Killer Among Us: Carson Reno Mystery Series, #3

Killer Among Us

A Carson Reno Mystery

by

Gerald W. Darnell

Copyright © 2011 by Gerald W. Darnell

ISBN: 978-1-257-03976-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews, without written permission from the publisher.

Gerald W. Darnell

cr publishing

carsonreno@msn.com

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to a real person, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Be sure to check out Carson Reno’s other Mystery Adventures

Murder in Humboldt

The Price of Beauty in Strawberry Land

Horse Tales

SUnset  4

the Crossing

the Everglades

Dead Men Don’t Remember

Reelfoot

Fingerprint Murders

the Illegals

Justifiable Homicide

Dead End

Murder and More

Cast of Characters

Carson Reno - Private Detective

Rita – Hostess ‘Starlight Lounge’

Marcie – Peabody Hotel Operator

Andy – Bartender ‘Down Under’

Nickie/Ronnie Woodson – Owners Chief’s Motel and Restaurant

Tommy Trubush – Carhop Chief’s

Jack Logan – Attorney Partner

Leroy Epsee – Sheriff Gibson County

Jeff Cole – Deputy Gibson County

Scotty Perry – Deputy Gibson County

Elizabeth Teague – Airline Stewardess and friend of Carson’s

Mary Ellen Maxwell – Humboldt Socialite and owner of Maxwell Trucking

Judy Strong – Vice President of Maxwell Trucking

Gerald Wayne – Owner Wayne Knitting Mill

Nuddy – Bartender Humboldt Country Club

Larry Parker – Chief of Detectives Shelby County

Vincent Torelli – Relocated Hit Man

Julia Torelli – Wife of Vincent Torelli

Stuart Burton – Vincent Torelli relocation alias

Vickie Burton – Julia Torelli relocation alias

Vince Hickey – Vincent Torelli alias

Mason ‘Booker-T’ Brown – Head porter Peabody Hotel

Myles Berman – Humboldt Lawyer

David Gray – Julia Torelli’s brother

Tony Scarsetti - New Jersey Mafia family head

Freda Burke – Divorcee from Horn Lake, Mississippi

Tommy Herder – Manager Strasburg Department Store

Bill Hopper – Owner Hopper Motors

Clovis Davidson – Sales Manager Hopper Motors

Joe Richardson – Associate Drake Detective Agency

Marvin LaDuke – Memphis Lawyer

Steve Carrollton – Head of Memphis Mafia family

Bubba Knight – Mafia associate

Bobby James – Mafia associate

Jerry ‘Junebug’ Jackson – Mafia associate

Johnny Coode – Mafia associate

Lewis LaForge – Head of New Orleans Mafia family

Roland Vega – Mafia associate

Lenny Bruno – Mafia associate

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Dedication

Without names, I dedicate this book to all my friends and classmates who have special needs in their life. Copies of this book and all the Carson Reno series will be sent to them for their reading.  I hope they enjoy the trip down memory lane – my wish is that we have many, many more.

Contribution Credits

Elizabeth Tillman White

Mary Ann Sizer Fisher

Judy Steele Minnehan

Material Credits

Humboldt Public Library

Gibson County Historical Website

Humboldt Courier Chronicle

Libby Lynch

Prologue

Carson’s closest friends are enjoying a Caribbean cruise vacation, when one of the cruise guests turns up missing.  Missing is one of Humboldt’s well-known and prominent attorneys, and foul play is suspected.  Mary Ellen Maxwell might have unknowingly witnessed the crime and needs Carson’s protection.

Something is seriously wrong – the Mafia has become the target of an unknown adversary and they are scared.  Bad guys are turning up dead and the missing attorney could be a part of it – after all, he was heavily involved in defending the Memphis Mafia.

To make matters worse, the Memphis Mafia’s kingpin is also seeking Carson’s protection from this unknown threat.  The bad guys are killing each other, and by protecting a friend, Carson has put himself in the middle of an underworld war.

Join Carson as he tries to find the ‘Killer Among Us’

Chapters

Roof Top Party

The Cruise

New Client

Vince and Julia Torelli

Rat

Catching Up

Bobby James

Humboldt

Mary Ellen Maxwell

2416 Mullins 

Tragedy

Marvin LaDuke

The Memphis Queen

New Orleans

Back to Humboldt

An Unfriendly Welcome

Dirt Nap

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Life is cheap – make sure you buy enough

Carson Reno

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Humboldt/ Milan/ Trenton/ Jackson, Tennessee Areas

Gibson/Madison/Crockett County

Introduction

The witness protection program had simply not worked as promised.  He and his wife had been relocated to a one horse hick town in West Tennessee, with a promise to start life over – on the right side of the law, this time.

His factory job lasted less than a year.  A strike and major labor dispute had cost him his job, and his running around with other women had cost him his wife.  He never intended for any of this to happen, but it seemed he was meeting failure at every turn.  He had made that difficult move from the underworld to the real world with all good intentions of making it stick, but it wasn’t working.  Things were dragging him back, and he was finding it too easy to drift into the dark side of life once again.

He knew that if he crossed back over, all chances and opportunities for a life in the real world were over – his one chance gone forever.  While he resisted, it just didn’t seem to matter, circumstances were taking him back, and he couldn’t stop himself.

He started by renewing some old contacts, asking the right questions and finally by offering his services for hire.  It didn’t take long for things to happen, and contract offers coming his way.

They started with a call from Anthony ‘Tony’ Scarsetti.  He had worked for Tony in the past, and he believed they held a mutual respect for each other – him for his skills and Tony for his leadership. Tony was a rival of Steve Carrollton, and their competition for the vices in Memphis and on Beale Street was well known.  Evidently, Carrollton had been temporarily sidelined, but his operations continued.  Tony was looking for some professional help to make his temporary situation a permanent one.

Once again in his life, things were looking up, and he was feeling good about himself - being useful.  His skills were needed, and he would again be a contributor.  His little house on Mullins Avenue, in this hick town of Humboldt, would also be useful.  Quiet, out of the main activity in Memphis, Humboldt would allow him to operate under the radar.  Besides, the government had bought it, why not put it to good use?

He would start by sharpening the skills that had once made him successful.  After all, failure was not an option in this business – only death.  Hours in the local forests and woods would give him the privacy required; he had the perfect set-up and the perfect location.  Nobody local to challenge him, and besides, if someone did - he was still the best at what he did.  Everybody knew that.

The tickets arrived in his post office box in a medium sized brown envelope.  American Airlines First Class to Miami and a First Class Cabin for a cruise to the Bahamas.  It also contained $5,000 in large bills, and more would be paid when the job was complete.  He’d never been on a cruise before. In fact, the largest boat he’d ever been on was one he and his brother used for cat fishing when he was a kid.

Things were good again.  He wasn’t going to make the same mistakes he had made in the past.  At the top of his game he was the best, and he intended to be at the top of his game.

Roof Top Party

M y office address is officially listed as 149 Union Avenue – L6, which means I occupy office 6, located just off the lobby of The Peabody Hotel – Memphis, Tennessee.  I actually would consider my address to be 3rd Avenue – not Union, but the address has its perks.

The location itself is also handy.  All my phone calls come through the hotel operator, which is also my answering service.  I eat lunch and breakfast in the employee dining room at a great price. I have a beautiful lobby to greet potential clients, and please don’t forget the duck show - it happens twice a day.  Aside from the perverts who hang out in the lobby restrooms, I can’t find a lot of fault with my office arrangements.

Besides, this is 1962 and people are accustomed to the modern ways of doing business. Appearance is everything, or at least a close second to whatever is first.  The new real estate buzz is ‘location, location, location’ – I think I have one of the best.

The hotel directory and telephone yellow pages show L6 occupied by ‘The Drake Detective Agency’.  That can be confusing, because the name on my office door reads:

Carson Reno – Private and Confidential Investigations

I am Carson Reno and always have been.  There has never been a Drake working from this office, or any other in Memphis, that I am aware of.  However, when I opened the agency I just could not find any rhyme or rhythm in ‘The Reno Detective Agency’.  Besides, everybody who has watched Perry Mason knows Paul Drake and who knows, people may think this is a branch office or something.  A little free publicity and promotion never hurt any business, just as long as they call or show-up with money.

A large number of my clients consist of damaged spouses looking for dirt and evidence on the unfaithful partner.  It is possible that infidelity has made me what I am today – not a rich man, but I can pay my bills.  Occasionally, I get some insurance investigation work – searching for someone who has successfully snookered the insurance company for their own goodwill, or some poor smuck who filed false claims and skipped.  But mostly I deal with the underbelly of our society, where you find some very bad people and never make friends with anyone.

When I’m not specifically working on a case, I try to spend as much time as possible in or near the office.  Another advantage of the Peabody is having access to restaurants, bars, shops and the downtown activity, so staying close is never a problem.

Afternoons and early evenings will usually find me at the ‘Starlight Lounge’ – just off Winchester.  Not only is it a good place to ‘hang-out’, it is a great place to look for clients or, in fact, to look for those my clients have hired me to find!  The ‘Starlight’ has live entertainment starting at noon daily – yes, I said noon.  Everyday it is loaded with housewives who use the early part of the afternoon and evening to visit The Starlight for some drink and dance before the husband comes home from work.  They cook dinner early, put it in the oven and dance on over to the Starlight for an afternoon of wine and martinis. I have a friend who calls the place Club Menopause – I think that is an appropriate name.

Of course with the ladies come the men – generally just in search of some