Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes. Please don't sue.
Well folks, by the next day it seemed like nearly everyone in Hazard had heard the news. And it also seemed that since Bo and Luke Duke were there when the body was found they were the center of attention. Of course Roscoe too got a lot of attention as well, but it was mostly the unwanted kind.
Roscoe had gotten up early to begin what he had already known would be a long and stressful day, and therefore was somewhat shocked at seeing Mark Riggleman sitting on his doorstep waiting for him.
"Sheriff Coltrane, what are your thoughts on the case so far? Any suspects? What about the Dukes, are they involved?" he asked, before Roscoe could say anthing.
"No comment." Roscoe said, as he quickly regained his composure.
"Oh, come on now Sheriff. Just a few a minutes of your time. It won't take but a...." Mark Riggleman didn't get a chance finish when Roscoe cut him off.
"Now you just listen to me for one second. I know who you are, and all about that piece of trash you call a newspaper. I'm not at liberty to say anything to you or anyone else. So why don't you just take your little flunkie behind the bush over there and beat it. Hazard doesn't need some stupid tabloid reporters running around. God knows I've already got enough trouble with local reporters as it is." Roscoe said and headed towards his squad car.
"Well that went well. So what do we do now?" Luis, Mark's cameraman asked as he emerged from the bush after Roscoe left.
"Shut up and let me think a moment. I know that by the end of this thing those Duke boys will be right in the middle of it. The only thing that I don't get is why it took so long before somebody found that body." Mark said trying to come up with ideas for a story to put in 'The Weekly Talk', the tabloid newspaper that he and Luis both worked for.
"Don't it seem funny to you that whenever something big happens in this town that those Duke boys are almost always involved? They almost seem too good to be true." Luis said as he and Mark walked back to the large white van parked around the corner, well hidden from view.
"I know. If we could just come with some dirt on them it'd be the biggest news to hit our paper in months." Mark said as the two drove off.
I don't know about you folks, but if I were you I'd be keeping my eye those two.
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At nine that morning Detective Harold Gordon walked into the Hazard County Sheriff's office followed closely by his partner, Nick Burns, who had been sent with him to help him investigate the case.
Just minutes after they arrived Bo and Luke Duke walked in and they started the same questioning that Roscoe had done the day before.
"Okay, lets go over what happened when you found the body. You boys say you were fishing and talking when you heard Sheriff Coltrane cry out as he slipped in some mud, correct?" Detective Gordon asked.
"Yes sir, it was about seven thirty when we heard Roscoe." Luke answered while Bo and Roscoe nodded yes.
"Okay. So you went to check on him and when you did that's when the dog, Flagg, ...."
"Um, that's Flash. She's right over there." Roscoe interrupted, correcting the detective who simply stared back at him.
"Right. Flash. So, that's when you say Flash wandered off and discovered the body? You say she digging in the dirt when you noticed she had actually discovered a human skeleton?" he asked, and this time they all nodded their heads yes.
After a few more minutes of questioning Detective Gordon was almost done and ready to go view the body and then search the surrounding area for any further clues.
"Alright boys, you can go now. Just remember not to say a word about what went on here, at least for now. The last thing this town needs is rumors flying around." Detective Gordon said as Bo and Luke Duke walked out of the Sheriff's Office.
Immediately they were bombarded by a slew of reporters which had gathered outside to wait for word on the case. Bo and Luke didn't say a word as they slowly picked their way to the General Lee. When the two were finally inside the car it was Bo who spoke up first.
"You know Luke, I've been thinking, how come nobody's found that body until now? I mean, you would think that somebody else would have found that body. That creek's a pretty popular fishing spot around here."
"I've wondered that too. But, most people don't go in those woods, after all there's no hunting allowed. And, there's nothing really important in that area except the creek." Luke answered.
Just then the radio crackled to life and Uncle Jesse's voice could be heard in the General Lee.
"Shepherd to Law Sheep, Shepherd to Law Sheep. Are you boys out there?"
"Yeah we're here Uncle Jesse what's up?" Bo asked.
"Nothing much. I just need you boys to run some things over to the Potter farm when you get back home. It's not that much, just some parts that Mrs. Potter needs for that train set that she's putting together for her son Andrew." Uncle Jesse said.
"No problem Uncle Jesse. We'll be there right after we pick up a part from Cooter for the General Lee." Luke told him.
"That's fine boys. See you in a while. Shepherd out." Uncle Jesse said as he signed off.
"How'd everything go this morning at the Sheriff's Office, Uncle Jesse? Did they find out anything else yet?" Daisy asked walking into the kitchen.
"Nope. And besides, I didn't ask." Uncle Jesse said looking down at all the parts from the train set that he had dug out of the barn over the last two days. As he looked he noticed a few pieces missing and sent Daisy out to bring in the other box still in the barn.
Daisy entered the barn and headed towards the far corner to retrieve the box marked toys for Uncle Jesse when she heard a low groan coming from just a few feet away behind a stack a hay.
Thinking quickly, she grabbed a large piece of wood leftover from the last time they boys had to repair the fence and backed slowly out of the barn. As soon as she neared the doorway she called out for Uncle Jesse.
"What is it? What's going on Daisy?" he asked out of breath. In one hand he carried a shotgun, which had been right by the door when he heard her call out.
"Someone's in there Uncle Jesse." she told him. Just then a figure stood up and staggered towards them holding his head, in one hand was a half empty bottle of whiskey.
"Billy Feldman what in tarnation are you doing in there? Do you know that I almost shot you just now?" Jesse demanded angry now at the unexpected guest.
"Billy, when did you get back in town?" Daisy asked.
"Just last night, I think. Anyway I thought I'd stop in and pay you folks a visit, but since you was all asleep I didn't think you'd mind if I stayed out here for the night." Billy said, slurring his words slightly. As he somehow managed to stagger towards them Jesse noticed that Billy hadn't changed much in the past few months since they had seen him last.
"Well come on, get out of there. We'll get you a cup of coffee and get you cleaned up a bit." Jesse ordered.
Now folks, Billy Feldman isn't exactly what folks around here call good news or bad news for that matter. Believe it or not he was actually once a decent looking fellow who owned a small, but growing construction company not far from Hazard County. But, he lost it all when his wife left him for a younger man and took half the money he made with her. After that Billy took to drinking and gambling and lost everything less than a year later.
Nowadays he's just an old drunk who wanders from town to town. Every so often he ends up here in Hazard, and stays until he ends up doing something stupid and Roscoe runs him off. Like the time he fell asleep in the back of Enos's squad car, who didn't even know he was there for at least three hours. You never know when or where old Billy will show up. But that's another story. Like I said before, he's not good news or bad news, he's more like tolerable news.
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At that time at the local hospital Roscoe, Detective Gordon, and Officer Burns were just now arriving to view the body of the young woman. The four followed an older nurse who led them downstairs into the morgue, where the body was being examined by Doctor Wilcox.
"Sorry to interrupt Dr. Wilcox, but Detective Gordon and his partner, Officer Burns, wanted to view the body before we started a search for clues around the site where she was found." Roscoe explained to the rather young looking doctor.
"Sure Sheriff Coltrane. I think you and your new friends here will be quite interested in what I've found so far. Are you fellas ready?" Dr. Wilcox asked, and they all nodded yes as he led them to the examination table where the body lay.
"First of all, I estimate that the body had been there at least ten years. I'm not so sure exactly how old she was at the time of death, maybe nineteen or twenty. But, one thing that I'm almost certain of is that she was pregnant when she died. But, there's no sign of the baby. She probably died shortly after giving birth." Dr. Wilcox told stunned men in the room. After a moment Roscoe finally spoke up.
"What do you mean pregnant? What about the baby? How can you be certain?" Roscoe asked, now somewhat flustered. This case had just gotten very serious and Roscoe knew that it wasn't going to be an easy task in finding the killer or the baby.
"Well, you see, my nurse was the first to point out the woman's body structure and then the clothing that she was found in. They were too big for a woman of her size, unless she was pregnant. After that, we ran some tests and altough some came inconclusive, we're pretty certain that she was pregnant." Dr. Wilcox took a few more minutes to explain this to the officers and then took to the table where what was left of her clothing remained.
Roscoe carefully looked over the remains of the woman's shirt, skirt, and shoes and determined that the doctor was probably right. He also took note of the tag on the back of the shirt and could just barely make out the logo indicating that the shirt was meant for a pregnant woman.
"So, have you determined the cause of death yet? Or did she die while giving birth?" Detective Gordon asked after looking over the body and the remains of the young woman's cloths once again.
"Well, one theory so far is truama to the head. But, that's the only one so far. We kind of got a little caught up with trying to determine what happened to the baby." the doctor went on to explain.
Roscoe was nearly finished going over the remains of the clothing when a small heartshaped gold necklace caught his attention. Bending down to get a closer look he noticed that on the front side was the picture of a tiny cross, at the bottom of the cross was what appeared to be a flower of some sort, possibly a rose.
:"Did the woman have any other significant pieces of jewelry on her when you examined the body?" Roscoe asked, interrupting the conversation.
"Oh, no. Well, nothing except that necklace over there. It has a picture of cross with a flower at the bottom of the cross. I think there's some writing on the back, but its too faded to make out." the doctor said.
Roscoe took out a pen and pad and made notes of all the things the woman was wearing when she was found. After a few more minutes of questioning he went to a nearby phone to call Enos have him go through past missing person's reports for a pregnant woman fitting what little description they had so far. If they didn't find anything out by the next day, they would post some of the information in the local newspapers and hope someone would know something.
As they left the hospital, all Roscoe could think about was why someone would want to kill this young woman. And the baby, what had happened to the baby? Somehow he knew in the back of his mind that the baby was still alive. But who would want to steal a baby? And why? Silently he promised the young woman to do whatever he could to find her killer and her baby.
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Bo and Luke Duke were heading back to the farm to pick the train parts that Uncle Jesse had all ready for them to take to the Potter farm when they noticed the white van that followed at a distance behind them.
The two quickly realized it was another reporter and decided to lose the white van by taking a short cut and jumping their car over a nearby pond. One of which Roscoe's squad cars frequently visited.
Unbeknownst to Bo and Luke, the two cousins would soon find themselves at the center of a shocking murder in less than another day, with a very unlikely murder suspect.