The Redhead

By Robert Lehr

• Language: English
• Publisher: EC Publishing LLC
• Release date: Dec 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781953821119

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Copyright © 2021 by Robert Lehr.

ISBN 978-1-953821-11-9 Ebook

ISBN 978-1-953821-10-2 Paperback

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CHAPTER ONE

Graduation

The statuesque 6’ 1 redheaded Carolyne Culpepper and her stunning 5’ 9 best girlfriend Lindsey Thomas had for months looked forward to the Travis High School 1968 Senior Graduation Thursday night, May 23rd .

All of them, perhaps, anticipated the 1968 Graduation Party at the Stonewall Flatts Country Club the next night with even greater enthusiasm than they had for Graduation.

It’s not that the senior classmates would be saying goodbye forever to their friends at the Graduation Party. Many of the graduating seniors confirmed that they would enroll in the University of Virginia, not only because of the prestige of this fine University but also because the University was less than a forty-five minute drive from home.

The Graduation Party at the Country Club was a blast. The band, The Virginians, played the popular rock songs of that time, such as Born to Be Wild, by Steppenwolf, Green Tambourine, by the Lemon Pipers and, People Got to Be Free, by The Young Rascals.

Some seniors laced the punch bowl with a bottle of rum. Some guys and gals reached into their coat pockets, or purse, for their flasks, preferring whiskey, rather than rum punch. Some were kissing their dates in a corner of the ball room. Others were kissing another person’s date when the opportunity arose.

A couple of guys were dragging on premium marijuana cigarettes on the expansive back porch of the Country Club. They were nearly whacked out due to the strong nature of the premium weed.

Then, something happened that no one at the party saw. But, the unnoticed event would cast a pall of horror and sadness over Stonewall Flatts for years to come.

CHAPTER TWO

Lindsey Heads to Harm’s Way

Lindsey did not have a date to the Graduation Party. Her boyfriend Taylor Edwards was in Roanoke with his parents.

An ambulance had been dispatched to Austin’s house upon a call for help by Callie his wife. It transported him to Roanoke General Hospital. Dr. Marsha Herdiska, in charge of the Ward, placed Austin in critical condition due to the possibility of a cracked skull.

As soon as graduation ceremonies were completed, Taylor and his parents Jackson and Bonnie raced the 174 miles to Roanoke.

By the time Taylor and his parents arrived at the hospital, Austin’s condition had been upgraded to good by Herdiska. She was amazed how well Austin was doing. He must have a hard head, Herdiska had mused, as she headed home.

Nonetheless, Dr. Aubrey Deegan, Austin’s Tending Doctor, refused to allow Austin’s family to visit him. Deegan believed that the injury Taylor had suffered, required a great deal of rest and relaxation.

She was concerned that visitors would excite Austin to the extent that he would suffer a relapse from the excitement of seeing his family. However, Deegan suggested everyone return the next morning to see how Austin felt.

Taylor and his parents ate a casual dinner at Austin’s and Callie’s house and spent the night there.

Early next morning, the family made their way to the hospital to visit Austin. It was Taylor’s and his parents’ intention to visit Austin for a couple of hours and then return home. This would enable Taylor to link up with Lindsey in time to attend the Graduation Party that night.

Unfortunately, Deegan would not permit the family to visit Austin at that time because he had suffered some minor convulsions during the previous evening.

Despite this seemingly dire report, Deegan did encourage them to come back at seven that night, guessing that Austin would have recuperated enough by then to entertain visitors.

Taylor called Lindsey and told her that his brother had suffered a relapse and that he and his parents would not leave Roanoke until after they visited Austin at the hospital at 7 o’clock. Taylor did not finish his therapy until 7:45.

Taylor did not believe they would be back home in time for him to attend the Graduation Party with Lindsey. He apologized over and over for missing the once-in-a-lifetime Graduation Party that he and Lindsey had wanted so very much to attend.

Oh, Taylor, that’s okay, Sweetie, Lindsey had assured him. "You need to stay with your brother. He needs you.

We can go out dancing sometime next week with Carolyne and Waylon when you are back. Now, you take care of yourself, Taylor, because I love you so very much, Lindsey declared, whimpering a little bit.

Taylor returned the sentiment. "I love you too, Lindsey. You are such a loving and understanding person. We were meant to be together.

I can’t wait until I see you, tomorrow, Taylor insisted.

But, Taylor did not see Lindsey the next day. In fact, he would never see his sweet Lindsey ever again.

CHAPTER THREE

Lindsey’s Fate Is Sealed

As Deegan had prescribed, the entire family appeared at the hospital at 7:00 that night. They stayed in the waiting room for about 45 minutes past that until Austin finished his therapy and was cleared for visitors.

The four of them commandeered several chairs then filed into Austin’s hospital room.

Austin smiled. Hello folks. I am so glad to see y’all.

They engaged in conversation, especially about how well Austin had recovered from his fall.

The four were chased out of the hospital upon the end of visitors’ hours. They returned to Callie’s and Austin’s home.

After they finished the snack fixed by Callie, Taylor and his parents secured their belongings and headed for their car.

Before he left, Jackson asked Callie if she could get Austin out of the hospital by herself tomorrow.

Oh, sure. I imagine Dr. Deegan will help, at any rate.

"Good. I have an early morning breakfast conference I must attend. I wanted to be sure you would not need me tomorrow.

"I’ll be fine. But, you drive safely now. It’s very dark out there.

CHAPTER FOUR

Lindsey Looks for Help

About the time that Taylor entered Austin’s hospital room, Lindsey looked for Carolyne. Lindsey appeared unsettled from drinking several cups of spiked rum, a beer and a couple of whiskey shots.

She searched for her good friend Carolyne who should be somewhere in the ballroom.

Lindsey finally spied Carolyne in the middle of the dance floor. She stumbled her way through the crowd and fetched Carolyne’s hand.

What’s wrong, Lindsey? Carolyne asked as she took Lindsey’s hand You look troubled. What’s the matter?

Oh, Carolyne, I drank too much and now I don’t feel well at all. I wanted to tell you that I was going outside to get some fresh air until I feel better.

May I go outside with you? Carolyne asked.

Absolutely, Lindsey smiled as best as she could. I would like that.

With Lindsey at her side, Carolyne found her boyfriend Waylon and told him she was going outside to help Lindsey recover from her over-abiding liquor.

Lindsey, Waylon reached his hand out to her, I have been where you are many times, he admitted. He drew her close to him and kissed her heartily just as natural as can be.

It’s a good notion to go outside to breathe some fresh air. You two come back soon, he ordered mildly. Waylon leaned in and kissed Carolyne also. I’ll go have a conversation with Billy Joe about our team losing the State High School Baseball Final because of Keith’s careless error. But, please do not talk long.

CHAPTER FIVE

Carolyne Told to Return to Party

Carolyne and Lindsey passed through the back door and onto the exspansive back deck of the Country Club so that Lindsey could catch a breath of fresh air.

The pot smokers, hampered by the effect of their smoking premium marijuana, moved as slowly as drugged Koala bears into the very left corner of the deck so as not to be seen.

This was a wonderful idea, Carolyne winked at Lindsey. With 200 or so persons dancing away in that small auditorium, it got pretty stuffy, now didn’t it? Carolyne queried. In contrast, it feels really good out here. Carolyne declared with a smile.

I’m sorry that you don’t feel well, Lindsey, Carolyne consoled her friend. Lindsey clasped Carolyne’s hands. They stood looking at one another like the good friends that they were.

Did you drive here? Carolyne inquired.

Yes, I did. Taylor is still in Roanoke. So, I drove myself here. I parked in the very back row of the parking lot because I was so late. I need to walk around a bit. I certainly do not want to get pulled over for being drunk tonight. I’ll get my jacket out of my car so that I don’t get chilled during my walkabout.

Excellent idea. May I accompany you? Carolyne asked.

Thanks. You are my best Friend, aren’t you? Lindsey smiled. She then looked through the back door window of the Country Club and observed that the pitch of the party was still quite robust.

Lindsey turned back to Carolyne and said, You should stay, Carolyne. The party is going strong, and Waylon didn’t want you to be long in comforting me. I would hate for you to miss any of the fun on my account.

Are you positive? Carolyne queried again.

I am absolutely certain, Lindsey assured Carolyne, thanking her for her concern.

Will I see you later at the party, Lindsey? Carolyne asked

For sor, Lindsey confirmed. I shall probably be baack in fifteen or twenty minutes. I shall look for you when I return.

Perrfect, Carolyne smiled. Have a good walk, Lindsey. See you soon. Taake caare.

They bussed one another on top of the back stairs and then separated. Carolyne turned and rejoined the party inside the Country Club and Lindsey headed toward her car in the back of the parking lot.

CHAPTER SIX

Death Awaits Lindsey

Bob Shaw, a 26 year-old sexual deviant, had parked his car next to the last row of the Country Club’s back parking lot after dark had descended upon Stonewall Flatts. He was there to snatch a young woman and take her into the woods across the road to have his way with her.

He had positioned himself as he had in several previous attempts to abduct a young woman in the immediate area. But, he never was presented with a clear opportunity to do so. Maybe tonight, he thought to himself with a sadistic grin.

He sat upright in his old Chevrolet when he saw Lindsey and Carolyne exit the party onto the Country Club’s deck. He could not believe his good fortune when the two separated. The taller woman re-entered the party and the slightly shorter woman walked straight toward him.

Shaw pulled a full black ski mask over his head and pasted himself against a black car. When Lindsey was within reach, Shaw leapt upon her and clamped a rag soaked in chloroform onto her face. She struggled hard for a few seconds before succumbing.

Shaw quietly opened his car door. The door light did not illuminate because Shaw had removed it.

He surveyed the parking lot and the large deck.

No one was around to see what had just taken place.

Shaw picked Lindsey up and quickly threw her into the trunk of his car. He placed the chloroformed rag in the trunk with Lindsey. He did not want the plastic bag inside the car with him should chloroform fumes leak out of the bag.

He drove hurriedly through the rear exit of the Country Club parking lot and rushed to the motel just down the road. He pulled into the very rear of the back parking lot, in between two pick-up trucks which shielded Shaw’s Chevrolet. The two trucks and the tall, thick line of Spruce trees made Shaw and his car virtually invisible.

He looked for any traffic coming in or going out of the motel parking lot and searched the vehicles in the lot to see if anyone was still in his or her car. He was pleased to see that there was neither any traffic nor a driver still in her car in the back parking lot. And, there were no joggers out this late.

Shaw then searched the roof of the motel for cameras. He had done a camera search two days earlier in anticipation of abducting a young woman from the Graduation Party. He could see that cameras had not been installed in the interim.

Shaw opened the trunk and wrapped Lindsey’s unconscious body in a bed sheet.

He could not leave his car out on the street adjacent to the woods for hours because that could look suspicious. So, he heaved Lindsey’s body over his shoulder and scurried along the eastern line of the Spruce trees flanking the rear of the motel.

The line of Spruce trees behind the motel did a hard 90 degree turn on their far eastern and western points. The turn of the Spruce trees ran almost to the road that passed by the Country Club grounds and the motel.

Shaw was certain that any search for Lindsey would start at the western side of the forest because it was on a direct line with the Country Club. He, therefore, parked his car on the eastern point of the parking lot. This parking ploy provided an opportunity to transport Lindsey on a circuitous path to confuse a search team.

Upon arriving at the end of the far eastern point, Shaw looked each way left and right searching for traffic. Seeing none for the moment, he ran across the road and into the woods with Lindsey over his shoulder.

When he entered the forest, Shaw placed Lindsey in a sitting position against a large tree. He needed a rest before he slung Lindsey back over his shoulder for the long trip to the abandoned cabin where he would amuse himself by torturing and raping the young woman.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Lindsey Irritated Carolyne

At the end of the Graduation Party, Carolyne wiggled onto the front seat of her boyfriend’s Sequoia Green Camaro. She spied Lindsey’s car as she and Waylon were headed for the exit.

Waylon, can you drive around the parking lot, please? Carolyne requested. I want to see if Lindsey is still out here.

Waylon did as Carolyne requested. But, they never found Lindsey.

Carolyne figured that Lindsey’s boyfriend Taylor had returned to Stonewall Flatts from the hospital. Then, he had taken Lindsey to a private party or to her home, leaving Lindsey’s car in the parking lot to be dealt with the next day.

Carolyne was a bit aggravated that Lindsey did not come into the party and inform her that she would leave with Taylor.

Oh, well, Carolyne thought to herself, "Lindsey wuz probably thrilled to be with Taylor. They looked liike they were so very muuch in love with one another while they were strolling hand in hand down the campus sidewalks and forest trails. It was such a lovely sight.

Lindsey probably was just too full of Taylor to remember to come into the building and tell me she was going with him.

Still, Carolyne thought, Iit wuz rather rude of Lindsey not to fiind me in the party and tell me thaat she was leaving with Taylor.

Waylon pulled into the Culpepper driveway at about one a. m. Carolyne leaned into Waylon and kissed him goodnight.

I’ll see you later today, Sweetie. Maybe we can double date with Lindsey and Taylor to catch a movie at the Imperial in the afternoon, Carolyne suggested.

That’s a really good idea. Waylon stated. I really like those two.

Especially Lindsey, I should think. Carolyne smiled, knowing that Waylon really did like Lindsey.

How did you like Lindsey’s kiss, Carolyne inquired.

Oh, come on Carolyne, you know you are the only one for me. Her kiss was certainly good, but not nearly as spectacular as yours.

What a sweet thing for you to say, Waylon, Carolyne assured him, flitting her eyelids at him.

Waylon opened the passenger car door for Carolyne.

She kissed him and then hurried up to her front door and unlocked it. She turned, waved, and threw Waylon one more kiss before going inside.

She was very happy that she did not wake her parents Alicia and Cody as her arrival surpassed the curfew placed on her for the Graduation Party. Carolyne was even more thankful that her parents were in a deep sleep because they would certainly have smelled the booze on her breath, if one or both of them were awake.

She dumped her clothes onto the floor where she stood, as she was most likely to do any time she changed her clothes. She seldom had a clean and uncluttered bedroom.

To ensure that her breath would lose all of its alcoholic aroma by dawn of that morning, Carolyne brushed her teeth for a long time and gargled several cups of mouthwash. She knelt and said her prayers before she went to sleep.

She had to pee two times during the night because of all the liquids she had consumed. On her second trip back from the toilet, she miscalculated the distance from where she was to the bed. Her attempted jump onto her mattress was short and she landed on the floor.

Still a little tipsy, she laughed at herself and then crawled into bed.

She planned to friendly chirp at Lindsey a bit later in the day for not telling her that Taylor had returned from the hospital and that she would leave with him.

The fact was, Carolyne would never speak to her best Friend ever again.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Lindsey Goes Missing

Taylor and his parents rolled into Stonewall Flatts about 1:30 in the morning. Although Taylor was tired, he could not sleep. He had a nagging feeling that Lindsey was in trouble. He told his parents that he was going to the Thomas house to see if Lindsey was at home.

Couldn’t you wait until later in the morning so as not to disturb the Thomas’ sleep?

No, Mom, I can’t. I am worried about Lindsey, Taylor responded.

Taylor drove to the Thomas house and banged hard on the door. Lindsey’s mom Emily answered in her bath robe.

I am so sorry to wake you so early in the morning. Is Lindsey here, Mrs. Thomas, Taylor asked anxiously.

Why, no, Taylor. Isn’t she with you? Emily asked in a growingly alarmed voice.

She is not with me, Mrs. Thomas. I am worried about her whereabouts. If I may use your phone, I’ll call the Culpeper’s. Carolyne is Lindsey’s best friend. Perhaps, she is spending the night with her.

Hello, Mrs. Culpepper. This is Taylor Edwards. Is Lindsey there?

I do not know, Taylor. Let me take a look. She laid the telephone hand piece on the telephone table and searched for five minutes, then returned to the telephone.

She’s not here, Taylor, Alicia reported.

Taylor collapsed to his knees. Oh, Mrs. Culpepper where is she? Taylor was crying hard now. I have lost my Lindsey.

Taylor, give me Lindsey’s mother right now!!

Taylor complied.

Emily, this is Alicia. You need to call the police immediately. If Lindsey has been abducted, time is not on our side. Call now!! Alicia commanded. She did not say, good-bye because she believed it was wasting time to do anything other than search for Lindsey.

CHAPTER NINE

Carolyne Learns About Lindsey

Alicia awakened her daughter early Saturday morning.

Just one more hour of sleep, Momma, I am so tired, Carolyne pled.

Get up, Alicia insisted. The police are here to speak with you. Lindsey has gone missing.

What did you say, Momma? Carolyne asked, still only half awake.

I said, ‘Lindsey is missing’, and the police are here to speak to you about her disappearance, Alicia said, wanting Carolyne to hurry along.

Lindsey is missing? Carolyne wailed. I was just with her last night. She can’t possibly be missing, Carolyne moaned, trying to change the facts to a happier ending.

Hurry, Alicia urged her daughter. Throw on a robe and brush your teeth. The police are anxious to question you about Lindsey‘s disappearance.

Carolyne became fully aware of what her mother had been saying. She quickly dressed and shrieked when she saw herself in the mirror and believed, Oh my gosh, it’s my fault. Isn’t it? Please help Lindsey and please help me, she prayed with fervor.

She tried to calm herself so that she could evenly describe the events that had occurred the night before.

She straightened herself up on her way to the living room. For some reason unknown to her, she needed water to drink. She was so thirsty.

She could not fathom why she needed more, considering how much she had drank the night before. She tossed three glasses of water down her throat. She finally dressed, opened her bedroom door and advanced to the living room where the police were waiting to question her.

CHAPTER TEN

Police Question Carolyne

"Hello, I am Officer Billy Joe Williams, and this is Officer Rhett Hammond.

Are you Carolyne? Williams asked rhetorically.

Yes, I am. Is Lindsey okay? Carolyne inquired, still trying to change the facts as her mother had described them, to a more acceptable reason for Lindsey’s absence.

We do not know, Williams confessed. "Lindsey’s parents, John and Emily Thomas, called us this morning at just past 3:00 a.m., concerned with the whereabouts of their daughter.

"They thought Lindsey might have spent the night with you, being as how you are her best friend and all.

"When your mother answered Taylor’s call, she advised them that you were dead-ass asleep. I am sorry, Carolyne, please pardon my language. Your mother told Lindsey’s parents to hang on. She set the handset down and quickly passed through your house, in search of Lindsey.

She is not here, your mother reported.

"Lindsey’s mother went into thunderstorm crying. She could barely say ‘thanks’ to your mother for looking. She then called us.

We have no information about Lindsey at this time. So, that is why we are here—to see if you might have some knowledge about where Lindsey is at this time, or any other information relative to our search.

Cody walked into the living room and asked Williams what was this about.

Williams explained his presence.

"Oh, my, Officer, that is terrible news. He turned to his daughter and asked if she wanted to do this.

I’ll do anything if it helps Lindsey, Carolyne insisted.

The examination began.

"Were you at the Graduation Party last night at the Stonewall