Chapter 1- Bodies at Scene

Bodies. Bodies were everywhere. They were laid out in a field surrounded by a wooded area. There was a pattern. Bodies laid out in circles inside one another.

“Wow, this is something,” John commented. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“I should hope not,” Mary his partner responded. “How many did they say?”

John flipped open his notebook. “Three to begin in the inner circle And, then going out, each circle has three more. There are six circles. Total sixty three. Bodies are head to toe. They go left from inside and then in the opposite direction going out with each circle. Outer circle heads go right.”

“So there’s a pattern.”

“Yeah, except the male female thing seems random.” John paused. “Thirty males; thirty three females. Ages seem all over the place but they’re just estimates.”

“Still strange, ” Mary interjected. “Clothing seems random. Some are dressed more formally while others are in everyday duds.”

“And, two have nothing. They’re all facing up though. But, then some have pieces of a wardrobe missing,” John went on. “The officer first to scene has a run down of everyone. Plenty of pics available. I send them to your phone.”

“They want to start bagging them up, ” Mary said pointing to those just outside circle. “It’s going to rain soon.”

“I think I’ve seen enough. The smell is too much.” John concluded.

They were wearing full head masks but they didn’t help much. John backed away and Mary followed. The field was mostly grass. After walking around the perimeter of the circles, John and Mary split up to examine the woods. As they entered the woods where there was markings, the process of removing bodies began. Each body was to be traced before bagging. The process might take a while.

Detectives Mary Knolls and John Taylor entered the area that officers marked as the most likely way the bodies were brought into the field. Mary went first following a trail of markers to what looked like a dirt road that hadn’t gotten much use in recent years. There were some tire marks. The officers had taken a cast and photographed the tracks Mary took a few shots on her phone..

“Looks like someone had tried to erase some of the tracks. I’d say it was at least two people who did this. It doesn’t appear the bodies were dragged,” John stated. “Tire tracks indicate a truck and with that many bodies it would make sense.”

“Where does this road go?” Mary asked.

“Leads to Miller Hill, “John told her. “Its a public road. But, there’s no homes or known structures near by. Road gets little traffic. Area is mostly used by hikers like the ones who discovered the bodies. They went home so we will have to give them a visit.”

“Why did they call us for this?” Mary asked.

“What’s that?”

“Maybe, we’re just a bunch of suckers?”

“No, not this time. Think its because we have a a history.”

“What history?”

“For solving some a weird case,” John laughed. “Once you get a strange one, it kinda sets you up.”

“The Simon case?”

“Yeah. Everyone thought aliens were involved, and you’d gotta think the same. That one was unexplainable.”

“Until we made sense of it. This one will take like forever just to sort through all that body evidence.” Mary turned to go back.

“It sucks but you’ve gotta admit. We got a lot of press. We were everywhere.”

“I remember,” Mary walked on with John catching up to her. “I got a call from my nephew in California. He wanted information for a school thing.”

Back at the field, the two went to their car. John got in the driver’s side. They had to make their way through wild bush till they picked up a dirt road. This was the way the hikers had come so everything was rough going till they got back to the paved road that they had come to spot. It was another part of Miller Hill Rd.

“Miller Hill’s a long roadway. It goes around the area we were in,” Mary stated looking up from her phone. John nodded as he drove on.

“Where were the hiker’s parked?”

“Where we came out. Finding the bodies ended their hike,” he said. “It was the smell. Both of them lost their breakfast.”

“I understand. Glad they told us to bring haze masks. I would lost mine,” she cringed putting her phone away.

As John drove he pointed out the connecting road to the one that they had been on. “That’s where they say the truck came out onto Miller.”

“Should we take a look?”

“Nothing to see really. There are pictures they took but no tracks,” John said as they passed the intersection. “There was nothing else on the road either.”

“This is going to give me a headache,” Mary moaned.

“I have aspirin in the glove compartment.”

“Thanks, but I’ll hold off for now. But, good to know,” Mary said. Should we call those hikers or should we go back to office?”

“Go back to office,” John stated. I want to look at everything we got so far first.”

“Good point,” Mary agreed. “I could use some coffee.”

“Coffee? I could use a drink.”

“We’re still on duty,” Mary reminded him.

“I know but its how I feel. I’ll stop at the Deli before going in”

———-to be continued———–

Thoughts for this story was a play, musical or a novel. A Doll Shop robbery in NYC results in the death of its elderly proprietor who falls down steps that come into shop from an apartment above. The only thing stolen is a dollhouse that is actually a model of a house. The mystery is why the house was stolen and whether the proprietor was murder or just an accident. The police ask for help from an expert on the houses’ architect. The actual house is in Westchester suburb and the house is undergoing major renovations. But, what is the connection if any?

Chapter 1- A Murder Mystery

Brrr, brrr, brrr….

It was the phone. Who the hell was calling at this hour? And, in the middle of a pandemic for gods sake? And, on my land phone. The one I keep in my office. I stumbled about in the dark till I reached my office. It was down the hall from my bedroom. With the lights on I uncovered the phone buried under a bunch of papers, books and other stuff. Everything scattered as I retrieved the headset. The ringing had continued incessantly till I got to it. The phone was dated with no answering machine attachment. I kept it mostly for emergencies and don’t give the number out anymore. I had no clue who would be calling me on the line or even at this hour. It was 12am.

“Hey, what’s up?” I said to the caller after putting the headset to my ear.

“It’s Ray,” the voice on the other end said.

“Ray?” I paused to think. “Ray? Oh, not Ray Cohen?”

“Yeah, its me. Your old partner,” Ray began. “I need your help.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. Right? I’ve been off the force for a decade.”

“I’ve got a case I need your help with.”

“What the fuck can that possibility be about?”

“A dollhouse. I need help with a dollhouse. Well, its not exactly a dollhouse but a replica of a house. A house designed by Andrew McKee to be exact.”

“Andrew McKee? The architect? You couldn’t have Googled that?

“I did but I got nothing I could use. And, then I remembered your hobbies. As you would call them. You used to dabble in stuff, like architecture and stuff like that.”

“Yeah, I still do but what’s so important about this house.”

“It was stolen from a shop in the Village. But, there’s more to it. The owner is dead. We’re investigating a possible robbery-murder. I know it’s a bother and late and all… but I’m stuck.”

“At this hour?”

” Well, we’re all still here at the scene. Wondering if you come… to the scene…while its fresh?”

“You’ve got to be crazy? Where is it, you said?”

“I’ve sent a car to pick you up.”

“Well, in that case, I guess I better come. My building has no man bellman. Have them ring me when they get here on my cell. Do you have it?”

‘”No, what is it?

After giving him my cell number, I hung up to get dressed. After grabbing my cell, wallet and a small note book I took the elevator down to the lobby. A few minutes later the officer sent to pick me up phoned me. Ray must have known I would come all along. The streets were deserted and few cars were about. The marked car and officer were waiting by the hydrant that was in front of my building.

I am a retired police officer for 10 years now. I still dabble in quite a few things besides architecture. Art, literature and history were all interests of mine. I keep a blog on my discoveries. I happen to know a lot about Andrew McKee. He was an architect of multiple brownstones, small apartment buildings and an assortment of single residential homes in the City near by..

The ride to the scene brought us to Greenwich Village. We had the roads mostly to ourselves so we made good time. I used the time to catch up on my phone messages.

When I arrived, I was given booties and protective gear including gloves and a face mask. The shop was in the basement part of the building. There were apartment units above the shop with Doll Shop & Hospital. There were steps down to the shop where I was escorted in. I found Ray in the center of the shop talking to a younger woman.

“Oh, good. You’re here. Miss Jones this Joe Greyson, a consultant on the case.”

“Consultant?” I inquired.

” He knows a bit about the architect.”

Miss Jones seemed to brighten up at that.

“Oh, that’s a good thing. The dollhouse was important to Miss Raburn.”

“Do you pictures of the house?”

“Yes, there’s a whole file,” she said and picked up a file from a counter. “Everything’s in this.”

“That’s great,” I said as I took the folder. It was full all right.

“That’s great then,” Ray said wiping his hands together. “Do you have any questions Joe other than that?”

“Not, right now. I’ll take this home if you don’t mind.”

“I would appreciate getting it back when you get a chance to view everything,” Ray said to me and then to Miss Jones “Thanks for staying. You are free to go home for now. We’ll call you if anything comes up.”

At that Miss Jones put her coat on and head to the door.

——to be continued——

Chapter 1- The House

He was just an ordinary man. A simple man who decided to take a walkabout on his property in the early morning of October. He was born and raised in the area but the land was unknown to him. The land came to him as an inheritance from an Uncle who had died a number of months previously.

The inheritance came as a complete surprise. There were others who might have been a better choice for ownership. But, the executor of his uncle’s will, a lawyer, who had contacted him about his inheritance was very clear.

The property was massive but was largely undeveloped. There was a log cabin with a dirt road leading to it from the closest road but most of the property had been left to its own. The uncle who had lived on the property with his parents from childhood had only gone away to college. After his retirement from a lifetime career, he remained in the cabin keeping mostly to himself. His wife had died years before but they had no living children. The cabin had a source of water, electricity and even modern plumbing but beyond the cabin there were none of those amenities.

The man thought of selling the property but the lawyer explained that the land must remain in the family and as the appointed guardian of the property there was to be no development. After coming, the man just didn’t know whether to rent it out or just live in the house. It wasn’t like he had a great living situation. He was retired and lived in a small apartment up north but it really didn’t matter to him whether to return home and just let the property stay as it was.

After seeing the closest town, there were plenty of stores to get provisions but there was always online ordering. He’d have to get a hook up some how with the internet. Maybe satellite TV would be an option but there was a phone line connection. He’d have to look into it. His cell phone to his surprise worked cause there was a tower near by on higher ground.

The man had a family but his wife had left him a decade ago. His children were grown and he even had a few grandchildren. They could visit as the cabin had a bunch of bedrooms.

Walking into the woods, the man stumbled on the path that led into the meadow ahead. A view of the area could be seen from the top floor of the cabin. There were trees that surrounded the meadow and the grasses were high. There was a brook that ran through the meadow but the waters were shallow and doubted that there would be any fish.

As he walked, an odd feeling came to him. There were no birds about. It was uncomfortably quiet. Eerie in fact. The air was still without a breeze. The whole area was deadly still. The sun was strong and there were no clouds in the sky. At a shallow point, the man crossed the stream. His boots didn’t even get wet. The path continued on but then split into three directions. Ahead the meadow met a wooded area but to his right and left the paths meandered through high grass.

Deciding to return to the cabin, the man retraced his steps. There was a shed on the property that had an ATV that might be best to use in exploring the property and his uncle might have a map somewhere. But, he had yet to go through his uncle’s things. His uncle had died in the hospital after suffering a sudden heart attack. He had been in relatively good health according to the lawyer for a man in his late 80’s. Not even his friends could explain his final end.

Back at the cabin, the man went to the refrigerator for a beer. The inside was stocked with two 12 packs, a loaf of bread and an assortment of foods that might need to be thrown out. He had decided to spend at least one night in the cabin and had picked up enough for sandwiches. His favorite food group baloney and mayo. The freezer was also stocked with enough meat and fish for a month.

There was no TV or computer but plenty of books and magazines. There was an old jukebox filled with a bunch of old records. There were also a number of radios and an old stereo with a collection of albums taking up an entire shelf in the living room. The downstairs was basically one big room with a kitchen area. One door led to a half bath and another to an office. His uncle had been a lawyer and the office was filled with files. Near the front door was a large stairwell leading upstairs where there were two small bedrooms with a shared bathroom and a master with a full bath and a large closet. The master overlooked the back of the property and the meadow was as he left it.

The stillness was then interrupted by the sound of a motor. Looking out the front window, the man saw that a pick up truck had pulled up to the house and parked behind his own SUV. Out came the driver who was unfamiliar to the man but not seemingly to the cabin. Following the driver, was a Labrador that followed the driver to the front door.

The man went to the door imagining the driver was an old friend of his uncle. He had a full beard and massive gray hair on top. As the man, opened the door, the dog sped passed him into the house.

“Sorry about that, ” the driver spoke.

“No, problem. He might know the place better than me,” the man responded. “I’m Jed, by the way.”

“Mike,” the older man stated. “I was a friend of your uncle.”

“I figured that,” Jed went on. “Come in. Would you join me in a beer?”

“Sure thing. Larry always had a few in the frig.”

Jed went to the frig and grabbed another beer to give to the older man. He handed it over.

“Thanks,” Mike said. After a few sips he went on. “I heard from Larry’s lawyer that you were here. What’s your assessment of the place?”

“Quiet.”

“Compared to the City I suppose it is,” he sat down on the couch. “I hope you don’t mind but I was curious how you were getting on.”

“Its different from my place and the property is expansive.”

“Good word for it. A guy I know could give you a plane ride to see all of it. Lives in town.”

“I might do that,” the man said sipping his beer. “I thought I’d take the ATV out for a ride,”

“Property’s pretty big. There’s a few paths but most of it is wild.” Mike then finished off his beer and set it down on the table next to the coach. “I could take you round if you like. I know most of it.”

“That sounds good but I’m headed back to Thomasville in the morning”

“Another time then.”

“I might come back in a week or so but I’ve got somethings to attend to back home.”

“I see. Well I could look in and make sure things are as they are while you’re home.”

“That’s mighty helpful. I don’t right know just yet what to do with the place.”

“That’s a big decision. Its a nice place and like you said quiet.”

“A bit too quiet.”

“How’s that?”

“I took a walk just a while ago and it was really quiet. Dead still. No birds, no wind and not even a cloud in the sky.”

“That’s weird. Mike said the same thing like a week ago before he had his heart attack.”

“Now, that’s interesting,” Jed stated with a lot of thought.

“Well, I would never have thought Dan would die from a heart attack. It was a surprise for all of us. He was in good health and was still working,” Mike said. “I live in town above the Drug Store. You can call me at any time. Numbers listed. I just wanted to see how you were getting along. Dan and I go back a long ways.” Mike then got up and waved for his dog to follow him as he made his way to the door.

“Thanks for stopping,” Jed said.

And, then Mike was gone back the way he had come and Jed was alone again. It was time for a sandwich and a few more beers.

Chapter 2- Home

The next day, the man decided to return home. He cleared out cabin’s refrigerator of things that might expire or had and put everything in the back of his SUV. Making sure every window had been closed and the house locked, the man drove away to the road. It was another blue sky day. He would have a long ride ahead so he would stop first in town to get some food for the road and see about getting rid of the garbage.

In town, there was a diner and a small market. He’d stop in the market first and then get some breakfast. It was the plan. There were a few people about but as it was very early, few were about.

In about thirty minutes, the man head to the highway. He was actually looking forward to getting back home where he would need to make a decision about his unexpected inheritance. It would take hours to get to Thomasville. A little music would make the journey less tedious and he had already put in the first of the CD’s he had lined up.

Chapter 3

It was early evening, when the man parked his car and went into his apartment. He had a nice size place with a terrace that overlooked a lake. He had lived in the place for a few years now after his divorce. He’ll check his e-mails and make a few calls before settling down in front of the TV for his favorite shows.

————————–to be continued——————-