pocket.
“Hello?” he asked, answering the call.
For several minutes, he listened. Finally, he said, “Yes, yes. Yes, I understand.”
He ended the call and put the phone away. The Reverend licked his lips and then looked at them, his expression one of concern.
“Who was it?” Luke asked.
“Detective Dan Brown of the New Hampshire State Police,” Rever end Joe said. “He said there’s a dead police officer in the Church.”
“What?” Brian asked.
“Yes,” the Rever end said. “She died of a heart attack. But they don’t know why. She was investigating a break-in . And … she died.”
All of them were silent for a few moments until Reverend Joe broke it.
“Do you think, Mr. Brian, do you think they killed her?” he whispered.
Brian lifted up his mug, finished his coffee and set it back down again. He looked at the empty porcelain and nodded. “Yes, I do.”
Chapter 23: In the Church
Detective Dan Brown stood in the First Congregationalist Church’s kitchen and frowned.
He could smell cordite.
Actual cordite. Not gunpowder . Not propellant. Actual, honest to God cordite .
Raelynn hadn’t been shot, though.
It looked, as far as the EMTs and the medical examiner could tell, like she had suffered a heart attack.
Twenty-five years old , Dan thought, and she dies of a heart attack.
He looked around the kitchen and scratched the back of his head.
The place was a wreck.
Pots and pans and broken glass. Cutlery and plates. White filters and finely ground coffee. Pepperidge Farms sugar cookies and saltine crackers. Someone had ripped through the kitchen and its cabinets. But there wasn’t a trace of anyone.
No footprints, no trace of evidence, not a single thing to show an actual person had been in the kitchen when Raelynn had come into the room.
A ghost , Dan thought, remembering what Carlton had said.
He scoffed and one of the forensic techs looked over at him.
Dan shook his head, and the techs went back to their evidence collection.
What evidence? He asked himself.
All he had was a dead colleague and one hell of a mess.
Keene dispatch had said Raelynn called in a break-in. Afterward, she had told them she was entering the building.
But why?
Dan looked around.
The destruction of the room definitely indicated someone had been in there. The lack of evidence said otherwise. It was as though a hurricane had started up in the kitchen, ripped it apart, and then vanished.
Not before killing Raelynn though , he reminded himself. Dan turned and looked out the door to where they had found her body.
A perfectly fit young woman, dead of cardiac failure.
An autopsy would be performed. She would be tested for drugs, everything from recreational blends to performance enhancers. They would check with her fiancé and ask to go through the medicine cabinet.
Dan didn’t think they would find anything.
A ghost .
The idea wasn’t as funny or strange as when he’d heard Carlton talk about it.
Dan wouldn’t know for certain until they found the phone which had been misplaced.
For a moment, he thought about the boy, Jim Bogue, and the boy’s grandfather.
Then Dan shook his head.
Neither of them would have had anything to do with it.
Just you being stubborn, wanting to cram a round peg into a square hole, Dan chided himself. The evidence didn’t point to Jim Bogue, and Dan wasn’t about to make it.
He rubbed the back of his head again, caught himself and lowered his hand.
A bad habit he wanted to break.
With a sigh, Dan left the kitchen, walked out to the Church office and took another look.
The room was nearly as wrecked as the kitchen. Someone had tossed it, and not skillfully. This wasn’t a professional search ing for the money box. It didn’t even look like a couple of kids who wanted to create some havoc.
Same as with the kitchen , Dan realized. Someone is hunting for something. What though?
The drawers of Rever
“Hello?” he asked, answering the call.
For several minutes, he listened. Finally, he said, “Yes, yes. Yes, I understand.”
He ended the call and put the phone away. The Reverend licked his lips and then looked at them, his expression one of concern.
“Who was it?” Luke asked.
“Detective Dan Brown of the New Hampshire State Police,” Rever end Joe said. “He said there’s a dead police officer in the Church.”
“What?” Brian asked.
“Yes,” the Rever end said. “She died of a heart attack. But they don’t know why. She was investigating a break-in . And … she died.”
All of them were silent for a few moments until Reverend Joe broke it.
“Do you think, Mr. Brian, do you think they killed her?” he whispered.
Brian lifted up his mug, finished his coffee and set it back down again. He looked at the empty porcelain and nodded. “Yes, I do.”
Chapter 23: In the Church
Detective Dan Brown stood in the First Congregationalist Church’s kitchen and frowned.
He could smell cordite.
Actual cordite. Not gunpowder . Not propellant. Actual, honest to God cordite .
Raelynn hadn’t been shot, though.
It looked, as far as the EMTs and the medical examiner could tell, like she had suffered a heart attack.
Twenty-five years old , Dan thought, and she dies of a heart attack.
He looked around the kitchen and scratched the back of his head.
The place was a wreck.
Pots and pans and broken glass. Cutlery and plates. White filters and finely ground coffee. Pepperidge Farms sugar cookies and saltine crackers. Someone had ripped through the kitchen and its cabinets. But there wasn’t a trace of anyone.
No footprints, no trace of evidence, not a single thing to show an actual person had been in the kitchen when Raelynn had come into the room.
A ghost , Dan thought, remembering what Carlton had said.
He scoffed and one of the forensic techs looked over at him.
Dan shook his head, and the techs went back to their evidence collection.
What evidence? He asked himself.
All he had was a dead colleague and one hell of a mess.
Keene dispatch had said Raelynn called in a break-in. Afterward, she had told them she was entering the building.
But why?
Dan looked around.
The destruction of the room definitely indicated someone had been in there. The lack of evidence said otherwise. It was as though a hurricane had started up in the kitchen, ripped it apart, and then vanished.
Not before killing Raelynn though , he reminded himself. Dan turned and looked out the door to where they had found her body.
A perfectly fit young woman, dead of cardiac failure.
An autopsy would be performed. She would be tested for drugs, everything from recreational blends to performance enhancers. They would check with her fiancé and ask to go through the medicine cabinet.
Dan didn’t think they would find anything.
A ghost .
The idea wasn’t as funny or strange as when he’d heard Carlton talk about it.
Dan wouldn’t know for certain until they found the phone which had been misplaced.
For a moment, he thought about the boy, Jim Bogue, and the boy’s grandfather.
Then Dan shook his head.
Neither of them would have had anything to do with it.
Just you being stubborn, wanting to cram a round peg into a square hole, Dan chided himself. The evidence didn’t point to Jim Bogue, and Dan wasn’t about to make it.
He rubbed the back of his head again, caught himself and lowered his hand.
A bad habit he wanted to break.
With a sigh, Dan left the kitchen, walked out to the Church office and took another look.
The room was nearly as wrecked as the kitchen. Someone had tossed it, and not skillfully. This wasn’t a professional search ing for the money box. It didn’t even look like a couple of kids who wanted to create some havoc.
Same as with the kitchen , Dan realized. Someone is hunting for something. What though?
The drawers of Rever
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