Landweir House
Chapter 8
Death in the Bayou
“Are you excited Honey? I had no idea that you wanted to see alligators. I’ve been kind of interested in them ever since we’ve moved here. I’m thinking about using the Bayou and alligators as a plot devise in a script that I’m working on. It’ll be good for me to see just what the Bayou really looks like so I can get some background. I’m glad that you set this up, what a wonderful surprise.” Richard was babbling as they drove along the dirt road, through the moss covered trees into the wilderness of the Bayou. He had been gone for two weeks and when he returned last night Jean had told him that she had set up a surprise for him. A guided tour of the Bayous complete with the promise of finding a prime gator spot. “How did you meet this guide?” he asked her.
“Oh, I was talking with the woman who does my hair and her husband is one of the local deputy sheriffs who is in charge of patrolling the Bayou for poachers so I asked her to get a name for me.” Jean said while checking her make-up in the mirror.
“Have you met with this man?” Richard asked. He was excited by the thought of his young wife meeting with this rough character and arranging this trip for him. “A little danger will do her some good.” He had thought.
“Oh, I’ve met with him. He’ll take care of you.” She told him.
Richard followed the directions that Jean had written out for him and pulled his car off the road at the prescribed place. There was a small shack that looked like it had been ordered right from the props department at the studio. Graying bare wood planks and a split shake roof that swayed at the center. The whole thing looked like it would fall down at any second. Richard took it all in trying to memorize every detail. As he approached the door to the shack, a big young man walked out of the door.
“Howdy, you Richard Breen?”
“That’s me. You must be Sam Hart. I think that you know my wife.”
“Ma’am.” Sam said as he nodded to her, “We best get goin’. The big ones will be nappin’ soon and you don’t want to miss ‘em.”
“Richard, my head is splitting. Give me the cars keys. I’m just going to sit in the car and rest.” Jean said without giving away a single thing.
“Are you sure? I can do this another day.” He said as he handed her the keys.
“No, please, as long as we are all the way out here, please go. I’ll be fine.”
And with that Richard went off with Sam. Sam led him down the path that went to the dock and where a small shallow pole boat was kept. Richard got into the boat and seated himself while Sam stood behind him and grasped the long pole and pushed off the dock with it. They then started off into the mosquito infested Bayou. When they were out of sight, Jean turned the key in the ignition and drove away, confident that she had one more role to play, that of the grieving widow.
“That’s quite a gal you got there Mr. Breen.” Sam said as he pushed the pole down into the Bayou floor and propelled the boat forward.
“Yes, she’s beautiful all right, it’s just…”
“Just what?” Sam wanted to know.
“Well, her doctor said that she’s delusional. Invents crazy scenarios in her head and then acts them out. Unfortunately after a while she’s on to the next one and forgets completely about the one that she had just created. I have to be very careful with her. Sometimes I’m her only link to reality. That’s why I had to move her out of Hollywood. Hey, look over there, a gator. He’s a beauty. How big do you think he is?”
“Oh, he’s all of twenty feet. Like what type of things does she do?” Sam asked as the light broke through the trees and blinded him for a moment.
“She tried to convince someone once that I had beaten her and that he should kill me. Now it’s not at all true but she’s beautiful enough and a good enough actress to make men believe her. Where did he go? Is he headed this way?”
“He won’t attack the boat Mr. Breen; just keep your hands back. Mr. Breen I have a confession,” Sam told Richard the whole story. He apologized and Richard was silent for a long time and then he spoke.
“I think that you need to take me back now.” Richard said but as he shifted his weight to let Sam move to the other end of the boat. Sam had already shifted his weight and when Richard moved, the boat rocked to the side and Sam went into the black water of the bayou.
“Help me Mr. Breen.” Was the last thing that Sam Hart said before the alligator pulled him beneath the water’s surface.
Later that night, after her husband didn’t return from his trip into the Bayou, Jean reported him missing to the authorities. Four days later they asked her to join them at the parish morgue to identify the remains. The body had been decapitated and the left arm was gone but Jean could clearly see by the heart shaped birthmark on the right shoulder that this was the body of her lover, Sam Hart. She never had a chance to tell the deputies and they mistakenly took it for granted, by her sudden loss of consciousness, that it was her husband. The news about Richard’s demise was reported on the radio and the news reels. Richard Breen was dead and was laid to rest and for all Jean knew, he was. But only she knew that the remains that occupied his grave, were not his.