4
October 4th – 9:23 AM
The early hours of October 4th seemed to drag on forever. The discovery of Ms. Cook’s slain body at the community center sent the town into a panic. Two residents of Stewart Hollow had been murdered in a matter of three days. The town was not used to crimes like these.
Sheriff Carter sat at his desk frantically trying to catch up on his reports. His left over Chinese food sat opened on his desk, irritating everyone’s senses in the department. Officers shuffled through the station with clear plastic bags of evidence, files, crime scene photographs, and for some, their third or fourth cup of coffee.
Bethany Kidd waddled into Carter’s office with a stack of papers. She dropped them on his desk and turned to leave just as Deputy Allan Reed entered. He made himself at home.
“It’s out of control out there. The media is practically breaking down our doors. They want all kinds of information.” Reed said, flustered.
“We’ll, they’re going to have to wait. They won’t know anything until we know something.” Carter set his pen down and rubbed his eyes. “Any fingerprints at the community center?”
“Hundreds. Anyone who had any kind of respect for Carly Simmons was there last night. And that’s a good majority of the town,” Reed quickly responded, expecting to be hit with the typical questions.
“Security footage?”
“Bruce Slater says those cameras have not worked in years.”
“Why hasn’t he gotten those fixed? What the purpose of having security cameras if you don’t plan on securing anything.” Carter was obviously upset.
“This is odd, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve lived in Stewart Hollow for five years. I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve never professionally had to deal with anything like this,” Reed said, adjusting in his chair. “Ten years, this town went without a murder. Why now?”
Carter shook his head, not sure exactly what to say. Bethany appeared in the doorway again, this time with a visitor. She was with a tall, blonde beauty, dressed in hospital scrubs.
“Deputy, your wife is here,” Bethany said before leaving again. Reed stood up, and greeted his wife with a kiss.
“Hey sweetheart,” Reed said.
Stacy Reed was in her early 30s and stunning in every way imaginable. She had a brown paper bag with her, folded over at the top. She handed it to him.
“Your lunch!” She spoke in a very chipper tone. She turned to Carter. “Good morning, Sheriff.”
Carter smiled in return.
“Well, I can’t stay. Busy day at the hospital – as you two already know.” She kissed Reed on the cheek. “See you at home?”
“You’re just going to run?” Reed asked, curious about her extremely short visit.
“It’s chaos down there,” Stacy said, as three officers in a hurry stumbled by the office, arguing. “Once again, as you two can imagine.”
“We’ll, alright,” Reed said.
“I’ll see you at home later.”
They shared one more passionate kiss, and then she was gone. Reed turned back to Carter with a huge smile of his face.
“Don’t be jealous, Sheriff. I know I’m a lucky man.”
“Wipe that dumb smirk off your face, Allan,” Carter said, shaking a smile from his face. “How’s she liking the job here? I mean - it’s no Seattle.”
“She loves it, but she says she wants more experience in the field. She’s actually been talking about moving back to Washington.”
“That means you’d be moving too?”
“That’s too far down the road right now. I’d hate to leave here. I love it here. But in a marriage, I guess you have to compromise.”
Carter nodded. Bethany’s voice came of the intercom: “Sheriff, these reporters are out of control. The phones are ringing off the hook. Are you going to address them soon?”
“I’ll get on it, Beth,” Carter responded.
Carter stood up and took a deep breath. “Time to calm the storm.”
Noon
The North Hollow general store at the corner of Main Street and Delta Place had been transformed into a costume shop for the season, as it always does. The owner was willing to let some of his normal business drop for the month in favor of tradition. There were plenty of other drug stores in the area where people could shop.
The sky was starting to cloud up over the town, and Ashley and Mark jogged down the Main Street sidewalk, holding hands as they ducked into the general store, trying to avoid any rain.
Inside, it was busy. It was still early in the month, but the store was still jam-packed with children trying on costumes, and parents telling them to “put it back, it’s too expensive!”
Brady Murphy stood behind the counter, ringing up a family of customers. They seemed pleased with their purchases, and then left. Ashley and Mark walked up to the counter, trying to catch Brady between costumers.
“Hey guys.” Brady saw them coming.
“Hey, buddy. How’s business?” Mark asked.
“Busy – as you can tell. We’ve been mobbed today, and it’s only noon.”
“When do you go on break? Can you grab lunch or something?” Ashley asked.
“I can’t. I…I’m probably going to skip my lunch today.” Something in Brady’s voice was a little off, and it caught Mark’s attention.
“Skip lunch?” Mark asked.
“Yeah, I need all the money I can get right now, and Mr. Blankenship is fine with the overtime. No gas money, remember?”
Mark nodded in agreement. Brady quickly changed the subject with a sense of urgency in his voice.
“Did you guys hear about Ms. Cook?”
“No. What happened?” Ashley asked, not expecting the worst.
Brady explained what he had heard. Silence fell between the three.
4:59 PM
Sheriff Carter had arranged for a press conference to begin promptly at five. In front of the Sheriff’s department, he had set up a podium. All of the towns’ media sources were there. Radio crews, newspaper journalists, and news reporters with their cameramen were all gathered around being lightly dampened by a misty drizzle.
Carter stood at the podium, waiting for his watch to strike five o’clock. Deputy Reed stood by his side, standing straight up with his arms crossed.
Carter glanced at his watch as the second hand hit the twelve. He looked forward and saw all the little red lights on the cameras ignite. He bent forward slightly, and spoke into the dozen or so bundled microphones.
“Good afternoon to all of you. I am going to address the recent events briefly, and take limited questions. Please do not take offense if I don’t answer your question in full, or at all, as we are still filtering through piles of evidence.”
He had the crowds’ full attention, and continued. “Four days ago, on the 1st of October, Carly Simmons was found murdered at her parents farmhouse. There was nothing left behind at the scene of the crime that has been any help to us. This morning, the body of Ms. Eleanor Cook was found at the community center. The coroner puts her time of death somewhere between 10 PM last night, and 3 AM this morning. Once again, there was not much left at the scene to help us come to any conclusions. I want the residents of Stewart Hollow to know we are doing everything in our power to track a lead and solve these unexpected and horrible crimes. We have dozens of officers working around the clock, trying to make you feel like you still live in a safe community. I will now take just a couple of questions.”
The crowd went crazy, raising their arms like grade school students, and shouting out their questions all in unison. Carter picked out a man from the crowd, near the front.
The man adjusted his tie, and spoke into his microphone. His cameraman was rolling. “Joseph Bright - Channel 10 News. Can you confirm that you currently have no suspects or persons of interest?”
“Correct. We currently have no suspects,” Carter said, then picking another question from the noisy crowd. This time it was a young woman, dressed spiffy, and holding a pen and pad of paper.
“Kelly Rodgers with the Hollow Gazette. There are rumors of a letter that your department received, prophesizing upcoming murders. Is that true?”
Carter’s heart dropped. He was floored by the question. How did that information get out? He turned to Reed, who shrugged at him, just as baffled.
“Uh,” Carter mumbled. His thoughts were jumbled now by the surprise inquiry.
“Sheriff, you have to be honest with the community. Any bit of information can help with a clue, or a lead. Is the letter rumor true?” Kelly Rodgers asked again, staying calm. The crowd settled down, as this was the first time the majority of them had heard the rumor.
Carter cleared his throat. “Our department did receive a letter on the morning of October 1st. I will not describe the letter in detail, but yes, it did hint at possible crimes.”
The crowd roared. Questions were being tossed around in every direction. “What kind of crimes?” “How many murders?” “Will the killer strike again?”
Carter became overwhelmed. “One more question, and that’s it.” He looked out among the crowd and picked on one last journalist.
“Brent Tiles, Channel 4 News. I think it’s safe to say with the letter your department received, the same killer is responsible for both murders. Do you currently know what connection the two victims had with each other, and do you think the killer will strike again?”
“We have not found a strong connection between Carly Simmons and Eleanor Cook, other than they both worked at the community center. As for the second part of your question, I cannot answer that at this time. We simply do not have enough information to address that.”
“If you don’t act soon, Sheriff, someone else might turn up dead!” Brent Tiles yelled over the noisy crowd.
“Thank you all for your time. We’ll address the public again if we have any major breaks in the case.” Carter stepped down from the podium and retreated back into the station; Reed followed.
Inside the station, officers stood around waiting to see Carter’s reaction. Carter took off his wet coat and hung it on the wall. He looked at this crew.
“Everyone better stop staring, and get to work. We have a very upset community and a looming threat,” he said, frustrated. The department went back to work. Carter turned to the receptionists’ desk where Bethany sat, quiet.
“Did you tell anyone about the letter we received?” He questioned her with authority.
Bethany hesitated then spoke softly, trying to explain herself. “I didn’t think much of it at the time. The press kept calling and I told them what I could just to get them to stop calling.”
Carter shook his head, and retreated to his office.