Installment #4
Jack Farley
Jack shuffled the index cards and then began to arrange them in chronological order.
The latest was Detective Ambrose Middleton, his partner. Ambrose had been the first body
removed from the mine shaft, but certainly not the last. He was found setting on a shovel handle
that was wedged in a crevice. Had it not been so devastating, it might have been funny. But it
was not. Ambrose had been his partner and friend for the last nine years. He took a lot of
Jack’s secrets with him to the grave. His confidant. Kind of a father figure. Ambrose had
underestimated the danger Meg was in that night. They all had.
A search for Jeffery Purcell had led them to Meg Parker’s mountain farm. They knew
Jeffery was known online as redranger and they knew he had corresponded with Meg and planned to
“hook up” with her in Denver. But he had disappeared upon his arrival at Stapleton. A search
of Meg’s computer had turned up a stalker. An uneasy feeling had arisen in Jack, but he did not
make a connection between a stalker, Meg and the redranger. Not until Amborse was missing along
with Meg was there any suspicion of what was to come. Not until Meg was rescued and they began
to remember seeing a black Jeep up the road was the true horror of what had happened beginning
to unfold. Not until the detectives followed the road they had seen the black Jeep on and
stumbled upon the abandoned mine shaft did they find Ambrose. And when his body was retrieved
they began to count the corpses. There were eleven in all. They dated back to as far as 17
years.
The first was a boy who appeared to be about 16 to 19 years old at the time of his
death. He as pretty deteriorated and a positive identification was still to come. Dental
records were no help as the kid did not appear to be dentist friendly at all.
The next three were women. Probably whores who were never even missed. They were
killed about five years after the boy. Close together. Maybe a month or so apart. Then a man,
apparently a jogger. An old man who appeared to be a business man. A teen age boy and girl
four years ago who were identified as kids from Littleton who were camping in the mountains. A
whore named Flo Benson from Denver. The last two were Jeffery Purcell and Ambrose.
Except for Jeffery Purcell and Ambrose Middleton the others if taken separately had no
similarities, nothing in common, and no reason to be there. They could have been written off as
random killings except for the location they were found in and the fact that each one had a
broken neck. Everyone was exactly the same and in the same location, therein tying them all in
a neat little bundle to Marshall Purcell. It was just a matter now of identifying them and
locating next of kin. The bodies would then be returned to the families and the cases marked
closed. The fact was that the only ones who had ever been reported missing were the jogger, the
business man, and the two teenagers.
Jack picked up the cards, stacked them neatly and put them in his shirt pocket. He
flipped Meg Parker’s information from the file and dialed her number. Might as well get this
show on the road. She had every right to know just how close she had come to being victim
number 12. He listened as the phone rang in the house on the mountainside. As he closed his
eyes and pictured her moving to the phone he felt a warm glow. Meg Parker was one good looking
woman. And a widow. What more could he ask for in a woman? Well, personality and fact was she
had lots of that.
“Parker residence.” That was a distinctly male voice. “Kevin Jakson, speaking.” Ah,
that was better! Her son.
“Hello, Kevin. This is Detective Jack Farley in Denver with the sheriffs office. Could
I possibly speak to your mother?”
“Well, hello Jack! Good to hear your voice. Hang on and I will get mom.” Jack heard
the phone being placed on the table and after a few moments was rewarded with Meg’s voice on the
line.
“Hello. This is Meg Parker.”
“Hi Meg. This is Jack Farley and I will make this brief. I would like to drive down in
the morning and fill you in with what we know about this Marshall Purcell. Is that something
you are interested in or not?” There was a pause and he thought he might have lost the
connection. “Meg? Are you there?”
“Yes, Jack, I am here. You just caught me off guard. I am not sure I want to hear
this, but if I don’t I will always wonder and no doubt read it in the paper or hear it on the
news, so I guess the answer is yes. What time shall I expect you?”
“It will probably be around 9:30 give or take. Is that alright?”
“It sure is. That gives us time to have breakfast and go for a walk and then I can grab
a shower before you get here.”
Jack suddenly swallowed very hard and caught his breathe as the vision of Meg in the
shower flashed before his eyes. That was a vision he wanted to keep fresh in his mind but knew
he should not. This was business and damn serious business at that. He sat up straight and
cleared his throat. “Good. I will see you in the morning then.” As he placed the phone in the
cradle he suddenly cringed as he realized that he had all the makings of an erection and he had
not had one of those in years. Damn Meg Parker!
***********************************************************
If you are interested in buying Chapter One...Loose Ends this is your link.
Jack Farley
Jack shuffled the index cards and then began to arrange them in chronological order.
The latest was Detective Ambrose Middleton, his partner. Ambrose had been the first body
removed from the mine shaft, but certainly not the last. He was found setting on a shovel handle
that was wedged in a crevice. Had it not been so devastating, it might have been funny. But it
was not. Ambrose had been his partner and friend for the last nine years. He took a lot of
Jack’s secrets with him to the grave. His confidant. Kind of a father figure. Ambrose had
underestimated the danger Meg was in that night. They all had.
A search for Jeffery Purcell had led them to Meg Parker’s mountain farm. They knew
Jeffery was known online as redranger and they knew he had corresponded with Meg and planned to
“hook up” with her in Denver. But he had disappeared upon his arrival at Stapleton. A search
of Meg’s computer had turned up a stalker. An uneasy feeling had arisen in Jack, but he did not
make a connection between a stalker, Meg and the redranger. Not until Amborse was missing along
with Meg was there any suspicion of what was to come. Not until Meg was rescued and they began
to remember seeing a black Jeep up the road was the true horror of what had happened beginning
to unfold. Not until the detectives followed the road they had seen the black Jeep on and
stumbled upon the abandoned mine shaft did they find Ambrose. And when his body was retrieved
they began to count the corpses. There were eleven in all. They dated back to as far as 17
years.
The first was a boy who appeared to be about 16 to 19 years old at the time of his
death. He as pretty deteriorated and a positive identification was still to come. Dental
records were no help as the kid did not appear to be dentist friendly at all.
The next three were women. Probably whores who were never even missed. They were
killed about five years after the boy. Close together. Maybe a month or so apart. Then a man,
apparently a jogger. An old man who appeared to be a business man. A teen age boy and girl
four years ago who were identified as kids from Littleton who were camping in the mountains. A
whore named Flo Benson from Denver. The last two were Jeffery Purcell and Ambrose.
Except for Jeffery Purcell and Ambrose Middleton the others if taken separately had no
similarities, nothing in common, and no reason to be there. They could have been written off as
random killings except for the location they were found in and the fact that each one had a
broken neck. Everyone was exactly the same and in the same location, therein tying them all in
a neat little bundle to Marshall Purcell. It was just a matter now of identifying them and
locating next of kin. The bodies would then be returned to the families and the cases marked
closed. The fact was that the only ones who had ever been reported missing were the jogger, the
business man, and the two teenagers.
Jack picked up the cards, stacked them neatly and put them in his shirt pocket. He
flipped Meg Parker’s information from the file and dialed her number. Might as well get this
show on the road. She had every right to know just how close she had come to being victim
number 12. He listened as the phone rang in the house on the mountainside. As he closed his
eyes and pictured her moving to the phone he felt a warm glow. Meg Parker was one good looking
woman. And a widow. What more could he ask for in a woman? Well, personality and fact was she
had lots of that.
“Parker residence.” That was a distinctly male voice. “Kevin Jakson, speaking.” Ah,
that was better! Her son.
“Hello, Kevin. This is Detective Jack Farley in Denver with the sheriffs office. Could
I possibly speak to your mother?”
“Well, hello Jack! Good to hear your voice. Hang on and I will get mom.” Jack heard
the phone being placed on the table and after a few moments was rewarded with Meg’s voice on the
line.
“Hello. This is Meg Parker.”
“Hi Meg. This is Jack Farley and I will make this brief. I would like to drive down in
the morning and fill you in with what we know about this Marshall Purcell. Is that something
you are interested in or not?” There was a pause and he thought he might have lost the
connection. “Meg? Are you there?”
“Yes, Jack, I am here. You just caught me off guard. I am not sure I want to hear
this, but if I don’t I will always wonder and no doubt read it in the paper or hear it on the
news, so I guess the answer is yes. What time shall I expect you?”
“It will probably be around 9:30 give or take. Is that alright?”
“It sure is. That gives us time to have breakfast and go for a walk and then I can grab
a shower before you get here.”
Jack suddenly swallowed very hard and caught his breathe as the vision of Meg in the
shower flashed before his eyes. That was a vision he wanted to keep fresh in his mind but knew
he should not. This was business and damn serious business at that. He sat up straight and
cleared his throat. “Good. I will see you in the morning then.” As he placed the phone in the
cradle he suddenly cringed as he realized that he had all the makings of an erection and he had
not had one of those in years. Damn Meg Parker!
***********************************************************
If you are interested in buying Chapter One...Loose Ends this is your link.
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