 
In the Light of Day

Bobby A. Troutt

Copyright 2016 by Bobby A. Troutt

Smashwords Edition

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Table of Contents

Slightly Bent

Sugar Creek

Hit and Run

The Undertaker

The Counselor

The Black Book

In the Bite of Winter

Sunset Motel

Jones Street

*****

In the Light of Day

Slightly Bent

In the hollows and hills of Hickman County in Middle Tennessee was the small, quiet community of Walnut Creek nestled between the Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland River. Walnut Creek was home to a young boy named Hubert Emmitt; he lived on Broken Fence Road. Hubert was tall for his age at a slinky six feet four inches. His hair was dark and wavy; it flowed like a flag on a windy day. When he walked, he tilted from side to side in harmony with his steps. Hubert's hands dangled down to the pockets of the overalls he always wore. He was a gentle giant and had a humble childlike manner. About the only thing that excited him was his love of playing baseball. Everyone around Walnut Creek called him Slightly Bent. His classmates at school were first to tease him because he was born with a hump on his back. It was right between his shoulders which caused him to lean forward. In other words, slightly bent. But, he was a goodhearted soul and never paid any attention to what others said. Hubert was a happy-go-lucky boy with the dream of playing professional baseball when he grew up.

His neighbors on Broken Fence Road were poor. They were farmers who raised milk cows, vegetable gardens, tobacco and corn. They sold eggs and fresh vegetables to nearby markets. In the winter, they killed hogs and sold country smoked ham, fresh tenderloin, shoulder meat, homemade sausage and sliced bacon; people came from neighboring counties to buy the quality meats. Walnut Creek was no more than a stop and a turn in the road but it was Hubert's home.

Hubert lived in a three-room shack. It was constructed of grayish boards, a tin roof and windows with no screens. Cardboard covered walls, a pot-bellied stove and a single bed decorated the inside. In the winter, Hubert would cover up with old coats at night to protect him from the snow that fell through the holes in the roof. He had to draw his water from a well. In the summer, he put jugs of milk and other items in the spring to keep them cool. He and his sister, Rebecca, lived with their grandmother after they lost their parents in a freak accident. They didn't have much but they had each other.

Hubert loved the outdoors, even in the winter. Hubert along with his sister and some friends would take an old car hood and use it as a sled to slide down the snow covered hills. They would also make snowmen, throw snowballs and ice skate on the pond. Once, when they were skating on the pond, Rebecca, everyone called her Becky, skated on some thin ice and fell into the pond. Hubert and the others ran to the bank of the pond. He found a tree limb nearby and held it out to her a she struggled to stay afloat.

"Hold on Becky, hold on!" he shouted as he pulled her out of the pond.

Just as he was pulling her out, Big Jim came by with a wagon load of wood. He had been cutting timber when he heard the commotion at the pond. Quickly, he jumped from the wagon and ran over to help them. He wrapped his dry coat around Becky, placed her in his wagon and left hurriedly to get her some help. It was so cold that day the icy wind froze the moisture in their nostrils as they breathed. If Big Jim hadn't taken Becky down to a neighbor's house in his wagon she probably wouldn't have survived.

Not all winters were that bad. Most of the time Hubert rode his mule, Mr. Gibbs, everywhere he went and always hung a grass sack off to one side to collect the squirrels and rabbits he hunted; he loved to hunt squirrels and rabbits. However, the majority of his time was spent with his best friend and running partner, an old grayish black and blue-ticked hound name Smoke. When he finished hunting for the day, he would go home and enjoy fried rabbit, gravy and biscuits or squirrel and dumplings, whichever his grandmother would fix, with a cold glass of fresh cow's milk and churned butter.

Although he stayed to himself most of the time, Hubert also enjoyed spending time with friends. He spent time collecting baseball cards and newspaper clippings of his favorite sport in the world, baseball; he loved the sport! He constantly dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player. With his knack for the sport, he was sure there was no limit to how far he could go with the right coaching! In the bottom pasture, Hubert spent time pitching up stones to see how far he could hit them with a big stick. The bottom pasture became his baseball stadium in the summer. Hubert and his friends would team up and play ball. Summers were too short for the kids. But, no matter how short the season, Hubert never lost his love for the game or his talent. He was good at baseball and he knew it.

At seventeen, Hubert started to walk with a slight shuffle but it didn't keep him from wanting to follow his dream of playing baseball. He was still full of spunk and life. He was going to be ready when the opportunity came knocking in Walnut Creek. His chance at living his dream was closer to coming true when Mr. Fields Pedigo came to town to start a summer baseball league; everyone along with Hubert was so excited. Children from Walnut Creek and beyond came to Hubert's pasture that summer to tryout. The old cow pasture was alive with kids. Mr. Fields and the other coaches had them to lineup to hit so he could see how they swung the bat, how they threw the ball and how well they could catch the ball. Hubert could throw, hit and catch because he was a natural. When he fielded the ball, he was precise. Mr. Pedigo watched him closely. He knew there was something special about the slightly bent young man because he had an eye for raw talent. With a little polishing, Hubert would be a real ballplayer. Mr. Pedigo watched Hubert as he batted at the plate. His eyes were focused and serious and his stance was firm and solid. He noticed that Hubert bent over the plate where he could hit the ball with the bat and drive it hard across the field for a homerun.

"Hey, Hubert!" yelled Mr. Pedigo loud enough for Hubert and just about everyone else to hear.

Quickly, Hubert turned and saw Mr. Pedigo motioning for him to come over to see him.

"You're a pretty snazzy ballplayer," he said as he took off his cap and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.

"Well, I'm not too bad a player," Hubert answered.

"Not too bad," Mr. Pedigo replied. "I think you have potential, son. Have you ever played ball on a summer league team before?"

"No, sir," he told him as he wiped at the sweet running down his face.

Mr. Pedigo reached over, patted him on the back and said, "You keep up the good work and have fun. I've got a feeling there will be some important people watching you this summer."

After the tryouts, the boys were divided in to teams. There was Bon Air, Sideview, Mitchville, Providence, Pondville and Mr. Pedigo's team, Walnut Creek. Bon Air was scheduled to play Pondville on Friday followed by Mitchville and Walnut Creek on Saturday. Slightly Bent was on his way to living his dream. No one remembered the Bon Air and Pondville game but everyone knew that Walnut Creek beat Mitchville because Hubert had three RBI's and hit two homeruns!

"It's going to be a good season," predicted one of the scouts.

"A very interesting season," replied another.

Game after game, the crowd cheered for Slightly Bent. Hit after hit and run after run, he drove the team up the ladder to first place. The game against Providence was a no-hitter. They beat Bon Air 8-3 and Pondville 10-3.

"Where did you ever run across a player like that?" a scout asked Mr. Pedigo.

"Who, Hubert? He's been here all his life," replied Mr. Pedigo. "He's a good, solid boy who loves the game!"

As the summer slowly passed, Slightly Bent became well-known across the country. People drove for miles to watch him play. The people cheered as Hubert drove home his teammates with hit after hit. With Hubert playing some of the best baseball Mr. Pedigo had seen in quite some time, he asked a coach from a nearby college to come take a look at him. Hubert's eyes sparkled like crystals and his laughter was that of a songbird in spring when Mr. Pedigo told him the coach would be coming to see him. Hubert could not be happier.

The summer heat was almost unbearable and there was not enough rain to wet the parched, dry ground. The baseball field in the old cow pasture had basically became dust. However, there was only one game left and that was the championship game between Walnut Creek and Bon Air. It was what Slightly Bent had dreamed about all his young life. He would be playing in the championship game and he was somebody; he wasn't just a poor kid from Broken Fence Road. He had found his place in the world and he wanted to win this one championship about as much as he wanted to play professional baseball.

The big day finally came for the championship game. People came and brought chairs, picnic baskets, hot dogs, hamburgers, ice-cold lemonade and garden-fresh watermelons. The newly-built bleachers along the baselines were filled with fans. At last, they heard the two words they were waiting to hear.

"Play ball!" yelled the announcer.

"Slightly Bent, Slightly Bent, Slightly Bent," they all chanted.

"I'd like to welcome everyone here today to see the championship game between two of the best teams I have seen in many years," the announcer stated. "I will have to say, Slightly Bent, one of the most favored players here, today, will show us how it's done!"

The crowd cheered for five minutes before the announcer and coaches were able to get control of the situation.

"We have been fortunate to see him play in other games this season and he is a remarkable talent. I know the scouts will be watching him closely today," he said as Walnut Creek took the field. "The pitcher for Walnut Creek is a fine talent himself. He pitched nine out of twelve games this summer. This country boy has a fine arm."

"Strike one," growled the umpire.

The game was on and in the bottom of the third, Walnut Creek had two runs and Bon Air had one. Hubert took his stance at the plate with two players on base. The crowd was silent and not one eye blinked. You could hear the ball in the wind and then the crack of the bat. It was a line drive that allowed the two players to make it home.

"What a hit!" the announcer yelled.

Bon Air was no competition for Walnut Creek. Walnut Creek won the game eight to one. Walnut Creek was the County Summer Classic champions. There were trophies and ribbons for all the Walnut Creek players. Hubert was so happy he was light-headed. After celebrating with his team, Hubert climbed up on Mr. Gibbs, his mule, to head home when a couple of scouts asked him to try out for the minor league the next week. They told him he was the best rookie they had seen in years. Hubert assured them he would be at the minor league tryout. Even though they had noticed the little shuffle of his feet, they didn't question him about it because he was such a great player. As they waved goodbye, Hubert hurriedly took off for home. He was hoping to get his chores done before nightfall. He also couldn't wait to tell his grandmother and sister Walnut Creek had won the championship game. As he prodded Mr. Gibbs to go faster, a rattler spooked the mule and he started bucking down the road.

"Whoa, boy, now," Hubert cried.

He fought to hold on while Mr. Gibbs bucked about wildly but he couldn't. Hubert was thrown off and knocked out. When Hubert awoke, the mule was standing beside him. He tried to get up but could not move his legs. He tried and tried before he yelled for help. Mr. Gibbs ran away, leaving him stranded in the woods. The only thing he knew to do was pray.

"Help me, oh, Lord," he cried. "Please help me!"

There was no answer. As a late summer breeze stirred the leaves on the trees, his cries echoed through the woods. Some young boys playing nearby heard him and ran to help.

"Wow! It's Slightly Bent," one said.

A couple of the boys stayed with Hubert as a third ran for help. Within ten minutes or so, two men, who worked at the sawmill, came back with the boy. They could not believe what they saw.

"What happened here, Hubert?" they asked.

"I was bucked off old Mr. Gibbs and I can't move my legs," he told them weakly.

"Don't worry, Hubert, we'll get you to the hospital as fast as we can!" they assured him.

After a week in the hospital and after a number of tests and examinations, the doctors gave him the worst news possible for a young man.

"We're sorry but you are paralyzed from the waist down, Hubert."

As the doctors stood around his bed, his eyes filled with tears and he turned his head to the wall. After the doctors left the room, Hubert realized he would never walk again and that meant he would never play baseball again.

Seeing the doctors leave, Coach Pedigo and a small group of teammates went to Slightly Bent's bedside and asked if everything was alright but he was in no mood for guests.

"Leave me alone," he mumbled.

"Do you want us to pray for you?" Coach asked quietly.

"No! I want you to go away and let me die!" Slightly Bent shouted.

"Come on, boys. He needs to get some rest. We'll come back to see him later," Coach Pedigo instructed. "We're praying for you, Hubert," Coach Pedigo said as they left the room

"I love you Slightly Bent," one of the little boys said from the hallway.

Hubert never answered. Mixed up, hurt and still in shock, he just laid in the bed and cried. All his hopes and dreams were shattered; his spirit was as broken as his body. God, why? he said to himself before he finally fell asleep.

Coaches, team members and fans from miles around waited for word on Slightly Bent's condition. Prayers went out in the hundreds for the ballplayer they loved.

It wasn't long before he was released to go home. Sitting in his wheelchair, his empty heart was as numb as his legs. He felt life had cheated him out of a chance to be somebody and he thought even God had failed him. Being paralyzed, he knew it was going to be a daily struggle to do anything. His bitterness against God kept his spirit dark and he had no interest to carry on with his life in the outside world; he became a recluse. His friends came by to try to cheer him up and encourage him. They constantly told him to keep his hopes and dreams alive. But, it didn't do any good. Becky helped as much as she could to help him adjust to his handicap. However, the more she tried the more he rebelled and shied away from her. To make matters worse, his grandmother died shortly after he was released from the hospital so he had plenty of excuses to give up and have no hope or faith. He felt life was more than unfair to him and it was downright not worth living. Every day, he asked God why.

Months passed and eventually visitors stopped coming to see Hubert. His sister was the only one still there for him. She stayed by his side and never left him. Years passed and there was no improvement in his condition but his spirit began to shine a little. He had days when he held his head up and opened up some to Becky. Once in a while, he even smiled. He blamed God less and began to think more about his future.

With Hubert improving, Becky began to work at a clinic for handicapped children so she could learn as much as she could about her brother's condition. She had only been working a couple of days when she met a little boy who loved baseball with the enthusiasm Hubert did before he had his accident. His name was David and he believed with all his little heart, despite being in a wheelchair, he would walk and play ball one day. When he learned Slightly Bent was her brother, he begged her to take him to meet him.

"Oh, David, I don't know," she hesitated. "He doesn't see too many people these days."

"Please," he begged. "I have heard so much about him. He is my favorite baseball player in the world. I want his autograph."

David's eyes gleamed as he thought about meeting his hero. Becky looked from his baseball cap to the ball and glove in his lap and knew he was sincere. She began to consider his request but she knew she had to check with Hubert first.

"Okay, David, I'll call and ask him if you can visit. If it's okay with Hubert and your doctor, I'll take you to see him."

Hubert and David's doctor both said it was okay for him to visit. That afternoon, Becky took David home with her. She couldn't help but notice what a small, frail little boy he was. I hope this isn't a mistake for both of them, she thought as she helped David inside the house to see Hubert.

"You have a nice house, Becky. Wow, look at those trophies! That's neat," he said. "When I grow up I want to have a lot of trophies like that. I want to be like Slightly Bent."

Becky knocked on her brother's door and prayed he was in a good mood. She told him someone had come to see him but he didn't want to see anyone. Becky insisted it would do him good and plus he had said it was okay for David to visit.

David opened the door to Hubert's room and asked in an awed whisper, "Can I come in?"

Hubert's wheelchair popped and squeaked as he turned his back on the child.

"Oh, God, why me?" he muttered.

"I used to ask that all the time," replied David in a wee voice. "I never got the chance to play like you did, Slightly Bent. I was born crippled so I never walked or ran. I may have this old chair and two bad legs but I still have a love for life and baseball. I struck out the day I was born but I didn't give up or give in. I gave it all to God."

"What do you want from me?" Hubert asked.

"I just wanted to meet you and get you to autograph my baseball. That's all."

"You have heard of me?" he asked as he slowly turned the wheelchair to face the boy. "But you are so young, just a child."

"All the children have heard of you, Slightly Bent. You are our hero," he said.

"But...but I'm a cripple. I don't understand," Hubert stammered.

"You may be cripple but you are still Slightly Bent, a great baseball player that I will always look up to. We are both crippled but we still love baseball, life and God, right?"

The chill that filled Hubert's room and his heart suddenly thawed. The warmth began to awaken him with a newness of the spirit he was once familiar with. He looked around for the boy, David, but he was not there. That's when he realized he was clutching a baseball in his hand. It was inscribe with the words To Slightly Bent, from David. Suddenly, tears filled his eyes.

"I am sorry, Lord!"

"Hubert, I'm home," Becky said as she entered the house.

"Where is he?" Hubert asked when she went in his room to check on him.

"Where is who, Hubert?" she asked.

"David, the boy in the wheelchair you brought home from work."

"What in the world are you talking about? No one came home from work with me."

"But...but I saw and talked to him. He was here in my room," he explained.

"You've been sleeping too much, Hubert."

From that day forward, Hubert let the darkness slip away from his heart and thoughts. He let go of the anger he had with God and man. He also felt bad for taking Becky for granted and realized how good of a sister she had been to him. His eyes were no longer filled with a haunted and depressed look. Instead, they were bright with light and merriment. He was quickly turning back to his old self and was finally ready to get back into society. He never dreamed there were so many opportunities available for a handicapped person if they allowed the doors to be opened to them. Becky got him a job at the clinic as a P.E. coach. He taught the basic fundamentals of sports and sportsmanship. It may not have been the major league but it sure did hit the spot for Hubert. He was happy again. He also coached the little league team sponsored by the clinic. He coached them to many victories and taught them how to overcome defeat.

One day at practice a little boy walked over to him on the field and said, "I want to be just like you, Slightly Bent, a great baseball player. Will you sign my ball?"

Hubert took the ball from his tiny hand to sign it.

"By the way, what is your name?" he asked while he was signing the ball.

"David," smiled the little boy. "Thanks, Slightly Bent," he said as he hugged him and then ran off to play ball.

I wonder, thought Hubert. Naw, it can't be. Can it? The well-known player from Walnut Creek died of heart failure a few years after that. He went peacefully and left behind a host of fans and friends. He left his trophies to a little boy named David. His last words were play ball.

*****

In the Light of Day

Sugar Creek

Hickory Point in 1970 was a small town about thirty-five miles west of Fayetteville, Tennessee. It wasn't far from the Tennessee and Alabama border in Bradley County. Jack Richardson, his wife, Irene, and their daughter, Beverly, had lived there for about six years. Jack was the district attorney there. The Richardson's moved there from Cigger Hill, Alabama in 1965 when the D.A.'s job opened up in Hickory Point. Jack had been the D.A. in Cigger Hill for fifteen years when he was offered more money to relocate to Hickory Point. His wife, Irene, was a homemaker. While Jack took care of things at the courthouse, Irene took care of things at home. Beverly, their daughter, settled in at school and was a very popular senior; she had made many new friends since she had been there. Connie was one of her best friends. They spent a lot of fun times together, double-dating, partying and hanging out. Connie was from a smaller town about twenty-two miles from Cigger Hill. They were both from Alabama, around the same area, but hadn't met each other until they met at school in Hickory Point. Connie's mother died when she was fifteen. Connie and her brother was being raised by their grandmother. She never talked much about her dad or her brother. Beverly and Connie was so wrapped up in having fun, all of that didn't seem so important.

Phillip Brawner stood outside the prison gates of the Alabama Correctional Facility just outside of Birmingham. He had just been released after serving twelve years of a twenty year sentence for murder. Phillip was found innocent after doing twelve years for a crime he didn't commit. After all those years, a break came open in his case and the real killer was found. Phillip was wrongfully accused of murder. He was an innocent victim of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Thanks to a lot of hard work form his lawyer and a private ye hired by his lawyer, the real killer was found. Phillip stood at the front gates of the prison waiting for his ride. When the car pulled up, he got in and they drove off. It had been a long time since Phillip had breathed in some fresh, clean air and it felt so good to be free again. The past twelve years in prison had been hard on him. He was a bitter and angry man inside. Twelve years of his life had been taken from him and he could never get those years back. He was an innocent man, a victim of a flawed society. The law left a bitter, twisted hate in his heart that nearly drove him over the edge. Day after day, night after night, Phillip laid in wait for the truth to come out so he could finally be set free. As the two men drove on, they came upon a beer joint not too far from the prison where they stopped and enjoyed a few cold beers; the two drank and talked. Phillip had nearly forgotten how good a beer was. It was such a joy to his taste buds, he ordered two more. He leaned back and enjoyed a cigarette and took another sip of the cold beer.

"It is so good to be out," he said. "It's been a long twelve years."

"I'm glad you're out," replied Billy Joe, the other man. "I've missed you."

"You know," he said. "I had a lot of time to think about the things I wanted to do when I got out. The main thing I want to do is make things right."

"Me, too," replied Billy Joe.

Phillip turned up the bottle of beer, took a long drink, sat the empty beer bottle down hard onto the table, crushed out his cigarette, blew out the remaining smoke and said, "Billy Joe, you stuck with me all those years. You never gave up on me. You came and visited when no one else would. You being there for me really helped me during my most troubled times."

Billy Joe just looked at him and took a drink of his beer.

"Do you want to play some pool?" Billy asked.

"Sure," agreed Phillip. "It's been a while but rack them up."

Over the next few hours, the two men shot pool, drank, smoked and talked about making things right. Phillip called for the eight ball in the side pocket. He moved the pool stick gracefully between his fingers and struck the eight ball into the side pocket. About that time, two women approached them at the pool table.

"Good shot," said one of the women to Phillip.

"Not bad at all," replied the other woman.

As Phillip and Billy Joe placed their pool sticks back into the rack, the two women went with Phillip and Billy Joe over to their table. Phillip called for a round of drinks for everyone as he lit the two women's cigarettes. The foursome drank, talked and had a good time. After they left the beer joint, they went to the Dreamaway Motel not far down the road.

It was a few days before spring break when Beverly and Connie were talking about going to the upcoming concert in Hickory Flatts. Beverly and Connie had planned a weekend getaway to attend the concert along with their friends. While the girls were laughing and talking about the concert, Connie noticed a young man nearby who appeared to be listening to their conversation. After a few minutes, the young man got up and walked away. Connie didn't think any more about it. The girls talked on; they were looking forward to the trip and the concert. Beverly and Connie left for the concert a few days later. The girls left Thursday evening and they were so anxious to get there they couldn't wait. Hickory Flatts was about forty-eight miles across the Tennessee Alabama border in Jenkins County. Connie had been driving for about 30 minutes before it began to get dark and a thunderstorm rolled in. The rain was coming down hard, making it almost impossible to see the road. The sky was lit up by the lightning as the thunder roared. Finally, Connie had no other choice but to pull over to the side of the road for a minute and hope the storm would let up so she could see to drive. It took about fifteen minutes for the storm to let up a bit and then Connie pulled back onto the road. About six miles down the road, the girls came upon a detour. The bridge was out due to work so Connie took the detour onto Harris Lane and drove on. It had almost stopped raining but the wind was so boisterous it made a crying sound. The girls would have been there but the detour had put them behind. About three miles down the road, they came upon another sign that read Sugar Creek, 2 miles. As they drove on, the girls listened to their favorite radio station, WLS in Chicago and sang along with the songs on the radio. About two miles later, they arrived in Sugar Creek.

The town, back in the 1930's was a striving community. However, through the years it had nearly died out. It was mostly an abandoned town with a gas station, a market and a few houses scattered about. The town was noted for its fields of sugar cane that grew along the creek's bank. That's how the town got its name.

They needed to fill up with gas and use the restroom. When they pulled up at the gas station and market, they saw a young man running toward the market trying to get in out of the rain. He looked like a hitchhiker. The young man spoke to them when they went in to pay for their gas and use the restroom.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," they both replied in unison.

A few minutes later the girls came back out and was headed to the car when the young man asked, "Are you going to the concert in Hickory Flatts?"

"Yes," replied Connie.

"Could I catch a ride with you?" he asked.

Connie looked over to Beverly and then said, "Sure."

"Thank you," replied the young man. "It's so late and I'm not sure the storm is completely over. I don't think I'll be able to make it on foot."

"Come on, get in," Beverly said.

They all got into the car and pulled back onto the road.

"What's your name?" Connie asked.

He replied, "Billy Joe."

"Are you from around here?" Beverly questioned.

"No, I'm not. It sure is a bad night to be out."

"It sure is," Connie agreed. "It shouldn't take us much longer to get there."

Beverly began to sing and move her head from side to side when her favorite song came on the radio.

"I love that station," said Billy Joe. "They play all the good music."

"I agree," replied Connie as she looked at him through the rearview mirror.

Not far down the road, the car started to act up. Connie pulled over to the side of the road. Little did the girls know, while they were getting gas and using the restroom, Billy Joe had tampered with the car. Neither of the girls knew anything about cars. Luckily for them, or so they thought, Billy Joe was with them. He knew a few things about cars. Billy Joe and the girls got out of the car. He raised the hood of the car to see if he could find the problem. The rain had started to fall hard again so the girls got back inside the car while Billy Joe checked the engine. As he fooled around with the car, the lightning lit up across the dark sky and the thunder roared.

"Try it!" he yelled.

Connie turned the key but it wouldn't crank.

"Hold on!" yelled Billy Joe. In a few minutes, he yelled out again, "Try it!"

Once again, she tried it but it wouldn't crank. After several attempts, they finally gave up. Connie suggested they could walk back up the road to get help.

"I remember seeing a farmhouse not too far back," she said. "Maybe we can get some help or at least get in out of the storm."

Beverly replied, "Maybe they'll have a phone I can use to call my dad."

They all agreed and started walking back toward the farmhouse. When, suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck a nearby tree, nearly scaring them to death. They took off running toward the farmhouse and didn't stop until they reached the porch. It was a creepy old weather-boarded house tarnished with gray. Drenched from the rain, they knocked upon the door. A light came on and the door opened slightly.

"May I help you?" a man asked from behind the door.

"We had car trouble down the road."

The man was hesitant but he opened the door and let them in.

"It sure is a nasty night to be out," he said.

"Do you have a phone I can use to call my dad?" Beverly asked as she looked about.

The man replied, "The phone is dead. It was knocked out by the storm. There is nothing you can really do until the storm lets up. Besides, it's late. The storm is supposed to be over by early morning and then I will go out and see if I can get your car running," he stated. "You're welcome to stay here until morning."

"We really appreciate this," replied Beverly.

"Yeah," said Connie.

Night soon passed as the morning arose with the sun resting on the horizon; the storm had moved out. The two girls waited at the farmhouse while Billy Joe and the man left to check on the car. Beverly checked the phone but the line was still dead.

"I wonder what's taking them so long?" asked Beverly. "They've been gone for a couple of hours now."

Connie replied, "It's an old car. It could be anything."

"I wish we would have taken my car," Beverly said with frustration.

"Yeah, me, too," Connie replied.

Shortly afterwards, the two men returned. They had gotten the car started but they took and hid it in an old abandoned barn not far from the farmhouse.

"I'm afraid we didn't have any luck," said the man as he and Billy Joe came back in the house. Hold on just a minute," said the man. "Let me introduce myself. I am Phillip Brawner and this is my son, Billy Joe and my daughter, Connie."

Puzzled, Beverly looked at him, then Billy Joe and finally Connie.

"What's going on, Connie?" cried out Beverly.

Billy Joe grabbed Beverly's arms and twisted them behind her back.

"Your dad put my dad in prison for something he didn't do," he explained as he tied her hands behind her back. "It's time for revenge."

Beverly screamed and tried to break away but she couldn't. Billy Joe threw her down onto the couch. She started kicking wildly at him so he had to tie her feet together. Connie walked over to the phone, pulled out the table and connected the phone cord as Beverly squirmed on the couch and screamed.

"You can scream all you want," said Phillip. "We are so far away from everyone, no one will hear you. You should be worth a lot of money to your daddy. A hundred thousand dollars should make up for those twelve years in prison he cost me."

Phillip went over to the telephone to make a call; Beverly watched him with tears in her eyes.

"Hello," answered Beverly's dad.

"Can I speak to Jack Richardson?"

"This is he," he replied.

"Mr. Richardson, I have your daughter, Beverly. You will never see her again unless you pay me one hundred thousand dollars."

"Daddy!" Beverly screamed.

"Don't you hurt her," Jack pleaded. "I'll get you your money. Who is...?"

Phillip slammed the phone down before he could finish his sentence. A few hours later, Phillip called Jack back and told him if he called the police he would never see Beverly alive again.

"Okay, just don't hurt my daughter. When and where do you want the money?"

Phillip hung up and all Jack heard was a dial tone.

A few days later when Connie was fixing Beverly a bite to eat, Beverly cried out, "Connie, why are you doing this?"

Connie replied, "My mother grieved herself to death after your daddy put my daddy in prison. Day after day, I watched her go down as my daddy suffered in prison. I made a promise to her on her death bed that I would get even for her."

"But...but, Connie," she said. "I didn't have anything to do with that."

"Shut up, bitch," replied Connie. "Little miss goody two shoes, your daddy destroyed my home and family," she said as she slapped her across the face.

Phillip walked over to the phone, called Jack again and told him where to drop off the money. However, he didn't tell him when. Jack asked if he could talk to his daughter but Phillip hung up on him.

Unbeknown to them, Jack had already involved the police and FBI. They tried to trace the last phone call but Jack couldn't keep Phillip on the line long enough. While Jack and Irene waited for another call from the kidnappers to tell him when to deliver the money, the police and FBI searched for Beverly. The FBI researched Jack's last five years while he was in office in Hickory Point to see if they could get any leads but came up short. So, they checked old files and cases when he was in Cigger Hill but it took a while because there were so many. The FBI eventually found out Phillip Brawner, who Jack prosecuted twelve years ago, had been released from prison. When they told Phillip, he couldn't recall him or his case. Court records stated that Phillip Brawner had threatened Jack on the day of his sentencing hearing. He told Jack he would pay for what he had done. Immediately, the FBI contacted the Alabama police and began a statewide search for Beverly.

In the meantime, Beverly had managed to free her hands. She continued to lay on the couch with her hands behind her back and waited for the right time to get away. As Phillip and Billy Joe sat in the kitchen talking, Connie was asleep in the chair. When no one was looking, Beverly slowly eased up off the couch, tip-toed over to the door and eased out. Crying, she took off running through the woods and fields. She was scared to death of what would happen to her if they caught her. A few minutes later, Connie woke up and realized Beverly had escaped. Quickly, she jumped to her feet and hollered for Phillip and Billy Joe. As soon as they ran into the room, they saw that Beverly was gone. All three of them ran out the door looking for her. Phillip told Billy Joe to go up by the creek and for Connie to look through the woods while he checked the fields. The three of them combed the area around the farmhouse but there was no sign of her anywhere. At the same time, the FBI and the Alabama police were on the lookout for Phillip Brawner; they had put out a statewide alert for him. Phillip and Billy Joe jumped in his truck and took off for the main road. Connie stayed behind just in case she returned to the farmhouse. Phillip and Billy Joe drove along the road searching for her but couldn't find her. Until, suddenly, they spotted her running up the road in front of them. She saw the headlights, turned and saw it was them. They got out and ran after her but Beverly quickly disappeared amongst the sugarcane beside the road. Phillip and Billy Joe lost sight of her in the field. Frustrated, the two split up and continued look for her. Luckily, Beverly was able to get back to their truck. Unfortunately, though, the key was gone. She jumped out and took off across to the other side of the road toward the creek. Desperately, she ran for her life. She ran along the creek and headed back to the farmhouse where she thought she would be safe until she could get some help. Phillip and Billy Joe returned to the truck, got in and headed up the road to the gas station and market. But, they didn't find her there either. Not far from the farmhouse, Beverly found the old abandoned barn where they hid Connie's car. The key wasn't in the ignition but, luckily, Beverly remembered where Connie kept a spare key. When she looked above the sun visor, the key was there. A little while later, Phillip and Billy Joe returned to the farmhouse empty handed.

"Did you find her?" asked Connie

"Does it look like we did?" Billy Joe replied.

"We have let our hostage and money get away," stated Phillip.

"What now?" Billy Joe asked.

"Get in the truck. We're getting out of here," Phillip instructed.

Hurriedly, Phillip, Billy Joe and Connie took off in the truck.

Now far down the road, Connie yelled out, "Dad, that's my car!"

Phillip stepped on the gas and tried to catch up with her. Beverly looked through her rearview mirror and saw the truck coming; it was moving in on her fast. She gripped the steering wheel and mashed the gas pedal to the floor. Suddenly, the truck rammed in to the back of the car and almost knocked her off the road. She sped up as the car weaved from side to side. Once again, the truck rammed the rear end of the car and Beverly almost lost control of the car but she was able to keep it on the road. Then, out of nowhere, she heard a helicopter. She looked out and saw it hovering above her. The truck rammed the back of the car again and knocked her off the side of the road. But, when Phillip saw the helicopter getting lower, he quickly turned the truck around and headed back the other way. When the helicopter landed in the road, a couple of officers jumped out and ran over to the car where Beverly was. Quickly, they got her out as black smoke started coming out from the rear of the car. The car exploded right after they put Beverly in the helicopter. The helicopter pilot notified the authorities that Beverly had been rescued and he was headed back with her. He also gave them a description of the truck the suspects were driving. The helicopter took Beverly to the hospital in Hickory Point where her dad and mama eagerly waited for her arrival. In the meantime, Phillip, Billy Joe and Connie had disappeared. The FBI and Alabama State Police put out an APB on them with a description of the truck but they were nowhere to be found. Fortunately, the main thing was that Beverly had been found and she was okay.

A few days later, the police found the truck in an empty warehouse in Birmingham not far from the bus station. The police didn't know if they had taken a bus somewhere of if they were trying to make it appear like they had. After checking the bus station logs, they came up with nothing. No one remembered or recognized the three suspects. Somehow, they had vanished. The search went on for months and months but the trail went cold.

It wasn't until two years later that Connie was spotted in Fort Lauderdale. Two officers in a patrol car spotted her coming out of a market and followed her. She led them to a motel outside of town; Phillip and Billy Joe was with her. Within an hour, the FBI and Florida State Police surrounded the motel. As they were easing up to their motel room door, Phillip saw them and realized they had been caught. When the FBI told them to come out with their hands up, Phillip started shooting at them. Quickly, one of the officers kicked the door in. Phillip turned to shoot him but the officer managed to shoot him first, killing him. Billy Joe and Connie immediately dropped their guns and held their hands up. The agents handcuffed them, put them in the police car and took them to jail. Several days later, they were expedited back to Alabama to stand trial. Three days later, Billy Joe was found hanging in his cell; he had committed suicide. He left a note for Connie telling her he could not go through what their daddy had gone through when he was in prison and that he was sorry he let her down. Connie later stood trial, was convicted and sentenced to life without parole.

*****

In the Light of Day

Hit and Run

It was a lazy, quiet summer day in 1956 in Hollow Rock, Mississippi in Jefferson County. Twelve-year-old Jerome Noles was fishing at his favorite fishing hole on Frog Pond Creek. Frog Pond Creek was about forty-five miles south of Tunica, Mississippi. It got its name because the creek that ran through Hollow Rock, at the fishing hole, would back up and cause the water to create a pool of water like a pond. When the pond was full, the creek would overflow and the water would flow on down the creek. It was not only a good fishing hole; it was one of the best places along the creek to frog gig. If there was anything Jerome liked better than fresh fish it was frog legs. He and his dad, Paul Moore, would go down there in the late evening and gig for frogs. Paul Moore loved them as much or more than Jerome did. Mary Alice, his mother, could batter them babies up and fry them better than anyone. Oh, boy, they would melt in your mouth. Now, up the creek from the fishing hole was an old iron bridge where Paul Moore and Jerome would snatch hog suckers and take them home to eat. Paul Moore loved them to but Jerome didn't care much for them because they had too many bones. Every once in a while, if they were lucky, they would catch a turtle. They both liked turtle. Paul Moore would always say there were seven different kinds of meat in them.

Hollow rock was a laid back country town nestled in the Mississippi Delta. Nothing much ever happened there. Everybody knew each other and everybody also knew what was going on.

Dewayne Trisdale lived in Hollow Rock. He was a highfalutin farmer and business man that owned Jefferson County, so to speak. He lived on a large farm called Oak Hill Estates which pretty much took up most of the county. He raised fields of cotton, corn and tobacco. His daddy and his daddy's daddy passed the inheritance on down through the years dating back to the Civil War. A lot of his land he share cropped out to other families. They worked the fields and brought in the harvest; he furnished them with a place to live and paid them for their work. Dewayne Trisdale was known as the kingpin of Jefferson County. He made the rules and set the law, nobody went against him. Dewayne was in to bootlegging whiskey, prostitution, murder, bribery and blackmail. He was the king and lord. Judge Winford Trisdale was his brother. Douglas Rippy, the district attorney, was his first cousin and Sheriff Travis Hauskin was married to Dewayne's sister. They all ran the county their way. It was their way or no way. Dewayne also had a lot of friends on the state level who could pull a lot of strings for him if he needed something done. He also was a high ranking official in the KKK.

A few years ago, Hollis Jones, his wife, Evelyn, and their son were sharecropping on Dewayne's land. Hollis made a mistake and bucked up against him. Not long after that, Hollis and Evelyn were coming home from town one stormy night when they ran off an embankment. The car overturned and killed them. Everyone around Hollow Rock believed Dewayne had someone run them off the road. However, there was never any proof he did. There were a lot of unexplained accidents, beatings and killings that happened around Hollow Rock. A lot of the time when someone bucked against him, they would receive a late night visit form the KKK who would burn crosses in their yards and sometimes beat them. After Hollis and Evelyn was killed, their son was put in an orphanage in Mississippi. The orphanage was called Potters Home for Children. The son lived there until he was adopted by Russell and Kathleen Nichols from Only, Alabama, a town about twenty-three miles south of Tuscaloosa and about thirty-eight miles from Huntsville.

Well, it so happened, while Jerome was fishing, an old homeless man came up to him with a cane pole in one hand and a can of worms in the other.

"Are you getting any bites?" the old man asked.

"A few," replied Jerome as he lifted up his stringer of fish to show him.

"Yes, sir," the old man said as he sat down beside Jerome. "You've got some nice looking fish there. What's your name?" the old man asked as he slipped the worm onto his hook.

"Jerome," he replied. "What's your name?"

"Oh, I am Raymond Shaw but all my friends call me Shadetree."

"Are you from around here?" asked Jerome.

"Well, I don't think I could exactly say that but in a way I am," replied Shadetree. "To be more accurate, I guess I am more from the north of here. Are you from here, Jerome?"

"Yep, I was born and raised here," he said. "Do you know my daddy, Paul Moore Noles?"

"No, I don't think so. I don't believe I ever had the pleasure of meeting him," replied Shadetree as he spit on his bait and tossed his line out into the water. "I've been living up under the old iron bridge," he said, "for the past month or two."

"You have," replied Jerome. "Don't you have a home?"

"I used to," he replied, "years ago. I was married and had a son about your age. But, they left me and I've been moving from place to place ever since. Hey, look, you've got another bite."

Quickly, Jerome jerked his pole out of the water and there hanging on the end was a big, nice sunperch.

"Just right for eating," chuckled Shadetree.

Jerome took the fish off his hook and put it onto his stringer with the others.

"Look!" shouted Jerome. "You've got a bite."

Shadetree quickly turned, jerked his pole out of the water and slung the line up onto the bank.

"Darn," he said. "I missed it."

He laughed a bit, baited his hook once again, spit on it and eased it back down into the water.

"I'll get him the next time," he boasted.

Then Jerome spit on his bait and tossed it back out into the water.

"Your dad and mom must be very proud of you," he said. "You are a good fisherman."

As the twosome sat there on the bank of the pond, they talked about this and that. They would talk awhile and then laugh. Soon, with what each of them caught, Jerome had a stringer full of fish to take home.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Jerome, you have got a nice dinner there," boasted Shadetree. "Some of the best fish I believe I have ever seen."

"Thank you, Shadetree," he replied. "How about coming home with me for supper? Daddy and mama would be glad to have you."

"Well, I don't know," he replied. "I guess I'll stay around here and turn in early. It's already beginning to get dark."

"Yeah, I know," said Jerome. "I've got to get home and get these fish cleaned so mama can fry them. I hope daddy will help me because I really don't like to clean fish."

"He probably will," replied Shadetree. "I'll see you later on. Goodbye, Mr. Jerome."

"Goodbye, Shadetree," Jerome said. "I'll see you later."

Jerome gathered up his fishing pole and stringer of fish and headed for home. Shadetree picked up his pole and headed back through the woods toward the old iron bridge. A little ways from the fishing hole, he couldn't help but think about that fresh fried fish Jerome had told him about. He turned around and tried to catch up with Jerome so he could eat supper with him. As he made his way back through the woods, by the fishing hole, he looked to see if he could spot Jerome; he saw him walking down the road. He was about to holler his name when, all of a sudden, a car appeared out of nowhere. It was weaving back and forth across the road. Within seconds, without warning, the car lost control and hit Jerome but the car didn't stop; it kept on going.

"Oh, my God!" yelled out Shadetree. "Oh, my, Lord," he cried as the car went on down the road and disappeared.

Quickly, he ran over to Jerome's broken and bleeding body. Jerome was dead. Shadetree heard another car coming. He knew he had to get Jerome's body out of the middle of the road before it got hit by the oncoming car. Hurriedly, he dragged Jerome's body to the side of the road. He saw the car as it approached. It was weaving from side to side like the other car. Before he knew it, the car was upon them. The driver saw them and steered his car away from them. When he did, he lost control and went over the embankment and crashed in to a tree. Shadetree took off back toward the woods and hid behind a tree. He saw the driver climb up the embankment and fall to the ground. Then, he saw a police car pull up. He wondered how they got there so fast. The policeman got out of the car and saw the man lying in the road and Jerome to the side of the road. Immediately, the officer ran back to his car and called for an ambulance. When the ambulance arrived on the scene, Jerome was dead but the man, Rex Johnson, was still alive. The officer had spotted Rex about a mile up the road, driving erratically. He tried to pull him over for drunk driving but Rex sped up and tried to get away. When the officer caught up to Rex, he was passed out on the ground and Jerome was dead. The officer arrested Rex and charged him with aggravated vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment, DUI, reckless driving and speeding.

The news spread quickly around town. Sheriff Hauskin went to Jerome's parents and told them what happened. They both broke down with grief. Oh, my, god, why was all they could say. Hurt, angry, at a loss for words and confused, they cried out in pain. The sheriff gave them his condolences as neighbors and friends tried to comfort Paul Moore and Mary Alice. The Noles had lost their only son. All they had left was Jerome's four-year-old sister.

"Things will never be the same," Paul Moore said to Mary Alice. "Our life as we know it has changed forever with the loss of our child."

Paul Moore gritted his teeth as he tried to accept it but Mary Alice could never let it go. A few days later, they laid Jerome to rest. But, no matter what, Jerome would always have a place in their hearts until the day they died. It was a tremendous loss for the Noles, their friends and neighbors. It was a senseless waste and loss of a promising life. Why, my, Lord was the unanswered question that laid on their hearts for the days to come. Even Dewayne Trisdale stopped by and gave his condolences. He told Paul Moore and Mary Alice if there was anything he could do to just let him know. He swore to them that Rex Johnson would pay for what he had done.

Everyone all over town hated what happened to Jerome and his family but they couldn't believe Rex was responsible for such a thing. Everyone liked Rex. He was a drunk and had a drinking problem but he never caused any trouble except for a few fights. Everyone thought it was a just freak accident. However, they agreed he shouldn't have been drinking and driving. He had been caught several times for it and spent many hours in jail for it. But, they did agree he had gone too far this time. Rex was a good man when he was not drinking or drunk. He would help others and give them the shirt off his back if he had to. This time, however, he couldn't mend or right his wrong regarding the loss of Jerome.

After Rex sobered up, day and night he sat in his jail cell, cried and prayed about what he had done. On the day of his arraignment, he cried and prayed. He asked Paul Moore and Mary Alice to forgive him. He couldn't believe what he had done nor could he ever forgive himself. Considering his past record and what he was charged with, he faced fifteen to twenty years in prison. Paul Moore and Mary Alice saw how sick and tormented he was for what he had done. They forgave him because they saw how hard a time he was having and they knew it was going to be hard for him to live with it.

In the meantime, Dewayne Trisdale was stirring up trouble and doing whatever he could to make things hard on Rex. The D.A. was putting together a hard case against him. Unknowingly to the other, Dewayne had gone as far as to hire a young lawyer right out of law school to defend Rex's hopeless case. The young lawyer hadn't been in town but a couple of months; he had just opened his office there. The young lawyer, Jeremy Nichols, still wet behind the ears, took the case. Dewayne believed the young, green lawyer would blow the case and Rex would be found guilty and have to spend the rest of his life in jail for what he had done. Dewayne felt it would be a life for a life even though he felt an old drunk's life was nothing compared to a young boy who had his whole life ahead of him.

Jeremy was excited about his first big case and he was going to do everything he could to defend Rex. When he went to the jail to talk to Rex, Rex couldn't remember a thing. There were a lot of blank spaces about what had happened.

"Can you remember anything at all?" asked Jeremy.

"I remember leaving the bar and I tried to go to sleep in the car," replied Rex.

"Did you go to sleep?"

"I don't know. The next thing I remember is being all over the road and I couldn't tell where I was. I guess I was just trying to get home."

"Do you remember being chased by the police?"

"I thought I heard a siren but I couldn't tell where it was coming from."

"Do you remember hitting anything before you wrecked?"

"No, not even the wreck. All I remember is laying on the ground and waking up in jail."

"Do you remember seeing the boy?" asked Jeremy.

"No...I don't," he said. "Things were happening so fast I just don't remember it all."

After his first talk with Rex, Jeremy went back to look at the evidence and look over the police report. The police report stated it appeared Jerome was crossing to the right side of the road when he was hit. It also appeared Jerome had been hit in the middle of the road and knocked over to the right side of the road because blood was in the middle of the road and also on the right side of the road. There was glass from a broken headlight found at the scene of the accident. It was believed to be from the right headlight of the car. When Jerome looked at Rex's car, his right headlight was not broken but his left one was from where he hit the tree. This created suspicion in Jeremy's mind that possibly another car was involved. The tread marks of Rex's car they found in a pool of blood didn't appear to match Rex's car but there were some similarities. From the photo of the scene, it appeared the body was knocked over to the side of the road or dragged by the car. The main piece of evidence was the broken headlight. He needed to find the owner of the car with a broken right headlight. There were several things in the report that bothered him and he had to try his best to find out the truth for Rex.

In the meantime, Paul Moore and Mary Alice tried to go on with their life. It was hard for them to accept but they didn't have much of a choice. The days were long and depressing for them.

As Jeremy tried to build a defense for his client, the D.A. appeared to have a solid case against him. It appeared to be an open and shut case to him. They even offered him a plea bargain for a lesser charge if he would admit guilt. But, Rex wouldn't take it. It was a couple of weeks later when Jeremy was talking to Rex about what happened the evening of the accident when Rex began to remember some more bits and pieces from that day. He thought he remembered seeing an old black man knelt down by the side of the road. He didn't know him or where he came from. When he saw him, he remembered steering his car to the left to keep from hitting him.

"You didn't recognize the man?" asked Jeremy. "Was he from around here/"

"I don't know," replied Rex. "I just don't know. I don't think I've ever seen him around here. I don't know. I was so drunk; I may have dreamed him up in my head."

Jeremy knew if Rex remembered correctly and there was a witness to the crime, it could turn the whole case around. But, who was the man and where was he. Going on a wild hunch, Jeremy got a police artist to come in to do a police sketch of the man Rex thought he had seen. It was a longshot but Jeremy was willing to take it since he didn't have much else to go on. Who was this mystery man or did he really exist? The partial remembrance of the man and the police sketch of him was all they had to go on. Nevertheless, it was enough to get Rex out on bond. The search for the mystery man was sent out across the state as a person of interest in the case.

As the search continued for the mystery man, Rex got out of jail and started back drinking. Jeremy warned him about it and told him it would only complicate things. So, Rex tried his best to stay sober. Jeremy called one of his dad's friends who worked crime scenes in Jackson to look at the evidence and the police report. The tread marks his friend tested didn't match Rex's car tires. And, according to his expertise, the police photos indicated the body had been dragged to the side of the road. He wasn't too sure if the car dragged the body or not but he knew it wasn't hit and knocked to the side of the road. Jerome was definitely hit in the middle of the road. After looking at Rex's car, the unbroken right headlight was strong evidence that Rex did not hit the boy. There was a small dent in the right fender but the rust marks in the dent was already there before the wreck happened. It was the driver's side of Rex's car that hit the tree. The broken left headlight of Rex's car also didn't match up with the broken glass found in the middle of the road. The friend of Jeremy's dad determined another car had been involved. None of the boy's blood was found on Rex's car. With the evidence report from his dad's friend, Jeremy was able to start building a strong case in Rex's favor. But, who was the mystery man and where and who was driving the other car was the million dollar question. As the young lawyer worked to unravel the case, he created a suspicion of doubt. There was more to the case than he first suspected which renewed hope for some but made others nervous. As the days went by, the D.A. argued the point of the mystery man and another car being involved. He didn't think there was any solid evidence to support the fact. He insisted the young lawyer was stalling and he didn't know what he was talking about. The D.A. pushed to get Rex in court as soon as he could since there was already doubt in some people's minds about the case. He was in a rush to get Rex convicted before some believed Jeremy was on to something.

As the young lawyer dug deeper in to the case, he began to unravel it. However, there was a downside to that. He started receiving threatening phone calls to either back off or else. One night, after he left Rex's house, he was run off the road into a ditch and had to walk back toward town until someone picked him up. The next day when he went to get his car, it had been set on fire; it was completely destroyed. He reported it to the sheriff to try to find out who did it but all the sheriff told him was he would check in to it which he never did. He had a pretty good idea who was behind it. However, he couldn't prove it. A few days after his car was burned, he got word Rex had been found dead. It appeared he hung himself in a tobacco barn. The sheriff's report stated it was a suicide. But, Jeremy suspected different. The talk around town was Rex couldn't live with himself for what he had done.

No sooner than Rex was in the ground, Judge Trisdale decided to close the case. Jeremy was not going to let it go that easy. He believed Rex had been murdered and he was going to get to the bottom of it to clear Rex's name. One night, about a week later, Jeremy received a call from a mysterious man. He told Jeremy to meet him the next morning at the old iron bridge. So, bright and early the next morning, Jeremy arrived at the old iron bridge. When he got there, no one was there. He waited to see if the man would show up. About fifteen minutes later, Jeremy was about to leave when he saw a man standing on the other side of the creek. Jeremy walked over to him but they were separated by the creek. The man stood on one side of the creek and Jeremy the other while the two of them talked. The man, Shadetree, told him what happened the day Jerome was killed. He told him he left that day and went to Alabama. When he saw the police sketch and heard what happened, he decided to come back and explain the truth.

"Rex didn't kill Jerome," he stated. "It was Dewayne Trisdale driving the car that hit and killed him," he said. "Dewayne hit Jerome and didn't even stop or slow down. He was swerving all over the road like a drunk driver. He was flying recklessly down the road. Jerome didn't have a chance; it all happened so fast. After Dewayne left, I ran up the road and pulled Jerome over to the side of the road. Then, another car came down the road. It was Rex and he was all over the road. When he saw us, swerved to miss us, went down the embankment and hit a tree. I took off and hid in the woods because I didn't want anyone to see me. Last thing I saw was Rex walking up the embankment and then falling to the ground. That's when I heard sirens and saw the police pull up. I took off and didn't look back. I hated to hear about Rex," he said. "But, I don't believe he killed himself. He was killed to take the fall for Dewayne Trisdale."

"Are you willing to testify?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes, I will," Shadetree answered.

"There is a lot of corruption going on in this town and I'm determined to put a stop to it."

"Is there any way you can keep me safe until after the trial?"

"My father is the U.S. District Attorney in Only, Alabama. He'll put you in protective custody until it's time for you to testify. After the trial, you'll enter the witness protection program," Jeremy explained. "Are you willing to do that?"

"Sure," Shadetree agreed.

Jeremy took Shadetree to Only, Alabama for his dad, Russell Nichols, to put him in protective custody. Only, Alabama was about eighteen miles south of Tuscaloosa and twenty-three miles from Huntsville. When they arrived, Jeremy explained the case to his dad and his dad told him he would take care of it. On his way back to Mississippi, Jeremy stopped by to see his mother, Kathleen, to spend a little time with her since it had been a few months since he had been home. She was tickled to death to see him.

When he arrived back in Hollow Rock, Jeremy went to Judge Trisdale's office to see if he would reopen the case of Jerome Noles due to new evidence. As he expected, Judge Trisdale didn't want to hear it because the D.A., Douglas Rippy, had enough evidence to support that Rex Johnson had killed Jerome Noles. Judge Trisdale told him the case was closed and he wasn't going to reopen it. Frustrated but not willing to give up, Jeremy drove to the U.S. district attorney's office in Jackson, Mississippi to talk to him about the case; he was a friend of his father. He explained to him that he had uncovered new evidence and an eyewitness to the crime had also come forth. He told him the eyewitness had been placed in protective custody. Jeremey told him he wanted to try Dewayne Trisdale in a different county because of the corruption of the officials in Hollow Rock. He was positive Dewayne killed Jerome Noles in a hit and run accident and was a possible suspect in the murder of Rex Johnson. The U.S. attorney in Jackson agreed with Jeremy and told him he would get the FBI involved. Agent Daniel Roberts and Agent Paul Rowe was assigned to the case; they immediately issued a warrant for the arrest of Dewayne Trisdale.

It wasn't long before Dewayne Trisdale was picked up and taken to jail. Within a couple of hours, Trisdale had bonded out. The U.S. district attorney and the FBI opened up a full-blown investigation of the case and Jeremy worked with them. Agent Roberts and Agent Rowe asked a lot of questions around Hollow Rock about the death of Jerome Noles and Rex Johnson. The two agents got a big break in the case when they went to a garage in Hollow Rock to ask if any repair work had been done on Dewayne Trisdale's car. The owner of the garage told them he hadn't done any work on Dewayne's car in some time. He suggested they check at a garage in nearby Summer Shade. He told them they did more body work there than he did. The two agents took off for Summer Shade which was about twelve miles from there. When they arrived at the garage in Summer Shade, the agents asked if any repair work had been done on Trisdale's car. The owner did remember doing some work on his car. He had replaced a broken right headlight and pulled out some dents in the right fender.

"Did he tell you what kind of accident he was involved in?" questioned Agent Roberts.

"Yeah," he said he hit a deer."

"Did the damage appear to be caused from hitting a deer?" asked Agent Rowe.

"Deer cause all different kinds of damage so I really can't say," he replied.

The agents left and went back to Hollow Rock to talk with Trisdale. When they got there, he wasn't at home. His wife told them he was on the back side of the farm.

"Can we take a look at his car?" asked Agent Rowe.

"Why, what is the matter?" she asked.

"We believe the car may have been involved in a hit and run accident," Agent Roberts stated. "We just need to take a look at it."

"Oh, yes," she said. "Dewayne hit a deer on the way home one night. But, he's already had it fixed."

"Yes, ma'am, we understand," replied Agent Roberts, "but we still need to look at it."

"Well, okay," she said. "The car is behind the house."

The two agents went behind the house to see the car. The car looked as good as new. They were about to leave when Agent Roberts noticed what appeared to be blood on the inside front grill. Agent Rowe took a sample and they left. The sample was sent to the Jackson office along with a bloody shirt Jerome Noles was wearing the day of the accident. As they waited for the results, they continued to ask questions around town. When they questioned one of Rex Johnson's neighbors, he told them he had seen two men who worked for Dewayne Trisdale in the car with Rex the morning before he was found dead.

"Did you now the two men?" asked Agent Roberts.

"Yes," he said. "One of them was Billy Joe Lackens and the other one was Johnny Barns; they both work for Mr. Trisdale."

The agents took out a warrant on them and had them picked up. When they got to the jail, the agents interrogated them about the death of Rex Johnson. It was hours later when the two men broke down and told them what happened. They had only picked up Rex because Dewayne told them to. They took Rex to the tobacco barn to meet Dewayne. They told them Dewayne was the one who hung him from the tiers in the barn and they didn't have anything to do with his death. All they did was pick him up and take him to the barn.

Agent Roberts had Dewayne Trisdale brought back in for questioning. Later on that evening, Agent Rowe got the results from the blood sample found on the inside grill of Trisdale's car. It was confirmed to be Jerome Noles' blood. Dewayne Trisdale was charged with vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment, murder in the first degree and hit and run along with some other related charges. Dewayne denied all charges and pleaded innocent. Three months later, he was tried in a different county and found guilty. He was sentenced to death by electrocution. On May 23, 1957, Dewayne Trisdale was electrocuted. Jeremy with the help of the U.S. district attorney and the FBI was able to close the case of Jerome Noles' murder along with the murder of Rex Johnson. They succeeded in beating the good old boy system.

Jeremy stated in Hollow Rock and practiced law. Judge Trisdale, Douglas Rippy, the D.A. and Sheriff Travis Hauskin was charged with being accomplices for covering up the facts of the case; they all received prison sentences. It was about two years later when Jeremy uncovered a hidden secret from his past. His real name was Jeremy Jones and his parents were Hollis and Evelyn Jones. They had sharecropped on Dewayne Trisdale's farm when he was two years old. Rumor had it Hollis had some things on Dewayne and was going to turn state's evidence against him regarding the KKK and murder. Before Hollis could, however, they were run off the road and killed. Jeremy, two years old at the time, was put in the Potter's House for children and was adopted by a family from Alabama, Russell and Kathleen Nichols. Several years later, Jeremy was elected to be a judge. He served as a criminal judge until his death.

*****

In the Light of Day

The Undertaker

It was early morning on December 9, 1962 in Walnut Creek, Arkansas when Detective Howard Hudson and Detective Darrell Durham arrived on the crime scene at the Traveler's Rest Motel. The body of Linda Waller, the fourth victim of a rage of murders that held the whole town captive, had been found. It had just started snowing that morning and the forecast was calling for four inches of snow and ice over the next couple of days. The winds coming over the nearby creek kissed the early morning and sent chills to all along with the chilling thoughts of what would happen next. A serial killer was on the prowl in the town. He had already killed three other women by the names of Cheryl Ward, Chris Russell and Mary Wendel. He was called the Undertaker because of the way he left his victims. He sewed his victim's eyes and mouth shut and placed their arms down by their side. Around their neck he hung a cross made of twigs hanging from a shoestring. He covered his victim's nude bodies with a sheet exactly like they do in a morgue. The bodies of Cheryl Ward and Linda Waller were found in a motel room. Chris Russell's body was found in a nearby field not far from town; she had been out jogging when she disappeared. Mary Wendel's body was found in an old abandoned house outside of town. Walnut Creek was a small town about thirty-two miles southwest of Little Rock in Lincoln County. What in the killer's past would lead a deranged killer on such a bizarre killing spree in Walnut Creek was the question on the detective's minds. When they knew that, they would know the motive for his actions.

As the detectives tried to unravel the crimes, they searched for answers to a lot of unanswered questions. The detectives and the town were baffled by the murders and why the serial killer had chosen Walnut Creek. The detectives worked around the clock to find the killer before he killed again. The mayor advised all women to stay at home. But, if they had to go out he recommend they not go out alone. The detectives speculated the killer met his victims when they were out shopping or running errands. They were not sure if he abducted them or if somehow, someway he was able to talk them in to going with him. All the victims had been choked to death but none of them had been sexually assaulted. He was probably a very attractive man, a smooth talker and a charmer. Each of his victims seemed to have come from a troubled marriage. The detectives believed he stalked his victims for a while to find out what kind of relationship they were in and then he would make his move. It appeared he focused on women in troubled marriages. The detectives speculated he lured the women by engaging them in conversation about their troubles and heartaches. Once he got them with his charm, he killed them, left their corpses behind and moved on to his next victim. He appeared to be the kind of person you couldn't say no to. He preyed on their weaknesses to get what he wanted.

It took Detective Hudson and Detective Durham a few hours to finish their investigation at the motel. However, they didn't find any fingerprints or locate any eyewitnesses. From what the motel manager stated, Mrs. Waller paid cash for her room and he didn't see anyone with her; she seemed to be alone. It was a couple hours after she checked in when he received a call from a man in the room next to hers. The man on the phone told him the people next door to him were arguing and fighting and he wanted to know if he could get them to calm down. However, when he went to her room, he didn't hear anything. When he knocked on the door, it slightly opened. He called out her name but there was no answer. He slowly opened the door, saw her body lying on the floor and immediately left to call the police. The man next door to her told the detectives he hadn't seen or heard anything and he hadn't called the manager. The detectives believed it was the killer who called the manager.

As the detectives headed back to the police station, they went over some of their notes. All the victims were between 25 to 36 years old. All were blondes or bleached-blondes. And, they all had marital problems. When they got back to the station, they grabbed a couple of donuts and a cup of coffee and began to try to unravel the cases. On the bulletin board, they listed information from all the cases and tried to piece together the puzzle. It was up to them to put the puzzle together that would lead them to the killer. Hours later, they still hadn't come up with much of anything so they decided to go and hoped they wouldn't get a call during the night about another murder.

The chill of the long, bitter winter night and the presence of evil lurked about the town, terrorizing and paralyzing it. As the town slept, the night was peaceful but they still awoke with the feeling of evil haunting the cold winter morning.

Early that morning, the two detectives returned to the station to go over the notes of the murders to see if they had missed anything. One cup of coffee after another brought them no closer to solving the case. Luckily, through the night, the killer didn't strike again. Baffled by the crimes, the detectives and the police department tried to come up with something but the killer had not given them much to go on; he had covered his tracks well. As the days went by, everything was relatively quiet. There had not been anymore killings but they were no closer to solving the murders. Everyone around the station was speculating he may have moved on or was just someone passing through town. Or, he could by laying low. No one really knew and they didn't know what to expect next.

The town laid dormant as it nervously anticipated when the killer would strike again. Then, it happened. Another murder interrupted the night. The haunting cries of the sirens echoed throughout the darkness of the chilly night. The eerie sound of the night hovered over the town with a driving fear until the early morning hours. The victim, Mrs. Gracey Pierce, was found in some bushes in the park. She, too, was found like the other victims; her eyes and mouth were sewn shut and her arms were down by her side. The cold of winter had set hard on Walnut Creek which made the detectives job that much harder. But, this time, they got their first big break. When news broke about Mrs. Pierce's death, a good friend of hers contacted the detectives and told them about a man Mrs. Pierce had been seeing. The detectives got her to come to the station to describe him to a police sketch artist. Even though she had only met him a brief moment, the day before Mrs. Pierce was killed, she was able to give the sketch artist a pretty good description of the man. After he finished the sketch, the detectives sent the sketch to police departments across the state and news outlets seeking information about the man. They were instructed to contact the detectives at the Walnut Creek police department if anyone recognized or knew anything about him because he was a person of interest in some murder cases. Ann Rivers, the friend of Mrs. Pierce, told the detectives the man was nice looking, well mannered, attractive and a smooth talker. But, despite those characteristics, she told them there appeared to be a dark side to him. She couldn't put her finger on it but he made her uncomfortable.

It took a couple of days after the detectives sent out the police sketch before they received any information but it wasn't from any of the police departments. They got a call from a woman, Lois Bills, who had been attacked by a man. He attacked her, not too far from her house, when she took her dog out for a walk. The detectives rushed to her house to get a statement from her. She told the detectives she met the man shortly after she left the house. He initiated a conversation with her by asking her what kind of dog she had. They talked a few minutes before she became uncomfortable. When she started to leave, he grabbed her by the neck and pulled her off toward the woods. When her dog started attacking him, he let her go and took off through the woods. She hurriedly ran back home, crying and upset, to call the police. This time, the victim was different. She was 56 years old with brunette hair and her husband was deceased. Was it the killer? Had he changed his pattern? When the detectives showed her the police sketch of the man Ann Rivers, Mrs. Pierce's friend, had described, she was sure it wasn't him. The detectives believed Mrs. Bills' attacker was trying to pull off a copycat attack. Within a couple of hours, the police brought in a suspect they believed was the copycat attacker. Mrs. Bills was brought in to pick him out of a lineup. She looked at the men and picked out her attacker. It wasn't the person in the sketch. The detectives interrogated the man to see if he would incriminate himself in the murder cases but he didn't. The man, Benny Walters, was indeed trying to be a copycat killer; he was only trying to get attention and he did. He was arrested and charged for assault on Mrs. Bills.

A couple of days later, after the copycat attack, a woman by the name of Mrs. Amanda Webb came forward and told the detectives she might know the man in the police sketch. She was a retiree from Missouri who moved to Walnut Creek a few years ago. Mrs. Webb told them she had worked at a mental hospital, Missouri State Asylum, in Flat Creek, Missouri. The man in the sketch favored a man who was a patient there. She wasn't for sure if it was the same man or not but she thought it favored him a whole lot. It had been a while since she worked there and she wasn't for sure if he was still a patient there. She couldn't remember his name but for some reason he stuck out in her mind. The detectives who had no good leads to go on were grasping for straws. They had no choice but to check out the tip. After talking with Mrs. Webb, the two detectives decided they would head to Flat Creek early the next morning to check out her story.

It was a cold winter day and snow had already blanketed the ground for three days and the weatherman was calling for two more inches; the temperature was in the teens.

Depending on the number of stop they made and the weather, it would be about a twelve hour drive to Flat Creek. The detectives left around two o'clock that morning and arrived in Flat Creek about three o'clock that evening. As they headed to the Missouri State Asylum for the mentally ill, they both wondered if they would find their man. When they got there, they talked with several nurses and doctors to see if they recognized the man in the sketch. He did look awfully familiar to some of them but they weren't' for sure if he had been a patient there or not. A lot of them they talked with hadn't worked there long. Plus, the hospital was so big he could have been a patient in another ward. The name, Charles Brandon, came up a few times but no one was for sure if he was the man in the sketch. A doctor by the name of Alex Bray did recall a patient who favored the man in the sketch. But, he didn't believe he was still there because seven years ago several patients were released from the hospital. It was determined the patients had been rehabilitated and appeared to no longer be a threat to themselves or society so the state released them. He invited the detectives to come to his office so he could look through some old files. The state required the hospital to keep their files on patients for at least ten years before they were destroyed. It took him about thirty minutes to find the file he was looking for. The patients name was Charles Brandon. The detectives compared the picture in the file with the sketch. They were astonished by the similarity of the pictures. The detectives didn't know for sure if it was their man but they were definitely going to check him out, if they could locate him. Dr. Bray looked over the notes in Charles' file. It appeared Charles Brandon had killed his mother not long after his dad committed suicide; he was a teenager at the time. Charles was crazy about his daddy. He loved him so much. A few months after the death of his daddy, he turned on his mother and choked her to death. Unable to stand trial because of incompetency due to mental problems, he was placed there. But, after several years of shock treatments and medications, he seemed to be well enough to re-enter society.

"Let me see here," said Dr. Bray. "It should be in here. Oh, yes, here it is. Charles Brandon was one of several patients released seven years ago in 1955."

"Does he have any family living in the area we could possibly talk with?" asked Detective Hudson.

"I really don't know for sure if his family still lives around here or not," replied Dr. Bray. "Now, if I recall correctly, his grandmother used to come and visit him pretty regularly. But, I don't know if she is still living," he said. "I believe she may have passed away."

"Before he was released from the hospital, did anyone else visit him?" questioned Detective Hudson.

"No, I don't think so," replied Dr. Bray as he continued flipping through his file. "Oh, wait a minute. There was a cousin who always brought his grandmother to see him. He didn't talk about her a lot."

"Do you have her name and an address for her?" asked Detective Durham.

"I might," he said. "Her name should be on his visitor's list. However, it has been years ago so her address may not be accurate. Detectives, Charles Brandon was a complex man. He had a lot of serious problems when he was here; he was bipolar and schizophrenic. But, after several series of electric shock treatments and daily medications, he appeared to get better. I put him on lithium while he was here and he was supposed to continue taking it when he was released. If he wasn't taking his medicine on a daily basis, he very well could have gotten much worse than when he was here. If he did, there is no telling what he is capable of. Oh, yes, here is her name and address. I don't know if this will help you or not."

"Well, thank you, Dr. Bray," replied Detective Hudson. "Anything is better than what we had. You have been very helpful and we appreciate your help."

After talking with Dr. Bray, the detectives were on their way out when a woman stopped them to talk about Charles Brandon. She was a janitor there at the hospital and had overheard them asking questions about him. She had been there several years. She remembered Charles and also knew his cousin who used to bring his grandmother to visit him. His cousin was a good friend of hers. They met while Charles was in the hospital and became good friends. She often talked to her when his grandmother was visiting him. They hadn't been in touch in a couple of years but she did know where she lived.

"Is she still at this address?" asked Detective Durham.

"Yes, sir," she replied, "I believe so. The last time I talked to her she was."

After thanking the lady for the information, the two detectives left the hospital to see if they could locate Mrs. Tammy Marshall, Charles Brandon's cousin. It was a longshot but what did they have to lose. They just hoped it would pay off. When they got there, they knocked at the door; a little boy came to the door.

"Does Tammy Marshall live here?" Detective Durham asked.

He replied, "Yes. Mama someone is at the door for you!" he yelled.

A woman holding a baby in her arms appeared behind the little boy.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"We're here to ask you a few questions about your cousin, Charles Brandon," Detective Hudson replied as both detectives held up their badges.

"Um, what has he done?" she questioned hesitantly.

"Right now, we're not sure he has done anything," Detective Hudson replied. "But, he is a person of interest in some cases we're working on and we just have a few questions for you."

"Okay, I guess that will be all right. Come on in, detectives, and have a seat."

"When was the last time you saw or spoke with Charles?" Hudson questioned.

"It has been about three years since I heard from him. When he got out of the hospital, he stayed with me for about a year and a half. I tried my best to take care of him and for a while he did good. He took his medication daily and had his blood checked regularly. Unfortunately, about a year ago, he decided he didn't need the medication anymore and quit taking it. He started to get messed up again and became hard to handle. Actually, I became afraid of him. I was afraid for myself and my children. He was a mild-mannered person and was very helpful to me while he was on his medication. After he stopped taking it, he was a totally different person; it was like night and day. I tried and tried to get him back on his medication but he would just laugh at me and tell me he didn't need it anymore."

"What about his parents?" Detective Hudson asked.

"Dewight and Anita did the best they could," she stated. "Charles was crazy about his daddy and Dewight was crazy about his son. They were not only daddy and son, they were best friends. He was so happy and a good boy when his daddy was alive. Dewight and Anita had a lot of problems. You understand about troubled marriages don't you, detectives. Everyone experiences problems in their marriage at one time or another. They argued and fussed most of the time. Anita got pregnant with Charles at an early age. She didn't want the baby or the marriage because she was a party girl; she like the wild side of life. She didn't want to be tied down with a husband and kid. But, to save face, she married him and had the baby. Things were never the same after Charles was born. Anita blamed Dewight and Charles for ruining her life. As the years went on, things got worse between them. Dewight hoped and believed things would eventually work out but it only got worse. Later on, after several years of affairs, Dewight gave up and killed himself. After that, Charles, an already troubled child, became even worse. He never could accept his daddy's death and he was never the same. He kept to himself; he became very distant and more troubled than he already was. We tried to help him but we could not reach him. His mama didn't care too much for him. She had no time for him since she was too busy partying. Unexpectedly, one night, he turned on her and choked her to death. That's when he was placed in the hospital where he stayed for several years. His grandmother, bless her soul, never gave up on him. I took her to visit him from time to time. We both hoped and prayed the treatment and medication would bring him out of it. After his grandmother died, I was the only family he had left."

"Do you know where he might be?" questioned Detective Durham.

"I don't know. I came home from work one day and he was gone. I haven't seen him since. The last contact I had with him was when he sent me a card and told me he was working at a funeral home and that he was all right. The card was postmarked from some town in Oklahoma. I don't remember the name of the town. That was the last time I had heard from him. You said he was a person of interest in a case you were working on. What do you think he might be involved in?" she asked.

"He's a suspect in some murder cases," replied Detective Hudson.

"Oh, my God," she cried out.

"We don't know for sure," said Detective Durham. "We just want to talk to him."

"Do you think he did it?" she asked.

"We don't know," Detective Hudson answered. "But, we desperately need to find and talk to him. Is there anything else you can think of?"

"Not right off," she replied.

"Thank you, Mrs. Marshall, for your help and your time," said Detective Hudson. "If you can think of anything, please give us a call at the station," he said as he wrote the number down for her.

With tears streaming down her face, she walked the detectives to the door and told them if she thought of anything else she would give them a call. The detectives left and made the long drive back home. When they arrived back at Walnut Creek, they put out an APB for Charles Brandon and hoped they could find him before anymore murders took place. They believed he was the man they were looking for. If he wasn't, they would be back to square one. Late on evening, they got a tip that Charles had a girlfriend by the name of Janet Massey living in Walnut Creek. When they went to talk to her about Charles, they found her laying on the floor in her bedroom; she had been severely beaten. The detectives called for an ambulance to take her to the hospital. Her next door neighbor told them she was pretty sure her boyfriend had beaten her because he did it all the time. The detectives showed her a picture of Charles but she couldn't make a positive identification. She told them it kind of resembled him but her boyfriend had a beard, long hair and a scar down the left side of his face.

"Janet, I believe is her name, moved in a couple of weeks ago," the neighbor stated. "They fussed and argued a lot. Several times, I wanted to call the police but I figured it wasn't any of my business. Her boyfriend didn't live there. Well, at least I don't think he did because he was in and out a lot. He was a strange man with the look of evil in his eyes. I don't see what she saw in him. I knew he was trouble when I met him."

"Thank you, ma'am, for all your help. We're going to head to the hospital to see if we can get a statement from her," Detective Hudson said.

"Yes, sir, detective," she replied. "I hope she's going to be okay."

The detectives left and headed to the hospital to talk with Miss Massey. When they arrived at the hospital, it was too late. Miss Massey had slipped in to a coma and later on that night she died. The next morning, a call came in to the station that a man resembling the police sketch was seen hanging around an old abandoned warehouse near the train tracks on Southwest Street. Quickly, the detectives and the police took off to hopefully catch their man. When the detectives arrived at the warehouse, the police already had it surrounded. Not knowing what to expect, the detectives cautiously moved in. When the detectives found him, he had hung himself. The detectives didn't know if he was the killer or not. Dental records and fingerprints did identify the body as Charles Brandon. With no solid evidence or proof to tie him to the murders, the case became a cold case and was listed as an unsolved murder.

Strangely enough, after his death, the killings stopped. Was it him or had the killer moved on? Even Ann Rivers, a friend of Mrs. Pierce, contacted the detectives after she saw his picture on the news and stated she believed he was the man she saw Gracey with the last time she saw her alive. If it was him, the detectives believed he would seek out women in troubled marriages, have an affair with them and then kill them. They also believed within his deranged mind, he thought he was killing his mother over and over again to revenge his daddy's death. Nonetheless, it all was speculation. They really didn't know and probably never found out if he was the killer or not.

*****

In the Light of Day

The Counselor

Andy and Elaine Wilkerson had lived in Sandy Oaks, South Carolina in Polk County for the past two years. Andy was from Chicken Branch, a small town about thirty miles east of Knoxville in the Appalachian Mountains of east Tennessee. Elaine was from Ten Mile, Georgia in DeKalb County where the Goose Creek crossed over Henry County in to DeKalb County. They met at the college in Sandy Oaks and started dating their sophomore year. After they graduated in 1961, they got married and had two children, Roger Dale and Jo Alice. Andy was an architect and he was on the road a lot traveling to big cities designing buildings for big companies. Elaine was a librarian and a full-time dad and mom since Andy was gone a lot. They were your typical family; they had their problems and troubles like everyone else. Sandy Oaks was a small town just outside of Charleston. It was a laid back community of southern comfort with a slow pace and had plenty of long, hot lazy summer days. They had been married about ten years. Elaine wanted to move back to Ten Mile because her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and she wanted to take care of her. Elaine's daddy died when she was four years old. She had a sister, Maggie, who lived at home but she couldn't be counted on because she was a party girl. She was younger than Elaine and still had a lot of growing up to do. Andy didn't care too much for moving to Ten Mile at first. He wanted to stay in Sandy Oaks. But, he finally gave in because he understood how much it meant to Elaine to be there for her mother.

Ten Mile was about twenty-eight miles west of Macon. It was a small town almost identical to Sandy Oaks. It was very laid back and relaxed. The tall Georgia pines kissed the rising morning sun and brought comfort and serenity to the soul.

There was not much Elaine could do for her mother except spend time with her and comfort her. Andy stayed on the road a lot and was gone weeks at a time, sometimes even months. Maggie, her sister, wasn't much help at all. She was more of a problem. She liked to hang out in the bars, party all the time with her boyfriend, Brad Graves, and sleep all day. Maggie tried to get Elaine to party with them. She told her all the time to get out, enjoy life and live a little. But, Elaine wasn't interested in the party life. Besides, she didn't have time for it. Her family came first. But, as time went on, the hardships, her mother, her children and her marriage began to take a toll on her and get the best of her. She and Andy slowly drifted apart. The distance between them slowly wore her down. Their marriage and love slowly faded away. She believed, but didn't know for sure, he had someone else. With each passing day, she struggled to stay on top of things. She often thought about Maggie's suggestion that she get out some and was beginning to believe she might be right. She needed an outlet from all the stress. She knew she was going to have to do something because she was beginning to break down. Elaine's mother died a few months after they moved back to Ten Mile; she took it hard. Andy came home for the funeral to help comfort Elaine and the kids. After the funeral, she told him they had to talk because things needed to change. But, the talk only led to an argument. The time and distance between them made it hard for them to work things out. There seemed to be no way of breaking through the barrier that stood between them. A few days after her mother's funeral, Andy left and went back out on the road. Elaine stood at the door with the children and watch him leave. My Lord, what has happened to us, was the prayer on her heart.

Not long after her mother died, she took her sister's advice. She started to get out some. At first, she was hesitant but as time passed she enjoyed it more and more. The excitement of the world was sweet to her; she enjoyed it more than she ever thought she would. Her loneliness led her to seek solace in the honky-tonks and bars with her sister and Brad. Monday through Thursday, she stayed at home with the children. But, she longed for the weekends. Friday through Sunday, the children stayed with a babysitter while she partied. As the week and months passed, she enjoyed her life more and more. Andy was still gone a lot and he wasn't aware of what was going on at home. He came home for a day or two every once in a while but it wasn't enough to mend their broken marriage. Little did he know, things were about over to the point of no return. The next time he came home, Elaine broke down and told him what she had been doing and that she wanted a divorce. But, Andy didn't want a divorce. He didn't want to break up their home because of the children. He made good money and was a good provider. However, he was so wrapped up in his job he failed to see his marriage failing. He wanted them to move back to Sandy Oaks to see if it would help heal their marriage since they had been so happy there. But, she was not interested. She wanted to stay in Ten Mile. Nothing was settled between them before he had to go back out on the road. In the back of his mind, he thought they could eventually work things out. However, to her it was over.

A week later, on a Friday evening, she met Brad in the bar for a few drinks. After getting a little too tipsy, she and Brad went to Macon to get a motel room. It wasn't something they planned; it was one of those things that just happened. Little did they know, Maggie had also gone to Macon. Later on that evening, Maggie was on her way back home when she passed the motel and saw them getting in Brad's car. She quickly turned around and confronted them in front of the motel. Maggie was so upset, mad and angry. She didn't give them a chance to explain before she jumped back in her car and headed back home. Brad and Elaine followed behind her. When they got back home, they picked up where they left off at the motel. Brad pleaded with her but Maggie packed her things and moved out. Elaine tried to talk to her and explain things but she wouldn't listen to her either. She told Elaine she hated her and told Brad to stay away from her. About a month later, Maggie and Brad broke up. She blamed Elaine for it and was out for revenge even though what Brad and Elaine did was nothing but a drunken mistake. In the meantime, Brad introduced Elaine to one of his buddies, Ben, and they immediately hit it off and began seeing each other on a regular basis. Also, during that time, Elaine filed for divorce. When Andy received the papers, he was so upset. He came home to try to talk her out of it but it was too late. To make matters worse, while he was at home, Maggie told him about the one night stand Elaine had with Brad. Andy confronted Elaine about it and she didn't deny it. They got in a huge fight over it. The affair was the last straw for Andy. He left and moved out. Days later, he threatened her and told her he was going to take the children away from her. However, deep down inside, he still wanted to make things work. He told her he would give up his job and they could move anywhere she wanted. But, no matter how hard he tried, it didn't do any good. He still loved her and wasn't willing to let her go. He felt partly responsible for the affair and realized he helped push her in to another man's arms. He didn't want to break up the family and he was going to do everything imaginable to work things out. He begged her to forgive him and give him another chance. Still, no matter how hard they tried to talk and work things out, it always ended up in an argument. Deep down, Elaine still loved him but the two could not seem to work things out.

After a couple of months, Ben and Elaine had become a hot item. However, she didn't love Ben; it was only infatuation. She often thought about the good times she had with Andy even though she knew they could never have what they once had. Elaine dated Ben for about four months. They had fun together but deep inside she was still unhappy. She thought time and time again about trying to work things out with Andy but on the other hand she didn't see much hope in that because their marriage and home would never be the same. Elaine and Ben were in their fifth month of dating when she unexpectedly broke it off with him. She didn't want the party life with Ben anymore and she didn't want Andy. In fact, she didn't know what she wanted. She knew Ben was not going to let her go so easy since he had become obsessed with her. He didn't understand why she ended their relationship. He tried his best to get her back but she didn't want to see or talk to him anymore. Unknowingly to her, Ben was stalking her; he knew her every move.

Late one Friday evening when the children were at the babysitters, Andy went to Elaine's house to convince her to give their marriage another chance. The neighbors were sitting out in the yard as Andy pulled up. He got out of his car, spoke to them and then knocked on Elaine's door. She answered the door and invited him inside. About fifteen minutes later, the neighbors heard them arguing. Andy walked out of the house about twenty minutes later, got into his car and drove off. About two hours later, the neighbors were getting ready to go inside when they saw Andy pull back up at Elaine's house. This time he didn't know; he just walked on in. As the neighbors peeped out the window, they saw Andy rush to his car and speed off. They thought his behavior was a little bizarre but they didn't think anything about it. Early the next morning, Maggie decided to visit Elaine to try to make things right. Besides, they were sisters. She knocked on the door several times but Elaine didn't come to the door. She figured she was probably still asleep so she checked to see fi the door was unlocked and it was. She eased the door open, went in and called out for Elaine. Still, there was no answer. She called Elaine's name again but there was no answer. As she was about to call her name again, she saw Elaine's bloody body lying on the floor. She left out a blood curdling scream and ran over to see if she was okay. Elaine laid in a puddle of blood; she was dead. The neighbors heard the terrifying scream and ran over to Elaine's to see if everything was okay. When they ran in, they were horrified when they saw Maggie kneeling and crying hysterically beside Elaine's body. They immediately called the police. Within a matter of minutes, the police arrived. The police look the crime scene over while Detective Gary Hall and Detective Frank Finney talked to some of the neighbors gathered at the scene to see if they saw or heard anything suspicious. Paul and Brandy Davis told the detectives they were just getting home from out of town when they saw all the commotion and was only curious about what was going on. But, Richard Allen and Andrea Henson told the detectives the last person they had seen at Elaine's house before they went to bed was her husband, Andy.

"We were sitting out in the yard when he came by. About fifteen minutes after he arrived, we heard them arguing. He came out of the house twenty minutes later and left. About two hours later, we were going back inside the house to go to bed when he came back. He got out of his car and went in. A few minutes later, we saw him get in his car and speed off. We didn't think anything about it," Andrea told the detectives.

Maggie eventually calmed down and was able to talk with the detectives. She told them Elaine and Andy were in the process of getting a divorce because they had been having a lot of trouble the last couple of months.

"Elaine wanted the divorce but Andy didn't," she said as she broke down again and started crying. "I can't believe Andy would do such a thing. I just can't believe it."

Elaine appeared to have been stabbed several times with a knife. However, after a thorough search of the inside of the house, no weapon had been found. The search for the murder weapon continued outside in the yard and the woods behind the house. Within a few minutes, one of the officers found a bloody knife in a bush next to the front porch. Detective Hall went over to where the officer was, picked it up with a handkerchief and put it into an evidence bag to send to the crime lab. He and Detective Finney speculated the killer accidentally dropped it on their way out and probably didn't realize it.

After processing the crime scene, the detectives headed back to the station to put out an APB on Andy Wilkerson to have him picked up for questioning. Six hours passed before he was picked up and brought in for questioning. When Detective Hall and Detective Finney was escorting him to the interrogation room, he denied killing Elaine. He told the detectives he was at her house earlier that evening. He admitted they got in a heated argument but said he left before it got out of hand. Later that evening, after he had cooled off, he stated he went back to her house to try to work things out. But, when he got there she was already dead.

"Why did you leave the scene and not call for help?" questioned Detective Hall.

"I was afraid," he said. "I didn't know what to do."

"Do you have an alibi?" Detective Hall asked.

"No, I don't," he replied. "When I left the first time, I was headed back to Memphis because that's where I've been working for the last month. The longer I drove, the more I thought about how much I wanted my family back. I pulled over to the side of the road, turned around and drove back to try to save my marriage and home once again. I was alone; I have no alibi."

"What about those blood spots on your shirt and pants?" asked Detective Hall.

"I...I don't..."

"Not only have the neighbors placed you at the scene of the crime but other people saw you around town that evening.

"Of course they did. I told you I was at the house. I don't want to say anymore until I talk to a lawyer," he said.

"That's fine but you are being arrested for the murder of your wife."

"You've got the wrong man, detectives! Her killer is still out there."

Andy was fingerprinted and booked for the first degree murder of Elaine. He was allowed to make a phone call to a lawyer before being taken to a cell. He had been in his cell for about two hours when Attorney Benjamin Linville, a local lawyer in town, came to see him. He assured him he would do his best to clear his name.

About a week later, the results on the murder weapon and blood spots from his clothes came in from the crime lab. The lab report confirmed his bloody fingerprints were on the knife and the blood spots on his clothes were Elaine's blood. As soon as Benjamin got the results, he went to the jail to question Andy about the evidence against him.

"How did your fingerprints get on the knife?" Benjamin asked.

"When I went in and found her, I was so concerned about her so I knelt down beside her. Without thinking, I picked the knife up, dropped it, wiped my hand on my shirt and pants and took off. I know it was a stupid thing to do. But, I was so tore up when I saw her in that condition. She was so bloody. I just didn't think," he explained.

"Well, Benjamin, the District Attorney, William Berghorn, has a hard case against you. It doesn't look good. You were at the scene of the crime at the time of the murder, you have no alibi, your fingerprints were found on the murder weapon, her blood was found on your clothes, the neighbors heard you fighting the night of the murder and there are several witnesses who will testify that you threatened her. Also, the DA knows about the affair she had with Brad Graves which leads him to believe jealously was the motive behind the murder."

"It's not true," he cried out. "I didn't do it. You got to believe me. This is crazy. Yes, the affair was a big part of our marriage troubles. And, yes, I did threaten her. But, I didn't kill her. She was the one who filed for the divorce. I wanted to make our marriage work, especially for the kids. When I left the first time, she was alive. When I returned, she was dead. Counselor, you do believe me, don't you?"

"Yes, I do believe you. However, I want you to know up front it doesn't look good. It's going to be a hard case to prove and it looks like the prosecution it holding all the cards.

Three days later, they went before Judge Theodore W. Brown to get a bail set. The judge denied it and a court date was set. Over the next couple of months, Benjamin worked on the case trying to find a way to get Andy out of the mess he was in. If he ever needed a miracle, he needed one now.

Three months after the murder, Andy went to trial. The courtroom was packed. It was one of the biggest trials they'd had in a long time. Over the next week, the trial went on. The prosecution presented its case, their evidence and witnesses and so did the defense. The jury found Andy guilty of murder and he was sentenced to life without parole. Two weeks after the trial, Andy was taken to Langford State Prison in west Arkansas to serve his time. He tried for years to get an appeal. Finally, after ten years he won an appeal for a new trial. He hired a new lawyer out of Memphis to take his case. His new lawyer, Attorney Jim Fields, was one of the best counselors and trial lawyers around at the time. He worked on the case with his team for six months. They went over all the court papers, evidence and talked to the few witnesses they could find; the days were long and trying. A lot of the witnesses had died or moved away. But, their hard work did turn in their favor when they talked to Richard Allen's and Andrea Henson's son, Jason Henson, who was only a small boy at the time of the murder. He told Mr. Fields on the day of the murder that he was in the backyard playing when he saw a man come through the woods behind Elaine's house and go in the back door. He told them he never thought much about it at the time. Plus, he was only seven years old then and didn't think it mattered. He never even told his parents. It was the big break Mr. Fields had been looking for to help clear Andy and it would most definitely assure him a new trial. It took about four months before they were granted a new jury trial. Counselor Fields and his team had enough new evidence to make a difference in the case and hopefully set Andy free. During the trial, Counselor Fields asked Jason Henson to take the stand. After he was sworn in, Mr. Fields began his questioning.

"Jason will you please tell the court what you saw the evening of Elaine Wilkerson's murder."

"I saw a man come out of the woods behind her house and go in the back door. The man was in the house for a pretty good while and when he finally came out he ran back into the woods and disappeared."

"Did you recognize the man?"

"It was just getting dark that evening. At first, when he went in, I didn't get a good look at him. But, when he left, he turned and looked at me."

"Do you know who he was?" asked Fields.

"It was Benjamin Linville," he replied.

"The lawyer?"

"Yes."

Then Fields asked to address the court on some other evidence pertaining to the case. The judge granted it. After Jason was cross-examined, Mr. Fields was allowed to call Mr. Linville to the stand.

"Mr. Linville, did you and Mrs. Wilkerson have an affair?" asked Mr. Fields.

"Yes, for about four months," he replied.

"Did you end the relationship?"

"No, sir. She did."

"How did you feel about that?"

"I wasn't happy because I was in love with her."

"Would you say you were obsessed with her?"

"No, I just didn't want to let her go."

"The day she was murdered, did you go through the woods and slip in the back door?"

"I did but her husband was there and they were arguing in the living room. I hid in the kitchen until he left and then I confronted her. I tried my best to make her change her mind about us but she wouldn't."

"Mr. Linville, did you kill Mrs. Wilkerson?"

"No, I did not."

"Mr. Linville, I believe you left and came back later that evening and stabbed her to death with a knife from her own kitchen."

"That's speculation, Your Honor," his lawyer said.

"Over-ruled," the judge stated. "You may continue, Mr. Fields."

"In fact, Mr. Linville, you had just killed her when Mr. Wilkerson returned and found her bloody body. You saw him when he picked up the knife and put it back down. After he left, you took the knife and tossed it in the bushes out front. You knew his fingerprints would be the only ones on the knife because you were wearing gloves. Then you went back inside the house, went out the back door and ran through the woods. Isn't that true, Mr. Linville."

Benjamin dropped his head in his hands and cried out, "She was going to leave me. She was going to go back to Andy and I couldn't let her do it."

Gasps filled the courtroom.

"Order in the court," demanded the judge.

The judge ordered the court officer to take him in to custody. He was taken out of the courtroom and arrested. Next, the judge called for a brief recess and asked the counselors to meet him in his chambers. About forty-five minutes later, the judge re-entered the courtroom and dismissed all charges against Andy Wilkerson. With Benjamin's admission of guilt, the case was closed.

*****

In the Light of Day

The Black Book

The year was 1951 in the small town of Long Creek, Kentucky about eighteen miles east of Lexington in Henry County. A thick cloud of fog coming from the nearby creek laid about the town, smothering out the darkness of night. As the sun slowly rose, the once thick cloud, now thin, hovered over the community. The town laid in wait for the new day. From the overnight rainfall, the air was crisp with the presence of evil lurking about. The bodies of Rena Campbell and Billie Henley had been found the week before. This morning, the body of Francis Goodall had been found.

Detective Joe Helson and Detective Larry Summers was assigned to the case. Rena Campbell and Billie Henley were both prostitutes. Their bodies were both found in a field near their apartments. They had both been strangled to death. Francis Goodall was divorced and lived by herself in the same apartment building as the other two women. However, she was not a prostitute. She, too, had been strangled like the other two women. The town was burdened by the possibility of a serial killer being on the prowl. Where and when he would strike next lingered in the minds of the townspeople. Who he was and where he was from were the two questions on the minds of the two detectives. The chill of the breaking dawn along with the chill of the murders haunted and threatened the whole town. As the night slowly disappeared, the horrifying cries of the victim cried out. The people of Long Creek woke up that morning to the sounds of sirens and the loss of another victim. The early morning sunshine cleared away the last bit of fog. The day went on even though evil lurked about the town.

Father Eric McDuffee of Saint Pauls Catholic Church was busy working. He had been at the church for about ten years and was highly thought of by all. Not only did he oversee the church, he also took care of charity programs and helped raise money for church projects and community needs. But, Eric had a secret in his past. He was from Cotton Hollow, a small town just outside of Louisville. His mother, a single parent, gave him up for adoption when he was just a baby. He was adopted by Anthony and Peggy McDuffee who lived in Maple Grove, Indiana. Eric never knew his real parents. He never knew he was adopted until several years later. Anthony, his adopted father, was controlling and abusive. When Eric was twelve, Anthony killed Peggy right in front of him which devastated him. Anthony killed her because she was weak. One thing Anthony hated was a weak person. He loved them both and the killing of his mother lingered in the back of his mind. Every night as he lay in bed, he could still hear her screams and the loud shot of the gun; it was forever etched in his memory. For years, he struggled to understand why it happened. But, the more he tried to understand, the more mixed up he became. The haunting even constantly tortured him. Eric was a lot like his father. His father despised weak people and so did he. He believed a person should grin and bear the things of life, be strong and not be a sissy or a crybaby. Eric loved his father and admired him for how he stood. But, he also loved his mother. He saw the weaknesses within her, like his daddy did. He grew up torn by his love for them. Anthony was sent to prison for the rest of his life. The loss of his mother and losing his father was more than Eric could bear. His nightmares haunted him day and night. He was nothing but a shell. He was torn apart, confused, lost and lonely; he hurt deeply inside. After the death of his mother, Eric was placed in a Catholic boarding school until he was 18. He was very troubled and a disturbed child when he arrived so they sent him to a psychiatrist to try to help him. As time passed with the help of the doctors and the church, he began to get better and seemed to accept things. After a while, the nightmares stopped and he found peace in the Lord. While at the boarding school, he became a priest. He loved the Lord and the church. And, he loved to help others like him who had experience a tragedy in their life. Sister Kimberly, a nun at the boarding school, helped him a lot and stood by him; she became very protective of him. She saw such great potential in him and loved him like a son. After he left the boarding school, he moved around a lot from church to church. Sister Kimberly kept in touch with him as the years passed. Finally, he settled down at Saint Paul's Church where he was reunited with Sister Kimberly. She had only been working at Saint Paul's for a couple of years when he took the church. Not only was she glad and happy for him but she was proud of him and looked forward to working with him at the church.

As the days passed, the killings stopped. It had been two months since the last murder. Detective Helson and Detective Summers was no closer to solving the murders. One day, while Father McDuffee was in confession with a woman, she told him her husband was abusing her and she didn't know what to do. She went on to say she loved her husband and wanted to help him but she didn't think she could stay with him. She couldn't find the courage or strength to leave him. She was afraid and she didn't know how much more she could take. Father McDuffee understood. He talked to her and encouraged her to join the church's program for abused and battered women. He thought the program would help her. He told her she might find some answers to her problems. At first, she was reluctant and afraid that it might make things worse for her and she couldn't take any more than she was already dealing with. But, he was finally able to convince her to attend the program. Once she agreed, they prayed.

About a month later, all seemed good for a little while. Then, late one even as it poured down raining, the thunder roared and the lightning streaked across the dusty sky, another women's body was found behind a building in town; she had been strangled. Her name was Loretta Sullivan. The woman at confession weeks ago. Was it her husband or had the killer struck again? The detectives brought Mrs. Sullivan's husband in for questioning. Several hours later, they let him go because he had a solid alibi. He was with another woman at the time his wife was killed. The detectives contacted the woman and she vouched for his alibi. She told the detectives he was with her at that time. They were skeptical at first but some of her friends also backed up the alibi. They had no leads until a woman came to the station to speak with the detectives. She told them she was driving through town the evening of the murder and she remembered seeing a man coming around the corner of the building acting strange. He was dressed in a long black coat with the collar pulled up around his neck. She stated she couldn't see him very good because it had begun to get dark and plus it was raining hard. At the time, she didn't think much about it. But, once she heard about the murder, she thought she should contact them since it was around the time the killing had taken place.

Loretta's killing was very similar to the other three victims. The detectives believed the killer had struck again. It appeared all the women had one thing in common. Since all of them had been abused in some way or another, the detectives decided to visit Saint Paul's to speak with Father McDuffee to see if any of the women had attended the church's abused and battered women's program. When they arrived at the church, Danny Warner, the church's janitor, was outside sweeping the steps.

"How can I help you?" he asked.

"We're here to see Father McDuffee," replied Detective Helson.

"Well, he's in the confessional," he stated. "He'll probably be done in a few minutes."

"Will it be okay if we go in and wait?" asked Detective Summers.

"Sure," he responded.

As soon as they walked in, Sister Kimberly greeted them.

"Welcome, gentlemen. How may I help you?"

"We're here to see Father McDuffee but since he's in the confessional may we speak with you for just a minute?"

"That will be fine."

"Do you know Loretta Sullivan?"

"Yes, sir, I do. She has been to our abused and battered women's program a few times."

"What about Rena Campbell, Billie Henley and Francis Goodall?" asked Detective Summers.

"If I'm not mistaken, they have also attended the program," she stated.

About that time, Father McDuffee came up and asked them if there was a problem.

"We need to speak with you for a minute if that's okay."

"Sure, that will be fine. May I ask what it's about?"

"We just have a few questions about four ladies who have been attending the abused and battered women's program here at the church."

"Sure, come on in my office," encouraged Father McDuffee, "and we can talk in there. Sister Kimberly, will you please take care of all the phone calls while I help these gentlemen?"

"Sure, Father."

"Come on in and have a seat. Now, what four ladies are you referring to?" Father McDuffee asked.

"Rena Campbell, Billie Henley, Francis Goodall and Loretta Sullivan," answered Detective Summers. "What can you tell us about them?"

"I do know that all attended the classes. However, I cannot tell you what they told me during confession; it's confidential."

"Oh, we understand," replied Detective Summers.

"But, is there anything you can tell us without revealing their confession?" questioned Detective Helson.

"What is this pertaining?" asked Father McDuffee.

"All of them were murdered," stated Detective Summers.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Father McDuffee responded. "I can tell you they all had some issues from the abuse they suffered in life. I tried to help them work through their problems to help them overcome them. Rena Campbell was raped and abused by her stepfather when she was young. Billie Henley was abused by a family member. Both of them were so messed up from the abuse they turned to prostitution and ended being abused by their johns. They only came to a few sessions before they quit. I tried to get them to come back to the program but I could never convince them to come back or even let me try to help them. Frances Goodall was abused by her ex-husband. She came several months and made a lot of progress. The program helped her a lot. She finally got better, left the program and went on with her life. Loretta Sullivan was abused by her husband. She had only been in the program for a few weeks. I didn't get much of a chance to work with her. I don't understand. How does the program have anything to do with their murders? The program is here to help women not harm them. Besides, there are several women in the program and they haven't been harmed."

"We understand," replied Detective Helson.

"However, we think the murders might be connected in some way," said Detective Summers. "We just don't know how at this time."

"Well, thank you for your time," stated Detective Helson as he and Detective Summers stood up to leave.

"Well, I don't believe I was too much help," said Father McDuffee. "There is nothing much else I can tell you. If I think of anything else, I'll call you."

"Please do," replied Detective Helson. "Thanks again for your time."

"Let me show you out."

"Oh, there's no need," replied Detective Helson. "We can find our way out."

After the detectives left the church and headed back to the station, they couldn't help but think about how nervous Father McDuffee appeared. He seemed to be bothered by something. He acted like he knew more than he was willing to tell. But, they both believed the murders and the program were connected in some way or another.

Detective Summers spoke up, "Maybe we should see what we can find out about Father McDuffee."

"I agree," replied Detective Helson. "There may be something in his past that he's hiding. We definitely need to check in to his background."

At the time, they didn't consider Father McDuffee a suspect. But, they knew he had more information than he was telling. They needed a break in the case because they didn't have any concrete evidence or a suspect to make an arrest in the case. It was a few days later before they received any information on Father McDuffee. They found out he had been adopted and sent to a boarding school when he was twelve after his adopted father killed his adopted mother in front of him. While at the boarding school, he saw a psychiatrist regularly to help him overcome what he had seen his father do to his mother; he saw the psychiatrist for several years. They found out his father killed his mother because she was a weak person and that he often abused her. They also found out that Sister Kimberly worked at the boarding school at the time he was there. She became real close to him as he grew up at the school. That bit of information led them to pick up Sister Kimberly at the church and bring her in for questioning.

"Sister Kimberly, what can you tell us about Father McDuffee?" asked Detective Summers.

"Not much," she replied.

"Are you sure?" questioned Detective Helson.

"Yeah, positive."

"I'm not so sure about that," replied Detective Helson.

"Well, I am."

The detectives were not having much luck with Sister Kimberly and they couldn't understand why she didn't want to give them any information about Father McDuffee. Puzzled, they decided to leave her alone in the room for a while before they asked her anymore questions.

"Sister Kimberly, we're going to leave you alone for a few minutes to give you a chance to decide to tell the truth. We'll be back and you may want to cooperate," stated Detective Summers.

Sister Kimberly didn't respond. About twenty minutes later, the detectives re-entered the room.

"Are you ready to cooperate?" asked Detective Helson.

"What are you wanting to know?" she asked.

"We know you were very close to Anthony, Father McDuffee, when he was at the Catholic boarding school. What can you tell us about him?" Detective Helson stated.

"My sister, Lorie, was a good friend of Christy, his maternal mother. They both were prostitutes back then in Cotton Hollow. Christy got pregnant with her second child, Father McDuffee, by one of her johns. Her pimp made her give him up for adoption. She already had an older son, Danny, who was by Christy's second husband. Danny ran away from home and Christy never heard from him again. Father McDuffee was only a baby when she put him up for adoption. A few years later, she died. She could never get over losing her two sons. I never told Father McDuffee anything about his real mother. Father McDuffee is a good man. Is he a suspect in the murders?"

"No," replied Detective Helson, "not at the moment."

"Well, you're after the wrong man. He wouldn't harm anyone."

Considering his unstable upbringing and the murders, the detectives felt like they needed to bring Father McDuffee in for questioning. They took Sister Kimberly back to the church and brought Father McDuffee back for questioning.

"What is this about?" questioned Father McDuffee.

"We just have a few questions for you. This won't take long," Detective Summers replied.

"For God's sake, do you think I killed those women?"

"Did you?" replied Detective Summers.

"No, I didn't," he said. "I tried to help them."

Detective Helson stated, "We have found out a little about your past. It's strange, your adoptive mother was in an abusive marriage and you work with abused women."

"What's so strange about that? All I want to do is help women get out of abusive relationships. They need someone they can turn to."

About that time, someone knocked at the door.

"Come in," Detective Summers said.

"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt but another body has been found," stated an officer, "and you're needed on the scene."

"Thank you, officer," Detective Summers replied as the officer turned to leave. "Hold on a minute. Will you take Father McDuffee back to the church?"

"Sure, sir."

"Father McDuffee, we'll be in touch."

The two detectives took off and soon arrived at the crime scene. The woman was Trisha Cole, a prostitute. She appeared to have been murdered a couple of days ago. She had been murdered in her apartment; she had been strangled like the others. She was found by one of her neighbors. The neighbor told the detectives when she went to visit Trisha she got ready to knock on the door but it was slightly open so she went on in.

"When I went in I saw her body lying on the floor. I immediately ran back to my apartment and called the police," the neighbor stated.

"When was the last time you saw her alive?" questioned Detective Helson.

"A couple of days ago. That's why I went to see her because we usually see each other in the hall every day."

"Have you noticed anything suspicious or seen anything out of the ordinary?" Detective Summers asked.

"No, but the last person I saw at her door was Father McDuffee."

"Are you positive it was Father McDuffee?"

"Yes, it was."

"Thank you, ma'am. If you think of anything else, please give us a call."

"I sure will, detectives."

The detectives believed they were finally making progress on the case. They finished up at the crime scene and went by the church to pick up Father McDuffee to bring him in for more questioning. Back at the station, in the interrogation room, the detectives asked him about Trisha Cole.

"How well do you know Trisha Cole?" Detective Summers asked.

"Is she dead?" Father McDuffee inquired.

"Yes, she was murdered," Detective Helson said.

"Oh, my God. I just saw her a week ago at confession. I wanted her to attend the abused and battered women's class because I thought she would benefit from it. But, she wouldn't do it. I tried and tried to get her to let me help her but she wouldn't listen. When she left that day I didn't hear anything else from her. I was worried about her so I decided to go over to her apartment and see if I could talk her in to it. When I got there her boyfriend was leaving. Trisha was crying and all upset. I tried to comfort her and calm her down but she was so afraid her boyfriend was going to come back and hurt her."

"We understand," replied Detective Helson.

"No, you don't understand. She was afraid for her life and she was crying hysterically. I tried to calm her down," he stated. "I told her not only would the class help her but I would help her deal with her problem. But, she still refused. She wouldn't give in. After she calmed down, I left. She was alive when I left. Maybe her boyfriend came back. I don't know."

Detective summers asked, "Where did you go after you left her apartment?"

"I went back to the church to pray for her," he answered.

"Did anyone see you there?" asked Detective Helson.

"No, I was alone," he replied.

Detective Summers asked, "Was Sister Kimberly at the church?"

"No," he replied. "She had gone out and I don't know where she was. I didn't do it," he cried out as he broke down. "All I tried to do was help them. They were so weak. I tried to help them be strong but they wouldn't listen to me."

"Father McDuffee, we're going to hold you on suspicion of murder."

"But, I haven't done anything to those women but try to help them," he pleaded as an officer took him away.

The next day while Danny was cleaning the church, he accidentally dropped a little black book out of his pocket. Sister Kimberly found it when she came in. She opened it up to see who it belonged to. The first name she saw was Christy Warner, Father McDuffee's mother. At first, she was stunned and confused. Could it be, she thought, or is it a coincidence? She took the book to Danny and asked him if the book belonged to him. He told her it was his.

"How do you know Christy Warner?" she asked.

"She's my mother," he responded.

"Where are you from?"

"Cotton Hollow, a small town outside of Louisville."

Sister Kimberly's mouth flew open; she was dumbfounded. She tried to say something but nothing would come out. All she knew was that she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I ran away from home and haven't seen or heard from my mother since," he said. "For several years I lived on the streets. I didn't stay anywhere for too long. I moved around a lot. I got on drugs and was either in and out of jail or rehab," he said. "I picked up work here and there to make money to feed my habit. As I got older, I got away from all of that and straightened out my life."

"Oh, Danny," she cried out. "You and Father McDuffee are brothers."

"What!" he yelled. "I knew I had a baby brother but my mother put him up for adoption right after he was born. I never knew what had happed to him. He grew up to be a priest. I can't believe it."

"You remember Lorie," she asked, "your mother's best friend."

"Yeah, I remember her," he replied.

"She is my sister," said Sister Kimberly.

"She is," he replied.

"Wait until Father McDuffee hears about this," cried out Sister Kimberly. "I can't believe it. I can't wait to tell him."

As the two reminisced, things down at the police station weren't going so well for Father McDuffee. After a couple more hours of interrogation, the detectives were finally able to break him down. Father McDuffee confessed to the murders. He told the detectives he could never get over his father killing his mother.

"Witnessing my mother's murder still haunts me to this day. After I left the boarding school, I never saw another psychiatrist. I thought I could get over it on my own. However, it kept coming back and the demons finally overtook me. I thought about getting some more help but I never did. Every day, over and over in my mind, I can still see my mother's face when daddy killed her. I tried to help those women like I tried to help momma but they were so weak and afraid; I hate weakness. That's what caused momma to be killed. Oh, my God. What have I done?" he cried out.

When the detectives told Sister Kimberly Father McDuffee confessed to the murders, she couldn't believe it. She knew he had problems but she had no idea how bad off he was. She thought he had overcome all of his demons. When she and Danny visited him in jail, they told him that Danny was his older brother and explained everything to him. He couldn't believe it. He was so happy to know about his birth mother. There was a ten year age difference between them. Sister Kimberly and Danny stood by him during his trial. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to life without parole. As the years passed, Sister Kimberly and Danny visited him in prison. They had a lot to catch up on. Father McDuffee was always glad to see them and he and Danny became very close. In 1968, Father McDuffee died in prison of a massive heart attack. Sister Kimberly and Danny still worked at the church but only part-time. If it hadn't been for the little black book, they would have never known how their lives intertwined. Father McDuffee always said the Lord worked in mysterious ways.

*****

In the Light of Day

In the Bite of Winter

It was early morning in the town of Cave Hill, in east Tennessee located in Marshall County. Cave Hill was a small resort town located in the hills of the Appalachian Mountains in east Tennessee. It was about one hundred and eighty miles northeast of Knoxville and about thirty-eight miles from the Virginia State Line. People from all over went there to explore the caves and enjoy the beautiful waterfalls. The waterfalls enhanced the cave with some of the most beautiful scenery in the state. There were five big caves and several small ones scattered throughout the county. Spelunkers came from everywhere to explore the cave's hidden treasures. The year was 1958. It had been snowing on and off for the last couple of days. Four inches of sleet and snow had already accumulated on the ground. The weatherman was predicting at least eight more inches before nightfall before there would be a break in the weather. The bite of winter had paid its toll upon the town. There had been snow on the ground since the last of October and it looked to be a long cold, snowy winter ahead. The air was so chilled with the bite of coldness it sent chills down to the bone.

It was about 10:30 in the morning when police Chief Johnny Sloan arrived home. It had been a long night at the station. He had been working on a drug and prostitution ring that was operating out of Knoxville with the vice squad and the TBI for about two weeks. They had busted several people already and still had some others to bust. They hoped to finish up the arrests in a few more days then things would settle back down; he hoped. When he arrived home, he checked his mail and headed inside his house. When he opened the front door, all was quiet. As he thumbed through his mail, he called out for his wife, Shirley. But, she didn't answer. He figured she had gone out and wasn't at home. When he pitched the mail onto the table next to the front door, he suddenly felt a cold draft in the house. He didn't think much about it at first because it was cold outside. He grabbed the newspaper and lit up a cigarette to sit down and relax for a while. As he made his way over to the couch to sit down, the house felt even colder so he went over to check the gas heater. It was working and putting out heat. I wonder why it's so cold in here, he thought. As he made his way in to the kitchen, he noticed the back door was open. When he went over to close it, he noticed the door had been kicked in. As he quickly looked about, he began to yell Shirley's name but she didn't answer. He ran through the house frantically looking for her. When he ran upstairs to the bedroom, he found her laying on the floor; she was dead.

"Oh, my God," he cried out.

He ran over to her and noticed a bloody butcher knife next to her body. It looked like she had been stabbed several times. After getting over the initial shock of finding his wife's body, he ran back downstairs and called for help. It only took a few minutes for the police and ambulance to arrive. Detective Brady Rogers and Detective Barry Kelly also arrived on the scene. When they got there, they found Chief Sloan knelt down beside the body. He was shocked and at a loss for words. As he rose up from beside her body, he broke down. Detective Rogers asked one of the officers to take him downstairs. As the detectives and officers worked the crime scene, the coroner and his assistant took the body downstairs, put it in the ambulance and drove away. Chief Sloan pulled himself together and began trying to put together what may have happened. Apparently, it wasn't a robbery because Chief Sloan told the detectives, the best he could tell, nothing was missing. But, why and who could have done it was the million dollar question. Detective Kelly and a couple of the officers questioned some of the neighbors to see if they had seen or heard anything. The only person who said they saw anything was an elderly woman who lived across the street, Miss Mae.

"I thought I saw a man come out the front door around eight to nine o'clock and get into a car and leave," she said.

"Did you recognize the man?" Detective Kelly asked.

"No," she replied. "I think I have seen him over there several times before. But, I can't describe him. My eyes aren't as good as they used to be. I'm sorry I can't remember what he looked like."

"That's quite all right, ma'am. We appreciate the information," Detective Kelly replied.

Detective Rogers speculated the killer kicked the back door in, got a butcher knife from the kitchen, slipped upstairs to the bedroom where he found Mrs. Sloan, repeatedly stabbed her with the knife and left. Before the coroner left, he stated she was probably murdered around eight-thirty or nine o'clock. She had cut marks on her arms and hands from where she tried to fight off the killer. There were also several stab wounds in her chest and neck.

After they went over the crime scene, the officers left but the detectives stayed behind to talk with Chief Sloan.

"Do you have any idea who would want to kill your wife?" Detective Kelly asked.

"Yes, I do," he replied. "I believe it was her boyfriend, Tommy Lee Lambert."

"Why do you think that?" asked Detective Rogers.

Chief Sloan replied, "Shirley has been seeing him for quite a while now. We have been having some marital problems for the last couple of years. Well, ever since we lost our daughter, Penny, in the car wreck. Shirley could never get over it and constantly blamed me for it. She's wanted a divorce for quite some time but I wouldn't give her one. I wanted to work things out and I thought things were getting better. She told me she was going to stop seeing Tommy Lee and try to make our marriage work. I guess when she told him I wasn't going to give her a divorce he figured he was never going to be able to have her all to himself and he wasn't going to let her go. I believe that was his motive. We had an appointment with a marriage counselor this Friday and hoped we'd be able to work through our problems. I want you to bring him in for questioning and if he did this I want him put away for the rest of his life."

"We'll get to the bottom of this, Chief. You need to get some rest," said Kelly.

"We'll take care of this. Don't worry about a thing. We'll find him, Chief," replied Rogers.

The detectives left and Chief Sloan watched as they got in the car and drove away. He closed the door, went back to the couch and laid down. His head was full of thoughts, especially about his daughter. If I hadn't been drinking that night when I went to pick up Penny at her friend's house, I wouldn't have had that wreck. And, if I hadn't been messing around with that other woman and was at home where I belonged, things may have been different, he said to himself. But, it is too late now.

He was never charged for his daughter's death because of who he was. Plus, he was also best friends with the district attorney, Thomas Barns, and Judge David Turner. They tried to keep things hush-hush about the wreck. And, he and Shirley tried to keep their personal life discreet. But, people knew. Rumors spread quickly around the small town and politics carried a lot of weight.

Later that evening, he went back to the station; he had to get out of the house. He just couldn't bear to stay there at home. He thought if he went back to work he could get things off his mind. When he got back to the station, he talked to detectives Rogers and Kelly. They had picked up Tommy Lee about an hour before he got there and brought him in for questioning. They were going to hold him until they could find out the truth about what happened.

Tommy Lee had a long criminal record. He had been in and out of jail most of his life. Tommy Lee was nineteen when he went to prison. He and his best friend, Chris, had been drinking one night when they accidently hit a boy on a bicycle on their way home from a party. The boy lived but was paralyzed the rest of his life. Tommy's probation officer, James Thompson, lied at the time and claimed Tommy Lee was driving the car when it was actually Chris, the probation officer's son; Chris was only sixteen at the time. Tommy was passed out in the passenger's seat when the wreck happened. Tommy was sent to prison and Chris got probation. Tommy's probation officer lied on the stand by saying Tommy Lee was driving that night. The D.A. and the judge covered up the truth about the wreck because of their friendship with James Thompson who also paid off the police officers that worked the wreck so they would testify Tommy Lee was driving the night the boy was hit. Tommy Lee was sent to prison for aggravated vehicular homicide. He was sentenced to fifteen years at Mountain City State Penitentiary. He had served eight years of the fifteen year sentence when the officers who testified against him came forth with the truth that he was not driving the car that hit the little boy. He was then released. Tommy Lee was twenty-seven years old when he got out of prison. Tommy Lee had been out of prison for five years when he met Shirley in a bar one night while Chief Sloan was out of town which led to a one night stand and eventually it became a longtime affair. The chief, too, at the time was having affairs. His and Shirley's marriage troubles began when he found out Shirley was having an affair with Tommy Lee. Especially the last year of their marriage when she started talking about leaving him. At first, he didn't think too much about her affair with Tommy Lee; he knew he was just as guilty and besides Tommy Lee was nothing but a loser. He thought it would all blow over after a few months and that would be the end of it. But, little did he know, Shirley had fallen in love with Tommy Lee.

The next day, the detectives put Tommy Lee in a line up and brought Miss Mae in to see if she could identify him. She looked each one over very carefully. At first, she wasn't for sure because of her eyes and she didn't want to make a mistake. After a few minutes, she thought she recognized the man she had seen. She pointed to Tommy Lee and told the detectives she believed he was the one she saw leaving the house and had seen him there several times before.

"Are you sure that's the man you saw leaving the house that morning?" questioned Rogers.

"Yes, I believe so," she replied. "I've seen him before. I'm pretty sure he's the one. He's only there when her husband is gone."

"Well, thank you, Miss Mae," replied Kelly. "We will have someone take you back home."

"Well, thank you, detective. I hope I have been some help."

"You have been very helpful," replied Rogers.

"You know, looking at them again," she said as she stopped and looked back, "they all look familiar. But, I guess that couldn't be," she chuckled. "I hope I have picked the right one," she said. "Yeah, I did. I'm sure I did."

The detectives took Tommy Lee in the interrogation room and questioned him.

"Where were you yesterday morning around eight-thirty or nine o'clock?" asked Rogers.

Tommy Lee didn't say anything.

"We have a witness that saw you leave Chief Sloan's house around that time."

"Yes, I was there that morning. Shirley called me to come over there because she wanted to tell me something. So, I stopped by for a few minutes. She told me she was leaving her husband and was going to file for a divorce. She wanted me to move away with her and start a new life. And, she also told me she was pregnant with my child. I asked her how she knew the child was mine. Her response was that women have their way of knowing."

"Then what happened?" asked Rogers.

"I told her to get her things together and I would come back to get her and we would leave. Then I left. She was alive when I left.

"Are you sure she was alive when you left?" questioned Kelly.

"I didn't kill her," he cried out. "I loved her and she was pregnant with my child."

"Where did you go when you left?" spoke up Kelly.

"I went home to get some things together," he replied. "When I came back to get her, the police was there. I knew something bad had happened but I didn't know what. So, I just drove on by. Later on that day, I heard she had been murdered. I didn't kill her," he stated. "I loved her and she loved me. You have to believe me. My God, she was pregnant with my child."

Then, suddenly without warning, Chief Sloan stormed in the room, grabbed a hold of Tommy Lee and threw him up against the wall. Detectives Rogers and Kelly quickly grabbed the chief and pulled him off Tommy Lee. As they held the chief back, he cussed and spit on Tommy Lee.

"You're a loser, Tommy Lee, and you'll never be any good. I'm going to put you away for the murder of my wife. You'll never see the light of day again."

"Calm down, Chief. Let us handle this," Rogers said as he led him to the door.

Don't worry, we'll take care of it, Chief," said Kelly.

"We'll get to the bottom of it," Rogers stated. "You need to leave and let us handle it."

Once they were finally able to get the chief to calm down and leave the room, they asked Tommy Lee a few more questions and then told him he was free to go but not to leave town.

A couple of days later, the detectives discussed the case. Things didn't seem hardly right to them. Miss Mae had picked Tommy Lee out of the line up as the man leaving the house at the time of the crime. However, the lab report confirmed Tommy Lee's prints weren't on the murder weapon.

Something about everything just doesn't feel right," said Rogers.

"Do you think Tommy Lee is telling the truth?" asked Kelly.

"I don't know," replied Rogers. "What do you think?"

"I'm not really sure," said Kelly. "But, who could have done it, the chief."

"Maybe; the thought has crossed my mind," replied Rogers.

Later on that day, they went downtown to the Oasis Bar to ask around about Tommy Lee and Shirley. They got a tip from a woman at the bar. She told them Tommy Lee and Shirley got in to a heated argument about a week ago. She told the detectives Tommy Lee threated to kill Shirley because if he couldn't have her no one else would. Within the next couple of days she was dead. When the detectives got back to the station, the chief called them into his office to see how the investigation was going. They told him but Chief Sloan didn't buy it.

"What did Tommy Lee tell you?" he asked.

"He said Shirley wanted to move away with him because she was pregnant with his child," stated Rogers.

"That's a lie," the chief exclaimed. "He killed her because we were working things out. She was going to break it off with him; she didn't want to see him anymore. I know because she told me. That's the reason he killed her. She wanted to stay with me."

The detectives were baffled. It was the chief's word against Tommy Lee's.

"The baby was not Tommy Lee's. Shirley told me the baby was mine. There's no question about it; I was the father."

"Chief, the only thing we have on Tommy Lee is one person who saw him coming out of your house around the time the murder was committed and one who overheard an argument between him and Shirley where he threatened to kill her," replied Kelly.

"All we have is circumstantial evidence," said Rogers.

"I think it's enough to charge him," Chief Sloan said. "Let's charge him and let his defense find a way to prove his innocence."

"Maybe you should talk to the D.A. first," insisted Kelly.

"I'll do that," he replied.

After the detectives left the chief's office, he immediately contacted the D.A. With an eyewitness placing Tommy Lee at the scene of the crime around the time of the murder, a witness who heard him threaten to kill her and a possible motive, the D.A. agreed to charge him. The D.A. believed he could persuade a jury to find him guilty of Shirley's murder and that of her unborn child.

Tommy Lee was picked up and brought back to the interrogation room but this time the D.A. was also there. The D.A. offered him a plea bargain, life without parole or a lesser charge of twenty-five to thirty years and parole at thirty percent. At first, he didn't say anything because he realized he was being railroaded and he was going back to prison one way or another. So, he took the lesser charge. He knew he wouldn't have a fighting chance in court. He figured after he went to prison, he could possibly get a lawyer to fight his case. It was a slim chance but the only chance he had. He was booked and sent to Mountain City State Prison. He was thirty-eight when he went back to prison.

As the years passed, Tommy Lee tried several times to get a lawyer to take his case but things didn't work out. There was so much politics involved and he finally gave up hope. Cave Hill didn't change much over the years. Chief Sloan finally retired and moved on with his life. He took up flying as a hobby and spent a lot of time flying his plane. He had drank so much through the years he got cirrhosis of the liver and the doctors only gave him so long to live. While he prison, Tommy Lee found the Lord and became a model prisoner. He had Bible studies with other inmates and the Lord used him to help lead others to the Lord. His hard work and devotion to the Lord finally paid off. He finally got a pardon from the governor and was released from prison on a medical charge. He had cancer and only a few years left to live. When he got out of prison, he moved up to the mountain where he became a recluse and spent time with the Lord. Tommy Lee had been out of prison three years and he knew his time was drawing near.

In the winter of 1965, a bad snowstorm hit as Sloan was flying over the mountain. As he tried to make it through the storm, he started having engine trouble. Out of his side window, he could see flames coming out of his left engine and clouds of black smoke. He frantically looked for a place to land in the rugged terrain. Finally, he spotted a small field and tried to send out a distress signal but his radio was out. All he could hear was static. Carefully, he eased the plane down toward the field trying not to crash. The wheels of the plane touched down and broke off which caused the plane to slide in on its belly. He braced himself as the plane flipped end over end. The right wing broke off right before the plane crashed in to a tree. He was pinned in the wreckage and couldn't move; the plane burst out in to flames. It so happened, Tommy Lee was close by and saw the plane going down. When he got to the crash site, he found Sloan pinned in the wreckage. Quickly, he pulled him out and drug to safety before the plane exploded. At first, he didn't know who the man was and Sloan didn't recognize him since they had both changed over the years. Tommy Lee had gained weight, he had long white hair and had grown a long white beard. Sloan had gained weight, too, mostly in his belly, and was bald with a shadow of a beard. Tommy Lee took him back to his cabin to help him. The storm raged as they fought their way back to the cabin which was not far from the crash site. As the days passed, Tommy Lee nursed Sloan back to health. He remembered who Sloan was but didn't tell him. Sloan still didn't recognize Tommy Lee. Tommy Lee thought about how wrong Sloan had done him. At first, he was angry but only for a few minutes. Tommy Lee forgave him just as the Lord had forgiven him. He believed everyone had done wrong things in life that can't be undone. He knew nothing would ever change what happened years ago. He had the Lord and that was all that mattered to him. And, Sloan would have to work things out with the Lord himself. Tommy Lee talked to Sloan about the Lord and tried to help him but Sloan had no time for it. Sloan was bitter and filled with hate; he didn't want to hear about the Lord. He blamed everyone else for the things that happened to him in his life. Most of all, he blamed the Lord. It took Sloan about a month to get better. By that time, the weather had improved enough for Tommy Lee to take Sloan back to Cave Hill. A year later, Sloan died never knowing it was Tommy Lee who helped him. About six months after that, Tommy Lee died. They were both buried in Cave Hill's cemetery, not too far apart from each other. The truth of Shirley's murder went to the grave with them.

*****

In the Light of Day

Sunset Motel

The year was 1973, in the town of Willow Brook, Mississippi in Moore County. It had been raining hard most of the day. Three inches of rain had already fallen. The driving winds of the storm sent sheets of rain hard across the parking lot of the Sunset Motel on Highway 109. The thunder roared fiercely in the background of the dark night sky as lightning tore through the darkness of the stormy night. The lights of the motel were flickering on and off as a car slowly pulled up in front of the office. The motel clerk saw the car when it pulled up but no one came in. He looked out the window and saw someone sitting in the car with the headlights still on as the windshield wipers moved back and forth. The person inside the car waited a few minutes for the rain to ease up before they got out. The driver left the car running, got out and ran toward the office door. It was a woman; she was alone. She was nearly soaked as she made her way in and wiped the rain off her face.

"It's a bad night to be out," said Jimmy the motel clerk. "Can I help you?"

At first she didn't say anything. She nervously looked out as she watched a car pass by.

"I need a room," she replied as she turned toward the window and looked out.

The clerk noticed how uneasy and nervous she seemed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "I'm fine, just a little tired. I'll be okay once I get a little rest."

"Her you go. If you will, sign in here."

The woman wrote her name, Diane Riddle, down on the register. He couldn't help but notice how bad her hands were shaking as she signed in.

"Here's your key," he said. "You'll be in room 14, all the way at the end."

She quickly took the key, almost jerking it out of his hand.

She turned to leave but then stopped and asked, "Could you call me in the morning around eight o'clock?"

"Yes, ma'am, I can," he replied.

She left the office and ran back to her car. The rain was still falling hard and it didn't seem like it would let up for a while. She got back in her car, drove across the parking lot and pulled in the parking space in front of her motel room. Jimmy watched from the office window as she got out of her car; she was still looking back over her shoulder toward the highway. She hurried to unlock the door but dropped the key. Quickly, she picked up the key, unlocked the door and disappeared into her room. He thought she was acting awfully strange but shook his head and didn't think much more about it. As the night went on, the rain began to let up. Thunder could still be heard in the distance as the storm slowly moved out. There wasn't as much lightning as it was earlier but every now and then a streak of lightning lit up the sky. A couple of hours later, while Jimmy was sitting in the office listening to the radio, he noticed a car pull in at the edge of the parking lot and stop. He looked up at the clock; it was almost 10:30. Whoever was in the car turned the headlights off but left the parking lights on. The rain had finally eased up and it was only a fine drizzle. The car sat there with its windshield wipers slowly moving back and forth. Jimmy tried to see if he could make out who it was but it was too dark and too far away from the office. The car sat there for about fifteen minutes before the headlights came back on. The car pulled back onto the highway and left. What a strange night, he thought. It must be the weather, he said to himself.

Around six o'clock the next morning, Jimmy got up and looked out. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining. As he went about his morning business, he glanced down toward the end of the motel. The woman's car was still there. About that time, a couple came in the office to checkout. Before he could finish checking them out, another man came in. He was also ready to checkout.

"That was a bad storm last night," spoke up the young man.

"It was pretty rough there for a while," Jimmy replied.

"I bet that wind probably blew some trees down," said the other man. "I thought we were going to have a tornado there for a while."

"I was thinking the same thing," replied Jimmy, "but I haven't heard anything on the radio this morning about one touching down anywhere."

"I am so glad it didn't," the young man replied.

"Thanks for stopping by," Jimmy told them as they were leaving. "Have a good day."

The morning had been pretty busy and time had flew by. When he looked up at the clock, it was about three minutes before eight. He picked up the phone and called her room. However, there was no answer. He tried again and let it ring several times but there was still no answer. He leaned over the desk to see if her car was still there and it was. Well, at least he believed it was. It was still parked in the same spot. He couldn't make out the model or color of the car last night because it was so dark and rainy when she came in. But, he was pretty sure it was hers. He called the room again, still no answer. Worried, he went to check on her. When he got here, he knocked on the door and it slightly opened. Through the small crack in the door, he called out to her; she didn't answer. He called out again and there still wasn't an answer. Slowly, he placed his hand against the door, cautiously eased it open and called out again.

"Hello," he said as he opened the door and looked in.

The room had been ransacked like there had been a fight or struggle. But, the woman was nowhere to be found. As he looked about the room at all the mess, he noticed the bedcovers were hanging halfway off the bed, her clothes were thrown everywhere and her suitcase was lying open against the wall. The light beside the bed had been knocked off and broken. He noticed the bathroom door was closed. He knocked on the bathroom door and called out again before he opened it. The mirror had been broken and the shower curtain was dangling from the rod. Still, there was no sight of her so he took off running back to the office and called the police.

When the police arrived, Detective Ronnie Johnson and Detective Kenneth Howard questioned him. Jimmy explained to them what had happened.

"Last night, she came in to get a room. I noticed she seemed to be uneasy or afraid of something because she kept looking back. She kept watching cars pass by the motel like someone was following her. I asked her if she was alright and she told me she was. When she was leaving the office, she asked me to call her room the next morning around eight o'clock. I told her I would and I did. There was no answer. I called several times but she didn't answer. I was worried so I went to check on her. When I got there, I knocked on the door and called out. Still, no answer. When I opened the door, I saw the room was a total wreck. Then, I called you."

"Can you remember anything else? Did you see anyone outside her room?" asked Detective Johnson.

"No, I didn't," he replied. "It was storming so bad I could hardly see anything."

"What about the people next door?" Detective Howard questioned.

"That room was empty. Oh, wait a minute. There was something else strange that happened."

"What's that?" Johnson asked.

"About ten-thirty," he said, "I saw another car pull in and stop at the edge of the parking lot. It sat there about fifteen minutes and then left."

"Did you get a good look at the car?" replied Howard.

"No," he answered, "not really. It was dark and the car was too far away."

The detectives went over to her car and looked it over. Everything seemed to be okay. They looked at the license plate; it had an Arkansas tag. Detective Howard called the plate in as Johnson looked in the glove compartment and found the registration. The car was registered to a Diane Riddle. Jimmy then spoke up and told Detective Johnson she signed in under that name. Johnson went inside the room and looked around. Shortly after, Detective Howard went in and told him the tag was registered to her also. They checked the room. There wasn't any sign of a forced entry or blood. They found her purse lying on the floor next to the bed. Her driver's license was still in her wallet with a little dab of money. She also had her bank book, lipstick, a few pictures and some other things in her purse. Her car keys were on the nightstand.

Johnson asked Jimmy, "Did you see or hear anything last night?"

He replied, "No, I didn't see or hear anything. I usually close the office around elven or eleven-thirty and I didn't see nothing."

"What do you make of it, Ronnie?" asked Kenneth. "It's obvious something happened in this room," he said. "It appears she put up quite a struggle."

"It looks that way to me, too," replied Kenneth.

They were walking back to their car when they heard a call come in on the radio. Ronnie reached in and answered the call. It was from an officer who had found an abandoned car about a half mile up the road from the motel and there appeared to be smeared blood on the trunk.

"Wait there. We are on our way," Ronnie replied.

Quickly, the detectives took off. About a half mile up the road, they pulled in behind the officer's squad car. When they got out and walked up to the car, they saw the smeared blood on the trunk. They searched in and around the car. Kenneth noticed the car had an Arkansas license plate. Kenneth called it in while Detective Johnson check the glove compartment for the registration. The car was registered to a Barry Sadler. In a matter of minutes, it was confirmed the car was Barry Sadler's. Detective Johnson pried the trunk open with a tire tool. When the trunk popped open, the body of a man was inside. From the look of things he had been hit in the head with a metal rod or tire tool. There was blood splattered on the back of the car and blood on the ground. The detectives looked for anything that would help them identify the man. However, there was no I.D., wallet or anything. The officer who found the car was searching the ditch beside the road when he yelled out he had found something. It was the possible murder weapon, a bloody tire tool. The detectives went over to where the officer was and bagged the tire tool as evidence. They all continued to search in and around the car for any evidence that would give them an idea of what happened. Any evidence, no matter how big or small, would help solve the case.

A few days later, the detectives received the crime lab report. The bloody, smeared prints on the trunk of Barry Sadler's car were too smeared to get any identification from them. But, the blood on the car was Barry Sadler's. The only prints found on the bloody tire tool belonged to Sadler. The detectives assumed the killer must have worn gloves. There was nothing in the report that would help explain the woman's disappearance from the motel.

The detectives brought Jimmy Ferguson, the desk clerk at the motel, in to see if he could identify the abandoned car. He told them he believed it was the same car he saw pull in at the edge of the motel parking lot that night. But, he wasn't positive since it was dark and rainy. He just wasn't sure.

The detectives put out an all-points bulletin for the missing woman, Diane Riddle. Detective Johnson called the Dry Rock, Arkansas police department in Griffin County since Diane and Barry Sadler were both from there. He talked to Detective Paul Johnson about the situation. He told him Diane Riddle was missing and the body of Barry Sadler had been found. Detective Johns told Johnson he would check in to the situation and see what he could find out. The first thing Detective Johns did was check with the missing person's department at the station. He found out Diane's husband, Robert Riddle, had filed a missing person's report on his wife. Detective Johns went to talk with Robert Riddle about his wife and he sent Detective Hackett to speak with Barry Sadler's family. Both detectives thought there might be a connection between the two. Detective Johns arrived at the Riddle's house as Robert Riddle was pulling in from work. When Robert first saw him he thought his wife had been found.

"Have you found Diane?" he asked as he got out of the car.

"No, we haven't," Detective Johns replied. "But, we do have some information about her."

"What is it?" he asked. "Is she okay?"

"We found out she rented a motel room in Willow Brook, Mississippi. The morning after she checked in, the motel clerk called her room because she had requested a wakeup call. However, she didn't answer. He went to her room but she wasn't there. Her car was still there so it's possible she left with someone," stated Johns. "The police in Willow Brook are looking for her. They have put out and all-points bulletin for her so maybe she'll be located soon. Mr. Riddle, why did you report your wife missing?"

Robert replied, "A couple of days ago, I went out of town on business. When I got back home, she was gone. At first, I didn't think much about it. I thought she was out and about running errands or shopping. That night when she didn't come home, I became worried. I didn't know what to think. I was worried and afraid something bad had happened to her. I didn't know what to believe. I was up all night worrying about her. The next day, I called the police and filed a missing person's report because it's not like her to do anything like this. We have only been married about a year. We met at a restaurant in Little Rock. I was at the bar with some of my friends when I first noticed her sitting at a nearby table. Our eyes connected; we gave each other a few flirty looks before I went over and sat down with her at her table. We hit it off immediately and one thing led to another. That night, I spent the night at her apartment. The rest is history. We started dating and a couple of months later we got married."

"Were y'all having any marital problems?" questioned Johns.

"No! No!" he cried out. "Everything was fine. We hardly ever have any problems or arguments. We have a good marriage."

"Do you think she might be having an affair?" Johns asked.

"Of course not," he replied. "I am sure of that."

"Well, then, do you know why she was in Mississippi?" questioned Johns. "Do you have family or friends down there?"

"No, we don't," he replied. "All our family is up north. That's where we're both from. All our friends live here. We moved here to Dry Rock when I got this job. None of this makes any sense to me. It's crazy."

"Do you know of anyone who would want to harm her?" asked Johns.

"No, no one I can think of," he replied. "Why?"

"Have you received any threats or ransom messages?"

"Why? Do you think she's been kidnapped?" he asked.

"I don't know. Right now, at this point, I'm working with detectives in Mississippi to see if we can locate her. Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"No, not right now," he replied. "There is nothing much to tell. She was here one day and gone the next."

"Well, thank you, Mr. Riddle," said Johns. "When I find out more, I will let you know."

"Do you think she has been murdered?" he asked.

"I don't know," replied Johns. "Oh, by the way, do you know a Barry Sadler?"

"He and my wife works at the same bank," said Robert.

"What bank is that?" asked Johns.

"Southern State Bank," he replied. "I met him a time or two when I went to pick Diane up for lunch."

"Do you think they might be having an affair?" questioned Johns.

"No, not really," he said. "Diane and I have a faithful marriage. I just don't believe she would cheat on me and I haven't cheated on her."

"Do you know much about him?" asked Johns.

"No, not really," he said. "All I know is that he worked at the bank. Diane never talked about him. Why do you ask?"

"They found him dead in the trunk of his car about a half a mile up the road from where you wife got a motel room," stated Johns.

"That's strange," he replied. "Do you think there is a connection?"

"Right now, I don't know. It's a possibility. Well, I have to go," said Johns. "Thanks for all your help. I'll keep in touch."

Detective Johns left, called Detective Hackett and told him to meet him at Southern State Bank. When Hackett pulled up at the bank, Detective Johns pulled in behind him.

"Why are we here?" questioned Hackett.

"Because Diane Riddle and Barry Sadler both work here," replied Johns as they entered the bank and walked up to the teller.

"How may I help you, sir?" the teller asked.

"We're detectives Johns and Hackett and we'd like to speak with the manager," said Hackett.

She called the manager, Amanda Shelton, and told her two detectives were there to see her. Amanda instructed her to bring them to her office.

"May I help you?" she greeted the detectives.

"I'm Detective Hackett and this is Detective Johns. We want to talk to you about Barry Sadler and Diane Riddle

"What about them?" she asked.

"A missing person's report has been filed for Diane Riddle," replied Detective Hackett, "and Barry Sadler's dead body was found dead in the trunk of his car in Mississippi."

"Oh, no," she cried out, "how awful."

"How well do you know them?" Johns asked.

"Well, I don't really know much," she said. "Diane took a leave of absence a few days ago and I haven't seen her since. You say she is missing."

"Yes, ma'am," replied Hackett.

"Diane came in a few days ago," said Amanda, "and told me she needed some time off from work. So, I let her off. Barry came in a couple of days later and told me he was quitting. I haven't heard from him either."

"What kind of work relationship did they have?" questioned Hackett.

"They seemed to get along well here at work," she said. "They talked a lot. I never had any problem out of either of them. They were both good employees."

"Were they having an affair?" asked Johns.

"No, I don't believe so," she replied. "I don't know what they did when they weren't here but I don't believe they were having an affair. They didn't seem to be more than working friends. Plus, I have never seem them together anywhere but here at work. Excuse me for a minute," she said when her phone rang. "Yes," she answered. "I'll be right there. Excuse me for just a minute, detectives. I'll be right back."

She left and the detectives waited in her office. About twenty minutes later, she returned.

"I'm sorry about the interruption," she said. "That was the president of the bank. He just found out there is a large sum of money missing from the bank. He suspects Barry may have taken it."

Stunned, the detectives looked at each other and then at her.

"Do you think there could be a connection with Diane, Barry and the missing money?" she questioned.

"It sure is a surprising coincidence," said Hackett.

"Thank you, ma'am, for your time and the information. If you hear anything else, please give us a call," stated Johns.

"I will," she replied.

The missing money became a piece of the investigation puzzle. The next day, Detective Johns contacted Detective Johnson in Willow Brook and told him about the bank's missing money and that Barry Sadler was the suspected thief. The detective in Mississippi had run in to a dead-end. However, all of them agreed there was definitely a connection with Diane, Barry and the missing money from the bank. Detective Johns told Johnson they would keep in touch as they continued to investigate.

It was a couple of days later when they received a tip from a bus clerk at the Jackson, Mississippi bus station. A woman fitting Diane's description had been seen at the bus station. They weren't for sure it was her but she resembled her a lot. Detectives Johnson and Howard took off to Jackson to speak with the clerk. They arrived in Jackson within a couple of hours. The bus clerk told them the woman she saw favored the police sketch. The only differences were her hair was longer, it was a different color and she had on glasses. The reason she remembered her was she seemed nervous and kept looking around like someone was following her.

"At first, I didn't think anything about how she acted; I see people acting strange all the time. I was off work the next couple of days after I saw her. When I came back to work, I saw the police bulletin and sketch on the board in the breakroom. The woman looked awfully familiar and then I remembered I had seen her here at the station," she explained.

"Do you know where she bought a ticket to?" asked Johnson.

"No, sir, not right off," she replied. "But, I believe it was up north somewhere."

"Was she alone?" asked Howard.

"Yes, sir," she replied. "I don't remember seeing her with anyone. Before she got on the bus, she did use the payphone."

"We appreciate you giving us a call," stated Johnson. "If you see her in here again, give us a call immediately."

"Yes, sir, I will."

On the way back to Willow Brook, Johnson and Howard put their heads together to try to piece everything together. They discussed their ideas and speculation about the case trying to put the scattered pieces together.

"Let's get Detective Johns and Hackett to check the bank's phone records. Maybe that will help us figure out if they were more than just working friends."

The next day, Detective Johns and Hackett arrived at the bank with the bank's phone records in hand to talk with Amanda Shelton again. They confronted Amanda about the phone records.

"Why did Diane Riddle call you from the Jackson, Mississippi bus station?" Detective Johns asked.

"She didn't call me," she replied.

"It says right here that she did," he said as he showed her the phone records.

"I assure you I haven't talked to her since she asked for a few days off. She may have called the bank but I swear to you I have not talked to her."

The detectives left, contacted Detective Johnson back in Willow Brook and told him what they had found out. As the hours passed, Johnson and Howard battled with the case. They contacted Diane's husband, family and friends to see if they had heard from her. But, no one had. Days and weeks went by and there was still no sign of Diane. She seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth and the case became a cold case.

A few months later, Amanda Shelton quit her job, left town and moved to Toronto Canada where she met up with her friend, Diane Riddle. Little did anyone know, Amanda and Diane worked together to steal the money. They used Barry to steal the money and once they had the money, they killed him. That night at the motel Diane got the room and Barry met her there. She and Barry trashed the room and then she left with him. Amanda, who had been waiting outside the motel in her car, followed them. About a half a mile up the road from the motel, Diane turned on Barry and killed him. After Diane killed Barry, she and Amanda put his body in the trunk of his car. Amanda drove Diane to the next town, Jackson, Mississippi. Diane, in disguise, took a bus to Memphis. From there, she took a plane to Chicago and then to Toronto Canada where she waited for Amanda. After Amanda let Diane out at the bus station, she went back home and went to work. A couple of months later, Amanda moved to Toronto to be with Diane. About two years later, someone thought they had seen Diane in Toronto but they weren't for sure it was her. There had been several calls to the station of people who thought they had spotted her. But, nothing ever panned out. Diane's husband finally went on with his life. He moved to Texas where he remarried and had three children.

About five years after her disappearance, Diane's body was found in an apartment in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. She had been murdered; the case was never solved. The suspect in the case was a woman who had been seen with Diane the night she was killed. The description of that woman fit the description of Amanda Shelton who also disappeared and was never found.

*****

In the Light of Day

Jones Street

It was a beautiful summer day in 1965 in the small town of Spring Creek, North Carolina in Taylor County. Spring Creek was your average American town that set nestled back in a cove along the North Carolina coastline. Donald McCarter had lived there all his life. Betty Jean, his wife, moved to Spring Creek in the eighth grade from Hawkins Branch, Ohio. They became good friends in middle school and then high school sweethearts. Donald was a year ahead of her in school. In her junior year, she got pregnant and had to drop out of school. Donald went on to graduate and they married after his graduation. They had a baby girl and named her Linda. Not long after that, Donald was drafted and sent to Vietnam. He had been over there a little over a year when he was killed.

About five years later, Betty Jean started dating Neal Jenkins, a man she met at work. Neal was from Lake Shore, South Carolina. After his second divorce he transferred from his job in Lake Shore to the Spring Creek plant. They started talking, became good friends and then started dating. They dated for a year before they finally got married and bought a house on Jones Street. Everything went well for the first two years. They seemed to be so happy; they were a typical, average American family. But, little did Betty Jean know, Neal had a dark side and a dark secret in his past. It was in their third year of marriage when he began to change. He became extremely jealous of her. And, he was verbally and physically abusive to her and Linda. He became possessive of her and constantly accused her of seeing other men which she wasn't. Whenever she spoke or talked to another man, he accused her of running around on him. She tried and tried to tell him nothing was going on but he wouldn't believe her. She told him over and over how much she loved him and she wouldn't cheat on him for nothing in the world. Eventually, he made her quit her job and stay at home. She wasn't allowed to go out of the house unless he was with her. She became a prisoner in her own home. Very seldom was she seen out in public anymore unless he was with her.

Donald had a brother, Billy, who also worked at the plant. Betty Jean and Billy were real close. He was like a brother to her and she was like a sister to him. But, Neal didn't see it that way. He believed the relationship between Billy and Betty Jean was more than that. Whenever Billy would ask him about Betty Jean, Neal would cut him off. Neal was especially jealous of Billy. He accused them of having an affair behind his back. He did everything he could to stop Billy from coming by their house. He felt he wasn't there to see him, only Betty Jean. Billy was concerned about her and would stop by from time to time to check on her and Linda until Betty Jean told him to stop coming. She told him she was alright. However, she wasn't. Billy, didn't buy it. He could tell she was unhappy and miserable but he also believed she loved Neal. Why, he couldn't figure out. Billy confronted Neal several times about what he suspected but Betty Jean always defended Neal. Whenever Billy did visit, everything seemed to be fine. Betty Jean never told Billy what was really going on at home and that she was afraid of Neal. Before Neal made her quit her job and stay at home, whenever he saw Billy and her talking at work, when they got home, he would whip her with his belt and accuse her of slipping around on him. Billy tried to talk her in to leaving him several times because he suspected Neal was abusing her. She wouldn't leave him because she was afraid of what he might do. Betty Jean never would come out and tell Billy what was really going on. She was afraid of what Neal might do to her and Billy. The physical and verbal abuse to Betty Jean and Linda went on and on.

After Betty Jean quit work, she got pregnant with Neal's child. Neal denied the baby was his and never claimed it. He believed it was Billy's child. After she got pregnant, Neal kept her locked in the house. She wasn't allowed to go anywhere without him or have any friends. He took Linda, who was also afraid of him, to school and picked her up. Betty Jean and Linda were held hostage in their own home. Neal started drinking more. The more he drank, the more abusive he became. Neal did everything he could to isolate them from the outside world. Billy went to Linda's school to try to talk to her but she wouldn't say anything because she was afraid of what Neal might do to her and her mama. Billy would drop by every once in a while to see Betty Jean and Linda when Neal was not at home. Betty Jean would meet him at the door and wouldn't let him in. When he tried to talk to her, Betty Jean would tell him that everything was alright and ask him to leave.

One day, Billy had to go out of town for a couple of weeks. He had to go to Lake Shore, South Carolina to do some training on a new job. While he was there, he did some asking around about Neal Jenkins. He was hoping he would find out something about Neal to help convince Betty Jean to leave him. After he was there a few days, he asked some of the other workers about him. A lot of them didn't really know much about him. It appeared Neal stayed to himself a lot. He didn't have too many close friends. It was about the beginning of the second week before he finally found someone who knew him pretty well. After talking to one of his co-workers, he found out Neal had been married twice before and his first wife had supposedly committed suicide.

"She was a good friend of his first wife," the co-worker said. "There were a lot of unanswered questions about her suicide. I still don't believe my best friend was capable of harming herself. As far as I'm concerned, there was more to it than what it looked like. They had only been married about three years when it happened. I just can't accept that my best friend could have done such a thing. After they got married, my friend changed a lot. I didn't think too much about it at first but around the second year of their marriage, I hardly ever saw her much at all. She quit her job and stayed home. Neal didn't really have any close friends that I know of. He seemed to stay to himself a lot. I believe deep down inside he had something to do with it. But, the police didn't have enough to go on. The police took him in for questioning. However, they didn't have enough evidence to charge him. Why are you so interested in Neal anyway?"

"My brother was killed in Vietnam and Neal married the lady who was married to him. I'm worried about her and her daughter."

"I don't trust Neal," she said. They may be in danger."

"Do you know if Neal was abusive to your friend?"

"I think so but I really don't know. My friend never told me he was. I suspected it. However, I never could get any proof of it. Neal was jealous of her. I don't think she was very happy the last two years of her life. Besides, after she married Neal, I hardly ever saw her."

A couple of days later, he ran in to another co-worker who also knew Neal. Billy asked him how well he knew Neal.

"We used to drink at the local bar in town on weekends. Neal seemed to be a troubled man," he stated. "Neal's second wife who also worked here at the plant was killed in a car wreck. There were a lot of unanswered questions about the cause of her accident. I dated her before she and Neal married. When I stopped seeing her, she took up with Neal. The police report stated the brake line on her car appeared to have been tampered with. However, it was never confirmed. Neal was taken in for questioning but they had to let him go since he had a solid alibi. From what I heard, she and Neal had a heated argument the day she was killed. It was pouring down rain the night she was killed. The police believed she stepped on her brakes to slow down when she started to go around a curve and the brakes went out. She was going pretty fast when she hit the guardrail; the car flipped over and hit a tree. She died at the scene of the wreck."

"Do you know if Neal abused her in any way?" Billy asked.

"I don't know. After she married Neal, she quit work and I lost contact with her. I know for a fact Neal was at the bar the night she was killed because we drank a few beers together. One thing I know for sure is Neal was real jealous of her."

"Do you think Neal had something to do with her death?"

The co-worker paused a minute and said. "Yeah, that has crossed my mind. He is a strange person. Yeah, he could have. But, there was no real proof."

During the time Billy was out of town, Neal got up out of bed one night after he had been drinking and went into Linda's room. He told Linda to be quiet and not make a sound or he would kill her and her mother. Betty Jean woke up, saw he wasn't in bed and sensed something wasn't right. She got up and went downstairs to the living room to look for him. That's when she heard an upstairs door close. She looked upstairs and saw Neal coming out of Linda's room. She knew exactly what had happened. She screamed out and ran up the stairs to get to Linda's room. Neal met her at the top of the steps and grabbed her by the arm. As she fought to get loose from him, she slipped and fell backwards down the stairs. Shen Linda came out of her bedroom and looked over the balcony, she saw Neal standing over her unconscious mother laying at the bottom of the stairs. Linda screamed and ran down the steps to her. She couldn't get her mother to wake up.

"Call an ambulance!" she screamed at Neal but he wouldn't.

Linda called the police and told them she need an ambulance to because she couldn't get her mother to wake up.

"What happened?" Linda looked at Neal and asked.

"She fell down the steps."

Within a few minutes, the police and ambulance arrived. Betty Jean was still unconscious. The police asked Linda what happened.

"I really don't know. I was in my room when I heard something. When I came out, I looked over the balcony and saw her lying at the foot of the stairs."

When the officers asked Neal what happened, they could tell he was drunk.

"I got up to go to the bathroom. When I came out of the bathroom, I heard a noise. I looked down from the balcony and saw her laying there. I don't really know what happened.

Betty Jean was loaded in the ambulance and taken to the hospital; Linda rode with them. Neal rode with the officers because he was too drunk to drive. When they arrived at the hospital, Neal and Linda waited in the waiting room. They had to wait for about an hour before the doctor came out to give them an update on her condition.

"Mr. Jenkins, I'm sorry to tell you but your wife lost the baby. She has a concussion but she is awake. Do you know how the bruises got on her body?"

"I guess she must have gotten them from the fall," Neal answered.

The doctor seemed to think otherwise. Linda didn't say a word.

"Can I see my mama now?" Linda asked.

"Sure," replied the doctor, "but only for a few minutes. She needs her rest."

"Thanks, doctor," Linda said as she hurried off to see Betty Jean.

"Mr. Jenkins, we're going to keep her in the hospital for a few days for observation. Again, I'm sorry," the doctor said, "about the loss of your baby."

Neal just dropped his head and sat down in a nearby chair. An officer went over to talk with the doctor. After talking with the doctor, the officer went over to question Neal but he was uncooperative.

"I want to see my wife," Neal said as he jumped up. "I will not answer any questions until after I see my wife."

The officer allowed him to go in and see Betty Jean. About ten minutes later, Neal and Linda came out. The officer questioned Neal about what happened and how she got the bruises on her body.

"I don't know," he said. "They had to come from the fall. My God, man, I have lost my child. Can't we do this at another time?"

"I'll come back tomorrow," the officer replied, "and talk to Betty Jean."

The next day, Billy returned home from Lake Shore. He ran in to a buddy of his from work who told him Betty Jean was in the hospital. He immediately rushed to the hospital to see her. When he got there, Linda was the only one there with her. Neal had gone home but was going to come back later.

"What happened, Betty Jean?" he asked.

"I slipped on the steps and fell," she replied, turning her head.

She told him the same story she told the officer but Linda didn't say a word. Billy could tell she was lying. He was about to tell Betty Jean what he found out about Neal but then Neal walked in. Neal and Billy got in a heated argument so Betty Jean asked Billy to please leave. Billy just shook his head, turned and walked out. After Billy left the hospital, he went down to the police station and talked to the officer who answered the call that night. As they talked, Billy filled him in on what he found out about Neal in Lake Shore. The officer also had his suspicions about Neal. However, he couldn't do anything unless Betty Jean and Linda would come out and tell the truth about what happened and what had been going on. Billy told the officer he would do what he could to find out what really happened.

The next day, Billy went back to the hospital to talk to the doctor who treated her the night she was brought in. The doctor told him about the bruises. The doctor, in his opinion, was sure the fall did not call all the bruises. Unless Betty Jean came forth with the truth, they would never know. However, Billy was determined to get to the bottom of it. A couple of days later, Betty Jean was released from the hospital and went home.

One afternoon, Billy went to the school to talk to Linda. He got there a little before school let out. As soon as he saw her come out the door, he yelled for her. She looked up, saw it was Billy and started walking toward his car. She had almost made it to his car when she saw Neal turning in. She stopped, went over to Neal's car and got in. Neal never noticed Billy was there.

A few days later, Billy stopped by to check on Betty Jean. As he approached the porch, he heard a scream coming from inside the house. He ran upon the porch, banged on the door and called out for Betty Jean and Linda. He heard another scream and then kicked the door open. As he entered, he saw Betty Jean standing over Neal's lifeless body with a bloody butcher knife in her hand. Linda ran toward Billy and grabbed him. Betty Jean and Linda were both crying; they were tore all to pieces. Betty Jean's left eye was nearly swollen shut and she was bleeding from her nose and mouth. Billy held them both to comfort them. Once he got them to calm down, he bent down to check on Neal. He slowly turned Neal's body over and realized he had been stabbed. Billy decided it would be best for Betty Jean and Linda to wait in his car until the police arrived. As they neared the door, all of a sudden, Neal grabbed Billy from behind. Betty Jean and Linda screamed. Billy turned quickly and punched Neal in the face. As Neal was falling to the floor, he hit his head on the corner of the table and passed out. About that time, the police pulled up. Billy figured some of the neighbors had called them when they heard all the commotion. As Billy, Betty Jean and Linda stepped out onto the porch, the officer asked them what happened. Betty Jean and Linda was so upset they couldn't talk. The ambulance arrived and took Neal to the hospital. Billy told the officer he would take Betty Jean and Linda to the hospital so they could get checked out. The officer followed them to the hospital because he still wanted to question Betty Jean.

"Mrs. Jenkins, can you tell me exactly what happened?" asked the officer.

"We got in an argument and before I knew it I had picked up a knife and stabbed him," she replied.

Betty Jean told the officer everything that had been going on with her and Neal. She also told him Neal had raped her daughter. Billy took Betty Jean and Linda down to the police station to press charges. Neal was arrested for domestic violence, assault and rape. At first she was afraid but she knew she had to do something before he ended up killing her and Linda. Plus, she couldn't take it anymore. Billy told the officer they would be staying with him.

About a week later, they went before the judge and she got an order of protection against him. The judge kept Neal in jail and denied him bond. Billy took Betty Jean to a lawyer and she filed for divorce. A few months later, Neal went to court. He was convicted of aggravated domestic violence, aggravated rape and aggravated assault. He received thirty-five years in prison. Finally, the nightmare was over. Soon after, she and Linda started counseling.

Six months later, Betty Jean and Linda moved back to Hawkins Branch, Ohio to live. She and Billy kept in touch over the years. Betty Jean never remarried and Linda went on to college and majored in human services. She worked with troubled families and domestic violence victims. Billy stayed in Spring Creek until he retired. Neal served ten years in prison before he went before the parole board; he was denied parole. A year later, he was found hanging in his cell. It appeared to be a suicide but was it. Later on, Linda wrote her first book, Jones Street.

*****

Discover other titles by Bobby A. Troutt at Smashwords.com

Beyond the Truth

A Cry in the Wind

Thistles and Thorns

Dead Limbs and Leaves

Troubled Waters

When Autumn Falls

When Time Was

Bittersweet

Sycamore Tales

Stepping Out on a Limb

Odds n Ends

Turning Point

The Fall of Night

In Times of Quitting

Still Wind, Forgotten Days

In Times of Trouble

Special Moments

The Fall of Autumn

Reaching Forward

Still Voice

Sounds of Many Waters

The Wings of a Dove

Bobby A. Troutt is a southern writer who writes a variety of short stories, spiritual books and children's books.
