Chapter 37
The mayor led O’Reilly to a small office off of the lobby. As he passed Miss Stevens’ desk, he said that they didn’t want to be disturbed. She had a puzzled look on her face. She had heard the commotion in her boss’s office and wondered what was going on. Now, this stranger was going with the mayor to have a private meeting. Sheriff Higgins was no where to be seen.
"Yes sir, mayor. Do you want coffee or anything?”
"Yes, that would be great. Thanks”
They went into the office and shut the door. The mayor pointed to a chair, and Sean sat. The mayor took the seat opposite.
"Now inspector, what’s this all about?”
"As I stated in the other office, we are investigating a pair of murders that seem to be fairly similar to a case that happened in your town fifteen years ago. One of your residents who was just a boy of ten at the time was found sitting beside his mother, covered in her blood. She had had her head caved in with a blunt instrument. Her name was Maggie Caulder, and her son’s name is Jake.
"When I mentioned to Higgins the last time I saw him that we were looking into that case which is unsolved, he became quite riled and threw us out of his office. He claimed that we thought that because we were from the big city, that we had no faith in their techniques here, being as this is a small town. I told him that that wasn’t the case. It’s just that the way Mrs. Caulder died and the way the two recent people were killed were very similar.
"Jake’s boss had his skull crushed after he fired Jake for causing a disturbance in the office, assaulting a coworker and the boss as well. We don’t know that Caulder did in fact kill his boss, but I’m pretty sure that he did. Then, a trucker died the same way a couple of days later. Caulder had stopped at the same truck stop as him, and left before the truck driver did. We think that Jake followed him and killed him. For what reason, we don’t know.
"We can’t prove that Jake did these crimes, but he was there when his mother died, or at least he found her dead. He may have had something to do with it. We aren’t sure, but a boy of ten is quite impressionable, and this would have traumatized him. There have been other cases reported where young boys have killed their parents.
"Also at the time, neighborhood cats went missing or if they were found, they had been beaten in a similar fashion to Mrs. Caulder and like the two recent cases. Jake was adopted by his next door neighbor after his mother’s death, and after a while they moved away. After they had left, the killing of the cats also stopped. It is a well known fact that a mass murderer starts torturing or killing animals, and then progresses to people. This seems to describe Jake. No one knows what causes them to do it, but it usually starts with animals.
"We were on our way to see Caulder’s adoptive mother to find if she could tell us anything about Jake, and where he may have gone. On the way, four men attacked us, and one of them said that Higgins had hired them to do it. I know he wasn’t lying. It’s funny how men will tell the truth when they are being threatened with torture or fear for their lives. Because of what he told me, and because of the irrational way Higgins acted towards us, I’m pretty certain that he has something to hide. He knows more than he is telling and I intend to find out what.” Sean finished, looked at the mayor for a moment and then sat back in the chair.
There was a knock on the door and Miss Stevens appeared with a tray of coffee and some biscuits.
“I’m sorry to interrupt mayor, but here’s your coffee and something to munch on.” She placed the tray on the table and went back towards the door.
"Thank you Miss Stevens. We appreciate it.”
"Yes” replied O’Reilly “thanks”
Sean watched as she opened the door and left. He thought that she was actually quite an attractive young girl. He felt sorry that he had been abrupt with her. Maybe he should ask her out for coffee and get to know her a little. He gave his head a shake. He was probably old enough to be her father.
"Ahem.” The mayor cleared his throat. He had seen O’Reilly staring at the receptionist. “Miss Stevens is a very nice young lady indeed. Inspector, many men dream of fanciful encounters with her. However, let’s get back to the business at hand, shall we.” He said with a small grin on his face.
"Sorry. You’re correct. She is a lovely girl indeed. I was just thinking how hard I was towards her when my sergeant and I arrived a little while ago. All she was doing was what she had been told. I’ll have to apologize to her.” He looked at the mayor and wondered if he too hadn’t thought about her in inappropriate ways.
"I’m sure that she will understand that you were stressed out when you arrived, especially after she finds out that someone, possibly Higgins himself, tried to kill you. Don’t let it worry you.” The mayor finished and grabbed a cup of coffee. He gave it to Sean and poured another for himself.
They sat there for a few moments enjoying their coffee. The inspector put his down and said. “Okay, back to the business at hand.”
"Yes, I agree. I may have some information for you that may shed some light upon this situation with Higgins.”
Sean leaned forward and put his coffee down. “Go on mayor, you’ve got my full attention.”
The mayor put his cup down as well and began to tell a story that began about twenty-six years ago.
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