Secrets in the Shallows (Book 1: The Monastery Murders)

by Karen Vance Hammond

  Lifting the tag to read it, Peter looked up at the sheriff and asked, “Who is Tom Green?” Grabbing a large plastic bag, he put the entire backpack inside. After picking up another large evidence bag, he quickly tagged it and added, “I can’t wait to see what’s inside of this.”

  The divers swam to the edge and climbed out of the freezing water, careful to avoid entangling their hot water hoses. As the first one stood at the water’s edge, he detached his hose and took off his mask.

  “Time to get changed. It’s amazing how fast these suits get cold once the hose is detached.”

  The two divers ran over to their support van and got inside to change.

  Sheriff Johnson lit a cigar and exclaimed, “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  Peter turned his attention toward Sheriff Johnson and asked, “Sheriff, who is Tom Green?”

  “Tom Green was also a student here at the monastery. During spring break earlier this year, he was missing for an entire week. Our dogs found him floating at the top. The fish had a field day with him.”

  Peter stood staring directly in the sheriff’s eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me someone else had died in this pond?”

  Sheriff Johnson shrugged. “I really didn’t think there was a connection. It was ruled a suicide.”

  Tersely, Peter replied, “Well, looks to me like they could have been wrong. I will need to look at any files you have on him, please.”

  “I’ll get one of the office clerks to make copies of anything we have for you, as well as, access to any photos taken.”

  “I appreciate that, Sheriff. What is the story on Tom Green anyway? Anything may be a clue as to who killed Timothy Fields, if we find out that Tom was murdered too,” Peter stated.

  The sheriff cleared his throat and said, “Tom’s parents didn’t want an autopsy. They accepted the report stating it was a suicide. They wanted closure.”

  “Do you know where they are now?”

  “They moved to escape the memories here in this town.” The sheriff lowered his head.

  Peter raised his voice, “I don’t blame them, but do you know where they are, Sheriff Johnson?”

  “I’ll find them, Peter,” he answered.

  “Did they bury him, or was he cremated?”

  “They buried him at the cemetery here in Wattsville. The church wouldn’t let them bury him on their sacred grounds because it was ruled a suicide.”

  Peter looked at John and stated, “I’m going to need a court order to exhume his body. We could have two homicides, and that other body may be the key to who the killer is. My gut tells me that I’m right.” Turning to Sheriff Johnson, he asked, “Sir, can you contact his parents for me, please? I’m sure they would want to know.”

  Peter continued, “Oh, what’s going on with that kid that’s being held? What’s his name? Carter?”

  The sheriff said, “We let him go with the understanding that he can’t leave the state. That new evidence we found on the surveillance footage may exclude him altogether, even though we didn’t see a face to verify it was even a nun at all. If we find the missing evidence in the monastery in the search, we’ll have our answer. I can’t wait for your Coke Bottle guy to examine that backpack. We need a solid break in this case.”

  “Don’t worry. If it’s there, Coke will find it.”

  The sheriff replied, “I hope you’re right. Well, it looks like we’re done at the pond for now. I’m going to call in a lunch order to Ted’s Diner for everyone, the department’s treat.” Looking over at Deputy Williams, “I’ve got the menu right here, can you collect the orders from everyone and call it in? They said they would deliver it to us at the monastery.”

  He continued, “I can check with the sisters to see if we can use their cafeteria. Since the cafeteria building was closed up for the holiday before Timmy was killed, it may be possible for everyone to eat in there. After we finish, I’ll talk to her about searching the rest of the campus. When we’re ready, I’d like Peter and his team to look over the area where we found the victim’s missing shoe behind the monastery. Perhaps we overlooked something during the initial search.”

  “Yes, sir,” Deputy Williams replied as he held the menu and began walking around to get lunch orders from everyone.

  Sheriff Johnson looked at Peter, John and Katy and said, “Let’s get inside the bridal parlor in front of the fire and warm up while we wait for our lunch to get here. Please feel free to order whatever you like. It’s the department’s treat.”

  “While you’re doing that, I’ll run to take the evidence they found in the pond over so Coke can get started. I’ll be right back after I drop it off. I need to get a few more guys over here anyway,” Peter stated.

  Sheriff Johnson nodded. “Okay, Doc. Do what you need to. I want to blow this case wide open, and I have a feeling that backpack may be one of the keys to do it. I don’t know how Tom Green figures in to this case yet, but we will find out.”

  The sheriff turned his head and pushed his radio button. “Attention everyone. This is Sheriff Johnson. I want to thank everyone for their efforts today. It has been a success, thanks to you. Deputy Williams is going around to take your lunch orders that we will have delivered here. Let’s convene in front of the adjacent cafeteria building, while I get permission to use it. Can’t have anyone get sick on me. So, if you’re not working on something, pack up your gear and move up there.”

  A voice sounded over the radio, “Copy that. Thank you, sir.”

  The divers emerged from the back of the van, completely changed into their winter clothes. They smiled as they got into the front seats and drove towards the driveway, then parked in a vacant spot.

  Sheriff Johnson trudged up the hill to the building entrance and rapped on the door. As he waited patiently, his team remained at the pond gathering their equipment. Man this is going to be such a long day, he thought.

  CHAPTER 27

  Coke Bottle Ray turned the volume up on his CD player. Hotel California echoed throughout the lab. Coke rose up from his microscope and bobbed his head up and down to the rhythm. Smiling as he enjoyed one of his favorite songs, his horrible buckteeth were unfortunately apparent. He stepped back and turned a few circles while dancing. Letting loose to the chorus, he sang out as loud as he could.

  Peter hurried in the lab to find his sidekick playing the air guitar and singing off key. Placing several large evidence bags on a table, he tiptoed across the floor to stand behind Ray.

  Coke was completely unaware that Peter was behind him. As the chorus played again, Peter sang loudly behind him. Instantly, Ray stopped singing as he heard his boss’ voice blast from over his shoulder. His smile dropped, as he turned around to find Peter laughing at him. Embarrassed, Ray’s face turned a shade of red to match his hair. Immediately, he ran over and turned the CD player down.

  “I didn’t see you walk in.”

  “Of course you didn’t. You were too busy pretending you were Don Henley. Coke, I might add, you’re a little off-key.”

  “In all seriousness,” Ray asked, “did you find anything at the pond?”

  “Yes, we did, and I will say you’re going to be quite busy. There won’t be any time for air guitar concerts.”

  Taking off his winter coat, gloves and hat, Peter hung everything on the coat rack. Walking over to where he had placed the evidence bags, he picked them up and carried them to the stainless steel examination table. Simultaneously, Peter and Ray put on latex gloves and opened a bag.

  Lifting the red backpack out in the open, Peter commented as he pointed at it, “This was found at the bottom of the pond.”

  Ray looked down at the name tag and asked, “Tom Green?”

  “Yes, I found out today that a young man, named Tom Greeen, was found dead in the pond over spring break this year. I can’t believe they didn’t think to tell me about it sooner. You need to find out everything you can about it, Coke. I’m sure there’s something connecting the two bodies. We just need to find it.”


  Ray lifted the bag, “Man, this is heavy.” Unzipping the backpack, he inserted his hand and retrieved a brick.

  Peter eyes widened. “If the boy... This makes no sense.”

  “What are you talking about?” Ray asked. “Who? Done what?”

  “Sheriff told me that the autopsy report said Tom Green committed suicide. It just seems strange that he’d kill himself by drowning in a pond. I could see him hanging himself with the rope, but drowning and strangulation together would be a particularly horrible way to die. It just isn’t a typical way to commit suicide, especially for a kid.”

  Ray lifted another brick out, followed by several more. By the time he was finished, ten brown bricks were laid on the table in front of them.

  Peter shook his head. “If I were going to commit suicide, I wouldn’t do it this way. Most people fear drowning. It’s a slow and painful death. I would rather shoot myself, or take sleeping pills than drown. That boy didn’t do that to himself. In fact, this would seem more in line with another person using the bricks to weigh down the victim so they can’t get back up; plus, it hides the body longer. Sometimes, those victims aren’t found for years. Not to mention the fact that Timmy Fields was also drowned, and I’m sure that wasn’t a suicide.”

  Ray looked at him. “I bet you’re right.”

  Peter walked over and twisted the top of the second bag, “And this, was found at the bottom of the pond as well.” He lifted the rope with the rock attached at the end. “My guess is this was used on Timothy Fields; It’s all just too coincidental that he drowned like Tom Green did.”

  Walking over to the other table where Timothy Fields’ body lay, Ray pointed to the boy’s neck. “I’d agree with you since there is bruising consistent with rope burns around the victim’s neck.”

  “Yes, there were.”

  “Coke, I don’t care if it takes all day or night until you find something. I don’t care if it takes a week with no sleep. Find what we need to catch this killer..”

  Ray laughed. “I will. You know that the famous Coke Bottle Ray is on the case.”

  * * * *

  In the school cafeteria, almost every member of the investigation team was scattered into twos and threes. They chatted and laughed as they finished eating their catered lunch.

  Near the front corner, Sheriff Johnson tapped the table with his fork repeatedly on the dining table as his patience began to wear thin. Across from him at the table, John leaned back in his seat as he wadded up his napkin then laid it in his empty ‘to go’ box.

  “Man, I’m full. Thanks for the lunch, Sheriff,” John said.

  “My pleasure, Counselor. I figure everyone earned this today. Thanks again for getting that search warrant taken care of for me. You really helped me out.”

  “I want to catch the killer as much as you do, sir. I had to go by my office already, so it wasn’t out of my way. The divers were fortunate to find such great pieces of evidence so quickly. I hope Coke discovers some good clues on the items that were pulled out of there. It’s amazing how even the smallest things can implicate a criminal for his or her crimes,” John replied.

  “Yes, it is. Back when I was promoted to detective, we were just becoming proficient at matching fingerprints on AFIS. We didn’t have the department budget to buy the equipment we needed when it came out. It took a forever before we had a decent catalog of criminals in the system; so, not everyone was easy to identify quickly back then. Now, we’ve got millions of people cataloged from all over the country, and many of them have their DNA sample information on CODIS too. It’s almost impossible to get away with anything,” the sheriff commented.

  “It makes a big difference for sure. I can’t imagine how many people would get away with crimes without having access to them. What did we ever do without computers, eh?” John chuckled.

  Sitting next to John, Katy gazed out the window at the gray, cloudy sky and said, “I would hate to be one of those divers. That water is just too cold to swim in. I don’t know how they do it.”

  “They’re both part of a polar bear club. I don’t know how they do it either,” the sheriff chuckled.

  Just then, the door swung open and Peter stood in the threshold. Scanning the room for faces, he finally spotted the sheriff’s table and smiled. Walking directly towards them, Peter said, “Sorry it took so long. I had to get Coke started on the new evidence while finished up the examination on the body. Do you think they still have my order, or did one of those vultures carry it off?”

  Sheriff Johnson pointed over to a table by the doorway. “You passed right by it, Doc. There’s some tea and bottled water over there too. Help yourself.”

  “Thanks, Sheriff. I’m starving.” Peter smiled.

  He headed back to the serving table and poured a glass of tea before picking up his boxed lunch. Grabbing a set of utensils and napkin, he returned to the sheriff’s table and stood across from Katy.

  Peter smiled and asked, “Is this seat taken?”

  The sheriff replied, “Have a seat, Doc. It’s not taken.”

  Peter sat down and glanced at Katy, who happened to catch him surveying her. She quickly turned her head towards the sheriff and asked, “So, how long do you think the search will take, Sheriff?”

  “It will be hours; maybe even a couple of days. It just depends on what all needs to be reviewed. We have a few places we want to concentrate on, and we’ll go from there. I have a couple of ideas for good places to start.”

  Turning to Peter, he said in a low voice, “I want you to begin with that area behind the monastery where the VIC’s shoe was found. See what you can find out there first. After you’re done there, I really need you to focus efforts on Mother Superior’s office and bedroom, since she was the last person known to see him alive.”

  “I understand, sir. We’ll keep looking until we either find something, or we’ve scoured every inch of the campus.”

  The sheriff nodded. “That’s what I want to hear. Now, try to hurry and eat so we can get started. I’m not looking forward to serving this warrant after they were gracious enough to let us use the school’s cafeteria to eat.”

  Peter chuckled as he opened up his boxed lunch. “Good old-fashioned hamburger. It smells amazing.” He added ketchup and mustard to his bun, then squirted a small mound of ketchup separately for his fries. Putting the bun back on top, he picked it up and finally took a large bite. “Mmmmmm.” He smiled as he chewed his food. Everyone laughed as they all waited anxiously for him to finish his meal.

  Looking at John, Sheriff Johnson asked, “How fast can you get the paperwork together in order to exhume Tom Green’s body?”

  John replied, “I should be able to have it ready to go by the judge’s chambers by mid-morning tomorrow. I’ll work on it tonight if I have to.”

  “Thank you, Counselor. I already appreciate your tenacious efforts on behalf of this case.”

  Smiling, John replied, “No problem, Sheriff. I’m just doing my job the best way I know how.”

  Peter gulped down the hamburger and fries and then finished off his tea. “I’m done,” he said as he stood up and threw away his trash.

  “Let’s get this started then,” Sheriff Johnson said as he straightened his uniform.

  * * * *

  Still listening to his music back in the lab, Coke Bottle Ray wore special magnified goggles to examine the evidence that Peter had dropped off earlier. First, Ray placed the rope under an ultraviolet light looking for oils, body excretions, fibers, hair and any other microscopic evidence. He was pleased to find three long, gray hairs entwined in the rope fibers. After taking several photos of the hairs in situ, he replaced his goggles and began extraction.

  Holding a pair of tweezers, he pulled each of the hairs out without breaking them. He placed them on a slide and examined them under a microscope to analyze them. Picking up a sample tube, he gently pushed the hairs inside with the tweeters and sealed it shut. Ray took a long label and covered the stopper, then labeled it pr
operly. Finally, he wrote down his discovery on a form attached to a clipboard.

  “I would say those gray hairs probably don’t belong to our VIC,” Ray thought out loud.

  Taking off his goggles, he grabbed his phone and called Peter. “Hello, Doc. I found some gray hairs in the rope you pulled up out of the pond.”

  On the other end of the line, Peter exclaimed, “That’s awesome news. Gray hairs? Really?”

  “Absolutely, Boss. So, I will need some hair samples for all of the possible suspects so I can try to get a match. I guess one of those nuns could be the culprit. I imagine a lot of them have gray hair.”

  “Coke, did you have a chance to examine the backpack also?”

  “I’m doing that next; but I thought you should know about the hair strands immediately. That way you can go ahead and get the samples you need from the nuns while you’re out there anyway.”

  Peter replied, “Thanks a lot, Coke. Great work as usual. I’ll get those samples for you. It may be the end of the day before I get back over there. Oh, I do need you send anybody available to come here right away to help with the search. I’m sure we’ll need a few more to cover the building.”

  “Okay, Boss. I’ll find whoever I can.”

  Peter added, “And call me if you find any evidence on the backpack, please. That could be crucial to the investigation.”

  “Of course, Doc. Well, I’d better get back to this. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Sure thing, Coke. Good luck,” Peter replied as their conversation ended.

  CHAPTER 28

  Sheriff Johnson, Deputy Williams, John and Katy walked together from the cafeteria to the monastery entrance. Sheriff grabbed the doorknocker and raised it up then let it rap the door a few times, making a loud thud on the thick door.

  A small older woman answered the door, “Yes, Sheriff. May I help you?”