The Mother's Day Murder by Wensley Clarkson

Author:Wensley Clarkson
Format: epub
Published: 2016-10-19T16:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

On Monday, May 5, 1997, Chris Bargeron got a phone call from one of Gerry Horne’s friends saying that Horne was staying at a motel called the Royal Palms, on the Peach Orchard strip. The friend said he’d spoken to Horne, who had said he was interested in the “work” that Bargeron was offering.

A few hours later Bargeron met with Gerry Horne. He soon realized why Horne had a reputation amongst many of the local kids as a tough guy. He certainly talked a good fight even though few had ever seen him actually do anything bad.

The 18-year-old Horne, with his skinhead hair cut, goatee beard and sharp features, was well known on the Peach Orchard strip because of his patronage of numerous fast-food joints and motels. He booked himself into local hostelries whenever he ran out of friends’ houses to stay at. Many believed that he subsidized his accommodation by selling drugs. Horne’s attendance at school had become so occasional that teachers just presumed he would flunk out. Somehow he had remained on the roll, although his days were definitely numbered.

Horne was partial to the Royal Palms Motel, just a few blocks south of Taco Bell, because it was cheap and had a back entrance that enabled him to come and go with whoever he liked without being hassled by the manager.

The Royal Palms had a reputation amongst local police and residents as a flophouse of questionable repute. Only a couple of months earlier, a hammer-wielding bandit who had held up a nearby Hardee’s was arrested there in dramatic circumstances.

It was known amongst local teenagers as the kind of place where people could check in with no questions asked. For those not old enough to frequent the local bars and clubs it had become the perfect location for a party.

Chris Bargeron was impressed that Horne was staying at the Royal Palms because it meant few people would know about his activities.

The youths’ attitude at that meeting was so casual, it seemed as though they were talking about swapping a few CDs rather than planning to murder a man in cold blood.

Bargeron told Horne: “There’s this lady called Gina and a guy called Larry and they wanta kill Gina’s husband and they’ve got a gun, a .38 special.

“They’re lookin’ for someone to kill this man. Gina wants him killed ’cause he won’t leave her alone ’cause she wouldn’t sleep with him no more.” Bargeron stopped for a moment to examine the reaction of his young would-be hitman. Then he continued: “She reckons on collecting the insurance off of him.”

Horne showed little emotional reaction to Bargeron’s extraordinary request. He even gave the impression that he was used to carrying out such “work.”

Horne was extremely flattered that Bargeron had come to him after a recommendation from a friend in tenth grade at Butler High.

Bargeron informed Horne he’d deliver $2,000 up front in cash when he handed over the gun. However Bargeron was most insistent that Horne ditch the weapon immediately after the killing because it had been stolen from Larry Kelley’s stepfather.

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