The Secrets of Ethan Falls

by J. W. Lucas

  As we waited for dinner, Mandy said “Maggie Costigan told me about her battle with breast cancer. She’s a brave woman with everything she’s going through. Thank You for not telling her about my cancer.”

  “Mandy, that’s very personal, and I would never tell anyone about that.”

  “I wanted to tell her, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It still haunts me that after all these years I’m alive and healthy now, and a woman like Maggie every day the past few months has had to live in fear of dying.”

  “Do they have children?”

  “Yes, Wayne and Catherine. They’re both married now.”

  She didn’t respond, and for an instant, I caught that distant look in her eyes again. “Tomorrow’s Sunday, can we stay down here until Monday afternoon?”

  “Of course. Is there anything special that you want to do?”

  “Just spend the day with you, just the two of us. I know this is crazy, but I feel like we’re on our honeymoon. I don’t want this to end.”

  “Well, let’s not let it end, especially our naps!”

  She laughed and blushed. “Yeah, I absolutely love our naps!”

  “But Daryl, I think I know what you’re going to do next week, and I’m scared for you. I understand that you can’t tell me about police and lawyer things, but I want to help you find who killed Susan.”

  “Mandy, I need to learn more about Susan, her life, her friends, and most importantly her work with the refugee resettlement center.”

  “Well, I was one of her best friends. Why can’t I help you?”

  I thought I had bought a reprieve from where the conversation was going when her appetizer arrived, and I told her that I didn’t want my work to take away from our time together at dinner.

  “Daryl, I want to talk about it, I need to. And I need to show you that I can help you in your life, whether it’s your job, your house, or your money management, which by the way my Love, could use a lot of improvement.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I did as you asked and went through your mail in the kitchen. I don’t know if you noticed, I sorted it by content.”

  “I saw that. I noticed the sticky note with investments written on it. Pretty cute!” I said trying to minimize my lack of attention to my finances.

  She put her fork down and wiped her mouth before she reached over and took my hand into both of hers.

  In a whisper, she said, “Daryl, this isn’t going to come out right no matter how I say it, but little boy, do you even know how much money you have?”

  I wasn’t sure why the whisper, but as the room was crowded, I was grateful.

  “Yeah, with the bank accounts and some stocks I think it’s about twenty-five or thirty million.”

  “Honey, I didn’t have time to go through the whole list of investment holdings that your lawyer sent you, but you have two hundred shares of Berkshire Hathaway Class A, and three thousand shares each of Amazon and Google. And there are about twenty-five more stocks on the list.”

  “That’s good, right?”

  “Yes, that’s pretty good I guess. Daryl just those three stocks at Friday’s market close are worth close to sixty million dollars!”

  “No…., that can’t be right.”

  “Well, your lawyer and your broker’s statement say that’s what you own!”

  I was stunned. I knew Aunt Clarice had left me enough money to never have to worry about anything in my lifetime, and as I told you earlier I wanted to put most of that money to continue her work of helping others, but if Mandy’s math is right, and she has a degree in that remember, where the hell has my head been the past year and a half? I was quiet for a minute trying to fathom what she had told me. She spoke first.

  “Now can you understand why I’m nervous about you? What are people going to think about me? That in less than a week I’m sleeping with you for your money?”

  “Mandy honestly, I don’t understand. What people? Google? I really don’t have any close friends, and Bernie and Erik, Maggie and Damien, and remotely even Lindsey are closest to me, and they’ve all told me if I let you get away from me I’m the biggest fool on earth. I trust them, and I know they’re right. And I’m not a fool.”

  She didn’t have an answer for me.

  “I’m sorry my Love, but I’m afraid you’re stuck with me. As they say, for richer or poorer, for us it’s richer. That’s the reality of my life. I didn’t ask for any of this,” I offered as my defense.

  As the waiter and busboy brought our dinners, she whispered,” I do love you Daryl Richardson. And you’re stuck with Me!”

  Our dinners were superb, and as we ate Mandy again brought up wanting to help me in my investigation.

  “Daryl, you said you want to know more about the immigrant resettlement program. It’s run by one of our churches. I know the woman pretty well who oversees it.”

  “You do? Do you think that you could arrange for me to speak with her?”

  “I can try.”

  “And also, I need to speak with Susan’s father, preferably at his house.”

  “I can try that too, but what do I tell them about you? They’re going to want to know why you want to meet them.”

  I thought for a minute. “You can tell them that I’m with the Federal Government, the Justice Department, and that we have an interest in finding out why there hasn’t been any progress in the investigation of Susan’s death.”

  “But Daryl, you do know that people up here really don’t want State or Federal interference in their lives, don’t you? And now with Savage getting killed by the cops, everyone is going to think that he killed her and shot the Judge. In their minds, the cases are closed.”

  “If they bring that up you can tell them that the Federal authorities are very concerned with the circumstances of Savage’s death, and until we see further evidence to connect him to the crimes we’re getting actively involved in the investigations.”

  I knew I was going out on a limb with this, but Washington did say that they were very interested.

  “Okay, I’m not sure that I really understand how you’re going to pull that off, but I’ll just have to trust you,” she said in resignation.

  We ate our dinner with some light conversation and passed on dessert. While we waited for the check Mandy asked, “Daryl, why do you want to talk with Susan’s father at his house?” This girl had a keen mind for detail I was learning.

  “Mandy, I can’t get into that right now, but I think I’ll need to tell you some more tomorrow. How about a picnic just you and me? I promise that I’ll fill you in on what I’ve learned about Susan’s death, and you can tell me what you think.”

  “I’d love a picnic, where will we go?”

  “There’s a section of the property at home where the land is pretty high. It’s not a mountain or anything like that, but there’s a small lake with a waterfall. We can go up there. It’s nice and private. I think you’ll like it.”

  “Ooooh! That sounds beautiful. But no skinny dipping! I’m not a good swimmer,” she said with a laugh.

  “Deal! We’ll just have to stick with our old steam shower I guess.”

  “I guess,” she answered with an exaggerated frown. “It’s not easy being rich, is it?

  “Nope!” I said.

  On the ride home, I asked Mandy if we needed anything for our picnic, if we did the market in town might still be open. She said she didn’t think so; Bernie had brought in plenty of rolls and cold cuts. It would be a repeat of last night’s dinner.

  We were about ten minutes from the house when she said, “Daryl when we go back to North Bellington Monday, I don’t want you to stay at the hotel. I want you to stay at my place.” I was surprised by her proposal.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out or anything.”

  “I’m positive. I don’t want this honeymoon to end.”

  “Thank You, Mandy, yes, I want to stay with you.”

  Chapter Twelve


  I didn’t hear Mandy get up, and after I showered, shaved and dressed I went out to the kitchen and found her and Bernie putting together our picnic lunch.

  Mandy greeted me with a kiss and Bernie with a hug. “You look like you’re having fun.” she said with a smile camouflaging a knowing look. I didn’t respond.

  “I looked around and couldn’t find any picnic stuff, so I called Bernie. She brought us this basket and a blanket and a small ice chest.”

  “Mandy said you’re going up to the lake” Bernie chimed in. “I told Erik to put gas in the Gator for you. It’s too far to walk.”

  “Thanks, I was thinking that would be better than walking.” I looked out the kitchen window and saw that Erik had brought the ATV out into the yard, and I grabbed a coffee for the both of us and went outside.

  “Thanks,” he said as he took his mug. “Looks like a nice day for a picnic. I put a twelve gauge in the baggage compartment and a box of shells. There’s one in the chamber and four in the magazine. We’ve heard reports of a black bear family roaming around the area, but I was up in the woods during the week and I didn’t see any signs of them. Better safe than sorry.”

  “Thanks, I hadn’t thought about that. I haven’t seen any bears roaming the streets of downtown Boston lately!”

  I went back into the house and enjoyed a light breakfast.

  “Daryl, I’ve been thinking about what the hotel HR woman said to me about taking some time off. I’ve decided that I’m going to tell her that I want to take a leave of absence.” I didn’t answer.

  “I’ve been able to save some money, my condo is paid off, and I really don’t have any expenses pressing me.”

  “That’s great that you don’t have a mortgage.”

  “Yes, I’m very lucky. When Hansel and Gretel sold their property in Ethan Falls, they paid off my mortgage and bought my Jeep for me. They said I shouldn’t have to wait until they were dead to enjoy my inheritance!”

  “They must love you very much.”

  “They do, and I love them. I can’t wait to tell them about you, but I’m afraid to. I don’t know how to explain how in one week my whole life has been turned upside down with you.”

  “Just tell them to Google me. Everybody else has!”

  “You’re crazy, you know it?”

  “I’ve been told that more than once my Dear.”

  “What time are we going on our picnic?”

  “About eleven-thirty, why?”

  “Bernie invited me down to her house for coffee and I’d really like to go.”

  “Absolutely! Just don’t believe any of the dumb things that she might tell you I did as a kid.”

  “Boo hoo! I can’t wait to hear about them,” she said with a laugh.

  Mandy cleaned up after breakfast and walked down to Bernie and Erik’s. I went over to my office in the family room and brought up my friends at Google on the laptop. I wanted to get some background on Captain Carpa and Detective Manning.

  I couldn’t find any articles for a police officer named John Carpa, other than a few describing his involvement in Susan Peterson's murder case, and the very recent shooting of Deputy Savage. Interesting.

  County Attorney Dan Petrone had said that Carpa and Porky Hunter were cousins.

  Another small article caught my eye about a police officer in Fort Lee, New Jersey. It read that about six years ago Detective Giovanni Carpanara had resigned from the force when he and a few other cops were under investigation for alleged shakedowns of drug dealers in the city, and allegations of dealing drugs themselves. I searched for a while but couldn’t find anything that referenced the outcome.

  Giovanni Americanized is” John.” Drop a few letters off the last name and you have “Carpa” A stretch I know, but something to file in the back of my mind.

  I searched for Det. Roger Manning articles and was taken aback when I found one that read about five years ago he was sworn in as a Deputy in Abbot County, citing prior police service in Newark, New Jersey. I didn’t find anything else on him.

  Odd I thought. Could two Jersey boys be the Abbot County Detective Bureau?

  Articles about Sheriff J.B. Hunter were another story. There were many, and the content bore out Lindsey’s description of him as a dismissive, Southern Sheriff type.

  J. B. Hunter was legally known as Jason Beauford Hunter. He was apparently a defiant firebrand, anti-just about everything and anyone who wasn’t native-born American, Caucasian and a patriot for State’s rights.

  I heard Mandy come into the house through the kitchen door. She came into the family room and I asked about her visit with Bernie.

  “She is so nice, and a lot of fun. She talked about your Aunt Clarice, and some of the mischief that you and her twins got into growing up.”

  “Tattletale!” I offered in my defense.

  She came over to me and gave me a hug. “And what mischief did you get in while I was off learning about the life and times of Daryl Richardson?”

  “I was doing some research on a couple of the Abbot Deputies, Carpa and Manning.”

  “And?”

  “It seems that they both came into their jobs out of the blue”

  “I don’t understand, what do you mean out of the blue?”

  “Well, usually when a cop is hired the newspapers, at least the local ones, do a write-up welcoming them to the community and providing some background. That doesn’t seem to have happened with those two.”

  “Does Google get info from small hometown papers like the Ethan Falls Eagle?”

  “I don’t know. I did find something though that makes me think that they both came up to Vermont from New Jersey.”

  “Weird! Hey! Shouldn’t we get going on our picnic? I want to see your private lake, and you promised that we could talk about Susan’s murder and how I can help you.”

  “I did, didn’t I. Okay, let’s get our lunch and I’ll take you for a ride on the Gator!” I hadn’t driven the ATV very much, and it took some doing to get it going smoothly. Erik had created a path along the edge of the lawn that crossed the meadow into the woods. It was well established, not too many bone-rattling bumps, and in a few minutes, we pulled up to the small lake.

  “Daryl, this is absolutely beautiful! And the waterfall is higher than I imagined it would be.”

  “Yeah, I used to come up here a lot as a kid and go fishing.”

  “There’s fish in there?” she asked pointing to the water?

  “Sure! Erik is a great fisherman and over the years he would catch fish in larger ponds and relocate them up here. Mostly large and small- mouth bass. That was his hobby.”

  “You sure had an amazing life growing up Mr. Richardson.”

  “That I did my Dear.”

  We set up the blanket and dined on our sandwiches and drinks.

  “Daryl, you said that you would tell me why you wanted to talk to Susan’s father at their house. That has me puzzled.”

  I thought for a minute if I should fill Mandy in from the beginning. It’s never been my habit to share my work with civilians, but in this case, I was the fish out of water and Mandy very well could guide me in the direction that I needed to go.

  “Mandy, what I’m going to tell you is absolutely confidential, and you have to promise me that you won’t discuss with anyone what I’m going to tell you.”

  She looked solemn and said,” I promise,” making the sign of the cross.

  I started the briefing by telling Mandy about the surgeon’s report to Lindsey and me, and I saw a look of surprise on her face as she picked up on the two different caliber bullets.

  I told her about the anonymous letter and the accusations it had made.

  I could see that when I told her the letter said Susan had been killed because she had learned that the Sheriffs were dealing drugs and a couple of the refugee kids she was working with had become drug dependent, her look wasn’t one of surprise. It was anger.

  “I think I may know something about that Daryl,” she
said quietly. “Probably something I shouldn’t know about. I don’t want to get in any trouble.”

  “I’m not sure I’m following you, Mandy.”

  “About five or six months ago Susan asked me if I knew anything about Dr. Greene’s assistant, Farhan. I don’t know his last name but he’s Middle Eastern, I don’t know if he’s a doctor or a nurse, she said.”

  “What about him?” I asked, intrigued by this new information.

  “Susan said that some of the teenage boys she was working with had been traumatized by the war over there and some of them needed medical treatment for injuries they got from the bombing and fighting. Her relief group was taking them to Dr. Greene for treatment, and Farhan spoke Arabic, so he worked with the doctor examining the kids.”

  “So? They were fortunate that they could communicate in their own language,” I said not knowing where she was going with this.

  “Yeah, but Susan said a lot of the time during the exams she or the other women caseworkers would have to leave Farhan and the kids alone while he examined them. She said it was a cultural thing that they had to respect. Farhan would report his exam findings to Dr. Greene and Farhan would order painkillers, strong stuff. Susan was worried that he was exaggerating their pain.”

  “Was she thinking that the medical care had made them drug dependent?” I asked, hoping my theory was wrong.

  “I don’t know, but she told me that she thought it was odd that Farhan gave his patients a lot of pills, there were never any written prescriptions.”

  “Didn’t they think that something was wrong? Shouldn’t they be the ones holding the meds? Don’t they have a nurse assigned to their project?” I asked, thinking this would be negligent if they didn’t.

  “I don’t know those answers, Daryl. You would have to ask Linda Sturgis, she runs the program for the church group. Susan told me about one of her favorite kids, a seventeen-year-old orphan. She called him “Yo-Yo.” I don’t know why if that was a nickname or something. She said he was autistic, but a savant when it came to art, you know, drawings, paintings. She told me that if he saw something just once he could draw it like it was a photograph.”