Thank you guys so much for all the love and support lately. I will probably make myself scarce toward the end of the week. Nothing to worry about, just a big barn event we're putting on and it's robbing me of what's left of my sanity. But . ! Stay safe and thanks for reading on!
"Oh, thank you so much!"
Mike leaned back, gratefully accepting the steaming cup of coffee that the records keeper working downtown had brought over.
Sitting behind a small desk in the corner, with an old overhead lamp giving him barely enough light to read the fine print; Mike had spent the past hour digging through deeds, hoping to find some answers beneath the hundreds upon hundreds of pages full of legalese.
Several times, he'd taken a break, giving his strained eyes a rest. It had ultimately led to making Smalltalk with the personable older lady who was single-handedly manning the large library of records in the basement of City Hall.
Naturally, their talk eventually turned into a mini coffee break.
"It's not every day I have company down here…", Rosie said apologetically and placed her cup of coffee across from Mike, before sitting down in the old wooden chair, "So my pantry supplies are rather…sparse."
They chuckled for a brief moment and Mike pushed the latest deed aside, then stirred his coffee to mix the cream and sugar.
"This is better than what we get up in The City. I appreciate it so much. With that cold wind outside, this has done wonders to warm me back up."
With an insecure smile, Rosie ran a hand through her shoulder-length gray hair, then pointed back at the stack of paperwork next to Mike.
"Are you finding anything worthwhile? I'd hate for you to do all that work for nothing."
"That's the nature of investigating…", Mike countered genially, "Sometimes we dig for weeks on end before we find our clues. You get used to it after a while and don't set your expectations too high. But I thought it would be a worthwhile lead to follow up on."
With a solemn nod, Rosie took a sip of coffee, before clearing her throat again.
"I just wish I could help you more. This…terrible crime has shaken this city. Nobody sleeps well these days. They're wondering who's next. Other people think that the killer targeted the Saunders on purpose, to, you know…to get little Kevin. And I can't image why. They were wonderful people with a kind and caring heart. I would see them at Mass every Sunday. I just hope and pray that you two gentlemen solve this case and put that monster behind bars."
"I hope so too."
Mike hadn't meant to sound so disheartened but the loss of Alex was still wearing heavily on his mind. Rosie mentioned that he'd come down here to get the current deed on the house, but didn't look into past owners.
So far, his search had yielded very little except for two names he was planning on running through the database as soon as possible. There were no records of issues with the sale of the house, no stipulations or protests that could grow into anger or worse when the Saunders bought the place.
All transactions looked valid and clean as far as he could tell.
"Could I ask you a question, Misses Stanford?", Mike said when an idea popped into his head.
Rosie's eyes lit up for a moment, a glimmer of excitement flooding her features as she sat her coffee cup back down.
"Anything for you, Lieutenant."
"Is it standard for a house to be put up for sale so quickly after a murder was committed there?"
The intriguing question disguised in nondescript Smalltalk opened several cans of worms when it came to the handling of the case since the beginning, each avenue potentially giving him more insight into what was really going on.
"I don't know about it being the standard since this is the first time something like that happened here…", Rosie countered and rested her hands in her lap, "There were no next of kin with the Saunders. Marie grew up with her grandmother because both of her parents were killed shortly after she was born. And Paul's father died in the war, his mother passed away from cancer a few years ago. As far as I know none of the grandparents are still alive, which leaves little Kevin as the heir, so to speak. But it's impossible to put the burden of a mortgage onto the shoulders of a five-year old boy. The bank would have foreclosed on the property due to non-payment anyways since the police froze all of the Saunders' accounts. So, I guess the city bought it off the bank and is now selling it. I am sure they will set some money aside for little Kevin to compensate for the value of what his parents already paid for the house. But something had to get done with it. It couldn't be left sitting there full of blood and gore. You should have seen all the news vans and people driving up and down that road to get a glimpse of it."
Frowning, Mike pulled out his notepad and scribbled down the word mortgage as a reminder to check into the exact details of the transaction Rosie had described, as well as the list price of the property.
In the meantime, he'd get her version of it.
"So when you say the city bought the property from the bank, I take it they got it at a…a pretty fair price?"
"I would imagine. Just think of the work that needed to get done to remove all the…the evidence. Some of our city workers and police officers went over there to help rip out the carpeting and repaint the walls. It was a community effort, really. They packed all the personal belongings into boxes in case…well…when Kevin returns. I have those in the back room over there. But the couch and tables…well, everything was covered in blood so they threw that out. Can't sell a house that looks like that."
"And the car was brought to the dealership?"
"Yes, it was. But not to be sold there, just stored. Alex made sure of that, bless his heart. He felt that it was important to respect the Saunders's property even after they were gone."
Mike's ears perked up at that peculiar mention and he put his notepad back down to look into Rosie's brown eyes.
"Did Alex ever mention anything to you about the case? Something that troubled him perhaps?"
"Well, Lieutenant, it's hard not to get troubled when something like that happens…", the older lady countered with a sad smile, "Yeah, Alex was down here quite often these past few weeks, looking for needles in a hay stack, like he would say. You remind me of him actually. You have that same look on your face each time we talk about the Saunders."
Biting down on the inside of his cheek to keep his emotions under control, Mike nodded.
"Alex and I were…best of friends. We worked together a long time ago. I was…saddened to hear about his passing."
Upon his words, Rosie reached across the table to caress his hand.
"We all were, Lieutenant Stone. I am still in shock at the news. I know that Alex had become somewhat…obsessed with this case, but never in a million years would I have imaged that it troubled him enough to…you know…to kill himself."
Unable to say anything when his emotions threatened to bubble to the surface, Mike cocked his head, then glanced back over at the pile of deeds next to him, hoping to distract his mind enough to regain control.
Much to his surprise, Rosie reached over again, squeezing his forearm tightly.
"There is one thing I remember him mentioning a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if it will help you in your own research, but Alex was convinced that the killer was somebody from this city. He said it over and over again. And next thing I know, he's dead. It seemed he was so close to the truth. I wish he wouldn't have stopped short of it."