The Price of Beauty in Strawberry Land

BOOK: The Price of Beauty in Strawberry Land
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The Price of Beauty in Strawberry Land

Carson Reno Mystery Series

Gerald W. Darnell

The Price of Beauty in Strawberry Land

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2011 Gerald W. Darnell

All Rights Reserved .This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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The

Price

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
of

 
 
 
Beauty
 
 
 
in

Strawberry Land

 

A Carson Reno Mystery

 

Written by

Gerald W. Darnell

Be sure to check out Carson Reno’s other Mystery Adventures

 

Murder in Humboldt

 

Killer Among Us

 

Horse Tales

SU
nset
 
4

 
the
 
 
Crossing

Cast of Characters

 

Carson Reno - Private Detective

Rita - Hostess Starlight Lounge

Marcie – Peabody Hotel Telephone Operator

Andy – Bartender at the
‘Down Under’

Nickie/Ronnie Woodson – Owners Chiefs Motel and Restaurant

Tommy Trubush – carhop Chiefs

Jack Logan – Attorney/Partner

Leroy Epsee – Sheriff Gibson County

Jeff Cole – Deputy Gibson County

Scotty Perry – Deputy Gibson County

Elizabeth Teague – Airline Stewardess and friend of Carson’s

Mary Ellen Maxwell – Humboldt Socialite and owner of Maxwell Trucking

Judy Strong – Vice President of Maxwell Trucking

Gerald Wayne – Owner Wayne Knitting Mill

Nuddy – Bartender Humboldt Country Club

Dr. Barker - Coroner

Larry Parker – Chief of Detectives Shelby County

Brian Jeffers – Ex-Mayor of Memphis

Monica Jeffers – Wife of Brian Jeffers

Mason ‘Booker-T’ Brown – Head porter Peabody Hotel

Barry ‘Butch’ Lassiter – Chief Aide to Mayor

Darlene Lassiter – Wife of Barry Lassiter

Kathy Ledbetter – Employee Bosley Buick

Sam Ledbetter – Husband of Kathy Ledbetter

Charles/Carlon Bosley – Brothers and owners of Bosley Buick

Roger Thurbush – Mayor of Memphis

Susan Oakley – Mayor’s political advisor

Randy Price – Mayor’s bodyguard

Chuck Hutchinson – Memphis Police Chief

Carlton Scruggs – Shelby County Sheriff

Steve Carrollton – Head of Memphis Mafia

Bubba Knight – Mafia associate

Bobby James – Mafia associate

Watson Clark – Reporter Commercial Appeal

Amy Clark – Wife of Watson Clark

Amos Duncan – Father of Amy Clark

Bernie Taylor – Reporter Commercial Appeal

Alfred E. Dollar – Car thief

Brad Knuchols – Mafia associate

Jordan Bailey – Car salesman

Charlotte Luckey – Former Strawberry Hostess Princess

James ‘Jimmy’ Gannon – Football Coach

Barbara Stevens – ex-wife of James Gannon

Lee Stevens – Husband of Barbara Stevens

Loretta Turner – Charlotte Luckey’s mother

Curtis Turner – Loretta Turner’s husband/Charlotte’s stepfather

Travis Luckey – Charlotte Luckey’s father

Billy Vickers – Charlotte’s ex-boyfriend

Mickey Campbell – Bookie and Mafia associate

Phillip Chaney – Memphis playboy and Charlotte’s boyfriend

Denny Smith – Phillip’s half brother

Forrest Chaney – Father of Phillip and Denny

Ted Blaylock – Manager Humboldt Airport

Tony Russoti – Mafia associate

Joe Brody – Mafia associate

 

Dedication

Our Teachers

Ewing Jackson and Theda Gee

 

Contribution Credits

 

Mary Ann Sizer Fisher

Elizabeth Tillman White

Judy Steele Minnehan

 

Material Credits

 

Humboldt Public Library

Gibson County Historical Website

The Price of Beauty

In

Strawberry Land

Prologue

 

The year is 1962 and Carson Reno, once again, gets himself into situations that would be better left alone. A Memphis client hires Carson to prove infidelity, but instead he finds corruption and murder going all the way to the top of Memphis politics. A Jack Logan client investigation takes him back to Humboldt looking into automobile fraud, which lands him smack in the middle of a murder.
 
Not just any murder, but the murder of a local beauty queen – one who seemed to have too many enemies for a girl her age.

 

Chapters

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Monica Jeffers
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
New Clients
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Watson Clark
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Manhattan Club
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jackson, Tennessee
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kathy and Sam
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Party
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
City Hall
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Missing File
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ransom
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Strategy
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Confusion
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tragedy
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pieces to the Puzzle
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
More Pieces
 
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Solution
 
 

 

“Life is cheap – make sure you buy enough”.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Carson Reno

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Beauty – real beauty is both a curious and interesting thing.
 
There are varying degrees of beauty – depending upon the beholder.
 
But what is beautiful to one is, more than likely, beautiful to all.

A beautiful woman will always retain her beauty.
 
Regardless of age, wrinkles, even weight loss or gain – you can still see their magic and that thing we define as beauty. It’s unexplainable, but the things that made them beautiful still remain.

Age can alter how our eyes define this beauty, but it does not remove that underlying image which made them what they had always been – beautiful.

Only death has the ability to change this image and rob the beauty that was once so easily recognizable.
 
In normal death – many remain as beautiful as they did in life - but in violent death, the beauty dissolves and a horrific site is inserted in the place of those things we knew and understood to be beautiful.

She had been in the water for more than 72 hours.
 
Rigor mortis had come and gone and her body had begun to bloat – like a dead floating fish.
 
Little water animals had already started to nibble at the exposed skin, leaving shreds of skin dangling for other predators to bite.

The body was never intended to be found, as is usually the case. This would have probably been accomplished except for an
ambitious fisherman. Ike Murray knew the exact spot for he and his son, Rusty, to find fish in Humboldt Lake. A few yards back up in an unnoticed feeder creek is where Ike and Rusty had been catching their largemouth bass.
 
It was here they found something tossed away like trash – without remorse and without the intent of anyone ever seeing the beauty in this woman again.

My story begins many days before Ike and Rusty’s fishing trip and many days before the events that led to their tragic discovery.

Monica Jeffers

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
M
y office address is officially listed as 149 Union Avenue – L6, which means I occupy office 6 - located just off the lobby of The Peabody Hotel – Memphis, Tennessee.
 
I actually would consider my address to be 3
rd
avenue – not Union, but the address has its perks.

The location itself is also handy.
 
All my phone calls come through the hotel operator, which is also my answering service. I eat lunch and breakfast in the employee dining room at a great price. I have a beautiful lobby to greet potential clients - and please don’t forget the duck show, it happens twice a day. Aside from the perverts who hang out in the lobby restrooms, I can’t find a lot of fault with my office arrangements.

Besides, this is 1962 and people are accustomed to the modern ways of doing business. Appearance is everything, or at least a close second to whatever is first. The new real estate buzz is ‘location, location, location’ – I think I have one of the best.

The hotel directory and telephone yellow pages show L6 occupied by ‘The Drake Detective Agency’.
 
That can be confusing, because the name on my office door reads:

 

Carson Reno – Private and Confidential Investigations

 

I am Carson Reno and always have been.
 
There has never been a Drake working from this office, or any other in Memphis, that I am aware of.
 
However, when I opened the agency I just could not find any rhyme or rhythm in ‘The Reno Detective Agency’.
 
Besides, everybody who has watched Perry Mason knows Paul Drake and who knows – people may think this is a branch office or something.
 
A little free publicity and promotion never hurt any business, just as long as they call or show-up with money.
 

A large number of my clients consist of damaged spouses looking for dirt and evidence on the unfaithful partner.
 
It is possible that infidelity has made me what I am today – not a rich man but I can pay my bills. Occasionally, I get some insurance investigation work – searching for someone who has successfully snookered the insurance company for their own goodwill, or some poor smuck who filed false claims and skipped.
 
But mostly I deal with the underbelly of our society – where you find some very bad people and never make friends with anyone.

When I’m not specifically working on a case, I try to spend as much time as possible in or near the office.
 
Another advantage of the Peabody is having access to restaurants, bars, shops and the downtown activity – so staying close is never a problem.

Afternoons and early evenings will usually find me at the Starlight Lounge – just off Winchester.
 
Not only is it a good place to ‘hang-out’, it is a great place to look for clients or – in fact – look for those my clients have hired me to find!
 
The Starlight has live entertainment starting at Noon daily – yes, I said Noon.
 
Everyday it is loaded with housewives who use the early part of the afternoon and evening to visit The Starlight for some drink and dance before the husband comes home from work.
 
They cook dinner early, put it in the oven and dance on over the Starlight for an afternoon of wine and martinis. I have a friend who calls the place "Club Menopause” – I think that is an appropriate name.

 

Of course with the ladies come the men – generally just in search of some companionship, but sometimes in search for much more.
 
Regardless, these are my clients, or potential clients, and I see no harm in getting to know as many of them as possible.

Rita is the head hostess at the Starlight and works some unbelievable hours.
 
In fact, I don’t remember a time when she wasn’t the first to greet me – regardless of the time.
 
She was once crowned Miss Memphis and, as I understand, had a brief acting career.
 
This lady hasn’t lost a thing with age – she still has those terrific looks and manner that won her so many awards and titles.
 
No question, she is one knockout and classy lady who knows her stuff and knows her customers.
 
Rita always makes sure I get an opportunity to ‘meet and greet’ those who are in ‘distress’ and might need my services.
 
She’s so good at it that I should put her on the payroll – assuming I had a payroll!
 
However, I do make sure she gets tipped properly – whenever I get the opportunity.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
My other hangout is home – or close to it.
 
Home is a 12th floor one bedroom apartment at the 750 Adams Complex on Manassas. A great place to call home - they have a small grocery/deli on the ground floor and a little bar in the basement called the
‘Down Under’
.
 
Regardless of your condition, it is always just a short elevator ride home – and sometimes that makes good sense.
 
Every weekend they offer live entertainment to a usually packed house.
 
Being small, space is usually limited - but my friend ‘Andy’, the bartender, can always seem to find me room.

BOOK: The Price of Beauty in Strawberry Land
11.8Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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