The Secrets of Taylor Creek

by Michael Merson

  “Why?”

  “People in town need something to see and to talk about.”

  ***

  Nathan got the camera from Warren Prater and drove back to Beaufort as quickly as he could. Instead of going back to his room or to a camera store, he drove over to the best person he knew that could develop film for him. Besides, he wanted to see her again.

  When he pulled up to the house, he saw Sissy and Stormie sitting on the front porch together. He parked the car and got out as Sissy walked inside, and Stormie walked out to meet him.

  “I was hoping to see you today,” she said as she walked over to Nathan.

  He smiled at her, and she put her arms around and kissed him like she hadn’t seen him in months. He loved the way she gave herself to him, and that moment he knew that she was what he needed in his life.

  “What brings you out here?” She asked as she ran her finger down his chest.

  “I need a favor,” he said as he reached in the car and took the camera out.

  “Taking up photography now?” She asked.

  “No. This camera has film in it. It’s supposed to have some photos on it. Crucial photos. I don’t know where else to go to get them developed.”

  “I can do it for you inside,” Stormie said as she tried to take the camera away from Nathan.

  “What’s wrong?” She asked when he didn’t release it.

  “Stormie, the images that may be on here could be very gruesome. I need you to know that. If you’re not comfortable with developing them, I’ll understand.”

  “Are they pictures of the dead girls?” She asked.

  “Maybe one of them.”

  “Will it help you find who did it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I have to help you,” Stormie said as she took the camera from his hands.

  Chapter 33

  Nathan stood next to Stormie in the darkroom and watched as she worked on developing the film. He wanted to be in the room with her just in case something horrible appeared in the photos. Stormie had to squeeze past Nathan a few times as she worked to bring the images into focus in the trays. The darkroom was the small bathroom off the hallway. Photography was nothing more than a hobby, and she didn’t need any more space than what she had until now. She wasn’t complaining because she liked having him close.

  “Now what?” Nathan asked as he moved closer behind her and placed his hands on her waist.

  “We wait, and hopefully, the images will start to appear,” she answered as she reached down and placed one of her hands over his.

  The two of them watched as Stormie agitated the liquid.

  Soon, an image started to appear.

  She prepared herself and took a deep breath. She thought she was ready for whatever was going to appear, but she was wrong. Suddenly, the naked and mutilated body of Delia Snipes started to become visible. Stormie gasped and turned and put her face into Nathan’s chest.

  “Don’t look! Just tell me what to do,” Nathan said as he turned her away from the images.

  Stormie gave him instructions on how to move the photos to the distilled water to rinse them and how to hang them to dry. She stood there with her eyes closed while Nathan completed the process for all ten photos.

  The two finally emerged from the darkroom and went into the kitchen. Once more, there was a note left by Sissy:

  Gone to a movie in town be back later.

  Sissy

  Stormie looked at Nathan and was not sure what to say.

  “I’ll go and let you get back to your day,” Nathan said.

  “No, wait! Please stay awhile. I’d like to talk to you.”

  “Okay.”

  Nathan took a seat across from her at the kitchen table. He could see that she was upset, and he thought that she would ask the questions that she had been avoiding since he told her about the case and Ben’s and Ridge’s relationship to the Eugenics Board.

  “All the girls that have died were killed. That’s what you think. Right?” She asked.

  “Yes, based on what I saw in the darkroom, and everything else I’ve found leads me to believe that they were all killed. I can certainly say that Delia Snipes wasn’t struck by a boat propeller. Someone used a knife to do what was done to her.”

  “You went to Charlotte that day that we had lunch and found those girls’ names on the list from the Eugenics Board.”

  “Yes.”

  “All three girls were sent for sterilization, all three were killed, and all three had ties to two men who worked with the Eugenics Board in the past.”

  “Yes.”

  “Judge Ridge and the apparent monster that I’m married to.” She declared.

  “Well…”

  “Do you think there’s some conspiracy to kill the girls? Who else is involved? Is there anyone else involved?” She asked quickly.

  “I know that Sheriff Carter has been following me a great deal. Jack Walters has done the same at least once. Now, there is a third person following me as well.”

  “The third one’s the one that you think shot at you in the cemetery, correct?”

  “Yes,” Nathan answered, looking at Stormie as she sat there quietly, looking down at the floor.

  “Why don’t you take Sissy and leave?” He suggested.

  “No, I can’t! Ben would come for me, and he wouldn’t stop until he found me. After the other night, I’m sure he’d kill us both,” She said and then moved over toward the sink to fill a glass with water.

  “What are you going to do?” He asked.

  “Help you. If Ben’s a part of these girls being killed, I want him stopped,” she said and turned around to face Nathan.

  “I can’t have you do that.”

  “No arguments. I’ve made my mind up, and I’ve already decided,” Stormie said as she walked over toward the refrigerator and removed some leftovers.

  Nathan sat there, not saying anything. He didn’t know what to say.

  “Do you like dumplings? You’re joining me, right?”

  “Yeah,” he answered.

  I’m with you till the end, he thought to himself as he watched her move around the kitchen.

  He had already decided that he would protect her against anything and anyone.

  The two of them ate dinner together in the kitchen. Nathan told her of the rumors that were now swirling around town. Stormie simply shrugged it off and decided people will make their own minds up. Eventually, she led Nathan into the living room, where they sat on the couch with Stormie curled up next to him. Before long, they saw the headlights of Sissy’s car coming through the front window. Stormie sat up and looked at Nathan.

  “What should or could I even tell Sissy?”

  “Everything. If I’m not around, then the two of you need to watch out for each other, especially if you think Ben’s behavior is getting worse, which it sounds and looks like it is.”

  “I agree.”

  When Sissy came inside, Stormie brought her into the living room and sat her down where she and Nathan shared everything with her. Sissy didn’t say anything or do anything to interrupt the two of them as they gave her all the details.

  “Now that you know everything, do you want to leave?” Stormie asked her while holding her hands on her lap.

  “Are you leaving, Baby?”

  “No,” Stormie answered quickly.

  “Then you know I ain’t leavin’ neither,” she responded.

  “That’s what I thought,” Stormie said.

  ***

  Nathan made it back to his room around eleven. He sat down on the bed and began looking over the photos. He didn’t have an opportunity to see them at Stormie’s home. The photos were amateurish at best, and many were out of focus. Delia’s injuries could be seen, but they couldn’t really be made out. It was the last photo that he looked at that provided him with what he thought he needed. Delia’s breasts had been cut off with a knife or some other cutting tool, but it certainly was not a propeller with its chopping
motion.

  Nathan stood up and walked over to the bed. He looked out the window at Sheriff Carter, who was standing under the streetlight. The sheriff had followed him from Stormie’s home. It made him nervous that the sheriff knew he was at Stormie’s. He believed it was Sheriff Carter who spread the word about him spending time with Stormie.

  He’s not even trying to hide anymore. I guess I won’t either, Nathan thought to himself.

  Chapter 34

  Wednesday, July 14, 1965

  Nathan pulled in the parking lot of the coroner’s office at ten o’clock. He didn’t know what to expect from Doctor Glenn. He was going to confront him with the photos and ask him why he had ignored the apparent mutilation to Delia’s body that had been done with a cutting instrument and not a propeller.

  The waiting area of the office was messy, and no one sat at the receptionist’s desk. Nathan rang the bell numerous times before a small man wearing a lab coat came through a door into the waiting area. The man was in disarray with his hair uncombed, face unshaven, and clothes wrinkled.

  “Are you the county coroner?” Nathan asked as he displayed his credentials.

  “Yeah. How can I help you, Agent?” He asked in a slightly slurred speech.

  “Are you the one who examined Delia Snipes and then decided that she died accidentally and that her body was later struck by a boat propeller?”

  “Maybe, I don’t remember.”

  “Well, I need you to remember. Look at this photo and tell me why, in your expert opinion, you thought that she was hit by a boat propeller when these injuries were clearly inflicted with a straight-edged cutting tool.”

  “Son, in this county you do as you’re told. If the sheriff said that’s what happened, then that’s what happened. I’m too damn old and too damn sick to really care anymore.”

  “Don’t you care about the oath that you took?”

  “All my patients these days are dead before they get here. I like it that way. No one cares. Besides, the oath doesn’t matter to me when it comes to people that are already dead.”

  “So, you’re standing by with what you wrote?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Because of this!” Nathan said as he aggressively held the photo out for the doctor to look at.

  “All you have is one grainy black and white photo that shows that someone’s body has been torn to shreds by something. Something that I think was a propeller. Now, I’m still drunk from last night, but I can still see that the photo isn’t all that great.”

  “You’re a disgrace.”

  “I know, but I don’t really give a damn,” the doctor said as he walked out of the waiting area.

  Nathan turned and walked out of the office and into the parking lot, where he found Sheriff Carter leaning on his car, drinking from a coffee cup.

  “Morning Agent Emerson.”

  “Good morning, Sheriff Carter.”

  “How was your meeting with Doctor Glenn?”

  “Fine.”

  “It’s usually better to catch him later in the day after he’s had a nap and before he starts drinking again,” Sheriff Carter explained as he took another sip from the cup.

  “Apparently.”

  “You know you can ask me for help anytime. I could have told you about the doc if I knew you were coming by here to see him. It would’ve saved you the trip. What do you have there?” The sheriff asked, looking at the photo in the Agent’s hand.

  “It’s a photo of Delia Snipe’s body,” Nathan answered.

  “Where did you get that?” Sheriff Carter asked as he dumped the coffee out into the grass.

  “It just came to me in the middle of the night.”

  “What do you mean it just came to you in the middle of the night? If you got something new, then you need to share it with me,” he ordered.

  “I only need to share it if it’s evidence, and I haven’t decided if it’s evidence yet.”

  “Look here, young man…” the sheriff started to say.

  “No, you look here. I’ve put up with your bullshit ever since I arrived. I’m an agent of the federal government. I’m going to do what I need to do to solve these cases. Now get your fat ass off my car. I got things to do!” Nathan yelled and moved past the sheriff.

  Nathan was furious, and the time for tact was over. The past week and a half had finally pushed him over the edge. If the sheriff was going to play games, then he was going to let him know where he stood and how he was going to play it. If he played it right, the sheriff would get pissed off and make a mistake.

  It’s time to put a little pressure on the Four Horsemen, he thought.

  “If you’re lookin’ for trouble, you goin’ to get it!” Sheriff Carter told Nathan as he climbed into his car and started to back out of the parking space.

  ***

  Thursday, July 15, 1965

  Nathan had spent most of the previous day with Preacher at his church and then ate dinner with his family that evening. He gave Preacher an update on what he had uncovered over the previous days and thanked him for the note that he had left in his room concerning the rumors. He told Preacher that Sheriff Carter was most likely the source of the rumors. Preacher had asked if there was any truth to the rumors, and Nathan felt that he could not lie to his old friend, but he also decided not to tell him the entire truth.

  He told Preacher that he and Stormie had been spending a lot of time together on her boat, looking over the locations where the girls’ bodies were found and that she had developed the photos from the camera that Warren Prater had given him. Preacher accepted the explanation and did not pry any further.

  Preacher told Nathan that he needed to attend the annual Pirate’s Ball that would be held Friday night at the town hall. He explained that the attendees would eventually find their way over to Judge’s Revenge. Preacher told him that anyone who’s anyone in North Carolina would be in town this weekend attending the event. He also told him that people were saying that there was another party going on this weekend as well.

  Nathan took Preacher’s advice and decided that he should attend the Ball. When Nathan went into town, he found a store that rented costumes specifically for the Pirates’ Ball. The shop was large, and it was spread out between two stores that were next to each other. Inside, various costumes were hanging everywhere, and shoppers crowded together, browsing the racks.

  As he moved from rack to rack looking over the collection of pirate clothes, Nathan spotted Rhett Jenkins skimming the racks himself. Rhett looked at him and nodded. Rhett looked around, and when he felt no one was watching, he walked over to Nathan.

  “Sorry about the other day, but the sheriff was watching us both. He came by late the previous day and run George and Otis off before you got there. One of my guys told me that when I came back from my fishing trip later that evening. Then he called that morning before you came by and told me that I better not talk to you and to run you off if you came by.” Rhett clarified.

  “No need to apologize, I understand I appreciate the information. What happened to your hand?” Nathan asked and pointed toward Rhett’s right hand that was bandaged.

  “When you own a fish market, you’ll eventually cut yourself cleaning fish,” Rhett explained as he held up his hand.

  “You going to the ball?” Nathan asked.

  “Yeah. It’s kind of expected if you own a business in town to be seen at these types of things.”

  “I get it. I guess I’ll see you there,” Nathan said.

  “Maybe, for about thirty minutes,” Rhett added and then walked away.

  Nathan walked to the back of the first shop and spotted Stormie, who was entering a makeshift dressing room that had a shower curtain for privacy. Nathan made his way toward the dressing room and then looked around to see if anyone was watching. Once he felt it was safe, he pulled the curtain back and stepped inside, quickly closing the curtain behind him.

  “What?” Stormie said as she jumped slightly, obviously surprised
by her visitor who quickly grabbed her half-naked body and kissed her deeply.

  “I’ve missed you,” he said softly.

  “I’ve missed you too. Ben’s home, and he’s forcing me to go to the Pirate’s Ball tomorrow evening,” she whispered.

  “I’m going too. That’s why I’m here.”

  “Great! I’ll go out and find your costume. Just watch me, and I’ll point it out,” Stormie said with a mischievous grin.

  “All right,” Nathan said then kissed her once more before stepping out of the dressing room.

  Nathan pretended to browse the store and occasionally picked up a costume and placed it up to him, pretending to make it look as though he was measuring it for fit. He watched Stormie exit the dressing room area, and without pause, she walked over to a rack that had some costumes of better-quality hanging on them. She took one out and placed it on the end of the rack.

  She then looked at Nathan and pointed at it while mouthing the words, “This one.”

  She then walked over to the counter and paid for her own costume and left the store. Nathan made his way over to the rack and picked up the costume that she’d laid out for him.

  Really Stormie! This is the one? He thought to himself as he walked to the counter to pay for the rental.

  Chapter 35

  Friday, July 16, 1965

  Sheriff Carter arrived early to the Pirate’s Ball to meet with the others. He wore a costume that resembled a night watchman of Colonial America. He carried a lantern and nightstick to complete the ensemble. He found Arrington, Walters, and the Judge in the back room sitting around a table.

  “Nice costume, Sheriff Carter,” Judge Ridge announced as Carter walked in.

  The Judge was wearing the same outfit that he wore every year. It was a long black robe that he topped off with a white curly wig that was already twisted. The Judge had apparently already started the party before he even arrived.