Mystery at Devil's Elbow

“I don’t know what this is, but if you’d let the girls go back down to the site I can make sure we have the right spot,” asked JD.

“If the girls are with you and Deputy Bishop, it is fine with me,” said Martha.

“Thanks, Martha, I really appreciate your help.”

Deputy Bishop called up to the girls to come down take a walk with him and the sheriff. The girls ran down the stairs this time. They’d never been on a walk with the sheriff.

“Girls, can you walk us over to where you saw that hairy thing?” asked JD.

“Yeah, sure can,” said Lisa.

“Okay Momma?” asked Mary.

“Yeah, dear, it’s okay to show the sheriff where you saw the thing. Get your coats on.”

There was a field behind the Fisher house that led down to a large wooded area. The area was full of hardwood and evergreen trees. The weather was mild with temperatures in the upper 50s. The Sheriff and Deputy Bishop followed Lisa and Mary out the back door across the yard and down near the wooded area.

“This was where we was hunting lizards,” said Mary.

“Bishop put a flag in the ground there.”

“Where did you see the creature?” asked JD.

“It was over there by that tree,” said Lisa.

“Deputy Bishop walk to where you think Lisa is pointing. Lisa, I want to use Bishop as a model for the big hairy creature. Tell me when Bishop is at the tree where the hairy man was standing.”

“Okay,” said Lisa.

“Am I in the right place?” asked Rodney over his black hand-held radio.

“That’s not right. He was to the right a couple more trees,” said Lisa.

“Bishop, walk to the right about two trees.”

“How’s that, sheriff?”

“Go behind you one tree,” said Lisa.

“Bishop walk back one tree.”

Just as Deputy Bishop stopped, Lisa said. “He’s in the right spot.”

“You think so too, Mary?”

“Yeah, that’s where it was,” said Mary.

“You’re there, Bishop. Was the hairy creature taller than Deputy Bishop?”

Bishop put a yellow flag in the ground to show the location of the creature.

“Yeah, a lot taller,” said Lisa.

“Bishop take your hat off and hold it above your head as high as you can. How ’bout now girls?”

“That’s too tall,” said Lisa.

“Deputy, bring your hat down about six inches.”

“That’s right,” said Lisa.

“Stay where you’re at with your hat in the air, Bishop. We’ll be right there.”

JD, Mary, and Lisa walked down to where Deputy Bishop was standing, with his hat held high above his head with a funny grin on his face.

“Where is that tape measure you brought, Bishop?” asked JD.

“It’s in my right front pocket, Sheriff.”

“And you have your hat in your right hand. Stand still while I reach for it.”

JD pulled out the tape measure and held one end on the ground and the other up to the hat.

“Looks like 86 inches.”

“That’s taller than anyone I know around here, Sheriff,” said Bishop.

“That’s what Mary and me told Daddy. Nobody round here’s that tall,” said Lisa.

“Okay, Bishop, me and the girls are going back to our spot. Now hold your arms out to your side so we can see how wide this creature was.”

“You got it.”

JD, Mary, and Lisa walked back to the spot where they had been hunting lizards that was now marked by a yellow flag.

“Girls, I want you to tell me if Deputy Bishop’s arms are as wide as the hairy creature was?”

“Bout half that,” said Lisa.

“Bishop, bring your arms in halfway.”

“That’s right,” said Lisa.

“How about you Mary, look right?”

“Looks right,” said Mary.

“Hold still, Bishop, we’re coming down.”

JD, Lisa, and Mary walked back down to where the deputy was standing. The sheriff took the tape measure out of his pocket and measured the distance between the deputy’s hands.

“That looks like 42 inches. We’ve got what we need, girls. Let’s walk back to your house.”

As they were walking back to the house, Bishop found a woman’s scarf. He stopped to mark the spot with a yellow flag, then caught up to the sheriff. He whispered the news in his ear. JD nodded and continued walking with the girls back to the house.

Martha was watching from the back door and opened the door for them.

“Thanks again, Martha. The girls were a big help. Can you girls go and play while I speak to your momma again?” asked JD.

“See you later, Sheriff and Deputy,” said Lisa as she and Mary quickly went up the stairs.

“As we were walking back to your house just now, we found a scarf that fits the description of one the missing woman wore. I want Bishop to stay here in his car watching over your house until I send someone to replace him.”

“I’ll go out to the car, sheriff,” said Rodney.

The color drained from Martha’s face as her eyes opened wide.

“Don’t be scared Martha, this is just a precaution. I don’t think whoever did this means any harm to your family, but I don’t want to take a chance,” said JD.

“I hope you’re right, JD.”

“Can I use your phone, Martha?”

“Sure, help yourself.”

JD called his office and filled them in on the hairy creature and finding the scarf in the field. He asked Deputy Reggie Hayne to put together a search team for the area near Devil’s Elbow Bridge.

“Thanks, Martha, I’m gonna head back down to the forest now. A search team is on the way.”

“Can I tell Lewis what’s happening?”

“Sure, just ask him not to tell anyone else.”

Members of the search team met the sheriff at the location. The team was made up of law enforcement personnel and volunteer firefighters from the surrounding community dressed in overalls and boots for the terrain. The temperatures were cold, and the forest offered relief from a chilly wind. Two evidence technicians from the sheriff’s office were also on the scene. The sheriff pointed out the location of the scarf and asked them to work that first. He also told the searchers to spread out and move into the tree line. He asked them to look for the woman’s car as well as the missing woman.

Pete was a volunteer firefighter, hunter, and fisherman who was often asked to join the sheriff’s department as a guide on searches because of his familiarity with the county.

“Sheriff, you know about the old fishing road that runs along the Big Piney near here?”

“No, never heard of it.”

“If you go back to the bridge, and you look careful, you can see a trail off to the right. It isn’t used by very many, and it’s rough. You could drive a car over it, but it wouldn’t be easy.”

“Can you show it to me?”

“I can do better than that. I can get my dirt bike and take you down it.”

“Go get your bike then and meet me back here.”

Pete walked up toward the Fisher house. His house was just on the other side. It didn’t take long before an old noisy dirt bike came riding up.

“I’ll get on back,” JD said.

As soon as the sheriff was on, he patted Pete on the back and off they went. Once they got to the bridge, Pete pulled off the road, onto a very rough trail. The tree limbs and grass were overgrown. Some branches were broken, and grass matted down as if someone had driven it recently. Pete rode slowly so the sheriff could look for evidence.

After about half a mile, the sheriff patted Pete on the back. Pete stopped the bike and killed the engine.

“Pete, look over there, about thirty yards into those trees. That looks like a blue car to me,” said JD. Off in the distance was a blue sedan parked in an open area of the forest.

“I think you’re right, Sheriff.”

“Take me over there, Pete.”

“Hang on, Sheriff, this might get rough.”

Within a few minutes, they were next to the car amid tall hardwood trees. Sheriff Carson got off the motorbike and started to look at the car. Based on the information from the missing woman’s parents, it looked like her blue car. He could see tire tracks where the car had driven from the trail up to this spot. The car had no visible dents or nicks, and all the doors were locked. In the front seat were a set of keys and a small cloth purse made from denim material.

“Pete, go back and get the searchers. I’ll wait.”

Pete shook his head, and off he rode back to the search party. It took nearly ten minutes to get all the vehicles into the area where the car was located. They all gathered around the sheriff.

“Everyone, can I have your attention? As you can see, we found the car we think belongs to Victoria Abney. Please form a line from the old trail by the river and walk past the car. Look for the woman or evidence that might help us find her.” JD waved his arms over his head and said. “You two, from Evidence, go over this car with a fine-tooth comb.” The evidence technicians looked up from where they were knelt, busy looking at the tire tracks of the vehicle in the grass. They both moved to the car and opened their bags of equipment.

A few minutes into the search of the car, one of the evidence technicians called out, “Sheriff you need to see this.”

“Whatcha got?” asked JD as he was walking over.

“A thumbprint and part of a palm on the outside of the driver’s door jamb.”

“Can that really be a print?”

“Yes, Sheriff. And it’s about twice the size of a human hand.”

After hearing the conversation, the other evidence technician came over to look at the print. He stood there in silence, stroking his chin. He had never seen an impression that big.

“Keep searching guys, there may be more.”

A few minutes later the second evidence technician said. “Sheriff, I got another print of the left hand on the windshield.”

JD walked over to that side of the car.

“That looks like this person had his left hand on the windshield and his right on the door jam.”

“That’s what it looks like to me too.”

“Over here, Sheriff,” called one of the searchers who was about 20 feet behind the rear of the car.

“Whatcha got?”

“I have what looks like a footprint.”

“What …”

The sheriff called over the evidence technicians.

Both evidence technicians stopped what they were doing and ran over to the sheriff. On the ground in front of them was a large human footprint from a bare foot. They both looked at each other and then the sheriff.

“Anyone seen anything like this?” asked JD.

Everyone stood wide-eyed and open-mouthed. They were all quiet except a searcher who said with a shaky voice, “No, sheriff.”

Tammy got a call from her editor, Basil Grey.

“Tammy, get out to the Devil’s Elbow Bridge. There’s a break in the missing woman case. You’ll need to go along the river about four miles and into the forest. The place is crawling with cops and searchers,” said Basil.

“I’m on it, boss.”

“I have a fishing buddy waiting for you with a boat. He’s on this side of the river up from Devil’s Elbow Bridge at the boat landing. His name’s Terry.”

“Leaving now.”

Tammy raced out of the office to her car and drove as quick as she could—without attracting too much attention—to the boat landing.

She parked and walked swiftly down to a boat sitting at a dock.

“You Terry?”

“Sure am.”

“You know where we’re going?”

“Sure do, but you’ll have to climb the bank and walk to the site.”

“If you can get me to the bank I’ll get the rest of the way.”

Terry drove up the river until he reached a spot where a white T-shirt was tied to a tree branch. He pulled the boat up and onto the bank.

“Here you are.”

“You gonna wait?”

“For a while.”

Terry broke out a couple of fishing poles and threw the lines in the water so as not to look suspicious. Tammy climbed out of the boat and up a steep embankment. It took her some time, but she made it to the top. From there, she could hear voices, walking in the brush, and breaking of branches in the forest in front of her. Tammy wandered from tree to tree, trying not to be seen.

As she moved closer, the voices got louder, but she couldn’t see anyone. A few seconds later she could see a blue car and several people walking around nearby.

The car was a blue two-door sedan just like the one driven by the missing woman.

What was it doing way out here?

She could hear the voices but couldn’t make out what they were saying. She moved closer so she could understand better.

“This is a really big handprint,” said a young fireman on the search team.

“Did you see the footprint?” asked someone else.

Sitting behind a tree where no one could see her, she took notes on everything she heard. The sun began to set, and she made her way back down the embankment to the waiting boat.

“You done up there?” Terry asked.

“For now.”

Terry pushed the boat away from the bank and headed for the boat dock.

Tammy had enough notes to tell a good story about what she had heard.

Is this the car that belonged to the missing woman? Why put the car way out there?

Martha stayed in the house with the girls the rest of the afternoon. As she heard Lewis’ truck pull into the driveway, she went onto the porch to meet him. Lewis waved at Deputy Bishop as he walked to the house.

“What is Rodney doing parked out there?” asked Lewis.

“The sheriff has him here for protection,” said Martha.

“From what?”

“From the thing that the girls saw the other day and whoever took the woman.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“I called JD and told him what the girls saw. He came out and took the girls back to the spot. While there, they found a scarf they think belonged to the missing woman.”

Lewis stood with his hands on his hips shaking his head. He said in a broken voice, “You gotta be kiddin me.”

“No, wish I was. JD suggested we keep the girls inside with the doors locked.”

“I don’t know what to think.”

“We’ll just keep the girls inside until JD says otherwise. I have to get to work before I’m late.”

“Yeah, go ahead. We’ll be alright here.”