Murder in Gatlinburg (16 page)

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Lou and I had debated
whether to eat breakfast on Tuesday morning at Westgate or to take the trolley
to Gatlinburg and eat at the Pancake Pantry. We would be eating breakfast at
Westgate on Wednesday, the Pancake Pantry on Thursday, and Westgate again on
Friday before checking out of the resort, and checking out some more of Pigeon
Forge before heading back to Lexington, and ultimately home to Hilldale. It
appeared to be an every other day thing with breakfast, so to adhere to that
progression, we agreed to go to Gatlinburg at least for breakfast, and maybe
stay until noon or so, depending upon where we ate lunch.

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I was up by 7:30 on Tuesday morning, so I didn't sleep as late as I thought I might. Both Lou and I
knew that he always got up before I did, so when I was ready to go all I needed
to do was go ring his bell. But after I went to bed Monday night, I got an
idea. After I showered and spent some time with God on Tuesday morning, I took
advantage of something Mark, my yard boy, had taught me. Well, I still needed
to follow what he had written on the paper, but I was proud of what I had
accomplished. In a few minutes time I had e-mailed a few more pictures to
George, Frank, Heather, Dan, and Jennifer. I included Lou in his coonskin cap
and me in my cowboy hat from Dixie Stampede, a shot of our food at the Pancake
Pantry from a few days before, and a picture of Lou in line, waiting on
Thunderhead at Dollywood. I neglected to send a picture of a palefaced Lou, who
looked on the verge of death after stumbling from any of the coasters.

As we walked down to
catch the shuttle that would take us to the trolley at the front gate, I looked
over and spied a goddess in a yellow bikini rising up out of the water. It was
my Ursula Andress
Dr. No.
moment. She looked over at us and
smiled. Somehow I managed to open my mouth and say my words correctly.

"Isn't the water
still a little cold?"

"That's why I come
down here so early. It's better than coffee for waking me up in the
morning."

I wanted something like
that to wake me up in the morning too, and my wake-up moment didn't have
anything to do with cold water.

"A friend of mine
wanted me to capture some pictures of wildlife in the area. Mind if I take
yours?"

"I'd be delighted.
Although I'm from Alabama, by way of Georgia."

"That's okay. He
didn't specify that the wildlife had to be indigenous to Tennessee."

She laughed, then made
me an offer I couldn't refuse.

"After you take one
of me all by my lonesome, how about if your friend takes one of you and me
together?"

I almost tripped over
Lou, hurrying over to her.

"Now smile, and say
I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Just
stand there and don't pay any attention to the water dripping all over the concrete."

After Lou took a picture
of the two of us together, I asked him if he would like for me to take a
picture of him with Miss Perfect Body. He declined, said it would be better if
only one of us had to do some explaining.

After the photo session
was over I shook her hand, told her that I was now awake whether she was or
not, and hurried off with Lou. While we waited on the trolley, I sent the picture
off to George, with a text that said I wasn't afraid to get close to the
wildlife. I also sent it to Frank, with a caption that said, "I'm finally
sending you a body that you will appreciate, and as you can see, this body isn't
dead."

As we rode the trolley
to breakfast, the replies started coming in. George began with, "You mean
there are two guys down there who are as ugly as the two of you," and
followed that up with, "I know you didn't ride that thing," and
"How many murders have you solved since you got there?" Then a minute
later, after he received the picture with me and the bathing beauty, he asked
me where I got the beauty and the beast photo, and if I had sent Jennifer a
copy. Frank replied that one of the two bodies in the picture definitely wasn't
dead, but the other one might be if a certain someone sees the picture.

Heather's reply was
next. She said, "The only reason I'm marrying Dan is that I couldn't
decide which of the two of you I wanted," while Jennifer's was short and
sweet. "I miss you. I love you. I hope you're having a good time."

I told Lou what I'd done
and showed him George's two replies, and then Frank's reply to the last picture
taken. He laughed. I didn't show him the other two. I knew that Heather said
what she said so as not to hurt Lou's feelings, because I knew she loved me
more, and if I showed him Jennifer's mushy stuff he would kid me the rest of
the day.

I was beginning to learn
about Gatlinburg. At least a little bit of it. I knew nothing about any place
other than the two main streets, but then neither do most people who come here
on vacation unless they are staying somewhere in the nether regions. At any
rate, when we got off the trolley, I didn't even have to gather my bearings
before taking off toward the line at the Pancake Pantry. It was fairly early by
vacationers standards, so there wasn't anyone around except for those inside
the Pancake Pantry and those of us waiting to get in. No murderers lurking
across the street, leaning up against a storefront, sharpening their knives on
the building's surface. No one limping along, trying their best to be
inconspicuous. No one in suits, with or without sunglasses. And if there were
any victims already that morning, the street sweeper had already removed them.

The sun was up. It
wasn't too hot. A gentle breeze blew. And I turned to Lou.

"This is the life,
isn't it?"

"I think I can get
used to it. Too bad we didn't find out about this place sooner."

"Maybe if the
murderers in Hilldale had felt better about their fellow man we might have
retired earlier and headed in this direction."

"And been solving
murders in Gatlinburg."

"No, Cy, we would
have been retired then, too. Besides, if we hadn't solved so many murders maybe
the guys back home wouldn't have been as eager to dip into their deep pockets
and send us on this trip."

By this time we had
neared the door. When someone opened it and the smell of breakfast wafted
through the air I forgot all about murders or anything taking place in
Hilldale, past or present.

A couple of minutes
later we were seated. This time we had a table in the center of the restaurant.
Not that it mattered. From what I could tell, the Pancake Pantry served the
same food to every table in the restaurant. It was time to take a look at the
menu. I'd already sampled the crepes and would do so again before we left for
home, so I ordered a veggie omelet and an order of bacon. Lou ordered something
called Marvelous Blintz. I let him cut off part of my omelet and I took a
couple of bites of his sweet treat. I wondered if I could buy stock in the
Pancake Pantry.

I was so engrossed in
what we were eating that I neglected to look around the restaurant until I was
most of the way through my meal. The place had filled up with some familiar
faces. None of whom I was happy to see. Jack and Angel had a table on one side
of the restaurant, underneath the upstairs restrooms. As Jack looked our way he
picked up his knife, slid it across his fork, and smiled a sinister smile. I
only wished I had brought my gun with me, so I could have shown it to him. But
then I envisioned doing so and having five servers holler "gun" and
spring toward me and knock all of our food off the table. Well, what was left
of it.

I scanned the room,
continuing to take roll. I noticed a guy seated near the front window who
looked a lot like our limping friend. He wasn't looking at us, but he was interested
in someone. I followed the path his eyes took and ended up focused on two guys
in sunglasses. While they looked like our two guys, I wasn't sure because both
men were wearing T-shirts that looked like they had purchased them at one of
the Gatlinburg shops. I wanted to confront the first guy and ask him to walk
for me. I wanted to show the two guys in sunglasses the pictures I took and
asked them if they looked familiar. But my thoughts were interrupted when our server
came over to check on us. I switched off my detective mind that Lou was growing
impatient with and tuned in retired man on vacation.

"Is there anything
else I can get you?"

"Not right now, but
I have a question."

"What's your
question?"

"I was wondering if
you deliver to Hilldale, Kentucky."

She laughed.

"You're not the
first one to ask if we deliver to other states. I think this place is at least
a part of the reason people keep coming back to Gatlinburg."

"Well, this is our
first trip here. We plan to come back and bring our lady friends sometime, and
the Pancake Pantry will be part of the reason we'll be coming back."

"All of us
appreciate people like you. It's why we've stayed in business all these
years."

She excused herself to
go replenish the coffee cups on one of her other tables.

As soon as she was gone
I remembered what thoughts she had interrupted. I looked to the front window but
my limping friend was gone. I turned back to look for the guys in sunglasses.
They were just getting up from their table. On their way to the front counter
to pay their bill one of them paused at our table and said, "My friend
cheats at miniature golf. Does yours?"

I coughed out an
"absolutely" as he continued on his way.

I looked at Lou.

"They seem nice
enough, Cy. But I'm not sure I'd want to play miniature golf with them."

I thought of following
them, but I remembered that my mother had told me to always clean my plate, but
not to eat fast. It didn't matter. When we walked out they were seated at one
of the benches near the street. And the guy who might have walked with a limp
was leaning against a building across the street, looking directly at us. It
wasn't until then that I realized I had forgotten about whether or not Jack and
Angel had left the restaurant. At least until I had more on our new friends I
would put Jack and Angel higher on my suspect list than those other three. But
then I've been wrong before. Of course I always am right in the end. I thought
of going back inside to check on Jack and Angel, but I didn't hear any scream
emanating from the confines, so I stayed where I was.

Lou and I decided to
leave Gatlinburg behind, aware that we would be back again on Wednesday and
Thursday. That would give us enough time to do anything else we wanted to do in
this Tennessee hamlet.

Lou and I knew we would
be coming back into town on Wednesday and Thursday, so we walked around for a
few minutes after breakfast. Then we walked downhill to the trolley stop and
waited for the purple trolley. I didn't see Sylvia and Inez, or my new friend
Brenda who had recently lost her husband.

We had plans Tuesday
night, but our day was free. When we got back to Log Mansion Central I made a
pretense of needing a nap, so Lou and I parted ways for a while. We knew that
if one of us needed to get in touch with the other one and that one wasn't in
his room, both of us were carrying cell phones, so we wouldn't have to send up
a flare. A cell phone still seemed peculiar to me, but I guess I would get used
to it.

I doubled back to the
front desk, and since no one was checking in, I stepped up to the counter.

"How many I help
you?"

"I'm Cy Dekker, a
guest here, and I'm a retired homicide detective."

I took out my
credentials and showed them to her. She pretended to be impressed, since I was
a guest there.

"One of our party,
Agnes Trueblood, has been missing, and I reported it to someone in housekeeping
the other day. She promised to tell security about it. I was wondering if the
woman has been located."

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

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

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