Alabama Noir by Don Noble

Author:Don Noble
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Akashic Books
Published: 2020-03-26T16:00:00+00:00

MURDER AT THE GRAND HOTEL

by Winston Groom

Point Clear

Gordon V. Pumps whacked at the bamboo in the canebrake as if he were possessed. He saw in each whack of the gleaming machete a death stroke against his nemesis, Horace P. Dumpler, head of the Alabama Department of Revenue, who was trying to put him out of business—or so he was convinced.

Gordon V. Pumps gathered the cane in his arms and threw it into the back of his truck, then headed to his house in Point Clear, not far from the Grand Hotel. The hotel had been a fixture on its great spot of land since 1842, and was considered a queen of Southern resorts.

Gordon had unctuously befriended a desk clerk, knowing firsthand that Dumpler visited the hotel for a week every spring to play golf, at which he was basically no good since he was a hunchback, although he excelled at putting. He played in a foursome with several of his revenue agents. That's how Gordon had encountered him, a year earlier.

For three decades Gordon had offered the public sightseeing trips into the exotic Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, which was the second largest of its kind in the country, and luxuriated in a diverse plethora of flora and fauna. Gordon had fished and hunted the Delta since he was a boy and knew as much, if not more, about it and its various features as anyone. He had a pleasant, folksy manner of speech and some people went on his trips just to hear him talk. He had a few years back taken courses and received a degree in what amounted to swampololgy from a local university, and he considered what he did more than mere sightseeing—it was educational.

That was where the rub with Dumpler came in. The previous year, while visiting the Grand Hotel, Dumpler had read a piece in the local newspaper on Gordon and his boat, and on a whim had booked a trip. The price was eighty dollars per passenger, and Dumpler had graciously included his revenue agents–cum–golf foursome in the retinue.

Everyone seemed fascinated as Gordon pointed out eagles' nests, eagles, cormorants, mergansers, herons, pelicans, snipes, wood ducks, ibis, alligators, nutria, wildcats, deer, feral hogs, possums, raccoons, various types of snakes, poisonous and otherwise, and turtles that sunned themselves on logs in the early spring.

The revenue agents asked questions about all this, but Dumpler's mind seemed to be elsewhere. Then, when Gordon cut off the engine to drift up on a flock of white pelicans, Dumpler broke the silence by proclaiming in a stentorian voice, "You must make a good living doing this."

The pelicans, of course, flew off.

Gordon was somewhat taken aback. "Not bad," he replied. "When the weather's good."

"Well, let's see," said Dumpler, "today with us you're making $320. If you have an afternoon trip, that's $640—I'd say that's better than just not bad."

"Like I said, there's a lot of days when I'm down because of weather."

Since the pelicans had taken off Gordon cranked up the engine. They'd been out a good two hours so he headed back to the dock.

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