Grim Harvest
By Trurotaketwo
Chapter 1
A train sped westwards towards the rural town of Greenmore. One passenger kept glancing at a rather striking young lady in the isle opposite him. Her snug fitting suit looked too formal to be her casual clothes, but the cheerful shade of yellow looked too casual to be formal. Her red hair styled in a fashionable ponytail, but tied with a teal ribbon, giving her an air of innocence and childishness. The onlooker decided to talk to her.
"Are you going all the way?" he asked, hoping she'd laugh at the double entendre. She looked up from the papers she was reading and met his eyes.
"No, I'm getting off at Greenmore."
"Really? Why's a nice girl like you going to a dump like that?"
The girl pondered for a minute if this guy's whole pick up ritual consisted of cliché's and if it ever worked.
"I'm going there for work. I'm a lawyer." She said, indicating the badge on her lapel.
"That's interesting." Said her would be suitor. He indicated to the seat next to her.
"Can I sit here, so you can tell me more about it?"
"I wouldn't. My partner should be back from the buffet car any second now."
"Oh I see. Business partner or romantic partner?"
"Take a guess."
The youth politely excused himself and Athena went back to reading the paper. A man in a red waistcoat can to sit next to her, holding two takeaway coffee cups.
"Here you go," said Apollo "Non fat vanilla latte, low calorie cream and a touch of cinnamon."
"Thanks, Apollo!" she said, taking the cup. "What did you get?"
"Just a black coffee. The day I become so pretentious that making a cup of coffee is a full blown arts project…"
"Still cranky I see."
"Sorry. It's just with things being so rushed. The body was only just found this morning and the trial's being held first thing tomorrow. It doesn't leave us much time to investigate."
Athena held her coffee to her nose and breathed in the sweet aroma of vanilla and cinnamon.
"You'd think the prosecutor would at least give the police more time to look around."
"You'd think that. But they seem to focus on speed more than efficiency. So they go to a crime scene charging in like reckless idiots."
"Anyone would think it was a racing game." Her eyes and smile widened, "If you want to win you have to keep your thumb on the accelerate button, don't let it up and go as fast as possible!" she emphasised with a fist pump. Several other passengers turned their heads to see what the excitement was about.
Suddenly feeling hot under the collar with all the eyes on his partner. Apollo took a sip of his coffee and pretended nothing unusual or eccentric was happening.
"You do know there's a difference between a racing game and a crime scene investigation, don't you?"
"Of course. The difference is that racing games are actually fun!"
They continued sipping their coffee. Apollo pulled his notepad out of his pocket. He was going over what they'd need to do when they arrived.
It had been fairly quiet at the agency lately. The only work they had was a messy divorce case that Mr Wright was handling. But that morning a call came in. Mr Wright took the details. As he had his hands full with the divorce case, he had to ask Apollo to take it. He explained that a farmer had been charged with murder and the case needed to be taken urgently. So they headed down to the detention centre.
Apollo and Athena took their seats and waited for the guards to bring him in. He was a scruffy looking fellow. Tatty jeans, muddy boots and a white t-shirt at as many holes as a cheese grater. He had messy looking brown hair creeping out from under a blue baseball cap. His eyes had a somewhat dim-witted but kindly, air to them.
"Peter deBoer?" Apollo asked.
"Um…y-yes. That's me."
Apollo showed him his attorney's badge.
"Hello. My name is Apollo Justice. This is my partner; Athena Cykes. We've been asked to represent you in court."
"Really?" he looked genuinely surprised, "By who?"
"Well, our boss took the call." Said Athena "He said they wanted to remain anonymous."
He started to scratch the back of his head.
"Who could it be…?"
"Anyway!" said Apollo "Since your trial is tomorrow, we need to start building our case. Can you please tell us what happened?"
"O-oh, right!" he said, popping out of his pondering.
Apollo and Athena got out their notepads and Peter told his story.
"This morning I went I went to the barn to let my cows out to graze. But when I opened the door, I got the fright of my life!"
"What did you see?" Athena's eyes were wide. It was like listening to a ghost story over a campfire.
"I saw…my neighbour, Mortimer Cashmore. He was hanging by a noose from the beam above."
"What did you do, when you found the body?" Apollo asked. Pete's head went to the floor.
"I screamed like a little girl…"
"I don't think you need to write that down Athena…"
"It might come in handy. Maybe somebody heard him!"
Apollo gave a sigh and returned his attention to Pete.
"What did you do next?"
"I phoned Harris Macduff. He's the local sheriff. He was annoyed at being woken up so early, but he came to the farm all the same. He took a look around, took some photographs, and then sealed the barn shut. We used my phone to call the police in the city. When they arrived, they looked around, and then arrested me."
"Did they say why they think you did it?" Apollo asked.
"No. All they said was that they had reasonable grounds for suspecting me."
Athena looked up from he notes.
"Did you know the victim very well?"
"Not very. I know that he was the richest guy in the village. He lived just a little higher up the hill than my farmhouse."
"Did he live alone?"
"No, his daughter Dina Cashmore still lives with him. They have a maid too, I think."
Apollo noted; Daughter, maid. Then he turned the page and held his pen.
"Okay, first we need to establish an alibi. We can't determine the time of death until we get to check out the autopsy report. But if you can prove that you were somewhere else at the time of death, it'll prove that you're innocent. Try to remember. When was the last time you saw Mr Cashmore alive?"
"I think it was around six, last night. He, Dina and their maid were heading into the village. I think it was for the bar maid's engagement party."
"A party, huh? Did you go?"
Pete sighed, looking pretty depressed.
"No. I wasn't' invited. I'm not exactly popular…anyway, once I'd finished my work for the day, I spent the rest of the evening in my house, watching TV."
"Is there anyone who can confirm this? Did you get any visitors or phone calls that night?"
"I'm afraid not. I'm guessing everybody was at the party."
Apollo finished scribbling as he pondered, why the hell couldn't he ever get a client with a water tight alibi?
"In that case, the only thing we can do is question the villagers!" said Athena. "Give us the address and we'll get right on the case!"
Apollo was about to protest, but seeing the client perk up made him think twice. He was such a pitiable man.
The interview had been well over an hour ago. Apollo hoped that it wouldn't be long before the train reached its destination.
"What did you think about his story?" Apollo asked. He and Athena had made notes about the same words, but added different elements. Apollo noted any nervous habits the client was making while Athena noted the emotions in his voice as he spoke. Hence, when the notes are compared, they could tell if something was wrong, without needed a lie detector.
"When he talked about finding the body, there was genuine shock in his voice, so I'm pretty sure that he's telling the truth. But when he talked the whole town being going to that party, I felt sadness and anger. Then again, that would make sense, if he thinks he's being left out."
The train began to slow down. Outside, the sight of brilliant green fields sailed by. The trees, flowers and blue sky made it look very picturesque. There came an electronic sound, like a bell.
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, we are now arriving at Greenmore station. Please alight here for Greenmore. Thank you."
Coffee finished, Athena stood up. She dusted her knuckles, ready to hit the streets.
"Alright! Let's do this!" she cried, drawing more curious eyes towards them.
Then the train stopped, sharply. Athena toppled over. She found herself lying in Apollo's lap, as the onlookers laughed.
