Confession

by Gary Whitmore

  He covered the chest with the tent then he grabbed his camera. He rushed inside his dark room.

  Inside his dark room, Jimmy opened up his camera, and preceded to develop the pictures of Rhonda and his trip with Ricky.

  A little while later, he rushed out of his dark room with the developed pictures of Rhonda and pictures of his fishing trip. He removed the chest from under the tent. He dropped her pictures inside it the chest then he locked it.

  He rushed up the ladder and placed the chest back inside the attic.

  After he reinstalled the access panel, he rushed down and secured the ladder.

  He went inside the house with the pictures of Ricky and him while they were fishing in the boat.

  He showed them to Betty during dinner.

  While Betty and Jimmy ate dinner, two teenagers down in Mississippi found Rhonda’s dead body still tied to the tree with tons of flies buzzing around her rotting flesh. They drove down that road for an evening of romantic heavy petting in the woods. But the sight of Rhonda’s naked body tied to the tree killed the mood.

  They raced back to town and contacted the Sheriff in Biloxi.

  The next morning, Biloxi Sheriff Hank Wilfred had three of his deputy’s rope off the area. Rhonda’s dead naked body was still tied to the tree.

  He called the FBI up in Atlanta and requested to speak to agent Robert Fillert. He got his name from the article in the Confidential Detective Cases magazine about Annette Boyer.

  Sheriff Wilfred and his deputy waited outside the roped off area.

  He saw a plain black 1963 Chevy Bel Air and knew it was a government car. He smiled knowing the FBI had finally arrived.

  Robert parked the car behind the Sheriff’s 1960 Ford Galaxie. Robert and Carl got out of the car.

  Robert walked up to the Sheriff with Carl by his side with a camera in his hand. They both flashed their FBI identification cards.

  “FBI agents Robert Fillert and Carl Meyers,” Robert said.

  “Pleasure to meet you,” Sheriff Wilfred said while he stuck out his hand. “I wanted the FBI involved as the killer could be one of the Airmen from Keesler,” he said.

  Robert shook his hand while he glanced at Rhonda’s dead body tied to the tree.

  Robert pulled his hand away and rushed under the rope. He walked around and got a déjà vu look while he looked at Rhonda’s naked body. Flies still buzzed around her dead flesh.

  “She's Rhonda Wilt, a local hooker,” Sheriff Wilfred said.

  “She was beaten with a blunt object. About a week ago,’ said Robert still checking out her body. “And it’s weird she has the number two painted on her stomach,” Robert said while he continued to look her body over. Then it dawned on him. “That Annette Boyer girl killed last year in Alabama had a grease mark down her belly,” he said while he looked at the grease mark. Then his eyes widened. “I believe these two girls were killed by the same person, who's numbering his victims, as his calling card.”

  Sheriff Wilfred looked at Robert then at Rhonda’s belly. “I believe you could be right,” he said recalling reading about Annette’s murder.

  Robert got a cocky smirk. He loved being correct and being reminded of that fact.

  “Take plenty of pictures,” Robert ordered Carl.

  Carl immediately went around and started snapping pictures of Rhonda and the entire area.

  Fifteen minutes later, the sound of a vehicle was heard along with the squeal of brakes.

  Carl looked and saw a TV van behind their car.

  “The news media is here,” Carl told Robert.

  He looked and saw the TV van. “Who called the media?” Robert asked.

  “I did,” Sheriff Wilfred said.

  Robert combed his hair to make sure he was presentable for the public. He made sure his suit was presentable. “I don’t want the girl shown on TV,” he ordered Sheriff Wilfred.

  Robert and Carl watched while a TV reporter and a camera man walked over to them.

  The reporter walked up to Robert and Carl.

  “I’m Bob Burbank from Channel Four News out of Mobile,” he said.

  “Don’t show the girl’s body,” Robert demanded.

  “Sure,” Bob replied then he looked at Rhonda’s dead body and started to get sick. He quickly positioned Robert to where Rhonda’s body was not visible.

  Meanwhile over in Boldger, Alabama, Jimmy drank a Black Label beer while he watched television from the couch. Betty was in the kitchen making pot roast for dinner.

  Then the Channel 3 News came on and there was a special report from Mississippi.

  Jimmy sipped his beer while on the TV, he saw Bob Burbank standing next to Robert. Rhonda’s body was not visible. His eyes widened the second he knew that that was his crime scene.

  “Bob Burbank here in a deserted area outside Biloxi, Mississippi. I have FBI Agent Robert Fillert, from the Atlanta office. Agent Fillert will be investigating the killing of a prostitute named Rhonda Wilt,” Bob told the camera.

  “So Agent Fillert, do you have a suspect identified yet?” Bob asked Robert.

  “A suspect has not been identified as I just started my investigation. It could be one of the Airmen at the local Air Force Base. And this is extremely similar to a killing in Oak Hill, Alabama last October. But don’t worry, it won't take me long to catch him,” Robert said to the viewers and he really believed someone in the Air Force was his killer.

  Jimmy laughed. “In your dreams dumbass!” he called out to the TV.

  “What did you say, Jimmy?” Betty called out from the kitchen.

  “Nothing honey,” he replied with a smirk while he watched Robert on the TV.

  Jimmy’s eyes widened when he got an idea. He got up of the couch and rushed over to a desk. He looked at the entrance to the kitchen and made sure Betty was not in sight. She was not visible so he immediately grabbed a piece of paper. He then rushed over to his magazine rack by the couch and grabbed a magazine.

  “I’m going to work my dark room until dinner’s ready,” he told Betty.

  “Okay,” she replied from the kitchen.

  Jimmy rushed out of the living room.

  Two weeks passed and Robert sat at his desk in the Atlanta office. He reviewed the file cases on Annette and Rhonda. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration since he didn’t have a single lead on this killer. He had worked with the Security Police at Keesler Air Force Base and they couldn’t come up with a possible suspect.

  Carl looked at Robert from his desk and smirked. He was happy that arrogant Robert was going nowhere with this case.

  A female secretary walked over and dropped off a letter on Robert’s desk. She walked away and delivered mail to other agents.

  Robert picked up the letter and noticed there was not a return address. He opened it up looked at the letter.

  "Robert – You’re too stupid to catch me. All my love, the Fall Slayer," the letter taunted him in magazine print letters glued to the paper.

  Robert read it again to make sure he was reading it correctly. It took Robert a few minutes for him to finally figure out the killer was messing with his head.

  Robert tucked the letter inside his desk drawer.

  Robert got up pissed and grabbed his coffee cup.

  He stormed over to the coffee pot almost knocking down a fellow agent.

  Off in the back of the office area, Homer had watched Robert and got really curious about that letter he shoved into his desk drawer. He knew Robert was pissed about something and Homer got really curious.

  Four months passed and Betty spent another weekend with her mother.

  Homer was back in town visiting his parents. Jimmy invited him over for some beers.

  Jimmy and Homer sat on the couch drinking Black Label beers.

  “I saw on the TV that another girl was killed in the same fashion as the one in Alabama last year,” said Jimmy then he took a drink of beer. “And I finally saw that Robert Fillert Agent on the TV. You’re right. He is arrogant.
”

  “He thinks that someone from the Air Force Base down in Biloxi is the killer. But after working with the Air Force Security Police, he doesn’t have a single lead,” said Homer and took a drink of beer.

  “Interesting that an Air Force guy would be the killer,” said Jimmy and was jumping in joy inside that this location for his second murder was playing out like he hoped.

  Homer chuckled when he recalled something he saw at the office. “It also appears that that killer sent Robert a taunting letter.”

  “Taunting letter?”

  “Yeah, it was made from letters from a magazine and called Robert too stupid to catch him. He even called himself the Fall Slayer,” Homer said and chuckled again.

  “The Fall Slayer. Catchy name,” said Jimmy and had a smirk while he took another drink of his beer.

  Jimmy and Homer spend the next hour drinking beer and chatting about other events.

  After Homer left, Jimmy revisited his chest and salivated over his souvenirs from Annette and Rhonda. He also had his new issue True Detective magazine and it had an article about Rhonda’s killing. The article talked about the two teenagers finding her dead body, and how FBI agent Robert Fillert was still on the case thinking an Airman killed the hooker.

  Later that night, Jimmy sat naked in his living room chair and masturbated while he read the article about Rhonda. He ejaculated on the page then closed the magazine.

  He dropped the magazine into the chest and locked it. He lit a cigarette and took a drag feeling satisfied.

  He returned the chest back to its hiding place in his attic.

  The rest of 1963 was quiet for Jimmy and he never had any concerns about being identified at the killer.

  Thanksgiving was the same at Jimmy’s home with Betty, Melvin, Ricky and Emily.

  At the end of December, Jimmy and Ricky again rang in the New Year of 1964 by having way too many drinks at Hank’s Bar.

  Back to reality…

  In Daytona Beach, Sam sat in lazy boy chair and highlighted additional items of extreme interest, as his hunch was becoming even stronger.

  “How did this author know some of these details?” Sam said while he closed the book and headed to the bathroom.

  In Kissimmee, Marty could not put his A Killer’s Tale book down. Becky started watching old videos of Allan and the kids. She viewed one where he played baseball in the backyard with the kids two years ago.

  Up in Curtis, Mississippi, Billy sat in his den and read his A Killer’s Tale book. He was furious! “What the hell was Allan thinking of?” he yelled out while he threw the book across his room.

  Billy then grabbed his Jack Daniels bottle off the floor. He took a huge gulp while he got up and walked across the room. He picked up his book then walked back to his chair. He continued to read but was still furious.

  Chapter 11

  A Killer’s Tale story continued…

  The year 1964 rolled around.

  It was Sunday February 9th of the New Year.

  Jimmy and Betty relaxed in the living room and watched The Ed Sullivan Show.

  Then Ed introduced The Beatles.

  “Who the hell are the Beetles? Bugs?” asked Jimmy, as he had never had heard of this up and coming Rock and Roll band from England.

  Jimmy’s eyes widened the second he saw The Beatles on stage. “What the hell? Looks like four girls dressed in suits,” he said.

  The Beatles started their song All My Loving and the camera showed all the teenage girls screaming in the audience.

  “What the hell kind of music is that?” asked Jimmy and couldn’t believe what he saw. “Why are these girls acting crazy for these creeps?”

  “They call it Rock and Roll,” replied Betty and she tapped her foot to the beat of the song.

  “I know what Rock and Roll is. But these guys look like girls with their hair. Those four guy have to be queer,” said Jimmy then he got up off the couch.

  Betty rolled her eyes. She actually thought the four young lads from Liverpool were cute and adorable.

  “I’m heading to my dark room,” he said, as he couldn’t stand listening to that music.

  Betty could care less he left the room. She actually liked the music from The Beatles.

  While he passed through the kitchen, Jimmy got a new Black Label out of the fridge.

  He headed into the garage and then into his dark room.

  While inside the room, he thought about October and couldn’t wait. He had the craving for another episode.

  March rolled around and Robert Fillert and Carl Meyer drove back down to Biloxi to work the Rhonda Wilt case.

  Before they headed over to Keesler, Robert and Carl stopped off at the scene where Rhonda was found.

  Carl watched while Robert looked the crime scene over with the pictures of Rhonda in hand.

  After twenty minutes of searching the ground by where Rhonda was found, Robert didn’t find any new evidence. But Carl figured that since some months had passed and there was the possibility rubberneckers came here to check the area out.

  After they left the crime scene, Robert and Carl drove east to Keesler Air Force Base to talk with the Security Police. They had an Airman First Class they wanted to FBI to chat with, as this young kid was their first suspect.

  It was again July 4th and like clockwork, Homer came back down to Boldger to visit his parents. And of course Jimmy had to have Homer over for some Black Label beers.

  “So Homer, how’s that Fall Slayer case going?” asked Jimmy while he opened up his can of beer.

  Homer opened up his can of beer. “Nowhere. Robert went down to Keesler Air Force Base to talk with a suspect the Security Police had down there.”

  “Oh, he finally found the killer?”

  “Nope, that Airman they suspected had a valid alibi.”

  “What was that?”

  “The Security Police forgot to check to see he was on leave. He was so he couldn’t have killed that hooker outside Biloxi.”

  “Maybe he killed that girl in Alabama?”

  “He couldn’t have. He was in some type of advanced training up at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois at the time.”

  “Sounds like he did have a good alibi. So, do they have any other suspects?”

  “None. Robert is going nowhere with this case,” said Homer then he took a drink of beer. “That’s good for the arrogant bastard.”

  Jimmy drank his beer and looked a little disappointed someone didn’t take the blame for his murders, but then on the other side, he was happy because he wanted to continue killing again this fall.

  It was now the first week of October.

  Jimmy sat at his desk in the police station. He drank a cup of coffee while he looked at a road map of the State of Georgia. He figured that the best way to not get caught was to commit a murder in a different state each fall. That would really make it even more difficult for that FBI Agent to catch him.

  His desk phone rang. “Sheriff Nalla,” he answered the call.

  “Hey big brother,” said Ricky from the phone.

  “Ricky.”

  “I’m so excited about our trip,” said Ricky from the phone and Jimmy could tell he was from the tone of his voice.

  “I’m glad. This will make our annual trip very special.”

  “So, where we going to do it?”

  Jimmy glanced at the map of Georgia. He smiled when he found the perfect spot. “Georgia.”

  “Georgia. That sounds great. How do we meet? How do we pick her up? Where do we do it?” Ricky blurted out those questions in rapid succession.

  “Calm down. We’ll plan things out once we get there. It’s better that way.”

  “Ok, where do we meet?”

  Jimmy glanced at the map of Georgia and picked a city that gave him a good feeling. He told Ricky and Ricky agreed.

  After their conservation, Jimmy got up from his desk and walked over to the coffee table. He poured a cup of coffee the stood there and thought about what his thi
rd victim would look like.

  It was now time for their adventure. It was Friday morning.

  Emily had finished packing Ricky’s suitcase for the trip. She had a black eye from Ricky punching her last night. He had too much beer and she started to complain. So he punched her again and it was becoming more and more frequent. Emily actually loved this annual event Ricky had with Jimmy. It left her home alone. Oh how she wanted to get out of this marriage. But her father would never allow her to get a divorce from Ricky. So she hoped that just maybe he would get too drunk and get in a car crash. Plus Emily knew that Jimmy and Melvin would never allow her to leave their precious Ricky. So she tolerated the punches.

  She jumped for joy inside while she watched Ricky drive off down the street in his car. His first stop before heading to Georgia would be at the dealership and then he would pick up his boat and trailer.

  Back at Jimmy’s house, Betty stood by the front door and watched while Jimmy drove off down their street. She was also glad to see Jimmy leave as their marriage was becoming strained with he inability to get pregnant. She had planned on visiting a doctor to see what was the problem.

  Jimmy drove through the streets and headed to the eastern side of town.

  He turned over and turned on his radio. The Jim Reeves song I Guess I’m Crazy played on the radio.

  “I guess I’m crazy for loving you,” sang out Jimmy while he had all of his thoughts concentrated on the side trip to Georgia.

  Ricky drove a brand new blue 1965 Ford Galaxie with blue interior with his boat on his trailer hitched to the car. He headed east on Route 17.

  Ricky had the radio on and listened to Roger Miller’s Dang Me song. “And hand me, high from the highest treeee,” Ricky sang out along with Roger Miller.