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Authors: Gerald W. Darnell

The Crossing

the Crossing

A Carson Reno Mystery

Gerald W. Darnell

the Crossing

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2011 Gerald W. Darnell

All Rights Reserved .This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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The

Crossing

 

A Carson Reno Mystery

 

Written by

 

Gerald W. Darnell

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
the

 

Crossing

 

Copyright ã 2011 by Gerald W. Darnell

 

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

 
C
[email protected]

 

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to 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

 

Killer Among Us

 

Horse Tales

 

SU
nset
 
4

 

Cast of Characters

 

Carson Reno - Private Detective

Rita - Hostess Starlight Lounge

Marcie – Peabody Hotel Operator

Andy – Bartender Down Under

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

Nickie/Ronnie Woodson – Owners Chiefs Motel and Restaurant

Tommy Trubush – carhop Chiefs

Florence (Flo) – waitress at Chiefs

Mavis – waitress at Chiefs

Dr. Barker – Gibson County Coroner

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

Joe Richardson – Associate Drake Detective Agency

Tammy Whitmore Blurton – Humboldt resident

Sonny Blurton – Husband of Tammy Blurton

Barney Graves - Judge

Carl Menard – Humboldt Police Officer

Thomas Whitmore – Father of Tammy Blurton

Nora Whitmore – Mother of Tammy Blurton

Richie Whitmore – Brother of Tammy Blurton

Robert Henry Walker – Humboldt resident

Yarnell Walker – Brother of Henry Walker

Colleen Walker – Sister of Henry Walker

Bert Sappington – Insurance Investigator

Temple Truett – Memphis resident

Sandy Scarlet Rogers – Memphis resident

Jeremiah Higgs – Reverend Nazarene Baptist Church

Benjamin Abernathy – NAACP Attorney

Raymond Griggs – Humboldt Chief of Police

Richard P. ‘Dick’ Valentine – Former Humboldt Chief of Police

Tony Bailey – Humboldt Police Officer

L.D. Newell – Mayor Humboldt

Mike Barker - Alderman

Chip Falstaff – Captain Tennessee Highway Patrol

Billy Joe Bobbitt – White Demonstrator

Jerome Davis – Deacon Nazarene Baptist Church

 

Dedication

Leldon R. Darnell, my father

1920 - 2000

 

Contribution Credits

 

Elizabeth Tillman White

Judy Steele Minnehan

Mary Ann Sizer Fisher

Nickie Scruggs Lewis

Material Credits

 

Humboldt Public Library

Gibson County Historical Website

Humboldt Courier Chronicle

Strawberry Museum

 

Prologue

 

The racial problems of 1962 have found their way to the small West Tennessee town of Humboldt.
 
A white woman has been brutally murdered, and one of Carson’s childhood friends has been accused of the crime.
 
Carson’s friend is a colored man who once worked for his grandfather, but the accusations and problems extend beyond the crime and to the heart of this small community.

Carson finds a divided town; a town divided along the lines of race and the interference of outside groups, which makes this division even wider.

Challenged with defending his friend, Carson must find a solution before the two sides collide, which would definitely have devastating results.

Join Carson, as he faces one of his toughest challenges in
‘the Crossing’
.

 

Chapters

 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A Letter to the Readers
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Crossing
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Introduction
 

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A Train Called The City of New Orleans

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Robert Henry Walker, Jr.

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Humboldt

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bea’s Place

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Circuit

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tensions

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trouble Everywhere

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Angels and Demons

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
More Bad News

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Parades and Protest

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sex, Lies and Murder

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Clean Up

·
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Courier-Chronicle
Article Reprints

 

A letter to the readers

 

It seems some things never change, while others always are.
 
1962 is a year where everything seems to be changing and, unfortunately, a large majority of our country’s citizens are having a difficult time dealing with it.

My grandfather was a farmer and he owned and farmed many acres of land in West Tennessee.
 
As a little boy, I spent most of my summers riding with him in his old truck or sitting on his lap while he drove a tractor.
 
These were times that I cherish and will remember forever.

Because he owned a lot of land, my grandfather employed several families to live on this land and help with the farming.
 
These employees were called
‘Sharecroppers’
.
 
My grandfather furnished the land, the equipment and the housing.
 
The
‘Sharecropper’
did most of the work, and they actually ‘shared’ in the profits that came from selling the crops, thus the name,
‘Sharecropper’
.

These summers, when I wasn’t in the truck or on the tractor, I was usually at one of the
‘Sharecropper’
houses, playing with their children.
 
In addition to raising crops, raising children was also something they did very well.
 
All the families had at least four, and some had as many as ten kids – they liked large families!
 
And, of course, as the children got older, they were taken into the fields to help with the farming.

It was during one of these summers when I met Robert Henry Walker, Jr.
 
He was the seven-year-old son of Robert and Roberta Walker.
 
Henry, as he was called, was second youngest of the eight Walker children.
 
He had one younger sister, four older sisters and two older brothers.
 
They all lived in a small two-bedroom house, along with a grandmother and, what seemed like, a half-dozen dogs.
 
This was a close and happy family, and I spent many wonderful days that summer playing in the front yard of the Walker home.

Years later, as I was sharing this story with someone, they asked me that magical question, ‘were they colored or white’?
 
I didn’t know the answer.
 
I mean, I knew the answer, but I actually had to think about it.
 
That was just something I had never thought or cared about.
 
The fact that the Robert Henry Walker, Sr. family was colored was something that had never occurred to me.
 
I didn’t care and was surprised that anyone else did.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Carson Reno

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