HOMECOMING: A thrilling crime mystery full of twists (New York Murder Mysteries Book 4)

by Joshua Brown

  “Ended up paying Jim a visit. He doesn’t seem to be our man,” I added. “Priest River just doesn’t like the guy. Thought it was worth a look. What about Lynne Sawyer?”

  “Far more active online, with various social media accounts and platforms. She worked for a company called United Fed. Some big joke against the federal reserve because everyone involved in it is extremely wealthy. Their operations span across the United States, moving into small cities and blowing them up into commercial successes. The United Fed pretty much just gentrifies everything they touch, letting everyone believe it’s for the common man. Really, they’re just lining their pockets with gold,” Aaron said.

  Though it was interesting, I wasn’t all that surprised by what Aaron said. A casino, mall, housing, and more all being developed in Priest River? It made sense that they were trying to expand the place. But that left me with more questions than answers.

  “Did you find anything that might’ve led to a potential reason for murder? Maybe something to do with one of her colleagues?” I asked.

  “Not that I’d be able to tell from her online presence. She’s a divorcee. The husband got custody of the kids. Lynne didn’t even put up a fight for them. As for her colleagues, well, they don’t engage at all over social’s. Business partners and nothing more, it seems. Unless it’s a case of a power play, I don’t really see a reason for any of them wanting to kill her.”

  “Did you manage to dig anything up on the rest of the United Fed’s investors?” I stopped outside the sheriff’s department to finish my call before going back in.

  “Sure, there were seven of them in total. Lynne was part of four that went into Priest River. Alongside Lynne, Dominic Cornelius, and two brothers Lucius and Virgil Magnus. If you ask me, they all sound like supervillains rather than investors,” Aaron chuckled. “They’re all youngsters spending generational wealth in these operations. What’s really funny is they just kind of popped out of nowhere one day.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, before July twenty-sixteen, there’s no real record of any of them. We know Lynne’s got kids, so she was clearly around before that. But it’s like they just appeared online out of nowhere,” Aaron replied, once again, the smashing of his keyboard run through my ears. “My guess is they all started new accounts on everything they could, destroying whatever former lives they lived. But I wouldn’t look too deep into that.”

  “And their parents?”

  “All dead. Like I said, they’re all playing with family money,” Aaron confirmed.

  “Well, thanks for the news, man. I’ll send through everything I have for you to take a look at in the meantime.”

  “Of course. Otherwise, how are things going that side of the world?” Aaron asked, entering the small talk.

  I decided to start setting up the email while we chatted further.

  “Seeing the folks tonight,” I said.

  “Hey, that’s good to hear. I’m sure it’ll be good to clear your head with a family visit,” without Aaron knowing about our history, I suppose it’d be easy to think it was a good thing. I wasn’t going to lead him away from the thought.

  “Yeah, all good. How are things back at the office?” I shifted the conversation.

  “Going good. Lauren got a call for a follow job, so I’ll be tailing some hipster accused of screwing his stepsister the next few nights. Interesting city we live in,” Aaron laughed. I joined in.

  “Well, stay safe. I can’t wait to hear all about it,” I replied.

  “Take care, boss,” Aaron said.

  We hung up the call.

  Though the call was interesting and gave me a little information on the people Freddy was setting a meeting up with, it didn’t really change anything. It wasn’t all that strange that they only popped up in recent years because, hell, I never touched social media. If they were planning on building cities from the ground up, it only made sense to have an active following.

  Even after the morning I’d been having, I felt no closer to anything. If anything, I was only being pushed further away with every answer I received.

  That’s the way things go, sometimes, that much I knew well.

  “Meetings set for lunchtime. Two of the three in Priest River are coming to join us,” Freddy said as soon as I stepped through the door. “Brothers, Lucius and Virgil something or another.

  “Magnus. Where’s the other?” I cocked a brow.

  “Can’t tell you. The brothers say he didn’t come in this morning.”

  “Think it’s something to worry about?”

  “Who the hell knows, Jack? Who the hell knows?” Freddy shrugged, grabbing another donut from the box. Rodney sat, reading the paper. Now, it was just counting down the minutes until noon in hopes of finding any new secrets.

  Chapter 16

  Jack

  “So, do you know anything about the people we’re about to meet?” I asked as the time neared for us to leave the sheriff’s office.

  “Not more than you, I’m sure,” Freddy replied, pulling on a thin cardigan.

  “How long have they been in town?” Aaron gave me a little bit, sure, but I hated walking into a meeting empty-handed. The more I knew, the better, both for conversation and to judge character.

  “The four of them arrived a few months ago having the first chat with the mayor. Things went quiet for a while, then picked back up, I don’t know, three weeks ago or so. They weren’t wasting any time getting started on plans for the casino. Found out the investors bought the land the day the mayor told us all what was going on,” Freddy said.

  A casino next to a church, that was a funny thought. A temple of worship and one of sin, side by side.

  “And nothing happened? No threats or issues? Town went crazy about Jim Heath coming to town. I’d have to think there’d be an uproar about expansion as a whole,” I donned my hat, coat and started walking towards the door.

  “The promise of money makes people turn a blind eye to potential newcomers. Jim Heath is just unfortunate,” Freddy shrugged.

  “Now, there was a petition floating ‘round a while back. Don’t remember who started it or any names that signed, asking that we don’t let the investors change our city. I never touched the thing. It’s time for a change in this small town of ours,” Rodney chimed in.

  “And you didn’t think to mention that earlier?” My annoyance reached a peak at Rodney’s ignorance.

  “Nah, I didn’t think much of it then, and I don’t now. That petition is long gone, with dreams of keeping Priest River in the dark ages. Didn’t even bother taking it up the chain. Tossed it in the trash and moved on,” Rodney added, swinging open the door, and we all stepped through.

  “What’d I tell you, Jack? This boy doesn’t have a lick of sense in his head,” Freddy slapped Rodney’s shoulder. Rodney’s face flushed a deep red in embarrassment. He didn’t bother speaking again.

  We took a walk from the sheriff’s department to our meeting with the Magnus brothers. They chose Hopewell’s Diner, which I was luckily acquainted with after my breakfast there the day before. Once again, Hopewell’s was dead quiet apart from the staff, Virgil and Lucius.

  Lee-Anne wasn’t around either. Being lunchtime, I assumed she went out to eat, or maybe didn’t come in that day considering how quiet it was.

  “That’s gotta be them,” Rodney pointed at the Magnus brothers.

  “No shit, Sherlock,” Freddy sneered.

  “I’ve got a bad feeling ‘bout them,” Rodney said, ignoring Freddy’s jeering.

  I had to agree with him, but something I’ve learned over the years, never judge a book by its cover.

  The Magnus brothers looked identical by face, pale skin, strong, muscular physiques. I supposed them twins, but with the similarities came a vast contrast too. I didn’t know which was which, but one had snow-white hair and sharp, silver eyes. The other had long, black locks with golden hazel eyes. Both heads of hair were perfectly straight and long enough to reac
h their asses if they were standing.

  I took the lead, walking us over to the booth in which they sat.

  “Afternoon,” I said.

  “Hello, detective, sheriff,” the dark-haired one spoke, tilting his head at Freddy. “Ex-sheriff?”

  “Jack Mercer,” I pressed a hand against my chest. Pointed to Rodney, then Freddy. “Rodney Stern, Freddy Cochran. It’s a pleasure, and thanks for meeting us on such short notice.”

  “Lucius,” the dark-haired one spoke again. “This is Virgil. And not a bother at all. We’d be happy to help with the investigation into Lynne’s murder however we can.”

  Lucius stood up, showing his true size. He was a foot taller and two wider than me. Lifting an arm, his muscles strained the fabric of his shirt. We shook hands and greeted all around.

  “I understand you’re both very busy, so I won’t keep you long. Shall we jump straight into it?” I asked.

  “We just ordered lunch,” Virgil spoke. Compared to Lucius, Virgil was soft-spoken. Neither of them lacked confidence, however. “So, not really in any rush. Have a seat, please.”

  Virgil waved a hand to the booth opposite him and Lucius, and the three of us sat down. Rodney and I pulled off our hats. Rodney fiddled with the rim of his a while, unable to look the brothers in the eye.

  I drew the tape recorder from my pocket and set it down on the table. Lucius eyed it strangely. “You mind if I….”

  “Not at all,” he said.

  I clicked it on, looking at Freddy and Rodney. As an old man, Freddy had this gawking stare at the Magnus brothers. Surely he’d seen them before, but I supposed not up close enough to get a good look at them. Priest River wasn’t the sort to accept this alternative lifestyle, not like New York, where it was commonplace to stand out from the norms.

  “I understand you have another business partner in Priest River, correct? Dominic Cornelius? Any idea where he is today?”

  “Not a clue,” Virgil spoke. “We don’t monitor the coming and going of our partners, detective. We’re all adults, as long as we’re at the meetings, we live our own lives.”

  “I understand that, but I mean it more in the way of….”

  “If you think Dominic had a hand in Lynne’s death, I’d have to say you’re very mistaken. I’d say the same for the two of us, but you’d not have called us in if you weren’t suspect, would you?” Lucius cut me off.

  “Well, sure,” I admitted. “But that’s part of the job, right? Have to weary of everyone. How can you be sure that Dominic had no involvement?”

  “Simple, the three of us were at a titty bar that night, having some fun. As you can tell, we stand out in this place. It won’t be hard to confirm it,” Lucius said.

  He wasn’t wrong, either. One mention of these two, and even if Dominic looked like an average Joe, the strip club owner would be able to confirm their alibi.

  “Rodney, how about you head out and confirm that huh?” Freddy said. Rodney was on his feet before the sentence was fully out of Freddy’s mouth.

  “Sure thing, Fred. I’ll do that,” and then he was gone.

  “We’ll have to take care of him as detective if this place is going to expand,” Virgil sighed, watching Rodney leave Hopewell’s and then walk off down the street. “Can’t have someone too scared to speak to strangers when hundreds will flood the city every day.”

  “Sure as shit,” Freddy sighed. “He’s a good kid but doesn’t have much in the way of confidence.”

  Freddy shuffled a little further away from me, leaning back and getting comfortable in the booth chair. I’d not be around for any of that, so I didn’t jump into the conversation, deciding rather to shift back to the case.

  “Can you think of any reason why someone would want to kill Lynne Sawyer? Either in Priest River or out?” I asked.

  “Not a clue,” Lucius spoke. “We thought everyone was on board with building up the city. It will provide jobs, infrastructure, security, and more.”

  Neither of them seemed all that torn up speaking about Lynne’s death. Maybe they really were just business partners and nothing more. Saw each other for work before going about their days.

  “That’s not completely true,” Virgil stroked his chin. “When we first arrived here, we all received letters under our doors.”

  “That’s right,” Lucius nodded. “I clean forgot about those.”

  “They were basically hate mail from some radicalistic patriot that said Priest River didn’t need our intervention. The letter spoke some bullshit about how we weren’t needed. That Priest River survived without our intervention, and those who came before stood on holy ground. There was some other nonsense about a Goddess that resides in town. Called her the Earth Mother,” Virgil said earth mother in air quotes. “But we were busy and didn’t bother reading into it. Tight deadlines and schedules, you know. The higher-ups don’t like it when we’re late.”

  Higher-ups, hey? From what Aaron told me, I presumed that the seven investors were at the top of United Fed’s food chain.

  “Why didn’t you call the letters in to the sheriff’s department?” I asked.

  “Look at us, detective,” Lucius chuckled. “You really think that we’re afraid of some wannabe knight with a god complex? It’s just unfortunate that Lynne was alone that evening, or we might’ve been able to help.”

  It made sense that she wasn’t interested in joining the guys at the strip club. I wanted to question further about United Fed, my curiosity hit a peak, but I didn’t feel it related to the case. I knew when we left and got back to Rodney, he’d have confirmed their story. They were too confident sitting here, too brutally honest.

  Another dead end that left so many open doors.

  “But apart from those letters, no. There wasn’t anything else that came up. I really did believe the town was happy to expand and grow. And though we’ll mourn the loss of Lynne, we press on,” Virgil finished.

  “Do you know anything about this earth mother, Freddy?” I asked.

  The old man shook his head. “Doesn’t ring a bell, no. But who knows what craziness people come up with to fuel their delusions?”

  “Here we go, gentleman. A steak and fries and a plate of waffles,” the waitress said, placing plates down in front of Virgil and Lucius. “Can I get you two anything?”

  “No, I think we were just leaving,” Freddy was already shuffling out of the booth chair.

  “Gentlemen, don’t leave on account of us getting lunch,” Lucius said.

  “I think we’ve got all we need,” I replied. “Don’t let the meal get cold. Waffles and steak are always better hot.”

  The Magnus brothers rose, shaking hands with us, and sat back down to lunch.

  “I don’t trust them,” Freddy said as soon as we left Hopewell’s. “They’re both too strange. Or d’ya think I’m going nuts, Jack?”

  “No, I think you’re spot on,” I looked over my shoulder at the brothers. They sat stoically, eating their meal, looking straight ahead. “Maybe not with Lynne Sawyer’s murder, but something else, definitely.”

  We didn’t speak about the brothers again while we walked down the street. When we got back into the sheriff’s building, Rodney confirmed their story. The brothers and Dominic were at the strip club, throwing hundred-dollar notes while most just tossed singles. They were out until sunrise, too. Meaning there was no way they’d be anywhere near the crime scene that night.

  Rodney, Freddy, and I sat around for a while after, chatting and trying to break down the situation. If anything, the letters they spoke of cleared Jim Heath for the time being. Not wanting growth sounded like a locals issue with change, more than a man who got thrown to the wayside in Washington.

  But soon enough, the day washed away with a deep orange sun that clung heavily to a purple sky. And with it came my time to once more venture out, to face my demons and visit my family.

  Why the hell did I agree to it? This was going to be hell.

  Chapter 17

 
Jack

  My heart thumped in my throat while I drove from the sheriff’s department up to my folk’s house. I didn’t really know why considering I’d not been home in over 20 years. These people were less family to me than Lauren and Aaron at this point, and yet, I felt like a child nervously inching closer to my beating.

  It hit new highs when I turned into a teenager. My old man replacing his open hand with a fist, telling me I’d have to be tough if I wanted to survive this world. Telling a boy he’s got to be tough while smacking him around like a drunk in a bar. Damn easy to do when he knew I couldn’t fight back.

  But it worked, too, I supposed. There wasn’t a thing in this world that frightened me now. The nightmarish horror stories I heard; I saw, there wasn’t a thing that broke my fighting spirit. I’d never give up, not then and not now. If that’s the lesson my father tried to teach, well, I learned it despite of him, not because of how he treated me.

  While I drove, I got so lost in my own thoughts that I jumped when my phone started to ring through the car's Bluetooth system. I took a second to steady myself before answering. But displayed on the small screen on the dashboard, I saw Aaron’s name come up.

  Good news before my night, I hoped.

  “Aaron, what’s going on?” I took the turn onto Rivenes avenue.

  “Hey, boss. I got something back on those pictures you sent me,” Aaron replied. He never did know how to slow down, always working at one-hundred percent until a job was done. “From what I can tell, it’s a purification artifact used by a small community that worships pagan gods.”

  “Which ones? Norse, Greek, or Roman?” I asked, pulling into my parent’s driveway. I didn’t cut the engine, deciding it best to finish the call in the car.

  “Neither. When I say small community, I mean tiny. It sprung up during the Neopaganism revolution during the fifties and sixties. It’s just a blend of bullshit witchcraft that cropped up around then. Witchcraft, elemental and pagan god worship. The center of it all seems to be Gaia but called Earth Mother and her children. It’s basically just an offshoot of all pagan religions blended into their own belief,” Aaron said.