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"I was on my way back home that
sunny afternoon in July 1993 when I found it. I had been fishing
down at a creek where my friend Greg and I frequently caught smallmouth
bass and sunfish for sport. If there had been any fish in the water
that day, then they certainly didn't make their presence known. Two
hours and not a single catch. I trudged up the muddy bank when I saw
a navy-colored object half submerged in the water.
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I began to
approach it. I wasn't more than five feet away when I realized it
was the body of a man. Being a curious twelve
year-old, I prodded the floating mass with a stick to see if it would
move. It didn't. I waded into the water, grabbed the odorous
corpse and drug it up onto shore. The wet, lifeless weight of the
200 lb. man was difficult to move, but I succeeded.
I stared at him for a moment, taking
in the details of his appearance. The fish and other carnivorous
organisms of the creek had been snacking on him for a few days. His
face had sizable chunks of skin missing. The man was dressed in a
navy suit, white shirt and red tie. There was also a great deal of
crimson on his shirt near his abdomen. I lifted the right side of
his jacket and saw a gaping wound that was now serving as shelter for a
crayfish and several aquatic insects. I wondered if it was a bullet
of knife wound. Had he been murdered, or was his being here an
accident, mere happenstance? There was no way I could know for sure.
I stood up and looked the pale,
bloated body over once more. I knew what I had to do. I leaned
over and I fixed his disheveled tie. The current of the creek had
probably knocked it loose, but the new knot I cinched would hold.
Once the necktie was straightened, I nodded to my rotting companion in
approval and returned him back to the section of the water where he was
before. I then turned for home. I would come back tomorrow to
check and see if the rush of the water had pushed his body further
downstream. If not, then I would use it as bait."
The tale told above is merely one piece of
the puzzle that is me. For your interest, other pieces have been
added below. Will you figure out the complete picture? The
suspense is killing you.
