The Bloody Shoe Affair: A Daring and Thrilling Adventure with the Jailer's Daughter

By Joy York

A daring and thrilling adventure with the jailer's daughter

In this mystery set in 1968, Christi, a shy and awkward teenager, never expected to get sucked into helping her cousin, Lily, the "double-dare-you" daughter of the county jailer, try to solve the grizzliest murder the town of Roselyn, Mississippi, had ever seen. Then again, Christi had been entangled in her misadventures before. So a whirlwind week of spying, lying, crawling through tunnels and sneaking into the jail should have come as no surprise to Christi.

Lily, a vivacious prankster, loves adventure. It's not hard to find when you live in a house connected to the jail. Christi, a city girl, is self-conscious and afraid of everything. Still, she's drawn to the excitement and adventure that Lily always seems to provide. Christi arrives for a visit in time to help her cousin discover what happened the night Lily observed a county deputy drop a pair of women's bloody shoes from a bag. After a chance meeting with the accused, they learn new information that sheds doubt on his guilt. Seeking justice, Lily sets a plan in motion that takes them on an adventure of risk and surprising twists. They not only discover unexpected truths about the case, but about themselves as well.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Feb 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781483549651

Joy York

Joy York grew up in Alabama but has spent much of her adult life in the Midwest, currently living with her husband, Terry, in Indiana. Inspired by a family legacy of oral storytelling, she began creating stories and adventures for her son when he was growing up. With encouragement from family and friends, she began to write them down. Her first book, The Bloody Shoe Affair: A daring and thrilling adventure with the jailer's daughter, a YA southern mystery set in the rural south in 1968, was published in 2015. The Moonshine Murders, (a just released standalone set in 1970) is Book 2 of The Jailer's Daughter Mysteries. Genuine Deceit: A Suspense Novel, was published on Amazon in May 2021. Protective Instinct, a mystery/thriller, is coming soon from World Castle Publishing. For more information, visit https://www.joyyork.com. Twitter @joyyorkauthor Facebook: Joy York Author Instagram: @JoyYorkBooks

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Long, Hot Trip

Sandwiched in the backseat of our new 1968 Chevrolet between my sixteen-year-old brother Tip and my five-year-old brother Danny, I was so hot that my nylon underpants were already sticking to my butt, and we had barely left the house. By the time we got to Mama Lou and Daddy Joe’s farm--that’s what we call my grandmother and grandfather--it was going to look like I’d wet my shorts. I told Mama, Why bother with the iron? We’re always a wrinkled mess after the three-hour drive in the burning-hot car, anyway. Daddy said it’d reach at least 100 degrees today. I’d have to peel my legs off the hot plastic seats of the car. Traveling in August was a bummer.

Christi, my mama said, your daddy asked you a question, and you just ignored him, Honey.

Sorry, Daddy, I was just thinking about something, I answered. What did you ask me?

Princess, I was wondering if you had made up your mind where you wanted to stay when we get to Roselyn. Are you staying at Mama Lou and Daddy Joe’s farm with us, or are you going to stay in town at Aunt Martha and Uncle Bill’s so you can visit with Lily? he asked.

Let me think. Lily, my cousin, is the same age as me, fourteen. So…cousins, girls, giggles, make-up parties, fun times…easy choice, right? Not exactly. For one thing, Lily lives in a jail. That tends to put an entirely different spin on the fun thing. Well, she doesn’t exactly live in the jail; she lives in a big brownstone house attached to the jail. She’s the daughter of the county jailer, my Uncle Bill. The jail, the prisoners and a lot of the grubby-looking characters that hang out there scare the pee out of me. Another reason for serious consideration is that Lily scares the pee out of me. The ominous telephone conversation I’d had with her this morning didn’t do anything to reassure me, either. Mama called Aunt Martha this morning just before we left, so she’d know about what time to expect us. We always stop by to see them first on our way to Mama Lou and Daddy Joe’s farm. I stood in the kitchen, sort of eavesdropping on the phone conversation while I pretended to look for a snack.

Hello, Martha, Mama said. Yes, we’re getting ready to leave. I wanted to let you know so you wouldn’t worry…Yes, we’ll be careful…Probably about two and a half hours if the traffic’s light and we don’t have to stop many times for potty breaks…I look forward to seeing you, too, Dear…What?…Well, okay. She put her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. Christi, Lily wants to talk to you. Make it quick. We need to get on the road and long distance is expensive. She handed me the phone and left the kitchen.

Hello, I said.

Hi, Christi, Lily whispered into the phone. You’re not going to believe what happened. Well, actually, I’m not exactly sure what happened, but I know it was something terrible.

What’re you talking about? Speak up, I can barely hear you.

I can’t, Mama’s in the next room. She’ll kill me if she hears me talking about it. I can’t wait until you get here. You’re spending the night with me, right? You’ve got to. We’ve got some important investigating to do.

What do we have to investigate? I asked warily.

Lily, we have to get on the road, my daddy called.

I’m coming, Daddy, I hollered back.

Hey, you screamed in my ear, Lily said.

Sorry, Daddy’s ready to go, and they’re all waiting on me. Get to the point. What’re you talking about?

Really, I can’t say right now, but it’s bigger than anything I’ve ever seen in Roselyn before.

If you want me to spend the night with you, you’re going to have to give me some idea of what you’re trying to get me into. Does it involve pain or humiliation of any kind?

Boy, are you suspicious! Why would you think that?

Gee, I don’t know…experience, Lily. Let me think…you’ve gotten me stuck in a tree for three hours with a mad bird, locked in a jail cell in the pitch dark, dumped in a mud puddle in my Sunday clothes, stuck in a snake-infested potato house, and almost arrested for squashing lipstick tubes in the Five and Dime. You can see my hesitation. And to top it off, I always seem to be the one left holding the bag.

Those were just little pranks. You can really hold a grudge. Now I sort of hesitate to even tell you…

Lily!

Okay…Well, last night, about a million deputy cars were outside…it woke up the whole town…then when I saw one of the deputies drop the bag with the bloody shoes, I almost fell out of…oh, no…Mama’s coming. I’ve got to go! See you when you get here. This is going to be great! Bye. That was enough to make me want to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head.

Lily’s either fearless or fool-hardy; I’m not sure which. She loves to do two things: scare the crap out of me and flirt with danger. She knows I’m a big wimp, and she seems to make it her life’s mission to keep me in a constant state of terror. I haven’t figured out for sure if she tries to get us into trouble or trouble just follows her. Anyway, she has this uncanny knack for always wiggling out of it. Another concern I have is that some prisoner’s going to escape from his cell and murder me in my sleep. Aside from the never-ending fear, I have to admit it is kind of fun to hang out with her. You know, that danger and intrigue thing can be a bit exciting. I’m also hopeful that some of her nerve might rub off on me. So far it hasn’t happened. There’s one thing I can say about my visits with Lily: they’re never dull. I can hardly imagine what she has cooked up for us this time.

Well, Christi? Daddy prompted. Where do you want to stay?

It sort of sounded like Lily’s expecting me, I hesitantly answered.

Lily and I are complete opposites. She has beautiful long, straight, auburn hair. I, on the other hand, have unruly curly, strawberry blond hair that constantly frizzes in the Southern humidity, turning me into Shirley Temple on the Good Ship Lollypop. Lily is beautiful with fair skin, laughing brown eyes and a smile that seems to melt boys to butter. I’m also fair (the only trait we share), with big, round green eyes, tall, skinny, flat as a board and what some people call cute. Lily looks like a young Elizabeth Taylor. I look more like Twiggy. I’m really super shy. My mind goes totally blank when boys are around. I can never think of an intelligent thing to say, so I usually say nothing at all. Lily, on the other hand, can talk to anyone, anytime, without fear. She is also very convincing, which can come in handy. She could make a tree trunk talk back and probably convince it to lean its branches down to give her a lift up (climbing trees is one of her favorite pastimes). I can never figure out how she just opens her mouth and things pop right out. Of course, sometimes what comes out makes me cringe. I guess I have to admit it, I am a bit jealous.

Where are we going to stay? asked Tip.

You and Danny are going to stay at Mama Lou and Daddy Joe’s with us, Mama answered. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of things for y’all to do.

Mama Lou and Daddy Joe live on a small farm just outside of Roselyn, Mississippi, where my mama grew up. My mama has eight brothers and two sisters, so there’s no lack of cousins for us to play with. Except for Uncle Bill and Aunt Martha, who live in town, our other relatives all live on farms within a few miles of each other.

My mother was the only one in her family who left Roselyn. They consider us city folks since we live in Meridian. Actually, if you have more than two gas stations and no cow patties in your front yard, you can pretty much qualify. That’s okay with me. It’s a nice place to visit and eat lots of good food, but I wouldn’t want to have to shovel cow poop out of my front yard or pluck chickens. The last time I asked Mama Lou for fried chicken for dinner it resulted in the bizarre ritual of watching her chase and catch a chicken, cut the chicken’s head off; watching the chicken run around looking for its head until it dropped dead; pinning the chicken on the clothesline till the blood ran out; smelling the wet chicken boiling in a big pot of water; and if all that wasn’t bad enough, I had to pluck the feathers off the wet, stinky chicken. Trust me, the mood for fried chicken evaporated with the first sight of the ax. I prefer my chicken from the store wrapped in plastic.

The sun beat through the windows, baking us in heat and sweat. Tip stuck his head out the window to let the rushing wind cool his face. Danny was rolling his window up and down, trying to use his tongue to lick a chocolate smudge he’d made earlier off the window. Brothers are definitely a different species, quite possibly not of this world. Since I was stuck in the middle, I could only wallow in my sweat, hoping a breeze from the window might eventually reach me. Mama passed a water jug around, but the water had gotten hot. There wasn’t enough room in the car for an ice chest with all of our clothes and presents for Mama Lou and Daddy Joe’s 50th wedding anniversary. There was going to be a big party at their house. It was going to be a blast. The best part would be the food and desserts.

My thoughts kept drifting back to Lily and the jail, and what escapade she might be getting me into this time. I thought about the time she talked me into crawling underneath a car to see the big extra tank that was used to carry moonshine. We were walking downtown to go to the movies when Lily spotted the car.

There’s one! she screamed excitedly, pointing to a big, silver-gray car that resembled a tank.

One what? I asked. The previous topic had been totally unrelated. Her mind is always four steps ahead of the conversation.

A car that carries moonshine! You can tell by the way it sits low to the ground. There’s an extra tank under the car. Boy, this one’s loaded. Right in the middle of town, Lily squatted down and practically crawled under the car.

Lily, get up! Everyone’s looking at you.

I don’t care. Come here and look. You can see the extra tank. Don’t you want to see it? When will a city girl like you ever get another chance?

Let me think…Never! Lily, I’m not getting on the ground to look at some stupid tank. Let’s go before whoever owns this car comes out and catches you snooping around. My mind always goes to the worst possible scenario…mainly because it usually happens when it involves Lily. Experience has taught me that.

I could have been talking to the wall. This is so cool. I haven’t seen one this close up, actually full of alcohol and all. I’ve only seen them after they’ve been emptied at the impound lot. Come take a look. Lily was drawing a crowd.

No. Let’s go, I pleaded.

Okay, if you don’t come and look, I’m going to go right into that restaurant and call my daddy so he can have the deputies come arrest them. Then we’ll have to miss the movie. Hey, now that I think of it, that’s a good idea. It’s our civic duty…me being a law enforcement officer’s daughter and all. We’ll be part of a moonshine bust. Won’t that be neat? Maybe we’ll be on the front page of the papers! We can be witnesses in the trial and…

Okay! Okay! I’ll look. Don’t call Uncle Bill. No bust. I want to go to the movies. I’d prefer my drama to be on the screen. I walked over to the car and bent down beside her.

I don’t see anything. I said.

You can’t see like that. You have to squat down really low to get a good look.

As I cautiously squatted down, trying desperately not to get my culottes dirty on the greasy pavement, I fell over on my butt. Already as low as I could get, I stuck my head under the car. I still don’t see anything under here.

While I was wallowing on the ground, I didn’t notice Lily had gotten up and moved away from the car.

Maybe I can help, Little Lady, if you tell me what you’re looking for, said a man’s deep voice.

Once I got the nerve to pull my head out from under the car, I saw boots. Old, ugly, black, worn-for-way-too-many-years boots. What Tip would call stump-kicking boots. Continuing my upward gaze, I saw oil-stained jeans, a potbelly poking out between the buttons of a faded, blue-plaid shirt, long, greasy brown hair, gums without upper teeth, and milky blue eyes…gross. We locked eyes for a few seconds. I froze. As usual, my mind went blank.

She was looking for her earring. It was Lily. She extended her hand to pull me up. My knees were so weak that I almost went back down.

Well then, it looks like she lost both of them, he said sarcastically, pointing to my ears with his chubby finger.

I caught my breath and chills went up my spine. He almost touched me. Lily didn’t answer. She grabbed me by my arm, and we ran like crazy and didn’t stop running until we were safely inside the movie three blocks away. I can’t even remember to this day what the movie was about.

Then there was the time she dragged me to an old dilapidated house on Morning Glory Lane to get a look at a real bank robber who had gotten off on a technicality. I shivered. I didn’t even want to think about that.

Tip had fallen asleep against the window. The heat and the melodious hum of the engine made me sleepy as well. Seeing no other alternative, I rested my head against Tip’s shoulder (he’d never know and he was the closest thing to a pillow). Somewhere between convincing myself that this time I wouldn’t get sucked into another one of Lily’s schemes and telling myself I’d be perfectly safe from murderous prisoners, I closed my eyes to take a little nap.

Chapter 2

The Jail

We’re here. Everyone wake up! my daddy said in a cheery voice. He opened the door and got out of the car.

I woke up a little confused. Daddy said we were here? I realized that my face was practically stuck to Tip’s arm with sweat…his and mine mixed together. Ugh! I sat up quickly, wiping his disgusting germs off my cheek. He was still asleep against the car window with his mouth wide open. Where’s a fly when you need one? Danny was still asleep, lying on my lap, drooling down my leg.

How gross! I screamed, looking down at the puddle of drool Danny had left on my leg. I pushed Danny off my lap, waking him up. He began to cry. Mama, Danny fell asleep on my lap, and he slobbered all over me. Now my shorts are completely soaked. I wanna change clothes!

Maaammma, Danny whined.

Tip woke up from all of the commotion. What’s all the blubbering about? Are we there yet?

"Mama, just look at my good shorts! They’re ruined. I don’t want Lily to see me like this. She always looks like she stepped out of Seventeen Magazine."

You don’t have to worry about that, Tip said. She already knows you’re a twerp.

That’s enough, Tip. You stay out of it, or we’ll leave you in the car. Christi, you can change clothes when we get inside, Mama assured me. She stuck her head out the window. Gene, will you please find Christi’s suitcase so she can change clothes?

Okay, Daddy called.

Tip and Danny opened their doors and got out of the car. The hot, soft plastic seat-cover stuck to my skin as I climbed out. My shorts looked like they had just gone through the ringer on my grandmother’s antique washing machine. I tried not to think about the Tip sweat and the Danny slobber plastered to my skin. I bet whoever coined the word cooties was in a situation just like this. I shivered at the thought.

Sorry, Princess. I can’t get to your suitcase without unloading the whole car. It’s on the bottom of the trunk under all of the other suitcases and gifts. Is there any way you can make do until tomorrow? Daddy asked. I can bring it over to you in the morning.

Before I could answer, the blaring of a siren caught our attention. We all turned around to see Lily jump out of the front seat of a deputy car that had just pulled into the parking lot. She ran toward us. Just like her…got to make a dramatic entrance.

Hi, y’all. Did you have a good trip? Looks like I got here right on time. Mama’s got lunch ready. She figured you’d all be hot and hungry.

That sounds great, Daddy said. Let’s go on inside before we melt in this heat.

Lily and her family live in a large brownstone house that’s connected to the county jail by an adjoining 50-foot hall. The front of the house has a big porch that extends the width of the house. You can either enter the house from the front porch, or you can enter with all of the county deputies and prisoners through one of the doors at either end of the hall connecting the house and the jail. Since one of the doors to the connecting hall is closer to the parking lot than the front door, that’s the door we usually go in. The prisoner processing desk is right inside the door. Gosh, is that creepy. I prayed that there wouldn’t be any criminals being booked. If they don’t see me, maybe they won’t want to come murder me in my sleep.

Daddy led the way, cautiously walking up the steps to make sure all was clear. One weekend we arrived when a bunch of drunks were being booked. It’s especially bad on weekends. Drunks, I’ve learned, aren’t always the most cooperative people for the deputies to handle. One of the guys who’d been arrested was an old man that was so drunk he could barely stand up. A deputy helped him up while another deputy was trying to book him. The old drunk smelled so bad it made me what to throw up. We tried to sneak past him, but when he saw me, he started hollering and calling me his baby girl. It scared me so bad, I cried. Then he started crying, because he didn’t want to scare me. Daddy rushed me out, but I could still hear him calling at the top of his lungs for his baby girl after we got into the house. I hardly slept at all that night. That night? Shoot! I don’t get much sleep here any night!

We followed Daddy through the hall. I took a quick glance around and only saw one deputy sitting at the check-in desk, waving to us as we went by. I recognized him immediately.

Hi, Darrell, I said.

How y’all doin’? Darrell asked, looking up from his paperwork.

Just fine, Lily answered for us. We’ll see you later.

Darrell has worked at the jail for as long as I can remember. He’s really tall, with broad shoulders and a thick, muscular chest. He’s not really old, but his hair’s thinning on top and kind of gray at the temples. He has a plain face and looks like a regular guy. I have always had this image of what a cop should look like, and Darrell isn’t it. Lily and I have spent many afternoons listening to his jokes and funny stories. I used to worry that he was too nice to protect us from the prisoners. I changed my mind when I saw him throw a bad guy who took a swing at him on the floor, put a gun to his head, and handcuff him in about two seconds flat. I started really likin’ Darrell from that moment on and kind of hoped he’d be working the night shifts while I was visiting.

We all went from the check-in hall through the big iron door that connects to the kitchen of the house. My Aunt Martha has a huge kitchen with a big commercial size gas stove and refrigerator. Her kitchen’s about four times the size of ours at home. Aunt Martha’s in charge of all the cooking for the prisoners. Jewel, a short, stocky woman, helps her cook and serve the meals. Jewel has black, frizzy hair that she keeps tied up in a bun. She lives in the basement of the jail in a little apartment that’s been converted from a jail cell. Lily says Jewel is a trustee. She is serving out a sentence for some past crime. As a trustee, she can leave on weekly scheduled overnight visits with her family. The other jail cells in the basement are no longer being used. Jewel has done a pretty good job fixing it up, at least as far as a claustrophobic prison cell goes. The homey little apartment looks so out of place in the cold, dark basement, or what I call the dungeon. No matter how she fixes it up, it’s still an old jail cell, and she still lives in the dungeon. She says she doesn’t mind it. She likes having the whole basement to herself. It gives me the willies just to think about it.

We got halfway into the kitchen when we saw Aunt Martha coming through the living room.

Laura, Aunt Martha called out to my mama. She opened her arms to give Mama a big bear hug.

Gene, she said, releasing Mama and turning to hug my daddy. How are y’all doing? Let me look at you kids. I can’t believe how y’all have grown since I last saw you. She took turns giving us all a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

You look great, Martha, Daddy said with a big smile. He sniffed the air and looked around the kitchen. What’s that great smell coming from? You know I can hardly walk in this kitchen without getting hungry.

Gene, we’re just winding up the lunch for the prisoners. Jewel and Rusty, the trustees, took the last load of trays up to the prisoners a few minutes ago. That’s country fried steak, mashed potatoes, fried okra, yeast rolls and peach cobbler. Are y’all hungry? I know there aren’t many places to eat on your way here, Aunt Martha said.

I’m starving, I said.

No, you’re not, Lily corrected.

Yes, I am.

Well, you can’t eat until I show you my new Beatles’ album. Then she winked at me. That spelled trouble.

Why don’t you let Christi get something to eat first and then you can show her your album, Aunt Martha suggested.

That’s a great idea, I agreed.

We’ll just go upstairs to my room for a few minutes, and then we’ll be right back. I have to tell her about the party tonight, Lily explained.

What party? I asked. I can’t go to a party. I don’t have anything to wear. Danny slobbered all over me and ruined my shorts, and Daddy can’t get to my clothes in the trunk.

Don’t worry, Christi, I have plenty of clothes you can wear. I’m sure we can find culottes or a sundress. Let’s go to my room and take a look. I’ll tell you all about the party and Jimmy Gaynor.

Thank you, Lily, Mama said. That’s very sweet of you.

A heavy sense of dread fell over me. Lily’s a size larger than me, and although she does wear neat clothes, I’m sure they’ll be too baggy on my skinny body. Besides that, when Lily’s friends see me, and she has a ton of them, they’ll know I’m wearing her clothes. I’ll feel like the hand-me-down, ugly stepchild. This keeps getting worse.

Lily grabbed my arm. We’ll see y’all in a bit. We’re going to find Christi something cool to wear.

The kitchen, living room, my aunt and uncle’s bedroom, a small den and a bathroom are on the first floor. Lily’s bedroom is on the second floor. Because of the high ceilings, the stairs make three long turns before they reach the top. There are also three extra bedrooms and a huge bathroom upstairs. Lily’s an only child, so she has the whole upstairs to herself. She loves it. I find it really spooky being up there with all of that space. Lots of places for prisoners to hide. It scares me so bad that I’m afraid to get up to go to the bathroom at night. My aunt leaves the bathroom light on, but you have to go through this long, dark hall to get there. All kinds of things could get you between the bedroom and the toilet.

I followed Lily up the stairs, two steps at a time, almost tripping on the first step of the second landing. Lily ran straight for her bedroom, opened her door and closed it the second I ran in behind her. Lily and I both took a flying leap onto her antique brass bed, then rolled on our backs to catch our