A Willing Murder (Medlar Mystery 1)

“He was a nice man,” Sara said.

“He was,” Jack agreed. “The deputies were laughing at me, but Captain Edison treated me with respect. He let me ride in the front seat of his patrol car and we came here, to this house. I don’t remember how he did it, but he got the door open and we went inside. The house had been ransacked. Clothes, personal items, kitchen things—they were all gone.”

“What about Henry’s camera?” Sara asked.

“Gone. Captain Edison told me that sometimes there were things in adult’s lives that made them need to leave a place quickly. He figured that’s what happened here. And he said that Roy had...” Jack stopped talking.

“What did he do?” Sara asked.

“The captain was kind but I didn’t understand it all then. He said that Roy had told him Cheryl was trying to do unlawful things to his underage son. He said Roy yelled that the Lachlan sheriff’s department was so busy spying on him that they ignored abuse that was going on right under their noses.”

“That poor girl,” Kate said.

“That sounds like something Roy would do,” Sara said. “He always said that everyone was worse than he was—but they weren’t. Did he spread gossip about young Cheryl?”

Jack took a deep breath. “Probably so, but no one said anything to me. I think gossip was why Captain Edison thought it made sense that they’d left town in a hurry.”

“What happened after that?” Kate asked.

“Nothing—except that my life changed. I told Dad—Henry—that I’d lost the camera. To pay for it, I started working for him at his construction company. That’s when I found out that I loved building things. It was because of Cheryl that I found my life’s work. Renewing these old houses has been good for me, and Dad taught me everything. He—” Jack gave himself a few moments to quiet himself. “After Roy died, I found the video camera in the back of a closet in his house.”

Both Kate and Sara gasped.

“That means he went back,” Kate said.

“To that dear, innocent girl,” Sara said.

“I’ve often thought that he was the reason Cheryl and her mother left town.”

But Cheryl and her mother didn’t leave, Kate realized as they stared quietly at the shadows made by the fallen tree. They had been killed, then irreverently and cruelly dumped into the ground behind their house. A tree was planted over them, hiding all evidence that they had ever existed. No one had discovered them for twenty years. Worse was that no one had even tried to find them. Except for an eleven-year-old boy who was patted on the head and told to forget about a girl he’d grown to love.

“Do you think that Roy—” Kate couldn’t finish her sentence. Was it possible that Jack’s father had murdered Cheryl and her mother? For that matter, was the second skeleton the mother?

Jack said, “I think—” but cut himself off. In front of them appeared three flashlight beams heading for the tree roots. Young voices came to them.

“Kids,” Jack muttered, then grab

bed his crutches and disappeared behind the big branches toward the beams.

Sara and Kate were left sitting on the porch. “Thank you,” Sara said. “No one has been able to get through to Jack since Evan died. His mother and I’ve tried, but he is one stubborn boy.”

“It’s the same with my mother. Ever since my father died, she’s been grieving.” She hesitated. “I’d like to hear about my father.”

“Sure,” Sara said.

Kate waited but she said nothing else. “Was he—?”

Jack appeared out of the dark. “Flynn told his wife about the skeletons, she called every person she knows and now the whole damn town is planning to come see them tonight. They’re bringing coolers full of beer. Like it’s some kind of party.”

“They’ll want to take souvenirs,” Sara said. “Small bones that they think no one will miss.”

Jack took his cell out of his pocket and quick-dialed a number. “Gary? So you’ve heard. I want your entire team over here immediately.” He listened. “Yes. All of them, and bring the dogs. I want barriers set up, and put up those big motion-detector lights, too. As many as you have. That all? Send someone to buy some more, but I want you here fast. Yeah, I’ll pay time and a half.”

Jack put his phone back into his pocket and looked at Kate. “Gary heads the security team I use for my construction jobs. He’s on his way, and his men will be here soon with barriers and whatever else they need.” Jack left as fast as he could, wanting to meet Gary at the front as soon as he arrived. And he needed to send any other gawkers away.

Sara got up. “This has been a long day. Do you mind if we postpone talking about Randal until a less hectic time? I’m pretty worn-out right now.”

“Of course.” Kate stood up. “I have to be at work at eight tomorrow morning, so I need to get some rest, too.”