She stood, and looked around at her surroundings. It had been a while since she'd been here herself. Although there wasn't much in the way of crime in the town of just a little bit over three thousand, just the occasional runaway cow, or a cat caught in a tree, she still somehow found her days very well occupied.There were the calls from the elderly who imagined every sound, every creaking floorboard to be an intruder or a harbinger of imminent death, and those were plentiful. Or the rare dustup between some tourist and one of the locals who took offense to what they saw as their town being disrespected. That can be for something as simple as spitting chewing gum on the sidewalk.For all its lack of anything approaching adventure, or even a nightlife, or any of the things a young woman like herself would appreciate for that matter, she loved it here, in this little haven she'd found after working for a few years in the big city. The move had been a bit of a culture shock for sur
Every once in a while Detective Sparks would look back to where the yellow crime scene tape was still visible, trying to get an idea of where the victim had fallen from, though it didn't look like the fall had been a long one. No broken bones that she'd noticed.But from the way the body had landed it looked almost like she'd been dropped, or thrown through the air. It could almost be mistaken for an accident, just an accidental fall, except for the acid in the water.Though that too could've been an accident, it didn't ring true, and what are the chances? That would be one hell of a coincidence and she didn't believe in those.Because she was paying such close attention, looking in the brush and foliage, she didn't miss the trip wire that someone had stretched across the path.Thinking that this had been deliberate and seeing the evidence of it were two different kettle of fish and so it took a few seconds for her mind to process what it was that she was looking at. This didn't be
The door opened at her third knock, interrupting her thoughts and Eileen Cline, the housekeeper invited her in. "Come in please Detective. Since you're here after all this time I'm guessing old Barney was right, you've found a body. Is it murder then?""Thank you Ms. Cline, and yes, there is a body, but the case is still in its early stages yet so we won't know more until we've done a thorough investigation." And if I tell you any more than that I'm sure the whole town will know have heard every word of it before I've driven away from this place.She was till getting used to the way things worked here in Briar Reef. The grapevine in a small town was almost as effective as the Internet and moved at just about the same speed. And with news of this magnitude she had no doubt that it would be making the rounds long before she got a handle on what was going on herself.She saw Mr. Doss sitting on a chair at the old woodblock table in the kitchen and made her way over to him. Poor old guy
Niall Davis was just about to call his wife. He'd been in meetings all morning and hadn't had a chance to check in on her and the kids. It's something he never forgets to do and he was sure she'd be wondering what was keeping him."Nancy?" He picked up the phone and spoke to his assistant who sat at a desk just outside the doors to his executive office."Yes Mr. Davis?""Has my wife called?""No sir, she hasn't would you like me to call her now? Oh wait a minute sir."He heard her greet someone who'd walked into the office. "Sir," she came back on the line, "the police are here, they say they need to speak with you." The police? What could they want?"Send them in." He hung up the phone and got to his feet as they came through the door, led by his assistant. He came around from behind his desk with his hands in his pockets."Hello, what can I do for you? That will be all Nancy." He turned his attention to his assistant who nodded in acknowledgement and left, closing the door beh
She was dead tired by the time she walked out of his office and out onto the street. Both physically and emotionally drained. It was almost three thirty by the time they got back to the station house and there was still tons of work to be done.She looked over her notes at her desk as she ate a stale tuna salad sandwich from the deli at the grocery store and took sips from her bottle of lukewarm water. "Pete, did you get that list of people I asked you for?""Yes I did boss." He tore off a sheet of paper from his notebook and walked over to drop it on her desk. "That's it? Just the O'Rourkes, the housekeeper and the nanny?" She looked up at him skeptically."All I came up with so far. It seems the lady was a very private person just like her husband said. If she hung around with anyone else no one knew. Other than her charity and her husband's partners at the bank there doesn't seem to be anyone who she was close to." He shrugged and walked back to his desk across from hers.She lo
Detective Sparks made her way up the stairs and heard the children at play. She cleared her throat to announce her presence and the other woman looked up at her entrance. The young nanny looked just as she'd expected, a brown haired Irish lass with light green eyes."Hello!" Her Irish accent was thick, her smile charming and Detective Sparks wondered at the folly of women who hire women like that to live in their house with their husbands and children. Not that she thought all pretty young girls had ulterior motives, but just one look and she was already picking up on the fact that this one at least, was a lot more than she seemed.Maybe it was the New Yorker in her that made her so cynical but whatever it was, her senses were already on high alert. All the same, she knew better than to pass judgment on someone just based on gut instinct alone."Hello, Bridgette, I'm Detective Sparks I'm here to ask you some questions about Mrs. Davis." The nanny looked down at the children, a boy
The farm was no less beautiful in the setting sun that it had been earlier this afternoon. She could see it from a different angle this time and noted that it was a shorter and more direct drive coming from the Davis estate. Unless of course your aim was a secret hideaway closer to the woods. 'Don't go there Celia' she chided herself.If Sonya Davis were having an affair with Riley O'Rourke, would she have gone to all that trouble to go into the woods? There were more than enough places scattered around the farm to go to if that were the case. And more comfortable too no doubt.They hadn't found any soiled mattresses hidden away, or a tent set up for secret trysts; nothing that would lead anyone to suspect someone was having sex out there. Not even an indentation in the grass. Surely they would've left some kind of evidence behind if this is something that had been going on for a while.Her eyes searched out the landscape; she could see silos, barns, some of them older and probably
She didn't go back to the station, but headed home to the little cottage she'd rented in the heart of town. She'd got the place for a song, at least a third of what she would've paid for the same kind of accommodations in the city.The place was neat and out of the way with its little garden out back and the trees that shielded it from view of anyone driving by. She'd been lucky to find it or more to the point that the captain had found it for her just when she needed it.The owners had moved away after spending their lives here. Gone to some retirement home in Florida where they were enjoying sun and surf. They'd left all the furniture and she hadn't needed to change a thing, except the mattress since she was never one for home decor.Though the place looked like something out of a nineteenth century inn, it did fit with the general ambience of Briar Reef so she saw no need to fiddle with it. Plus it had saved her from having to shell out thousands of dollars.She used one of the