot drop-off from our balcony to the bottom of the hill, where we stayed was a long way from the top. Our driver told Lou and me that we could get out at the top and enjoy the view, so we took him up on it. He pointed out one place in the distance and told me that it wasn't in Tennessee, but North Carolina. I would have to share that view with Jennifer sometime. Fifteen minutes later he was back and we were on our way again. While he was gone I wondered what I could do if I had a skateboard with me at the top. I knew what I could do on a skateboard, but I didn't know how good the local hospital was.

  There was so much to Westgate that I was sure I needed a map to find some of the places, and I wasn't sure that I could find everything even then. When I thought of that, I wondered how many bodies someone could hide on the property. I was sure it was many more than came down on our tour bus.

  29

  We kept our appointment with our concierge, who handed us off to someone who answered all of our questions and gave us all the information we needed to buy a timeshare. He even took us around to show us the different kind of units, and took us to places we had been to earlier that day. We didn't let on that he wasn't the first to show them to us. A couple of hours later, we agreed to buy a week each at Westgate. One positive was that we could trade our week for another Westgate resort. The only negative I saw was that the maintenance fee was higher than I liked, but once we had the place paid for, the maintenance fee was cheaper than a week at a comparable resort. We signed the papers and headed back to our suites to rest before heading out with the rest of our group.

  +++

  Tuesday night included an early show at the Comedy Barn and a late dinner at The Old Mill. The show at the Comedy Barn was as funny as most anything I'd seen lately, and it was comedy the whole family could enjoy. Well, it's possible that watching Lou wondering if he was going to die before he got off the rollercoaster might have been funnier, but the show beat everything else for humor. I knew George and the rest of the guys back home could have had a month of laughs from that. At the show I particularly liked the segment when they called three men up out of the audience and had them sit in chairs and told them to do what the man standing behind them instructed them to do. It was one of the funniest routines I'd ever seen, even though three of the four people involved weren't in on it.

  The Old Mill Restaurant was just a block off the main road. It was country cooking and there were plenty of dishes to choose from. After we ate, we still had a few minutes to look through the nearby shops before heading back to Westgate.

  From where I sat at the Comedy Barn it was hard to see everyone, but I tried to check out those seated in front of me whose eyes were focused on the show. I was able to see part of our group at The Old Mill, but some were seated in other places in the two-story restaurant. I didn't see any of my three friends from breakfast. Evidently they didn't get the text regarding what we were doing that evening. Regardless, I didn't see anyone do anything out of the ordinary at either place, but then I didn't expect that to happen. I merely wanted to watch them to see if I could learn anything about their personalities.

  +++

  Once again I went back to my accommodations and wondered what I'd been missing my last several years. Both Lou and I had enjoyed ourselves so much that neither of us cracked open either of the mysteries we had brought with us other than the one hour I read earlier in the week. Unlike Lou, I had tried to crack a mystery, but I was handicapped and didn't have enough evidence to solve either disappearance, whether a murder had been committed or not.

  I had a few minutes before h
eading to bed, so I pulled out my new toy. I sent a text to Frank.

  I have three bodies for you so far. Will you be sending the wagon, and will it hold all three bodies?

  I knew Frank would get a chuckle out of that, since he was always complaining about the bodies I provided so he could do all those autopsies. Next, I texted George.

  I understand that you retired this week and they had to fire four people to replace you.

  Jennifer needed more than a text. She needed to hear my voice, and I needed to hear hers.

  "Hello. Hold on a minute. Armando will you turn down that romantic music. I can't hear who's on the phone."

  "Very funny."

  "Cy, is that you? They sent somebody by the other day to tell me that you fell off a rollercoaster and didn't make it. I couldn't stand being by myself, and I met Armando the other day at the grocery. He was so helpful, letting me know how to tell if a melon was ripe or not."

  "I heard about that. They said he escaped from the psych ward the other day, and they've given up on finding him. I guess you get to keep him."

  "Would you like it better if I told you that Thelma Lou and I have been crying ourselves to sleep each night."

  "That I can believe. And I bet Thelma Lou's crying because she realizes that Lou will be back soon."

  "Cy, you know we miss you. And we've decided not to let the two of you go away again without us. We worry about you."

  "That's better. That means I won't have to send you a picture of the woman I met the other day."

  "Oh, go ahead and send it to me. And hurry home!"

  I hung up and sent the picture to Jennifer. If she was to see it, and I could see a few guys I know sending her a copy, I figured it would be better if the photo came from me.

  A few minutes later, I received a text from Jennifer.

  Cy, thanks for sending me a picture of you and that anorexic creature. And if she invites you to her high school graduation I won't be upset if you go. But if you bring her home with you I'll break your neck.

  30

  When Lou hurried toward me as I headed down the steps on my way to breakfast, I knew he had another clue.

  "Okay, Lou, what's today's message?"

  "Is it that obvious?"

  "Yeah, don't ever murder anyone. I'd figure it out in about two minutes."

  "So, you're improving in your old age."

  "Watch that old age thing. Remember, we're the same age."

  "I think you're two months older."

  "And wiser. But enough of all of this. What's today's message? Even though it's not as if it will help us clear up this situation, whatever it is."

  "I'll tell you if you promise you won't ask me what it means."

  That was tough, but I was eager for another clue, maybe the clue that would help me solve the murder, provided there had been one.

  "Okay, I promise."

  "Craig Wasson and Melanie Griffith."

  Neither Lou nor I were into TV programs or movies that were made after we were born, and neither of us had ever been interested in sports. So I figured that these two people figured into one of those areas, because they weren't anyone we learned about in school, and they weren't part of our tour group.

  "Lou, how about if I ask you a slightly different question?"

  He looked suspicious.

  "How slightly different?"

  "Have you heard of either of these people?"

  "Of course. Just a minute ago, when I told you they are our clue. And when their names came to me a few minutes ago when I got the message, as you call it."

  "Okay, well, here's what I know. They're not anyone in our group, so they're probably not the murderer or the victim. One sounds male and the other sounds female, so they probably don't play sports, because they are mentioned together. They have fairly normal names, so they probably aren't a singing group. So, I think that narrows it down to TV or movies."

  "So, you don't think they're Nobel Prize winners?"

  "No, they both sound American. And neither of them has ever been a President who pulled troops out of some country, and the names don't sound like some physicist."

  I debated over whether or not to ask anyone if they knew what Craig Wasson and Melanie Griffith symbolized. I definitely wasn't going to ask anyone in our group. After a minute I decided that I would see if I could arrive at a conclusion on my own. If not, I might ask someone later. I was enjoying my vacation too much to remember at the time that I could have Googled them. If I had had Google from the beginning I might have been able to solve some of our murder cases before they happened. Well, maybe minutes after they happened. I wondered how many victims' lives I could have saved if I had gotten to them immediately.

  We had gotten several clues since the bus pulled out of Lexington, which told me someone had been murdered, even though I had no idea who it was and who murdered them. The obvious answer was either Earl or Miss Friendly, or both, but then it could be someone I wasn't thinking of. But surely it was someone I had met. But who had I met other than the people in our group? The victim definitely wasn't the limping man, or either of the men in sunglasses, unless someone was doing a good imitation of one of them to make me think they were still alive. And I was pretty sure it wasn't someone I knew back home. I had texted enough to those I knew best to know that the messages that came back weren't from some imposter. Or could it be that the whole thing was some scheme cooked up by George and Lou to interfere with my vacation? It was time to quit thinking about all of that and enjoy my vacation.

  +++

  As we ate breakfast Wednesday morning before we left the Westgate Empire, Sylvia came running over to our table.

  "Inez is missing again."

  "You're not staying in the same unit. Right?"

  "No, just on the same floor, different end."

  "Maybe she's just running a little later than you are."

  "No, we each got two keys and gave each other a key to our room. When she didn't answer her phone I went rushing over there. I rang the bell, and when she didn't answer I used my key to go in. She wasn't there. And it doesn't look like she slept in her bed last night."

  That meant Inez made at least the second member of our group who had failed to sleep in her bed. They should have considered subletting their bed.

  "Have you reported this to the concierge? Remember there's another woman missing, too. And both of them are in the same building. Of course I don't know if that means anything or not."

  I contemplated going from door-to-door in Sylvia's building to see if anyone else was missing. There were twelve units in each building and twelve doorbells. I would only have to ring nine doorbells. But this place is a resort, not a hospital. Everyone wouldn't camp out in their rooms all the time. I wondered how many return trips I would have to make before I deemed someone a missing person. I wasn't sure I could get away from Lou that many times. I quit thinking about the possible case when Sylvia answered my question.

  "I haven't reported her missing yet. I don't want to embarrass her in case she has been doing something indiscreet."

  "She doesn't seem the type. Could she have caught a trolley over to Gatlinburg, maybe to eat breakfast or do a little shopping?"

  "I thought of that, too, but if she did, why doesn't she answer her phone?"

  "Maybe she forgot to turn it on. Do what you gotta do, but I'd say you might want to report it if she doesn't join us somewhere along the line today."

  Sylvia walked away, not feeling any better. My guess was the only reason she didn't report Inez missing was that she was missing before and that time it was just a misunderstanding. And the man she thought was a stalker that time wasn't even a stalker. Just someone who looked like someone else.

  Still, after Sylvia had wandered far enough away, I turned to Lou.

  "That's three people missing now. I wonder what's going on."

  "I wonder if you remember that we are retired and on vacation. If you think the matter needs attention, call the local polic
e, but don't get involved."

  I nodded my head. Lou was probably right. I finished my breakfast and hoped that everything settled in the right place.

  31

  Lou and I were the first two to board the bus when it came time to go to Gatlinburg late Wednesday morning. And I was glad we beat everyone else. Harlan motioned for us to board and then closed the door.

  "I'm afraid I have bad news. They found Earl."

  "I assume by bad news you mean that he is dead or dead drunk. I cast my vote for no longer among the living."

  "That's right. His bus was parked behind the Dixie Stampede building, sort of off to the side, back close to the street that runs behind the place. Someone walked by last night and smelled something funny. They called the police, who checked it out. Earl always carried a trunk in the storage area. That's where he kept all of his belongings. Only this time, in addition to his clothes, someone put Earl in there. The police said he had been dead for a few days. My guess is since Friday night. The police found him, then called the company back home. They knew I was here, so they had me go and identify the body. He was wearing the uniform he always wore when he drove, and nothing seemed to be missing from his personal effects. It didn't look like he had been beaten, but he had been struck once. At least that's the way it looked to me. I've been there most of the morning. I just got back a few minutes ago. I told them I had a tour group to transport around town."

  "Did you know him well?"

  "Somewhat. We didn't run around together, but we saw each other on occasion, when we were both leaving town near the same time from the same place, and at the annual Christmas party."