Chapter 15
It was February 15th, 1934, and Hud, Ester, Jack, Harold, and Willie said their good-byes to Uncle Melvin, and they headed up north.
As a going-away present, Uncle Melvin gave Willie one of his Winchester shotguns and ten shells. But Uncle Melvin also kept it a secret that he made a copy of one of those negatives from that Kodak camera.
This time Hud decided that the gang should hit Illinois.
During the drive back up north, they stopped off in Tennessee, and Jack stole a 1930 four-door Buick sedan. Hud wanted to change their pattern by using a different type of car.
A day later, the Hudsters arrived in Oates, Illinois, located in the southern part of the state.
Ester got them a room at the Paradise Motor Court near the outskirts of Oates. This place was more of a dump, and the room only had one king-size bed and bathroom. It also had a gravel parking lot.
The gang hid out in the motor courtroom for a few days and planned their next job.
Then Hud, Harold, Jack, and Willie headed out in the afternoon of February 18th, 1934 and drove out of Oates and headed north.
They were headed for the town of Downing.
While The Hudsters drove off to the next job, Ester took Hud's Hudson and went into Oates for a little grocery shopping.
After Jack drove the Buick into Downing and found the bank, they parked across the street. After their usual routine, Hud, Harold, and Willie entered the bank while Jack waited in the Buick.
Willie immediately fired his Thompson machine gun into the ceiling. Plaster rained on the customers scaring them to death. They all dropped to the floor for protection.
"This is a stickup!" Hud yelled out while he aimed his Colt 45 at the bank teller.
One of the customers was an old man around seventy-eight years old named Wilbur. He cringed in pain and clutched his chest.
Hud whipped out the potato sack tucked under his suit coat. "Fill it up please," he said while he handed the sack to the scared teller.
"Wilbur!" seventy-five-year-old Alice yelled at her husband while she saw him clutching his chest in pain.
Harold looked at Wilbur who lay on the floor on his back five feet away.
"Someone help Wilbur!" Alice cried out.
The customers on the floor looked at Wilbur then they looked at Harold.
"Hurry up!" Hud yelled at the teller, not liking the fact that a customer was having health issues during their bank job.
The teller worked as fast as his trembling hands could scoop up the cash from his cash drawer.
"To the vault," Hud told the teller while he ran behind the counter.
Hud escorted the teller to the vault.
"He's dying! Help him!" Alice cried out in a panic.
The second they got in the vault, Hud helped the teller shove bundles of twenty-dollar bills into the sack.
"Help him!" Alice could be heard yelling out in a panic.
Alice's yelling made Hud nervous. So he snatched the sack out of the teller's hand and ran out of the vault. He left a lot of bundles of twenties back in the vault.
Hud ran out of from behind the counter and headed to the door.
Harold ran over to the door.
Hud, Willie, and Harold ran out the door while Alice sobbed over Wilbur that still clutched his chest in pain.
Once they got outside the bank, Hud, Harold, and Willie ran to the waiting Buick.
The second they got inside the car, Jack floored it, and the Buick raced off down the street.
"What the hell was wrong with that old man?" Hud said, and he looked pissed. "Shit!" he yelled and punched the headliner of the car.
It was quiet inside the Buick while Jack raced it out of the town.
Some hours later, Jack drove the Buick back to the motor court in Oates.
They got out of the car and rushed inside their room.
Hud immediately dumped the sack onto the bed. This time the look looked smaller than in the past.
"Fucking old man," Hud said while he looked at the loot.
"What old man?" Ester asked.
"Some old geezer had chest pains during the job. His hag of a wife started yelling out for someone to help him," Willie replied.
"Well, he was old and due to die soon anyway," Ester said and could care less.
Hud divided up the money into four piles. This time their shares were only $2,000 each.
Hud was pissed and stormed off.
After the guys gave Ester her five percent, she started to make them some sandwiches.
Two days had passed.
Back at the Bureau of Investigation office in Indianapolis, Agent Kelly sat behind his desk in deep thought. He was pondering if he should contact Washington and request that they disband their task force. He really started to believe that The Hudsters might have disbanded since there been any activity for three months.
Agent Henderson walked up to Agent's Kelly's desk.
"We got a call from the Springfield office. The Hudsters were reported to have robbed a bank in Downing, Illinois two days ago. They used a Buick. The sad part is that some old man died from a heart attack during the robbery," said Agent Henderson said.
"They're back in action in a new state," said Agent Kelly then he paused for a few seconds. "You and Hanson head on down to Downing and see what you can dig up. They must be hiding somewhere in Illinois," he added.
Agent Henderson nodded that he understood his orders and rushed away.
During the next day, while The Hudsters relaxed in their room at the Paradise Motor Court in Oates, Bureau of Investigation Agents Henderson and Hanson were over in Downing.
Agents Handson and Henderson immediately went to the Downing Police Department and gathered information from the Chief of Police.
They then interviewed all the customers that were in the bank at the time of the robbery.
They headed back to their office in Indianapolis.
Once Agents Henderson and Hanson got back to Indianapolis, they meet with Agent Kelly.
"The only good piece of information we dug up was that a witness saw four guys in a Buick sedan racing out of Downing in a southerly direction," Agent Henderson said.
Agent Kelly thought about their information for a few seconds. "Start packing, we're moving to the Springfield office. And I want all the police departments in Illinois to be alerted that The Hudsters could be planning some bank jobs in their state and are using a Buick," he said.
Agents Henderson and Hanson nodded that they understood their orders. They walked away.
A day later, a new Wanted Poster for Public Enemies The Hudsters was released, and this time it had Ester Walker's mug shot. She was wanted for aiding and abetting four fugitives. Her reward was set at $2,000.
Two days had passed.
At the Springfield Bureau of Investigation office, Agents Kelly, Handson and Henderson started to set up shop.
Back in Oates, Ester was back in town buying groceries and a newspaper from the grocery store in the afternoon.
While she drove down the street, she saw the Oates Post Office. She got curious and parked over by it. She got out of the Hudson and walked inside the post office.
Postal worker Mickey Hirsh worked behind the counter. Things were slow when he saw Ester walk into the lobby. He thought she was very sexy and took a shine to her.
Ester walked over to the Wanted Posters that hung on a small bulletin board.
She started flipping through at all the Wanted Posters while Mickey walked out from behind the counter.
Ester looked through the Wanted Posters and found the one for The Hudsters. But now there was a picture of Ester.
"Shit!" she said when she saw her old mug shot from when she was arrested for prostitution.
"Hello ma-am, may I be of assistance?" Mickey said in a flirty tone while he walked up behind Ester.
The sound of Mickey's voice behind her startled Ester. She turned around.
"May I," he said then stopped when he saw her mug shot on the Wanted Poster. His eyes widened up when he realized she was Ester Walker. Then Mickey saw the $10,000 reward for The Hudsters. "You're Ester Walker," he said then immediately grabbed her left wrist to detain her.
Ester panicked. She reached in her purse and removed her 38 Special. She fired it into Mickey's chest.
Mickey's eyes widened in shock when he realized a woman shot him. He dropped to the floor in pain.
Ester ran to the door and cannot believe she shot someone.
Across the street, Andy and his wife Bessie walked toward the post office to mail a parcel. They saw Ester walk in a rush out of the post office and head over to the Hudson.
They saw her get in the car, start it up then drive away. At the time, they did not know thing anything was wrong.
While Ester drove the Hudson down the street, Andy and Bessie entered the lobby of the post office.
"Oh my," Bessie said the second she saw Mickey on the floor with a bloody hole in his chest.
She and Andy rushed over him.
"Ester Walker shot me," Mickey moaned out while he pointed up at the Wanted Posters on the bulletin board.
Andy and Bessie glanced up at the Wanted Posters and saw Ester's mug shot.
"That's the lady we saw outside," Andy told Bessie.
She nodded in agreement.
Call Chief Ackerman," Mickey moaned out.
Andy ran over and when behind the counter. He ran over to the telephone on the wall.
Back at the motor court, Ester parked the Hudson by their room. After she turned off the car, she grabbed her grocery bag and rushed into the room.
"I think I've been spotted," Ester told Hud the second she ran rushed through the room door.
"What?" Hud asked.
"I stopped off at the post office to check out the Wanted Posters. They now have me on there for aiding and abetting four fugitives," she said.
"Fuck!" Hud yelled out and got pissed.
"We better git back on the road," Willie said and looked concerned.
"Yeah. Let's gather up our stuff," Hud replied and hated to be on the run again.
While they started gathering up their stuff, an Oates cop car with forty-four-year-old Chief Ackerman behind the wheel. In the passenger seat was twenty-year-old Kevin Kurt while twenty-five-year-old cop Joey Matthews sat in the rear seat. They all looked adventurous with capturing some wanted criminals. And Chief Ackerman thought he could use the reward money for some modern equipment for his police station.
Hud, Ester, Jack, Harold, and Willie rushed out of their motor courtroom with all their belongings.
After they got them in the Hudson and the Buick.
Out by the street, the Oates cop car drove near the motor court.
From inside the car, Chief Ackerman and hit two young officers spotted The Hudsters.
"There they are. I figured they were staying here," Chief Ackerman told his officers and looked proud.
Joey suddenly got a little nervous, as he never had been in a gunfight before.
From the Hudson, Hud saw the Oates cop car with the two cops inside pull into the gravel lot of the motor court. "Cops!' he called out and whipped out his Colt 45 from underneath his suit coat.
Jack reached inside the Buick and grabbed his Thompson machine gun.
Willie had his Winchester shotgun ready.
Harold had his Colt 45 ready.
Ester had her 38 Special ready.
Hud, Jack, Harold, Willie, and Ester started firing at the approaching cop car from behind the right side of the Buick.
Chief Ackerman, Kevin, and Joey jumped out of the car after the bullets and shotgun disabled the engine, and the car coasted to a stop. They hid behind their opened doors.
The three cops started firing their 38 Specials at The Hudsters and Ester while they ran inside the motor courtroom.
Joey closed his eyes when he fired his revolver. He put two bullet holes in the left rear passenger door of the Buick.
Hud's Hudson was parked on the other side of the Buick, so it was shielded from potential bullet holes.
All the other residents in other rooms heard the gunfire and peeked out their windows. The second they saw the gunfight starting outside the motor court they hugged the floor for cover.
From behind the Buick, Hud, Harold, Willie, Ester, and Jack continued firing at the cop car.
Then Jack's Thompson machine shot bullets through the driver's door where Chief Ackerman hid behind. Some of the bullets penetrated the door and hit Chief Ackerman in his heart. He dropped to the dirt dead.
Kevin saw this, and he got scared. "Chief?" he said when he saw part of his body on the ground. Without thinking, he stood up, ready to give The Hudsters all he had. But then a bullet went through the opened window of the passenger door and hit him in his neck. He dropped to the ground bleeding profusely.
Joey got scared and he and jumped up and ran away toward the road.
From behind the Buick, Hud, Harold, Jack, Willie, and Ester stopped firing their weapons the second when they saw Joey run away.
"I think it's safe to leave now," Hud said he fired some shots over the top of Joey's running head. "That should make his shit his britches," Hud said.
Everybody else chuckled.
"Let's git," said Hud.
Hud and Ester got inside the Hudson while Jack, Harold, and Willie got inside the Buick.
Back at the cop car, Kevin lay in the gravel bleeding all over the gravel from his neck. He started getting weak, and blood gurgled out of his mouth. He died with a blank stare.
Joey did not look back while he down the road heading back into town.
The Buick and Hudson raced off through the lot throwing gravel at the other rooms. Some of that gravel cracked a few motel room windows.
Hud's Hudson and the Buick made screeching turns onto the street and drove away.
The cop Joey ran down the street in the opposite direction.
Hud's Hudson and the Buick drove away and headed eventually headed north.
Later that evening, The Hudsters found a secluded place in the night to camp out. Hud picked this place out because they saw some farmhouses a mile down the road.
Up at the Bureau of Investigation office in Springfield, Agent Kelly sat behind his desk was ready to leave for the day and head back to his hotel room. But then his desk phone rang. He pondered for a few seconds if he should answer it. He picked up the phone.
"Special Agent Kelly, Bureau of Investigation," he answered the call.
"Agent Kelly, this is Kenneth Parker, I'm a police officer down in Oates. We had a bad situation earlier today," he said from the phone.
"What happened?" Agent Kelly asked and looked a little bothered thinking this was another false call.
"My chief of police and a fellow officer were shot and killed during a shoot out with The Hudsters," Kenneth said from the phone, and it sounded like he tried to hold back his tears. "Also our clerk at the post office was earlier shot and killed by Ester Walker," he added.
Agent Kelly stood up. "I'll be down there in a few hours," he said then hung up the phone.
Agent Kelly ran out of his office.
A little while later, Agent Handson drove the Bureau of Investigations Ford sedan with Agent Kelly in the passenger seat and Agent Henderson in the rear seat. It was a quiet drive while they headed south.
Two hours had passed.
Agent Handson parked the Ford sedan out front of the Oates Police Station.
They got out of the car and walked into the station.
Officer Kenneth Parker sat behind a desk with Joey Matthews. They both looked saddened over the loss of their fellow officers.
"Special Agent Kelly with the Bureau of Investigation. With me are Special Agents Handson and Henderson," Agent Kelly said while he flashed they all flashed their identifications at the two officers.
"Well, from what I can gather, Andy and Cindy were headed to the post office to mail a parcel. When they got inside it, they found poor Mickey on the floor with a bullet hole in his chest. He told them that Ester Walker shot him and pointed to the Wanted Poster on the wall. Andy and Bessie looked and recognized Walker's mug shot as the girl that got into a Hudson outside the post office," Kenneth told them.
"Then Chief Ackerman drove officer Kevin Kurt and me down to the Paradise Motor Court. Chief figured that that's where they're probably hiding. That's the only motel we have in town. So we saw them by their cars outside the motor court. Chief pulled into the gravel lot, and then The Hudsters started firing at us. The Chief and Kevin were shot," Joey told the Bureau of Investigation Agents.
"But you remained without a scratch," Agent Kelly said.
Joey hesitated and looked a little ashamed. "Yeah, The Hudsters got in their cars. I shot at them while they got away. Then I got up and ran back to the station," he said and avoided eye contact with the Bureau of Investigation Agents.
"Your fellow officers were shot, and you ran away for help?" Agent Kelly asked and was not buying that part of the story.
Joey hesitated while he still avoided eye contact. "Yes, sir."
"What kind of cars did they drive away in?" asked Agent Kelly.
Joey hesitated a few seconds feeling caught. "A Buick and I don't recall the other car," he said and looked away from Agent Kelly.
"Which way did they leave?" Agent Kelly asked.
"North," Joey replied while he looked back at Agent Kelly.
"I would like to talk with this Andy and Bessie couple," Agent Kelly told Kenneth.
Kenneth sat up from behind his desk. "I can take you over to their house," he said, then walked around from behind his desk.
Joey felt ashamed while he watched Kenneth take the three Bureau of Investigation Agents out of the station. His eyes welled up while he thought about his young wife, who was expected to give him his first child any minute. He vowed to quit police work and find a safer job.
After Agents Kelly, Handson and Henderson interviewed Andy and Bessie they drove out of Oates and headed back up north to Springfield.
Meanwhile, off in the woods about a quarter-mile to the west of Route 4, The Hudsters camped out for their hideaway.
Hud just finished getting a small campfire going.
They sat around the campfire and pondered what had just happened earlier at the motor court.
Over on Route 4, Agent Handson drove the Ford heading north on the road. They interviewed Andy and Bessie and learned Ester drove away in a Hudson.
Agent Kelly sat in the passenger seat and stared out his passenger door while he thought about the next possible job The Hudsters would perform.
While they drove down Route 4, they drove past the area where The Hudsters camped a quarter of a mile off their left. They could not see the campfire.
Back at their camping hideout, The Hudsters still sat around the campfire. They passed around a bottle of whiskey to relax from their shootout.
"Here's what we should do," Hud said then took a drink of whiskey from the bottle and passed to Ester on his right. "Since we're close, let's go back into Missouri for our next bank job," he said.
"Sounds good to me," Harold said then took the whiskey bottle from Ester.
Jack and Willie nodded in agreement.
"How's our food situation?" Hud asked Ester.
"Low."
Hud thought for a few seconds. "I recall a farmhouse about a mile south of here." Let's get out later and round up some food. Then we'll head out to Missouri as soon as the sun rises in the morning," he told everybody.
Jack, Harold, and Willie nodded in agreement.
Three hours had passed, and Agents Kelly, Handson and Henderson were back in their hotel rooms getting ready for bed.
Back in the woods, Harold, Jack, and Willie make their mile trek to that farmhouse.
They snuck past the chicken coup in the backyard and headed to the farmhouse.
Jack headed off to the farmer's barn while Harold and Willie headed off to the house. Willie had the potato sack in hand.
The inside of the house was quiet while Harold and Willie snuck through the kitchen rear door. The farmer never locked the doors of his home since they never had a problem with burglars.
Once they got inside, Harold and Willie quietly raided the refrigerator and cabinets stealing food like eggs, cooked fried chicken, and apple pie.
They snuck out the rear kitchen door and ran off into the darkness.
They ran past the chicken coups.
Jack ran out of the barn with a gas can in hand.
The three thieves ran off into the woods.
Thirty minutes had passed at that farmer woke up hungry.
He decided to go down to the kitchen for another slice of his wife's delicious apple pie.
He went into the kitchen with his stomach growling with hunger. He opened the refrigerator to find that half of its contents were gone. So was his wife's apple pie. But he noticed three $20 bills inside on one of the refrigerator shelves.
"What the hell?" he talked to himself while he picked up the cold cash.
Then he glanced back at the rear kitchen door and saw it was left cracked open. "Burglars that pay you for stealing your food?" he asked himself. "Well, that beats all," he said and could not care less about missing out on his wife's apple pie. This cold cash was almost more than what makes in one-month farming.
He rushed out of the kitchen to show his wife.
A little while later back at the campsite, The Hudsters enjoyed the farmer's apple pie and pieces of fried chicken.