by BobA. Troutt
*****
Sycamore Tales
Ferguson’s Trestle at Swindler’s Point
Little Creek, Missouri ran down through Harris Hollow and crossed into the hilly bottom of Ferguson’s Trestle at Swindler’s Point. Not far from town, Ferguson’s Trestle stretched across the hills of Swindler’s Point. At certain times of the day, you can hear the clickety clack sound of the Missouri Sidewinder #28 crossing the trestle. Late in the evening, you can hear the lonesome cry of the train. If it’s foggy, the winding cry haunts the bottom land with a weak sound of clickety clack. The trestle was built in the 1930’s. At that time, it opened up the gateway through the Ozark Mountains in Gilmore County. At one time it carried passengers, but now days it carries mostly freight. The old train depot is almost gone; what’s left of it has been converted into some shopping stores.
It was in 1970 when three women disappeared; their bodies were never found. The police worked on the case day and night, but failed to solve it. The three women were last seen at the Past Midnight Bar and Lounge on US Highway 32 at Junction 12-A. After they left the lounge, they were never seen or heard from again. What little leads the police got in the investigation led to a cold trail. The missing women’s case was eventually filed as unsolved crimes. Two of the women were from Indiana. They were high school friends from the same town; Jennifer Key was eighteen and Tabitha Johnson was nineteen. The other woman, Deanna Langford, was from Kentucky; she was twenty-one. She had no connection to the other two women.
There was not another disappearance until 1974 when a fourth woman disappeared from the same lounge. Linda Cannon, age twenty, was from upstate Missouri. She was passing through Little Creek on her way to a job in Louisiana. But, the killer made a mistake this time. He dropped her driver’s license on the ground not too far from where he buried her. Her license was found by some children playing near the old Fitts house on Old Bottom Road near Ferguson’s Trestle. They gave it to their parents and their parents notified the police. When the police came to check it out, they found Linda’s body buried in a shallow grave not far from where the children had been playing. She had been dead about two weeks. She had been stabbed seven times in her chest and stomach. As the police probed around in the area, they found three more bodies buried in shallow graves. The police believed they were the three women who disappeared in 1970. By now, the crime lab had moved in; the police gathered enough evidence to reopen the case. Just like the other women’s cars, Linda’s car was found not far from the lounge. It too had been abandoned on the side of the road. The police were sure the two cases were related.
The police always suspected that the killer hid in the parking lot of the lounge. The parking lot didn’t have lights so it would be easy for the killer to prey on the victims and abduct them. The victims left alone, except for Jennifer and Tabitha; they left together. The police had several theories on what may have happened. One theory was when the victims left the lounge they would head to their cars to leave. The killer would approach them and strike up a friendly conversation. Once they let their guard down, the killer would force them into their car and drive off. Their second theory was that the killer was hiding in the back seat of the victim’s cars and when they drove away from the bar and lounge, the killer would grab them from behind. The killer knew which car belonged to the victims because he would already be in the parking lot when they arrived. Once they were in the bar and lounge he would go to their cars and wait for them. The third theory was that they came up on him as he walked down the road late at night and they pulled over to give him a ride. Lastly, it was possible he knew the way the victims were going and blocked the road; when the victims stopped, he grabbed them.
All four victims had been stabbed seven times; the primary cause of death. No fingerprints were ever found. The lab reported that Linda Cannon’s wounds were similar to those found on the bodies in the Fitts Murder Case in 1969. It appeared they were killed with the same murder weapon; a double edge butcher knife with a fork on the end. It had a saw on one edge and a regular knife on the other. The knife, including the handle, was about seven to eight inches long. Stories have been told, but have never been confirmed, that back in 1969 the Fitts family lived in the old house near the trestle when a stranger broke in and killed the mother and father. Their son, who lived there with them, disappeared and was never found; his name was Ollie Fitts. The police often wondered if their son killed them and not a stranger passing through. Also, they believed that Ollie saw the killer and may know the killer as well. They put an APB out on Ollie for questioning. But, they never could find him. It’s possible the killer may have taken him. The mother and father were both stabbed seven times with the same kind of weapon used in Linda Cannon’s murder. The police now wondered if the stranger or Ollie had returned to Little Creek. The police also suspected that the other three victims were victims of the same killer. The lab removed their bodies for further testing; there was nothing but bones, fragments of clothing and some dried blood. The lab, however, took dental records and verified who they were. It was never proven who killed Ollie’s parents or what happened to Ollie and the stranger.
The police always suspected the killer would try again. So, they put two undercover officers in the bar and lounge. The officers were Miles Long, a part-time bartender, and Vickie Likens, a woman cop. But, little did anyone know, Ollie was working at the bar and lounge as the janitor. He had changed his name, identification and wore a disguise. He didn’t want to take the chance of someone recognizing him. He had died his hair, grew a mustache with a shadow of a beard and wore black rimmed glasses. Ollie had worked there for about two months before Linda Cannon was murdered. Ollie, like the others at the bar and lounge, were unaware of the undercover cops.
Just about everybody hung around Past Midnight Bar and Lounge. It was a barnlike looking building with a bar, a lounge and dance hall. It was decorated with antiques and neon signs. It also had a stage for the band, a revolving circle bar and a cafeteria dining area. Some came just to eat, while others came for the entertainment. They drank, danced, shot pool and listened to music. They had great food too, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. The band was hot and the dancing was out of this world. Everyone danced to the high heavens to songs like the ‘Missouri Shake Down’ and the ‘Mule Heel Blues.’ Richie, the bartender, always kept the drinks coming. The Past Midnight Bar and Lounge was the only joint in town with excitement.
“What about another round over here, Richie?” called one man from a nearby table.
As Vickie sat at the bar and looked the barroom over, she didn’t see anything unusual. A couple of men had tried to hit on her but she took care of that. Miles looked around to; it seemed like a typical bar night to him. Miles stayed busy at the bar serving drinks.
“Give me another one,” yelled another man at the bar.
As usual, with all the drinking, a fight broke out; everyone stepped out of the way. They went at it until the bouncer broke it up. It was over one of the guy’s girlfriend. Fighting happens every once in a while when someone drinks too much and becomes a hothead. But, you have that at just about every bar. People were coming and going all night long.
The story of the Fitts family began when they were murdered in the house next to the trestle. Ollie’s mama was from Kentucky; she lived there with her husband until Ollie was two years old. She took him from his daddy and ran off to Tennessee with another man; she kept Ollie from his biological father. Ollie’s mother and the man married in Tennessee and lived there for three years and then moved to Missouri. When Ollie was growing up he never knew the man he called daddy was actually his stepdad, not his biological father. His mother broke the news to him on his sixteenth birthday. Ollie was hurt that she didn’t tell him sooner. His stepdad had been pretty good to him; they had their moments. But, as he grew older, they drifted further apart. He resented his mother for not tell
ing him, but he repressed his anger toward her because she was his mother. After he found out the truth about his daddy, he started getting into trouble. He got into fights, which led to trouble with the law. His mama repeatedly told him he was just like his daddy. One day as his mother was looking for something in the cedar chest, she found Ollie’s birth certificate and an old photo of her and Ollie’s daddy. She gave them to Ollie; he carried the picture around with him from that day on. It made him feel better and he was relieved to know the truth; he finally had proof.
It had been several days and everything at the lounge was running as usual. The two undercover cops had not seen or heard anything out of the ordinary. There had not been any more abductions. An unmarked police car parked outside the lounge in the parking lot sat idle, waiting for something to happen. There were also two patrol cars patrolling the roads near the bar and lounge. They spent most of their time arresting the bar and lounge patrons for dui.
One evening, Ollie decided to go back to the old house where he grew up. The house was in ruins. Most of the windows were broken and part of the roof had fallen in. The floors squeaked and popped; the walls were full of holes. It was hard for him to imagine that he had actually lived there. As he walked around reminiscing, he couldn’t help but see the rats running here and there. He even came upon a chicken snake that nearly scared him to death. It was home at one time, he mumbled to himself. He could picture his mama setting the kitchen table and his stepdad watching TV and the smell of the tobacco burning in his pipe. It all began to come back to him. Especially the night the murders happened when he was fifteen years old. His stepdad was watching TV and his mama was in the kitchen fixing supper. Ollie was prowling around in the living room closet looking for something when suddenly a strange man kicked the front door in and rushed in. His stepdad jumped up out of his seat and yelled for Ollie and his mother. Ollie eased back into the closet and watched through the crack of the door. The stranger grabbed his stepdad first and stabbed him several times in the chest and stomach; blood splattered everywhere. Ollie covered his eyes because he couldn’t bear to see it. About that time, his mother ran from the kitchen into the living room screaming at the top of her lungs. But, her screams were drowned out by the Missouri Sidewinder crossing the trestle. As his stepdad bent over and fell to the floor, the stranger grabbed Ollie’s mama and stabbed her. Ollie couldn’t bear it, he was scared to death the stranger would kill him. His mama doubled up and fell to the floor next to his stepdad. The stranger looked around the room as he held the knife dripping with the warm blood of his mama and stepdad. Ollie quietly leaned back in the closet and eased the door closed. Everything fell quiet; all Ollie could hear was his racing heartbeat and breathing. When he had almost calmed down, the closet door flew open and there before him stood the stranger with the bloody knife. Ollie was face to face with him. The man slowly lifted his hand from his side and placed it on Ollie’s head. Ollie was so afraid he wet his pants. The stranger paused for a minute and looked at him. He slowly stroked Ollie’s hair and moved his hand down the side of Ollie’s face. He eventually rested his hand under Ollie’s chin. Without harming Ollie, he turned and left. Ollie sat in the closet with the warm blood of his parents smeared on the side of his face. Ollie knew the man was no stranger. He was the man in the picture his mama had given him from the cedar chest weeks ago. The man was his real daddy. Scared and afraid that he might come back, Ollie ran off into the woods behind the house. He was afraid and in shock with no place to go. He made his way up to Swindler’s Point because he knew the train would slow down enough for him to hop it; it always slowed down to ease through the tunnel.
Suddenly, Ollie heard a car pull up. He rushed over to the window and looked out. It was his daddy with one of the women from the lounge. Quickly, he turned and ran into the living room closet again. As his daddy barged in the door, he was dragging the woman by her hair. She was screaming and kicking, but he was too much for her; he was in control. Ollie watched his daddy slap her around the room, pull her hair and tear her clothes off. The next time he hit her, she fell to the floor with blood dripping from her mouth. As she lay unconscious, he gagged her and tied her up with rope. His dad then walked across the room and pissed in the corner. He lit up a cigarette and started smoking. After he finished his cigarette, he walked over to her, grabbed her by the hair of her head, pulled back her head and spit in her face. After that, he started pacing the floor back and forth. Within a few minutes, the woman started coming to. Unaware that she was coming around, the man left to go hide the car. When he went out the front door, Ollie slipped out of the closet to untie the woman. Vickie saw him come out of the closet and realized he was the janitor that worked at the bar and lounge. Afraid for Ollie, she tried to watch out for him as he untied her. If the man knew she was a cop, he would have killed her on the spot; Ollie didn’t even know.
Back at the lounge Miles noticed he hadn’t seen or heard from Vickie lately. He had seen her go outside, but he never saw her come back in. A few minutes later, he got worried and decided to call it in. The patrol cars checked the roads around the bar and lounge but couldn’t find her. However, her car was still in the parking lot. Miles left the bar and lounge to help with the search. The police knew they had to act immediately on the situation. They figured the killer may have gotten her.
Back at the Fitts house, Vickie and Ollie ran out the back door and into the woods. Ollie pretty much knew every inch of the woods since he used to play there all the time as a child. But as they took off for the woods, Ollie’s dad heard them. He grabbed his gun and went into the woods after them. Luckily for them, there was a full moon that night and it made it easier for them to see the way. Unfortunately, it also made it easier for him to see them. The game of cat and mouse had begun. It seemed like they could not get away from him. A couple of times they had to stop to catch their breath. Every time they stopped to catch their breath, he would shoot at them, but each time he missed and hit a tree instead.
By this time, the police had figured out the killer had Vickie and pretty much knew where he had taken her. They were on their way to the old Fitts’ house near the trestle.
Ollie figured if they could get to the highway on the other side of the woods, they could probably lose him. As they reached the end of the woods, they ran out in front of a car and almost got hit by the car. The driver stopped to see if they were okay. He was shaken and scared. As he was asking them what was wrong, he looked over toward the edge of the woods and saw a man pointing a gun directly at them. Ollie’s daddy shot into the air; everyone scattered. The man jumped back in his car and took off. Vickie went one way and Ollie the other. Vickie believed she could double back to the house, get to the car and get help. As she ran through the woods and raced against the clock, she pushed with all her might to get back to the house. She worried about Ollie because she never saw him again after they split up. She didn’t see Ollie’s dad, but she could sense his presence. It was dark; she tripped and fell a couple of times, nearly breaking her leg. Finally, she reached the house. She couldn’t see him but she heard him calling out her name over and over, taunting her. She ran and hid behind an old rain barrel. She watched and waited for him to appear. When she peeped up over the rain barrel, the light of the moon shined through the trees and they stood face to face. As they stared at each other, he suddenly reached for her hair. She screamed and fought for her life. When she kneed him in his groin, he let her go and buckled up at his knees. She took off running toward the trestle and started climbing. Within minutes, he had regained his composure and looked up to see her climbing the trestle. He tried to grab her feet and legs to pull her back down. But, she kicked and screamed trying to fight him off. They climbed up and up and up. By then the place was covered with police. They saw Vickie climbing the trestle with a man hot on her heels. One of the officers wanted to shoot him. But, the officer in
charge was afraid he might hit Vickie; it wasn’t a clear shot. Miles reached for his gun and shot up into the air as he ran toward the trestle. Then out of the night came a piercing light. It was the Missouri Sidewinder crossing the trestle. As Vickie kicked, the vibration of the train passing on the trestle caused him to slip and loose his stance. When he leaded back, he lost his grip and fell from the trestle down through a pine thicket to the ground. Miles rushed over to the trestle to help Vickie get back down. He climbed the trestle as fast as he could to get to her. She was frozen in her tracks, but she had a tight grip on the trestle. As Miles climbed, he kept telling her not to look down and he was on his way. Finally, he reached her and carefully helped her back down. She was weak and trembling when they put her into the ambulance and took her to the hospital. However, she was okay. The other officers continued to search the pine thicket for the killer. They searched and searched but he seemed to have disappeared; they couldn’t find him.
“He’s got to be around here somewhere,” said one officer.
“Maybe he crawled away,” said another officer.
“Not from that fall. I don’t think so,” replied Miles as he walked up. “It’s so dark I can hardly see.”
By the time the police found the killer, he was dead. He had a broken leg and arm from the fall, but that was not the cause of his death. He had been stabbed seven times in his chest and stomach. After a thorough search of the area, they found nothing.
Vickie figured the young man who helped her had also gotten away. The next day she turned in her report and at the same time, on Highway 95, a young man stood beside the road hitchhiking with a sign in his hand that read ‘Kansas.’
