Dead men dont remember, p.1
Dead Men Don't Remember, page 1
Also by Gerald Darnell
Carson Reno Mystery Series
Murder in Humboldt
Price of Beauty in Strawberry Land
Killer Among Us
Horse Tales
the Everglades
the Crossing
Sunset 4
the Illegals
Dead Men Don't Remember
Fingerprint Murders
Reelfoot
Justifiable Homicide
Dead End
Murder and More
Deadly Decision
Shadows & Lies
Murder my Darling
Lack of Candor
The Disappearance of Robin Murat
The Innocent Stranger
Carson Reno Mystery Series - The Beginning
Carson Reno Mystery Series - The Early Years
Murder, Mystery and Mayhem
Standalone
Please Don't Wake Me Until It's Time To Go
Concrete Jungle
Table of Contents
Also By Gerald Darnell
Dead
Be sure to check out Carson Reno’s other Mystery Adventures
Dedication
“Life is cheap – make sure you buy enough” | Carson Reno
Carson Reno | Introduction
A New Year
Carson Reno – Private and Confidential Investigations
‘HUMBOLDT CAR DEALER AND WIFE KILLED IN NEW YEAR’S EVE AUTO ACCIDENT’
Confusion
Phillip Reardon
Humboldt
Chief’s Restaurant and Bar
Chief’s Cottages
New Clients
Interesting Red Head
Another One
Suspects
‘Call Steve Carrollton at Capital Loan and Pawn – urgent.’
One Less Suspect
Pine Grove Motel
Junior’s Story
‘Revenge is sometimes good for the soul – but it is really a dish better served cold.’ | ‘Repentance is not for the ordinary man – especially when circumstances have been removed from God’s hand.’ | Carson Reno | ‘The man who seeks revenge needs to dig two graves.’ | Confucius
A Big Mistake
A Time To Die
Consequences
My Plan
the ‘Moon Lite Bar’
Dead Men Don’t Remember
Photo Credits
About the Author | A Florida native, Gerald grew up in the small town of Humboldt, TN., where he attended high school. Following graduation from the Univ. of Tennessee, he spent time in Hopkinsville, KY, Memphis, TN and Newport, AR before moving back to Florida – where he now lives. | While living and working in Memphis, the author worked out of an office located just off the lobby of The Peabody Hotel. Many of the descriptions, events and stories about the hotel are from personal experiences. | This short story fiction work, “Dead Men Don’t Remember” is what the author calls ‘Fiction for Fun’. It uses real places and real geography to spin a story that didn’t happen, but should be fun for the mystery reader. As a quick read, those familiar with the early 1960’s geography in the novel, will travel back in time to places that will always be remembered. | This is the ninth story in the Carson Reno series. The other books are available in a paperback, hardback and e-book formats. Some are also offered as an audio book. His book, ‘Don’t Wake Me Until It’s Time to Go,’ is a non-fiction collection of stories, events and humorous observations from his life. Many friends and readers will find themselves in one of his adventures or stories.
Learn more about this author and his additional works at:
Look for Carson Reno’s next adventure:
“Life is Cheap – Make Sure You Buy Enough” | Carson Reno
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Dead
Men
Don’t
Remember
A Carson Reno Mystery
Written by
Gerald W. Darnell
Dead
Men
Don’t
Remember
Copyright © 2012 by Gerald W. Darnell
Published by cr press
ISBN: 978-1-300-14011-5
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews, without written permission from the publisher.
Gerald W. Darnell
carsonreno@msn.com
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real person, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Be sure to check out Carson Reno’s other Mystery Adventures
Murder in Humboldt
The Price of Beauty in Strawberry Land
Killer Among Us
Horse Tales
SUnset 4
the Crossing
the Illegals
the Everglades
Reelfoot
FingerprintMurders
Justifiable Homicide
Dead End
Murder and More
Cast of Characters
Carson Reno - Private Detective
Joe Richardson – Associate Drake Detective Agency
Rita - Hostess Starlight Lounge
Marcie – Peabody Hotel Operator
Andy – Bartender Down Under
Mason ‘Booker-T’ Brown – Head porter Peabody Hotel
Nickie/Ronnie Woodson – Owners Chief’s Motel and Restaurant
Tommy Trubush – carhop Chief’s
Florence (Flo) – waitress at Chief’s
Mavis – waitress at Chief’s
Dr. Harold Barker – Gibson County Coroner
Jack Logan – Attorney /Partner
Leroy Epsee – Sheriff Gibson County
Jeff Cole – Deputy Gibson County
Scotty Perry – Deputy Gibson County
Nancy Oakland – 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
Bill Hunter – Humboldt Automobile Dealer
Harold Blankenship – Bank President
Peter Blade – Humboldt Attorney
Albert Davis – Humboldt Doctor
Tom Handy – President Construction Company in Humboldt
Billy Rock – Golf Pro in Humboldt
Felix Mitchell – Real Estate Business Owner in Humboldt
Charles Silverstone – Retail Business Owner in Humboldt
Phillip Reardon – Private Investigator
Teddy Novack – Jack Logan client
Margaret Novack – Wife of Teddy Novack
Bert Sappington – Black Diamond Insurance Investigator
LaMorris Person – Vice President Black Diamond Insurance
Kitty Collins - Secretary
Raymond Griggs – Humboldt Chief of Police
Tony Bailey – Humboldt Police Officer
L.D. Newell – Mayor Humboldt
Mike Barker – Alderman Humboldt
Chip Falstaff – Captain Tennessee Highway Patrol
Sam Hastings – Private Investigator
Conrad McCoy, Jr. – Humboldt Resident
Steve Carrollton – Memphis Mafia
Swede Anderson – Mafia Associate
Tommy ‘toothpicks’ Thompson – Mafia Associate
Larry ‘the lip’ Lawrence – Mafia Associate
Sammy ‘sometime’ Taylor – Mafia Associate
Dedication
The City of Humboldt, Tennessee
Contribution Credits
Elizabeth Tillman White
Judy Steele Minnehan
Mary Ann Sizer Fisher
Nickie Scruggs Lewis
Material Credits
Humboldt Public Library
Gibson County Historical Website
Humboldt Courier Chronicle
Strawberry Museum
Libby Lynch
Prologue
It’s a New Year and it has gotten off to a very bad start for Carson.
Several prominent citizens and business leaders from Humboldt are dying in some strange and bizarre accidents. Carson becomes involved when an insurance company hires him to investigate.
What happens next is even more strange and bizarre for this little town in West Tennessee.
The clues are everywhere, but none of them make any sense. It may be that the ‘last man standing’ is responsible for these accidents – but why?
Follow Carson as he works on one his wildest adventures ever in ‘Dead Men Don’t Remember’.
Chapters
Introduction
New Year
Confusion
Phillip Reardon
Humboldt
New Clients
Interesting Red Head
Another One
Suspects
One Less Suspect
Junior’s Story
Big Mistake
A Time to Die
Consequences
My Plan
The Moon Lite Bar
Dead Men Don’t Remember
“Life is cheap – make sure you buy enough”
Carson Reno
®
“It is possible the infidelity has made me what I am today. Not a rich man - it does, however, provide me with rent money and the satisfaction of providing a service to those in need.”
Carson Reno
Introduction
They had been friends since High School - playing football, basketball, and participating in most all sports. As a team, they were good – and the students and faculty respected their talents. Their coaches knew they were very fortunate to have such a group of young men with these skills participating in the various Humboldt High School sports activities. The teams played well, they won a lot of games and many believed it was because of the collective and individual skills and talent of these young men. All was good with sports in Humboldt High School during the late 1930’s.
These eight guys rolled through high school known as the ‘Four Horsemen – Times Two’. The trophy case in the high school lobby proudly displays their many successes, and they each left school with the admiration and respect of all those athletes who followed them.
During school they were always together, these eight guys were inseparable - whether in class, sports or after school activity. But, as it always happens, after graduation each went in different directions to make their way in life. College, for most, college sports for some, and service in the Army or Navy for those that could qualify.
However, years later - college and the war behind them, they returned to their roots – bringing new careers and memories of a successful past with them. Some brought families, some brought money and some brought new ideas back to Humboldt. But, they all brought the same friendship and team spirit they’d taken with them when they left high school years before. Things were good again.
Bill Hunter was a star as the high school quarterback, and recognized at the unnamed leader of the group. Unfortunately, he was not able to transition his football talents to college at the University of Tennessee and didn’t make the team. But, he used the family money after returning to Humboldt, and now owns the local Chevrolet dealership.
Harold Blankenship is President of Merchants State Bank. Also a University of Tennessee graduate, Harold joined the navy right out of college, and then went to work at the bank soon after returning to Humboldt. His hard work and dedication quickly moved him up the ranks, and he has now served as its President for the past several years.
Peter Blade and Albert Davis are the most educated, with both having obtained post-graduate degrees. Peter returned a lawyer, after attending law school in Memphis. Albert Davis became a General Practice Doctor, graduating from the Medical College at Vanderbilt. He now has a very profitable practice in Humboldt.
Tom Handy attended college in Jackson, Tennessee, while continuing to work for his father’s construction company. After college, he joined the Army and then returned to join his father’s business. However, his father died only a few months later, and Tom took charge – successfully growing it into one of the largest Construction Companies in West Tennessee.
Billy Rock was a star golfer in High School and also while attending college at the University of Mississippi. After a short stint on the PGA tour, he returned to Humboldt and worked as the USGA Golf Professional for the Humboldt Country Club. Billy now serves as President of the Humboldt Country Club.
Felix Mitchell went straight from High School into the Army. An injury during the war shortened his Army career and he used his GI benefits to attend Real Estate School. Felix now owns Mitchell Reality in Humboldt.
Charlie Silverstone was the field goal and extra point kicker for the football team, and he was very good at it. Charlie tried college unsuccessfully – twice. Then both the Army and Navy rejected him because of his size or some other medical problem, which he never revealed. Charlie returned to Humboldt, and is now a very successful retail merchant with stores in Humboldt and several other towns in Gibson County.
~
They played golf every Saturday and Sunday, and most Wednesday’s when time permitted. These two foursomes dominate the course on days they play golf, and also dominate the downstairs bar on golf days - and most other days too! The ‘Four Horsemen – Times Two’ were once again in the spotlight; they liked it that way.
As with most successful businessmen, enough money is never ENOUGH MONEY. Together, they formed a shadow corporation, called ‘Times 2, Inc.’, which they used to buy land in an area located northwest of the Humboldt city limits. No one is sure how they knew it, but they knew of upcoming plans by retailers and manufactures to locate in or near Humboldt, and this area was perfect. With new roads, building construction and potential land lease rights; this deal was worth millions to the people who owned that land. The ‘Four Horsemen – Times Two’ intended to be those people and be in position to grab this money. They had a good plan and were working under everyone’s radar; no one else knew what they knew – and they intended to keep it that way.
They began buying the land in small parcels at first, but then accelerated their activities when rumors about possible expansion of Humboldt’s city limits began to spread. Mitchell Real Estate Company was paid by ‘Times 2, Inc.’ to handle title transfers, Peter Blade provided the legal stamps and documents to make it official, and Merchant State Bank handled money transfers and payments - it was a tight ship.
Mostly poor farmers owned this land, but there were a handful of old homesteads and families that had lived on the land forever. ‘Times 2, Inc.’ bought the land for peanuts, and even resorted to condemning some of the property when the owners became difficult. This forced the owners to sell for a sub-prime price, sign over ownership and move – move from land they and their ancestors had lived on all their lives.
Muscle work, when it became necessary, was handled by a Private Detective Agency in Memphis. Phillip Reardon owned and operated ‘Reardon Investigations’, and he was very well known for the work he had done on a child kidnapping case a few years ago. Phillip Reardon was a good detective – unfortunately, he usually had bad clients.
~
Shares in ‘Times 2, Inc.’ were equally divided among the eight owners. The corporation’s charter contained specific provisions for ‘reassignment’ of these shares to remaining shareholders, in the event of the death of any member. Money and stock went back to the business, and not to the deceased estate. ‘Times 2, Inc.’ also carried a ONE million-dollar life insurance policy on each of the shareholders, with benefits to be distributed among the remaining owners – not the deceased estate. They had done their homework, and ‘Times 2, Inc.’ was on its way to becoming a very large business – they just needed the proposed plans by retailers and industry to materialize.
~
Life was good and the future bright, until New Year’s Eve 1962.
Bill Hunter and his wife, Ava, left the Jackson Country Club’s New Year’s party at 2:00 AM to return to their home located just outside Humboldt – they never made it. Tennessee Highway Patrol Captain Chip Falstaff found their car the next morning – it was partially submerged in the South Fork of the Forked Deer River, Bill and Ava were still inside. It appeared that the car had left the road on the right-hand side as it approached the Forked Deer River Bridge, located on Highway 45 – the Humboldt/Jackson highway.
This is where our story begins.
A New Year
My 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 3rd 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, these are the 60’s 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.
