No Loose Ends

Chapter 5

Bo and Luke dropped off Mary Lou in downtown Capitol City.  They knew they’d have to come home and get the money from Uncle Jesse before they could even think about paying their fine from Sheriff Little.  The sign at the Auto Parts store said “Closed all day for funeral”. 

“Ding-dang!” Bo exclaimed.  “Now how are we gonna get that part we need for Daisy’s Jeep.  This whole danged trip was a waste of time and gas!”

“Well, I wouldn’t say it was a complete waste of time”, Luke winked indicating the direction that Mary Lou had just left.

“Oh yeah…..hehehe”, he grinned.  “I forgot about that.  You did get her number didn’t you?”

“I thought you were gonna get it!”

“You mean we both let her get away without either one of us getting’ a phone number.  Cousin, we’re slippin’!”  They both took off down the sidewalk in the direction that Mary Lou had just left, but after running for two blocks, they split up and went around behind the stores.  After several minutes, they met back behind the hardware store.  Neither of them was aware of a young woman standing on just the other side of the window well hidden from their view….watching them.

“Well I’ll be dad-blamed”, Luke exclaimed.  “Now, you can say this whole danged trip has been a waste of time, Bo”.

“This whole danged trip has been a waste of time, Bo”, Bo grinned.  Luke punched his arm. 

“We better get back home before Uncle Jesse skins both of us alive”.

“Yeah, he probably will anyway when he finds out we didn’t get the part we needed, AND we got a ticket from Sheriff Little all in the bargain.”

Both shook their heads sadly.

On the opposite side of the county line, Roscoe P. Coltrane had just pulled up to find the General Lee abandoned. 

“Enos, you got yore ears on?  This is your soo-perior officer speakin’, Sheriff Roscooooooooeo Pee Coltrane!  Khee, C’mon”.

“Yeah, Sheriff, I hear you.”

“Enos, Is Daisy Duke with you?”

“Why would she be with me, Sheriff?  You was the one who said you’d get over their and rendezvous with ‘er.  Whatever that means.”

“Enos, just shut up.  I know what I said.  I just didn’t find her here and I thought maybe you got here first, seein’ as how you cotton to her so well, and all.”

“Well, I do cotton to her, Sheriff, but she ain’t with me right now.  Maybe she had to go 10-100!”

“Or maybe 10-200!  Ke-hee….I love it, I love it.  Over.”

Roscoe checked his watch.  He looked into the bushes.  “Daisy, I’m over here by the General if you’re out there.  Don’t worry, I ain’t comin’ in there after ya.  I’ll just wait right here.”

He sat on the hood and checked his watch.  Suddenly, it dawned on him that the hood was no longer warm.  A fine layer of dust had settled on its surface.  All but the area immediately surrounding the hood latch was covered.  Roscoe bent over and examined the hood in the light.  Although his investigative efforts were often lax, deep down, he knew how to conduct a proper investigation.  Right now, the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up as he saw that the area of the hood had been wiped down. 

The dust on the road had settled long ago.  Beside the tracks leading up to the General, a larger vehicle had been through here recently and left several more tracks.  That indicated a vehicle pulling a trailer.  From the impressions of the tracks, Roscoe could surmise that the trailer must have been loaded.  He walked all the way around the General and saw that the driver’s door and roof had also been wiped clean of fingerprints in places.  Then he froze when he saw the blood running down the door.

His first impulse was to radio Enos and order him to come on the double.  But the urgency of the matter was multiplied ten-fold by the possibility that murder might have been committed.  He saw that the keys to the General were still hanging from the ignition and snatched them.  It did not escape his attention that the microphone from the CB had been ripped out and was lying in the passenger seat.  Roscoe fumbled with the keys before opening the trunk of the General Lee.  Just before the lock clicked, Roscoe took off his hat for just a moment and looked up toward the sky.  His chin quivered a little as he spoke.  “I know I ain’t been the best man or the best Sheriff I could be, nor have I been the best friend to the Dukes that I coulda been.  But please Lord, whatever I’ve done in the past, (his voice broke here), don’t let them bank robbers have killed Daisy Duke and stuffed her body in the trunk!” he wailed, “For Enos’ sake, of course”, he added.

With that, Roscoe popped the trunk.  He reeled for a moment having braced himself for the worst.  He staggered, then caught himself with his hand.  There was nothing back there but a 2 ton hydraulic jack, an impact wrench and two spare tires with rims to match the others.  Roscoe took off his hat again.  “Thank you.  That’s one I owe you!” he smiled appreciatively toward heaven. 

At that moment, Enos drove up.  “What’s the matter Sheriff.  Say, you look kinda pale.  You been sweatin’?” he asked.

“Enos”, Roscoe looked him in the eye.  “I got some bad news.  Get ahold of yourself”.

The sudden seriousness in Roscoe’s voice never failed to take Enos by surprise.  He knew things were serious when Roscoe adopted that tone.  There was a note of authority, a fire in his eyes and a set to Roscoe’s jaw that would cause even the bravest men to cross to the other side of the street.

Enos quickly adopted the same tone.  “Tell me”, he said.

“I think them bank robbers have got Daisy Duke”, he said. 

“Okay”, Enos accepted the news.  “Then we cross over into Chickasaw County, find them bank robbers, arrest ‘em and bring Daisy home”, he said with an air of someone who means what he says.

“There’s more, Enos”, Roscoe breathed.  “I found blood on the door of the General and there’s some inside as well.  Now we don’t know for sure that it’s Daisy’s, but we’ve got to pull ourselves together and act like professionals and not let our feelin’s get in the way.  Understand?”

“But Sheriff, I ---“, Enos began.

“UNDERSTAND?” Roscoe barked.

“You damned right I understand!” Enos roared back.  “But I---“

“Tell me later.  Right now, we’ve got to get the State crime scene lab to look at all this on the double.  We’ll get samples of the blood, imprints of the tire tracks, call ahead to all the other law enforcement agencies and see if anybody has seen anything.  Anything at all.  Got it?”

“Got it!” Enos barked.  “Sheriff—“

“What?!”

“I’m glad you’re leadin’ this investigation, Sir.”

“Thanks Enos”.

An hour later, they were joined by Boss Hogg, who stopped by the farm and picked up Uncle Jesse.  Roscoe had blocked off the crime scene and used up several rolls of film documenting everything from the blood on the door and the upholstery, to the footprints and tire tracks on the pavement.  No one else had gotten near the vehicles.  Roscoe had even kept Enos away while he collected the evidence.  Then he would hand everything to Enos so he could package it and put it in the car.  Enos fidgeted nervously when Roscoe handed him the slides with the blood on them.  One from the door, one from the seat, and a third and forth sample that had dripped on the road. 

“Enos, we don’t even know if any of it came from Daisy.  But I will tell you, that even IF all of it turns out to be Daisy’s, there ain’t enough here to cause someone to  bleed to death.”

“I know that, Sheriff.  But we don’t know how bad she’s hurt or if she’s still bleedin’” 

“We just have to know that she’s not, Enos”, Roscoe said, giving him that look again.

“Why do we know that, Sheriff?” Enos asked.

“Because if we believe otherwise, then we cain’t think straight to do our jobs.  And right now, Daisy needs both of us keepin’ our wits about us.

“Amen to that, Roscoe”, Uncle Jesse agreed.

“You know Daisy’s blood type, Jesse?” Roscoe asked. 

“Carry a card that has all three ‘em’s vaccination records and blood type in case there’s ever an accident”, he said.  “But I don’t need it.  She’s A positive, just like my brother, who was her Daddy.”

“Enos, you mark these as Samples A, B, C and D and document where each of ‘em came from.  Then take these right now and high-tail it to the Federal Express office and get these to the Crime Scene Lab in Atlanta.  Tell ‘em to call me as soon as they know something.  Then get this film developed and have ‘em blow the pictures up and put them on the wall in my office.  I want to go over them later.”

After Enos left, Roscoe looked at Jesse again.  “Where are Bo and Luke?” he asked.

“Why, they went to Capitol City to pick up a part for Daisy’s Jeep, Roscoe!  Why do you ask?”

“Because Boss thought they might have had somethin’ to do with the Bank Robbery, and whoever took Daisy was goin’ the same direction.  I’m just trying to cover all bases.  How long does it take to get a part and get back, anyhow?” he asked.

“Well, not that long, but here they come now”, he yelled seeing his pickup barreling down the road toward them.

“Jesse, I don’t believe that the boys had anything to do with this, but I sure would like to know where they’ve been and what they’ve been doing.”

“Well, when they show you the part they bought, you can believe ‘em Roscoe”, Jesse scowled.