The Price of Beauty in Strawberry Land by Gerald W. Darnell Page B
Authors: Gerald W. Darnell
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unlocked my Cottage door and looked back at the cars that continued to endlessly circle Chiefs. As always, this would continue until the early hours of tomorrow morning. But something unusual was in this traffic jam – it was a black Cadillac limo. Chiefs didn’t see many limousines – tractors yes – limousines no!
It slowed in front of Cottage 5 and our Mr. Brad Knuchols exited his room and took a place in the back seat of the Caddy.
I watched as it continued to circle Chiefs and eventually exited onto 22 nd Avenue headed North. This was interesting, but considering tomorrow’s event, I was not surprised. Probably some advance security for the governor or other official. I went to bed.
Kathy and Sam
I grabbed a quick breakfast, a coffee to go, a handful of dimes and settled in at the pay phone out front.
My first call was to the Gibson County Sheriff, Leroy Epsee – he, of course, was not in. I did speak with Deputy Jeff Cole and asked him to tell Leroy I was in town and would like to buy him lunch, if possible. He agreed to give him the message and suggested I call back sometime around noon.
My next call was to the number Jack had given me for Kathy and Sam Ledbetter – Kathy answered on the first ring. Jack had already called - told her I was in town and would want to talk with her as soon as possible. We agreed to meet this morning, and I should come right over.
I then called Captain Larry Parker to get an update - and see if he had been able to reach Bernie Taylor at the Commercial Appeal. He wasn’t in, but dispatch said they would have him call – I never got that call.
The address for Kathy Ledbetter was 1227 Brianwood Cove. The drive took less than half an hour and she met me on her porch with fresh coffee.
I estimated Kathy to be in her early 50’s. Their home was nice, but modest – nothing fancy. Sam was at work, so our only company was Tiger – her cat. There was a later model Buick parked in the driveway, and what appeared to be an old work truck, parked in the back yard. Nothing here seemed to indicate embezzlement or a misuse of money. These were just plain ordinary folks, living in a plain ordinary small west Tennessee town.
With our coffee and Tiger, we settled in the front porch swing and Kathy began to tell her story. It was the same as Jack had told me. She knew nothing of any missing money and was alarmed when GMAC stormed in with an audit. Kathy said that Charles and Carlon were also VERY alarmed when the audit was called, and then spent many hours behind closed doors talking with the auditors and among themselves.
“Kathy, tell me about Charles and Carlon. What do you know about them outside the workplace?” I asked when she finished.
“Mr. Reno, I don’t know a lot about them – really. Up until 6 months ago a son-in-law – Campbell Miller, basically ran the business. He was my boss and totally responsible for day to day activities at the main dealership building and satellite lots in Dyer and Jackson.”
“What happened to Campbell Miller 6 months ago?” Now I had another player.
“Early one morning Mr. Carlon Bosley came into my office and said that Campbell was no longer associated with the dealership, and that I would now be working for him. I never saw or heard from Campbell again – I never saw his name on any documents or any part of the business after that day – which seemed odd, based upon what I had heard.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“A few weeks after Campbell left, I casually asked one of the salesmen if they knew what had happened to him. He told me that Campbell was in the Cayman Islands working on a satellite dealership for Bosley Buick. Now, first that sounded real stupid and second, if he were still associated with Bosley Buick, his name
It slowed in front of Cottage 5 and our Mr. Brad Knuchols exited his room and took a place in the back seat of the Caddy.
I watched as it continued to circle Chiefs and eventually exited onto 22 nd Avenue headed North. This was interesting, but considering tomorrow’s event, I was not surprised. Probably some advance security for the governor or other official. I went to bed.
Kathy and Sam
I grabbed a quick breakfast, a coffee to go, a handful of dimes and settled in at the pay phone out front.
My first call was to the Gibson County Sheriff, Leroy Epsee – he, of course, was not in. I did speak with Deputy Jeff Cole and asked him to tell Leroy I was in town and would like to buy him lunch, if possible. He agreed to give him the message and suggested I call back sometime around noon.
My next call was to the number Jack had given me for Kathy and Sam Ledbetter – Kathy answered on the first ring. Jack had already called - told her I was in town and would want to talk with her as soon as possible. We agreed to meet this morning, and I should come right over.
I then called Captain Larry Parker to get an update - and see if he had been able to reach Bernie Taylor at the Commercial Appeal. He wasn’t in, but dispatch said they would have him call – I never got that call.
The address for Kathy Ledbetter was 1227 Brianwood Cove. The drive took less than half an hour and she met me on her porch with fresh coffee.
I estimated Kathy to be in her early 50’s. Their home was nice, but modest – nothing fancy. Sam was at work, so our only company was Tiger – her cat. There was a later model Buick parked in the driveway, and what appeared to be an old work truck, parked in the back yard. Nothing here seemed to indicate embezzlement or a misuse of money. These were just plain ordinary folks, living in a plain ordinary small west Tennessee town.
With our coffee and Tiger, we settled in the front porch swing and Kathy began to tell her story. It was the same as Jack had told me. She knew nothing of any missing money and was alarmed when GMAC stormed in with an audit. Kathy said that Charles and Carlon were also VERY alarmed when the audit was called, and then spent many hours behind closed doors talking with the auditors and among themselves.
“Kathy, tell me about Charles and Carlon. What do you know about them outside the workplace?” I asked when she finished.
“Mr. Reno, I don’t know a lot about them – really. Up until 6 months ago a son-in-law – Campbell Miller, basically ran the business. He was my boss and totally responsible for day to day activities at the main dealership building and satellite lots in Dyer and Jackson.”
“What happened to Campbell Miller 6 months ago?” Now I had another player.
“Early one morning Mr. Carlon Bosley came into my office and said that Campbell was no longer associated with the dealership, and that I would now be working for him. I never saw or heard from Campbell again – I never saw his name on any documents or any part of the business after that day – which seemed odd, based upon what I had heard.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“A few weeks after Campbell left, I casually asked one of the salesmen if they knew what had happened to him. He told me that Campbell was in the Cayman Islands working on a satellite dealership for Bosley Buick. Now, first that sounded real stupid and second, if he were still associated with Bosley Buick, his name
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