Their next stop was the Linn Cove Visitor Center. This was the place where Lin was initially assigned, so they made this a brief visit. They did take the time to walk the short trail that led back under the Linn Cove Viaduct, truly an engineering marvel. You could stand under the impressive structure and hear the sound of the road sections adjusting to the movement of cars overhead. For many years there was a gap in the Parkway where it met Grandfather Mountain. At the time the original road was built, the owner refused to cede right of way to build on the mountain. He didn’t want the beautiful rocky slopes blasted away to form passage for the Parkway. When it became possible to build a viaduct, he agreed to a plan that took the road around the mountain on deep-set piers. It formed a bridge, swinging away from the mountainside and preserving the beauty of the rocky slopes. There was no stopping allowed on the viaduct itself, but one could walk beneath it and there were vantage points along the way for viewing from a distance. Grandfather Mountain itself was now a state park, although the visitor center, a small zoo, and concession facilities were still privately owned and operated. A mile high swinging footbridge joined two of the rocky peaks on this beautiful mountain; the view was spectacular.
“That will have to be on our list for a future visit,” Lin said.
“Indeed, it will,” Sue responded, “but not today. It’s almost lunchtime and I want to stop at the Moses Cone house just to look at some of the crafts. We really didn’t have time yesterday.”
The Moses Cone Memorial Park covered many acres. The large white home and country estate had once belonged to a textile magnate. He’d built it as a summer retreat. There were miles of carriage roads, trails for walking, and a stable where one could arrange horseback riding.
“We could easily have spent our entire day right here,” Lin commented as they mounted the steps to the large home. The Cone mansion now housed a beautiful craft store where handcrafted pottery, weavings, quilts, woodcarvings, jewelry, baskets, and many other items made by regional artists were offered for sale. During the summer months some of those artists demonstrated their work on the front porch of the home. Sue was assigned to work at the craft center and the surrounding park.
“Let’s get out of here,” Lin suggested as she observed Sue examining a particularly beautiful woven cape, “this place has too much temptation. It’s going to be tough to work here and not buy too much.”
“I agree,” Sue smiled, “ I expect I’ll have all of my Christmas shopping done before I ever leave this place.”
It was well past a normal lunchtime when they pulled into the picnic area at Jeffress Park. The late hour meant that there were plenty of available picnic tables so they settled on one under some trees away from the main walkway and enjoyed their picnic.
“We had a big breakfast, but I was beginning to get hungry,” Lin remarked as she bit into her sandwich. “It’s been a beautiful day, but I’m getting tired. Maybe we could skip walking down to the waterfall at this place, the Cascades I believe it’s called.”
“Fine by me,” Sue replied, “we can save that for another day, but there is one place a bit further up the road that I want to see. It’s the spot near where Tom Dula killed and buried his pregnant girlfriend way back after the Civil War and the spot where the other girl was found in 2009 is nearby also. I believe there’s a sign that tells the Dula story. I’d like to get a feel for the spot.”
Remembering that Sue hoped to write a book based on the two stories, Lin agreed that could be their last stop for the day. They packed up the remains of their picnic and headed north for a few more miles to find the place.
It was near a landmark called The Lump. Both women felt a sense of sadness as they read the sign that told the Dula story. Sue supplied the limited information that she had about the more recent killing.
“It’s really a sad place,” Lin remarked, “beautiful but sad.”
They were quiet as they left the overlook and headed back south toward Boone. Sunset was still a couple of hours away and the weather was still beautiful, but they were both tired and ready to call it a day.
They passed their picnic spot and rounded a broad curve into an area known as Deep Gap. There was a Parkway exit there that led back toward Boone and Lin had started to turn when Sue grabbed her by the arm and cried out, “Don’t turn yet, I thought I saw someone fall at the side of the road ahead. They may need help.”
Lin continued slowly past the exit. Just ahead was a place with wide grassy shoulders bordering a forested area. A parking area opened at an overlook just beyond. There was one car there, but no visitors were to be seen. Near the verge of the roadway was what appeared to be a pile of crumpled fabric. Lin pulled into the overlook and Sue jumped out of the car immediately, running toward the pile.
“It’s a young woman,” she cried.
Lin secured the car and headed back toward the spot where Sue was helping the young lady to sit up. Her left arm and shoulder were bloodied and there was a large gash on her forehead. Her face and upper body were badly bruised. Her sundress was almost completely ripped off. It barely covered her breasts and she was barefoot.
She spoke in a rasping whisper, “Help me, I’ve got to find Pete, I can’t find him.”
Chapter 2
In spite of the warm afternoon, the girl was shivering. Lin quickly returned to the car to retrieve the picnic blanket she and Sue had brought along just in case one was needed. Now she used it to wrap around the young woman.
“She’s probably lost a lot of blood,” Sue remarked, noticing the bloody trail marking where the girl appeared to have crawled up to the shoulder from a drop off just this side of the overlook. “See if you can get cell signal here and call 911.”
Unfortunately, Lin had only one bar and her attempt to call didn’t go through. Signal was no better at the overlook. She did observe that there was a blanket and picnic remains spread out on a grassy area nearby, a beautiful spot with a broad view beyond.
“I think we may have to go for help,” Lin said as she returned to the spot where Sue was trying to apply pressure to the wound on the girl’s head with a piece of cloth torn from her ripped dress.
Just at that moment a motorist came around the bend, pulled to a stop at the shoulder, and rolled down the window. “Can I help you? What happened?” an older gentleman called from the car.
“ We need to get some medical help up here, maybe a park ranger too, this girl’s been hurt,” Sue explained, “and there’s no cell signal up here.”
“I’ll go back to the exit and get off the Parkway,” the Good Samaritan offered, “I’ll make a note of the milepost here and call from Deep Gap. I should be able to get through from there. Just hang on and help should be here shortly, or, if you think it best, we could put her in your car and take her to the hospital. I’m local and I could lead you there.”
Lin spoke quickly, “I don’t think we should move her—not knowing the extent of her injuries.” She didn’t add that she was afraid this might be a crime scene of some sort and the authorities would want to see the situation.
The man nodded in agreement and drove away to get help. Sue went back to their car and brought some bottled water from the cooler, but, by the time she’d returned, the victim had lapsed into unconsciousness and wasn’t able to drink. Sue sat down beside the girl and drew the blanket more firmly together pulling her close to keep her warm while they waited.
On impulse, Lin decided to go back to the car and get her camera. She took some photos of the general area, the overlook, the empty car parked there, and the trail of bloody grass that led from the rocky area where the slope dropped away. When that was done, she decided to go back to the parking area and look over the edge down the hill. She really couldn’t see much. The land dropped about six feet to a relatively flat but rocky area about three or four feet wide. There was no sign of another person anywhere. A marked hiking trail led away from the far end of the parking area, but there was no sign of any hikers. Only the one unoccupied
car was parked in the lot, and it was at the end opposite the trail. It was growing late, and traffic was light even though it was a Saturday afternoon. Lin heard cars approaching the area, but they all turned to leave the Parkway at the nearby exit. She realized that they would have left also had Sue not spotted the girl. Increasingly, she also realized that the girl was indeed a victim—maybe she had an accident and fell from the overlook area, or perhaps she’d been attacked.
Since no one had returned to the parked car as yet, Lin decided that maybe it belonged to the girl. It was evident that someone had a picnic on the grassy area just beyond the overlook, adjacent to the drop off—a beautiful spot with a great view. Lin observed that there was a plastic bag apparently filled with trash—paper plates, soda cans, and the like—atop the blanket. A basket stood to one side. She was careful to look and not touch anything, but, from the amount of trash and the remains of packaged foods in the basket, it was clear that more than one person had been at this picnic.
Just then, Lin remembered the girl had said something before she lost consciousness; she had said someone’s name. It was Pete, the girl had asked for their help finding her companion. She’d said she couldn’t find Pete.
Well, Lin couldn’t find Pete either. She’d already looked around this area and over the side, to the extent that she could see without climbing down, and there was no sign of another person. She went back to where Sue was still sitting with the young victim.
“I hope help arrives soon,” Sue shook her head in worry. “She’s still out and her face feels cold. She breathing, but it sounds shallow. I’m sure she’s in shock.”
Lin offered to relieve Sue so she could stretch her legs. “I’ve looked around, but I see no sign of that person, Pete, she mentioned. It’s pretty clear that someone, most likely her and a companion, had a picnic here earlier. I think that car may belong to her. There’s a trail at the other end; I suppose someone could be hiking nearby. Maybe this Pete went on a hike and the girl was exploring and had an accident, maybe she fell over that drop-off and somehow managed to climb back up.”
Sue got up and stretched. “You stay here with her, and I’ll go walk a bit down that trail and see if I can find any sign of that Pete person she was looking for. I won’t go far. Yell, if the help gets here.”
The time seemed to drag. A glance at her watch told Lin that it had only been about fifteen minutes since the gentleman who’d stopped had gone back to call. They’d told him it wasn’t necessary to come back if he succeeded in contacting the authorities and medical help. During the time Lin and Sue had been there only a few cars had passed. It was near the end of the day, and most folks were heading in for the evening. Two other people had stopped and offered to help, but none had medical qualifications; Sue had thanked them but told them help was on the way.
Lin looked up and saw that Sue was returning from her short walk down the trail. She waved at Lin and pointed ahead. A small caravan of vehicles was arriving. A blue and white ambulance with lights but no siren was turning onto the parkway from the exit just past where they were waiting. It was followed by a sheriff’s department vehicle and what appeared to be a park service truck. By the time Sue returned to the overlook parking area they were all pulling in.
Sue stopped to meet the new arrivals and walked with them back to where Lin was waiting with the victim. She got out of the way so that the medics could examine the still unconscious girl. The girl was still breathing but showed no signs of movement when an IV was started and the EMTs conducted their examination.
“I’m Dave Winkler,” the sheriff’s deputy extended his hand in greeting. “What happened here?”
“We really aren’t sure,” Lin responded. “We were driving back to Boone after a day on the Parkway. As we were getting ready to exit, Sue saw this girl fall to the side of the road so we stopped to help. There was no cell signal right here so we couldn’t call anyone. A kind gentleman driving past stopped and went back to call you folks while we stayed here to try to help the girl. She was awake at first, but then she passed out and hasn’t waked up again. I looked around here. The grass is bloody over near the parking area. Looks like she might have come up from the drop off over there. Maybe she had an accident and fell.”
Deputy Winkler walked over to the area Lin had spoken about and followed the bloody trail back to where the girl lay.
“Did she say anything?” he asked.
“She just asked us to help her, said she couldn’t find someone named Pete,” Sue replied. She explained that Lin had looked down the slope as far as she could see, and she had walked part of the trail on the other side but they had seen no one.
“We think that might be her vehicle,” Sue indicated the parked car. “It was there when we arrived and no one has come to claim it. Looks like someone had a picnic here,” she indicated the remains they had observed earlier.
By this time the medics had the girl ready for transport to the hospital and the deputy went to speak to them regarding her apparent injuries.
“Do you think she fell, had an accident?” Winkler asked the EMT as he closed the ambulance door.
“Don’t know about that, but it looks to me like she’s been shot—probably with a shotgun at fairly close range. Her left shoulder took the brunt of it. She’s got a lot of cuts and bruises too. They can tell you more at the hospital.” He got into the driver’s seat and started back toward the exit. They could hear the siren as the ambulance entered the highway below.
Up to this point the park ranger had said very little. Now he and the deputy conferred about how to proceed with their investigation. Finally, they turned to Sue and Lin.
“Thank you ladies for stopping and having us notified,” the ranger said. “Generally the sheriff’s department and the park service work together in situations like this. If a crime has been committed, it will most likely wind up in federal court and the FBI may get involved, but we really don’t have the personnel or facilities here in the park to investigate fully or properly evaluate evidence; therefore, we partner with local law enforcement. I’m going to take your contact information and then you can go. I’m sure someone will want to talk to both of you later, but right now we need to get some techs up here to check this area. I’m not sure what might have happened here.”
Lin looked at the ranger’s nametag. Mark Scott hadn’t introduced himself. “Thank you, Ranger Scott,” she smiled. “I’m Lin Hanna and this is Sue Gray. We’re new volunteers here on the Parkway. We’ll start working Monday at Linn Cove and Moses Cone, but we’re staying in Boone.”
“I apologize for not introducing myself,” Mark Scott said sheepishly, “This is my first summer here, actually my first anywhere as a law enforcement ranger. I guess I forgot my manners.” He got out a pad and took down their contact information. “Someone will definitely contact you tomorrow sometime. It may be later in the day though. It’ll be dark here soon, so we may have to come back out in the morning to examine the scene more fully.”
“And look for Pete?” Lin asked.
“If we don’t find him now,” he responded. He moved away to begin putting yellow tape around the area, closing it off from any visitors. Lin observed that the deputy was in his car using his radio.
Before they left, he emerged and came back to ask a few more questions about what time they arrived and what they had seen initially. Then he told them they were free to go. “Mark has your info and someone will want to talk to you both tomorrow sometime. We’ve got folks coming to check this area. We can check the registration to determine the car’s owner, and we’ll tow it to the county garage to examine it for any evidence. Thank you both for being on hand to help and for staying with the victim until someone arrived.”
“We both hope she’ll be ok,” Lin said. “Could we find out how she is later? We don’t know her, but we’d like to know how she’s doing.”
“I understand,” Dave Winkler responded. “I’d want to know too. I’ll be going by the hospital when I
finish here tonight, and I promise I’ll call you when I find out.”
“Thanks,” Sue said. “We appreciate that and if we can help in any way let us know. I guess we’ll leave now. See you tomorrow sometime.”
“Either Mark or I will call you,” Winkler turned back to help put up the tape as Lin and Sue walked back to their car and headed back toward the exit for Boone.
***
The ride back to the lodge was a quiet one. Both Lin and Sue felt exhausted and drained, emotionally as well as physically. They’d had a long day and had been heading back to relax when they’d discovered the young girl. Now they were both worried about her condition and were puzzled about what might have happened to her.
“We don’t even know who she is,” Lin lamented, “whether she has any family here or not? I keep feeling like we should be doing something further to help.”
Sue nodded her agreement, “I’m sure the authorities will identify her, at least eventually—maybe when they check that car. They’ll be able to locate her family then, maybe. She seemed quite young to me.”
“Probably a teenager, I’d say,” Lin added, “perhaps a student. I guess there’s really nothing more we can do, at least not tonight, but I have a funny feeling that this situation may turn out to be complicated.”
Sue decided to change the subject. They needed to refocus, at least for now. “I don’t know about you but that sandwich we had for lunch seems like a long time ago. I think we need to get something to eat.”
“I agree,” Lin replied, “but I’d feel better if I could shower and change first.”
They arrived at their lodgings and grabbed up their picnic stuff to take in. They were missing their blanket; it must have gone to the hospital with the victim. Lin was secretly happy about that. It would give them an excuse to call and perhaps find out more about the girl. They returned the borrowed cooler to the front desk and went straight to their room, deciding not to mention their afternoon’s adventure to anyone until they knew more about the situation. For now they both simply wanted to clean up and find a good dinner somewhere.
Fogbound: A Lin Hanna Mystery Page 3