Confession (15 page)

Jimmy sat in Hank’s
Bar
having his daily bourbon and cokes while he discreetly listened to Ernst’s story.

“What ya think of that FBI agent?” the bar maid asked Jimmy while she brought him a fresh drink.

“Well, I can imagine he’s just doing his job and he’ll probably catch that scumbag killer before too long,” Jimmy said then sipped his new drink.  But his thoughts were going in another direction.  He wanted to make this a game since he hated FBI agents.  
Lawmen should never wear suits!
He thought to himself while he sipped his drink.  He decided to make this an annual event and swore this FBI agent would never catch him.

Thanksgiving arrived and it was another loving family moment at Jimmy’s home.  Betty slaved all morning in the kitchen cooking a turkey with all the fixings.

Later that night, Melvin, Ricky and Emily arrived for their traditional Nalla Thanksgiving dinner.

After Melvin said grace at the dining room table, he showed a sign that he was getting mellow in his old age.  He actually told Jimmy and Ricky that he was proud of his two boys.   Jimmy and Ricky looked at each other and smiled knowing what happened in October.

It
was early December
.

Up in the Atlanta office, Robert sat behind his desk drinking a cup of coffee and reviewed Annette’s case file. 

Agent Homer Maris walked up to Robert’s desk.

“Hey Robert.  How’s that case down in Alabama going?  Find the killer yet?”

Robert glanced up from his case file at Homer.   “Not yet,” he said then looked back at the file and the pictures of Annette tied naked to that tree.

Homer walked away and walked by Carl Meyer’s desk.

Carl had seen Homer talking with Robert.  “He doesn’t have a single lead,” he told Homer.

“Ah, I see,” replied Homer then he walked away.

Carl glanced over at Robert who appeared frustrated he was going nowhere with this case.  Carl got a bit of a chuckle out of Robert’s frustration.

Homer walked away with a smirk, as he never liked Robert’s cocky and arrogant attitude.

Some weeks passed and Christmas 1962 was right around the corner.

Jimmy heard through the grapevine that Homer was coming home to spend Christmas with his folks.

It was Christmas Eve and Jimmy invited Homer over to the house for some Christmas cheer.

They just sat down in Jimmy’s couch in living room. 

A Christmas tree was decorated and lit up with lights by the window.  All decorated by Betty without Jimmy’s assistance.

Jimmy and Homer opened up their cans of Black Label beer.

Jimmy looked at Homer while he took a drink of his beer.  “Well Homer, nothing much has been happening with me here in Boldger.  Crime has been quiet.  Even my MP reserve duty has been quiet.  Not like that dead
Private
down at Fort Benning earlier in the year,” he said to get the dialogue going.

Homer took a drink of beer.  As usual, he was itching to tell what’s going on with is office.  “Well, did you hear about that dead girl found in Alabama?” asked Homer while he set his beer can down on the coffee table.

Jimmy pretended to be searching his memory.  “Nah, can’t say I heard about that one.  What’s the story?” he said then took another drink of beer while he looked at Homer.

“She was found tied naked to a tree in the woods outside Oak Hill, Alabama,” said Homer then took another drink of beer.

“Shot?”

“No, some beat her with a blunt object.”

“That’s terrible,” replied Jimmy and pretended to be concerned.

“Yeah, beat her pretty good and even left a mark.”

“What kind of mark?”

“The number one with axle grease on her stomach.  Strange.”

“That is strange.  So, are you working on the case?” asked Jimmy and took another drink of
his beer.  He hoped Homer was
on the case
,
as he knew Homer was never the sharpest kid in school.

“Not me.  They have Agent Robert Fillert working the case,” said Homer then he took a drink of his beer.   “He’s one of those agent’s that thinks he’s the best.  Arrogant.”

“I see,” said Jimmy and he started to get a little nervous about that FBI Agent being on the case. 

“But, at the moment, he doesn’t have a single lead,” said Homer then he chuckled.  “That’s great for that arrogant asshole.  Not a single piece of evidence.  The scene was wiped clean,” he added then took another drink of beer.

Jimmy took a drink of his beer and felt better and had a gut feeling he got away with killing Annette.  “You’ll have to keep me up to speed with this case.  After all, I’m also in law enforcement and can learn from this.”

“That killer must pretty be smart to clean his tracks and not leave any evidence behind,” replied Homer and motioned to Jimmy that his beer can was empty.

“Yes, he must be pretty smart,” said Jimmy while he got up off the couch and headed into the kitchen for some more beer.

In the kitchen he saw Betty eating some cookies and drinking some tea while she read her recent issue of
Woman’s Day
magazine. 

He got two more Black Label beers out of the fridge and headed back into the living room.

“So Homer, tell me more about this Agent Robert Fillert.  I would like to learn from his mistakes,” said Jimmy while he handed Homer a can of beer.

“Well, like I said, he’s cocky and arrogant and always believes he’ll catch the crook,” said Homer while Jimmy sat down on the couch.

Christmas day arrived and passed. 

Betty decided to go spend the rest of the Christmas week with her sister Maggie over in Montgomery.  She left early Wednesday morning and drove the new Galaxie.

Jimmy used his squad car to get back and forth from work that week.

With Betty gone, this gave Jimmy some time to finally revisit his chest of souvenirs.  

So that Thursday afternoon, Jimmy bought the latest issue of the
True Detective
magazine.  This one was of interest since it had an article about Annette’s killing.  It also mentioned how the hunters found her dead body, and that the FBI agent in charge was Robert Fillert.  Jimmy was proud and felt like a celebrity but couldn’t tell anybody else.

Jimmy immediately drove over to the dealership and had to show off that article to Ricky.  Ricky was impressed. 

On the way back to the police station, Jimmy drove his squad car through the colored section of town.

He drove down that dirt road and stopped by Melissa’s home.   He stopped his car and saw Melissa sitting in the rocking chair on the front porch.  Her daughter was on the porch.

Jimmy drove away down the dirt road.

Later that night, Jimmy went up into his attic in his garage.  He brought down that wooden chest.

He carried the chest into the living room and opened it up.

He left the room and returned a few seconds later with a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey.

He opened up the bottle and took a healthy swig of whiskey.

He then removed all of his clothes and sat naked in his chair. 

He reached inside his chest and removed all the pictures of Annette and the colored girls. 

He masturbated in his chair while he glanced at the photos and the magazine article about Annette.

It take Jimmy long and he ejaculated on the page about Annette.

He closed the magazine and the pages he ejaculated on stuck together. He dropped it and his pictures into the chest.  He locked it.  He lit a cigarette, took a drag and felt satisfied.

He got up from the chair.

He locked his chest then picked it up.

He walked naked out of the living room and returned the chest back to its hiding place up in his attic above the garage.

It was New Year’s Eve.

Jimmy met with Ricky at Hank’s Bar for some drinks to ring in 1963.

Jimmy arrived at Hank’s Bar that was half-full with the local Boldger residents.  He grabbed a booth.

“Hey Sheriff, what’s your pleasure,” asked Nancy the fifty-four year old bar maid that tried her best to look like she was in her thirties.  She was short and could cake on the makeup thinking she was still young.  But she wasn’t and she looked like a hooker.

“Hey Nancy, usual,” replied Jimmy.

“Bourbon and coke coming right up, darling” she said and winked at Jimmy.

Jimmy glanced up when he saw the front door to the bar opened.  He smiled at the sight of Ricky while he entered the bar.

“Hey big brother,” said Ricky while he walked up to the booth.

Nancy brought Jimmy his drink.  “Hey Ricky, want the usual?” asked Nancy while she set Jimmy drink down in front of him.

“Yes, seven and seven.”

Nancy winked at Ricky then walked away.

Ricky suddenly looked a little bothered.  Jimmy noticed. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, me and Emily had another fight.  I got pissed and hit her a few times.  She locked herself in her bedroom and cried.”

“Don’t worry about her.  You can sleep at my house.  She’ll forget it by tomorrow morning.”

“Okay,” said Ricky then noticed Nancy walking over to their table. 

Nancy set Rick’s drink down on the table.  She winked at him then walked away.

“I told her that if she ever left me, you would arrest her,” Ricky said then took a drink.

“I could find some charge,” Jimmy said then he took a drink.  “Actually, I don’t think she likes me.”

Ricky looked at Jimmy and hesitated.  “You’re right.  She said you give her the creeps.  Then I slapped her afterwards.  She’s never stated that again.”

“Thanks for looking after me little brother.”

Jimmy and Ricky smiled, as they knew they could trust each other until the day they died.

It was finally midnight and Jimmy and Ricky welcomed 1963 by being drunk.

They left Hank’s bar and drove home swerving all over the streets of Boldger.

The both fell fast asleep the second they arrived at Jimmy’s home.

Back to reality…

Sam jotted down some more notes.

Marty was still engrossed in the story.

Billy was still fuming mad.

A
Killer’s Tale
story
continued…

Nineteen sixty-three started off boring for Jimmy.

He and Betty tried hard to get her pregnant but it just wasn’t happening.  This often led to fights with him slapping her then feeling guilty afterwards.  Jimmy actually wanted to have a kid.  Sometimes he wanted a boy but knew how he turned out then started to lean towards having a daughter. 

It was now February and FBI Robert Fillert sat behind his desk at the Atlanta Field Office.

He had his eyes going over Annette’s case file over and over again.  This was his first case he hadn’t solved within months.  He went over and over the pictures and the statements of the hunters. 

Agent Carl Meyers sat at his desk drinking his coffee.  He glanced over at Robert and at times he felt sorry for him.  But then he recalled those days when Robert was so cocky and arrogant. 

Homer walked over to Carl’s desk.  He stood by the desk and glanced at Robert then glanced down at Carl.  “He still hasn’t solved that case?”

“Nope.  Not a single lead.  This is his first failure with solving a case,” replied Carl with a hint of a smile.

“That’s the way it goes sometimes,” said Homer then he walked away.

Carl nodded in agreement with Homer’s comment then he returned to some case files he was reviewing.

March arrived and Jimmy made another pass by Melissa house.  It took four attempts on week for him to see Melissa out on her front porch with her daughter. 

“She’s getting big,” thought Jimmy while he eyed the baby girl.  Part of him wanted to keep that baby girl but he knew he would be run out of town on a rail. 

Jimmy drove off down the dirt road and silently prayed he could get Betty pregnant and they would have a daughter.

The 4th of July arrived and Homer drove down from Atlanta to spend the weekend with his parents. 

While he was in town, he was invited over to Jimmy’s home for a few beers.

Jimmy brought two cans of cold Black Label beers into the living room where Homer waited on the couch.

“So, Homer, how are things going with the FBI in Atlanta?” he asked while he handed Homer a can of beer.

“Still the same,” said Homer while he opened up his can of Black Label beer.

Jimmy opened up his can of beer and was itching for some more information.   “Nothing going on here in Boldger or with the
Military Police duty with the
Army Reserves.  My weekend drills are quiet
and actually quite boring
,” said Jimmy then he took a drink of beer.

“It’s actually been boring for me,” said Homer then he took a drink of beer.

Jimmy couldn’t wait.  “I recalled during Christmas you mentioned about some arrogant agent on a murder case in the northern part of the state.  Any new developments on that case that I can learn from?  You know, from an Army MP standpoint.”

“Oh yeah, from what I learned from a fellow agent, that Robert Fillert doesn’t have a fucking lead.  He’s going nowhere with that case.  Nowhere,” said Homer.

Jimmy smiled knowing he was still in the clear.  He and Homer did some more chatting while they drank their Black Label beer.

More months flew by and it was October 1963. 

FBI Agent Robert was no way close to identifying Annette’s killer. 

Jimmy still had boring weekend drills down at Fort Benning.  He hoped to see another dead body but all he had to deal with was drunken soldiers who partied too hard on Saturday night at the local bars in Columbus.   He did have the opportunity to whack on soldier across his head after he got rude and cussed at Jimmy.  Jimmy enjoyed that moment.

Jimmy was behind his desk at the office.  He drank some coffee
and smoked a Lucky Strike cigarette
while he read the latest edition of his
True Detective
magazine.  Seeing the black and white photos of dead girls brought back his fond sick memories of that night with Annette.

After he sat back down at his desk from pouring his second cup of coffee, his desk phone rang.  “Sheriff Nalla,” he answered the call.

“It’s me Ricky,” he said from the phone.

“Hey little brother.”

“Ready for our fishing trip next week?”

“You bet,” replied Jimmy then he opened up his middle drawer and removed a road map.

“Okay, I’ll meet you there with a new car.”

“Sounds great.”

There was a few seconds of silence.  “I can’t wait to hear about your drive over to the lake.”

“If I don’t make it to the lake on that Saturday, rush back home.  As something might have gone wrong and I don’t want anybody coming after you.”

“Okay big brother.  But I know you’re too crafty for the FBI,” said Ricky then he hung up his end of the call.

Jimmy opened up the road map and it was for the State of Mississippi.  Jimmy
grabbed his pack of Lucky Strikes, removed and lit a cigarette while he
studied the map for a place to pick up his next victim.  

After four minutes of looking the State of Mississippi Jimmy found where he wanted to make his next mark. He smiled and thought this would be the perfect spot.  It was a spot he heard from some of the young Army soldiers down at Fort Benning.

He folded up the map and shoved it back in his desk drawer. 

He propped up his boots on his desk and couldn’t wait for his next fishing trip.

It was now time for his trip.

It was Friday morning and Betty had packed some clothes in a small suitcase for Jimmy in their bedroom.  Jimmy had earlier that morning packed his trunk with the necessary camping and fishing gear.

Jimmy entered the bedroom after finishing the egg and bacon breakfast she made for him.

“I still don’t understand why you can’t drive with Ricky,” she asked while she closed the suitcase.

Jimmy glared at her.  “Listen, I have some secret military police business I have to attend to every year.  So it’s none of your business,” he said and looked like he wanted to slap his wife.

Betty knew she touch that sensitive ground again and decided not to press him for anymore questions.

Jimmy grabbed the handle of his suitcase and gave Betty a quick kiss on the lips.

He walked out of the bedroom.

Betty stayed behind and started to wonder why Jimmy was acting so strange suddenly with his fishing trips with Ricky.  But she knew she better shrug it off as saying anything about that to Jimmy could set off his temper.

She left the bedroom and headed to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

Jimmy got in his Galaxie and drove off down his street.  He turned on the radio and Johnny Cash’s
Ring of Fire
song started to play on the radio.

“I fell into a burning ring of fire,” he sang along with Johnny Cash on the radio.

He whistled along with the song while he drove through the streets and headed to the southern part of town.

Jimmy drove his Galaxie south through Alabama.

He first stopped off at a Hardware Store and bought some new leather gloves. 

After the Hardware Store, he drove through Mobile and found a nice diner.  He stopped for dinner.

When it got dark, Jimmy filled up his car then drove out of Mobile.

He headed west into Mississippi.

Later that night, Jimmy drove to Biloxi and headed to the west side of Keesler Air Force Base.

He found the part of Biloxi that had bars and knew he could find what he wanted.

Jimmy up and down the streets until they were void of any witnesses. 

That time finally arrived and he spotted a lone hooker waiting by a street corner. 
Her name was Rhonda.

“How dare they charge for sex,” Jimmy would often tell Ricky during some of their chats.

She paced the corner alone, as her other coworkers already found customers. She wore a tight black Montgomery Wards sleeveless scoop neck dress with straight skirt.  She thought she might be done for the night and started to walk away from the corner to head home.  But then the sound of the squeal of brakes caught her attention.

Jimmy pulled his Ford over to the curb and stopped.  He glanced around and the streets were still empty with potential witnesses.  So he leaned over and rolled down the passenger window.

“Hey baby, you look extremely lonely.  Want some company for a little while tonight?  A small party between the two of us,” Jimmy called out his opened passenger door window.

She strutted over and leaned in his window with a smile knowing she would earn some more money tonight.  “Yeah honey, I would love a little party with you.”   She had a huge smile when she saw Jimmy’s cash in his hand. 

She opened the door got inside his car.

Jimmy handed her the cash and she immediately shoved it in her small purse. 

He drove his car away down the street.

“So sugar, where can we go to have our little party?”

“I know the perfect place.  It’ll be nice and romantic,” Jimmy replied with a smirk.

Rhonda slid over next to Jimmy to start their date.

He drove for another five minutes and headed out of town.  Soon nothing but quiet and dark woods filled their view while he drove down the lonely two-lane road.

Rhonda started to get nervous.  “Where is this romantic place?” she said while she glanced over at Jimmy then saw the skull tattoo with the “A” letter below the jaw.

“I have a farm house north of town, where it’s nice and quiet,” he responded.

She kept an eye on his tattoo as it started to bug her. “What’s with that tattoo?”

“Oh it’s just my little memory of the girls I had a party with.  Her name was Annette.  When I’m done with our party, I’m going to have an R tattoo in your honor,” he said with an evil smirk.

Rhonda’s gut started to sour telling her this was not a good idea.  “You know something, I’m getting a splitting headache.  I really don’t feel like partying, so I better get back to town.  Here’s your money back,” she said then handed back his cash.

“You say you have a headache?”

Rhonda nodded and rubbed her forehead to make it believable.

“Okay,” he said then he discreetly slipped on a pair of new
leather
gloves he bought in Mobile. 

“What’s with the leather gloves?” Rhonda asked and started to get scared.

“No finger prints,” Jimmy replied then he quickly grabbed the back her head before she had time to react.  “I’ll give you a headache,” he yelled out while he slammed her forehead into the dashboard.  “Never refuse to party with me!” he screamed at her while he repeatedly slammed her forehead into the dashboard.  Her body went limp when she passed out.  He let go of the back of her head and left her slump against the passenger door. 

Five minutes later, Jimmy whistled while he drove down a two-lane road.  He looked forward to having fun with this hooker.

He finally spotted a dirt road off to his left.  He pulled into the road and drove down it for another fifty feet.  He positioned his car so the headlights illuminated a tree.

He leaned over and immediately removed her shoes and dress.  He tossed them on the floorboard.  He removed her bra and slid her panties down her legs and tossed them on the floorboard.  She was naked in his car.  He looked her over and the sight of a naked hooker didn’t excite him.  He was disgusted by the thought of her screwing numerous men day after day.

He quickly got out of his car and rushed over to the trunk.  He opened up his trunk and removed his camera on the tripod.  He rushed over and set up the camera by the front grill of his Galaxie.

He rushed back to the trunk and removed the rope and baseball bat that he bought three months ago in Boldger.  He rushed over and dropped them at the base of the tree. 

He rushed back to the passenger door and opened it up.  He reached inside and pulled naked Rhonda out and carried her back to the tree.

After a few minutes, she was securely tied to the tree.

He looked at her naked body. 

She stirred and opened her eyes.  She looked around in a daze and did not know where she was or what she was doing.  Then it dawned on her.  She was naked and tied to a tree out in the middle of the woods.

“Help!” she screamed when she saw Jimmy standing four feet from her with a baseball in his hand.

Jimmy quickly took a swing and whacked her crotch with the bat. 

“Ahhhh!” Rhonda screamed in pain.

“You should never make men pay for sex,” he yelled at her then swung the bat again and gave her crotch another whack.