CHAPTER 2
IDENTIFICATION FOUND
ROYAL WOODS MIDDLE SCHOOL, ROYAL WOODS, MICHIGAN
MARCH 13TH, 12:05 pm
Me and Hartmann pulled into the driveway of Royal Woods Middle School. We walked into the principle's office and found him sitting at his desk. "Can I help you?" he asked. "Sheriff John Hughes, of the Royal Woods County Sheriff's Department and this is detective Stanley Hartmann", I said. "Juan Ramirez", said the principle, "Please take a seat". We both took seats. "What seems to be the problem?" asked Ramirez. "We found a squriell costume with a Royal Woods Middle School label inside the head part-", Hartmann said before being interrupted. "So that's where it went! The coach has been wondering where that went! We haven't seen it since the last baseball game of the season, that's when Lynn Loud Jr. was playing". "Um sir", I said, "I don't think you'll be getting that suit back ever". "Why not?" "It's part of a murder investigation, the body of a dead boy was found wearing it". Ramirez staired and then cursed. "Aw s**t!".
That's when we began to ask questions. "You said you were missing that suit?" "Uh yes, it was the last game of the season. The squriells against the Hazetucky Hawks. Lynn Loud Jr., our star player, was struggling to win the game, but at the last half of the game, she won. Her family were cheering her off. Even her brother. In fact, he wore that suit at the game". I lifted my head. "Her brother?" "Yeah, his name is Lincoln I believe". "Did he have white hair?", asked Hartmann. "I believe so, why?...Oh no! Don't tell me it was him who got-" I just shook my head. "Dear lord, and after she got kicked off the team too!" "I beg your pardon?" asked Hartmann.
"What?" "Didja say that Lynn Loud Jr. was kicked off of the team?" "Why yes! The other team members told Coach Keck that she was forcing them to do these "Good Luck" stunts like, not chaning your socks or not using the bathroom before a game. Ridiculous crap mostly", the principle said, "Especially when she forced her brother to wear that thing to every game". "She forced him to wear it? Why would she do that?", Hartmann asked. "From what I heard from one of the member of the team, Lynn forced Lincoln to go her baseball game and they bombed it. She then began to think that Lincoln was 'Bad Luck'. The next game, I heard Lincoln tried to prove that he wasn't bad luck by disguising himself in that there get up. Only for it to backfire and Lynn to think that him wearing the suit made him good luck. And she's been forcing him to take it home with him and go to every game and wear it. After the last game, her team members told me and Coach Keck and we kicked off the team."
"Intersting", I said, "Is Lynn here today?" "No, she didn't come to school this morning". "Oh, well, is there an address?" "Indeed, jsut give me a minute". The principal typed on her computer and found her address. "Ah, here she is. 1216 Franklin Avenue". "Thank you Mr. Ramirez", I said before giving him a business card, "If there is any other information you have for us, just call the number on the card". Then me and Hartmann left the office and headed towards the patrol car. "Excuse me", said a voice. We turned to see a 13 year old girl looking at us. She had long lgiht brown hair, buck teeth and freckles, and wore a yellow shirt with light blue jean trousers. "Are you talking about Lynn Jr.?" "Why yes indeed, young lady", I said, "Is there something you want to tell us?" "Well, I kinda overheard you guys talking and I may have some stuff that might help".
"Well, what is it?" The girl perked up and began talking. "My name is Margo Roberts and I'm on Lynn's team. Lynn is a bit hot-headed and aggressive if you know what I mean". "The arrogant Jock, I heard it all before", said Hartmann. "Yeah, well, normally Lynn has never lost a game, but a couple of weeks ago, this was different." "Different?" I asked. "Lynn forced Lincoln to go to her game after he said he wanted some time alone", Margo said. "How did she force him to go?", asked Hartmann. "She told us she had to threaten him with a baseball bat to make him go." "A baseball bat?" I asked. "Yep". "Margo", I asked, "What happened at the game?" "We bombed terribly, at the end of the game, the second she saw Lincoln, she screamed, drove behind a dumpster, and told him he was a jinx. She then banned him from going to her games and said she had to appease the Softball Gods". "Seriously? Softball gods?" "As god as my witness, Sheriff. That's what I heard her say".
Hartmann held his chin. "Is there anything else?" "Oh yes, after that, she told us that Lincoln started showing signs that he was bad luck. Right to the point where his family began to neglect him and even throw him out of the house!" "Seriously!? They just threw an 11-year-old child out of the house? Didn't the parents do anything about it?" "Even her parents were wrapped around her finger! It seemed like they would rather listen to superstitions rather than common sense". I didn't like the sound of this. I turned to Hartmann. "I think we better get down to that house and see what the h*** is going on!", I said before turning to Margo and giving her a business card, "Thanks kid. If there's anything else you need to say. Just call the number on the card". That's when we left.
"If they threw out a child then that means this case is a lot hairy than I thought". "But we don't know if it is Lincoln Loud, Sheriff", said Hartmann, "It could be another albino kid". "As soon as we get there. We'll take the parents to the morgue for a complete identification and start interrogating them", I said.
1216 FRANKLIN AVENUE, ROYAL WOODS, MICHIGAN
MARCH 13TH, 12:13 pm
After grabbing a quick lunch from the Burpin' Burger, we rushed over to 1216 Franklin Avenue. No one was home so we decided to ask the neighbors. We walked over to the house next door and knocked on it. An old man with a thick white mustache and small glasses walked outside. "Whadda you want?" "I'm Sheriff Hughes, and this is Detective Stanley Hartmann". "What're you here about?" "Did you notice anything odd happening at the Loud residence?" "Maybe, whadda mean?" "We got reports of a minor being thrown out of his own house because he was labeled as 'Bad Luck'. Did you see anything?" "Indeed I did, Sheriff", said the old man, "It was a couple of weeks ago, my young neighbor, Lincoln Loud, was thrown out of his own house because his family believed he was bad luck. I also heard that that family even got rid of his furniture and sold all of stuff. H*** they even boarded up his bedroom door!".
I was even shocked than last time. "Then there's another thing", the old man said, "One morning, a few days after his family forced him to sleep outside, he admitted that he lied about being bad luck because he wanted some time to himself. But they didn't believe him. I thought it was all a joke." We stood there, silent. "Hold on, are you saying this was real!?" "Alas, it is!" The old man was shocked. Then we heard a car pull into the driveway next door. We looked over and saw an old 1950s FUNG station wagon pull into the driveway. We then watched as a man, a woman, and 10...10 kids climbed out of the van. "That must be them".
Me and Hartmann walked over to the huge family and began to ask questions. "Excuse me", I said, "I'm Sheriff John Hughes and this is Detective Hartmann. We heard from a neighbor about a certain bad luck problem?" The family started looking nervous. "Relax, nobody's in trouble...yet", said Hartmann. The father stepped up. "You?" "Lynn Loud Sr.", said the father. "May you please explain why you threw a minor outside of his own home because he was bad luck?" I asked.
"It all started after Lynn Jr, that's my daugher right there", He pointed to the girl with the red and white versey with the number 1 on it, "lost a baseball game. She started accusing Lincoln of being bad luck and eventually Lincoln started showing that he was bad luck. So we decided to ban him from going to family outtings and such. H*** the girls even boarded up his room and threw him out. Me and the wife thought this was all a joke so we played along, even when Lincoln tried to admit he wasn't bad luck. Then after a baseball game where Lynn Jr. won, we learned that Lincoln disguised himself off as a squriell trying ot prove that he wasn't bad luck. But it backfired and the girls started treating him like an object."
"So you just played along like that?" asked Hartmann, "Sir, you do realize you and your wife just commited child abuse...right?" "What now?" Me and Hartmann faceslapped outselves. "Great, more idiot parents to deal with", I muttered to myself. "Anyway, last night, Lynn got kicked off the team because one of the girls discovered we've been forcing Lincoln to wear that stupid costume and treating him like an object rather than a human being and she's been making her team do all of this good luck crap. Aparently she believed in luck, rather than skill."
All of a sudden, another car pulled in and out came an old man and an old woman. "Who're they?" I asked. "That's my dad", said the woman waring the pink shirt, "and my Aunt Ruth". The old man and the old lady looked at us. "Still no sign of him, Rita". "Beg pardon?" The old man noticed us. "Uh, excuse me, who're you?" "Sheriff John Hughes and this is Detective Stanley Hartmann". "I didn't know you called the police", said Ruth. I then asked the woman. "Ma'am, did they know that you were abusing your son?" "No they didn't", said Rita, "The minute Lincoln was noticed missing, we instantly called them". "And I wasn't very happy!", said Albert, looking sternly at Rita.
"Uh ma'am", asked Stanley. "Yes?" "Does your son have white hair?" The Loud Family's eyes plucked up. "Yes! You mean you found him! Is he alright?" Me and Hartmann looked at each other before turning to Mr. and Mrs. Loud. "Uh Ma'am, Sir", I said, "You and the other adults might need to come down to the morgue for a bit". Rita's smile suddenly disappeared. "Whuh? Why?" "We...we need you to identify a body". The loud adult froze. Albert looked at the oldest girl in the family. "Lori, look after things while we're gone...oh...and...and pray". "Got it, Pop-pop", said the oldest girl as she lead her sisters into the house.
ROYAL WOODS MORGUE, ROYAL WOODS, MICHIGAN
MARCH 13TH, 12:52 pm
Me and Hartmann led the Loud adults to the morgue and led them inside. My daughter Jenny was already there, there was a small corpse on the table, it was covered up in a blanket. I turned to the Loud parents. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Both parents, grandfather, and aunt nodded. "We need to know", said Lynn Sr. I then turned to Jenny who then took a hold of the end of hte blanket. The second she uncovered the boy's head, Rita Loud gasped in sadness. "OH GOD NO!" She cried, "NO! NO! NO-NO-NO-NO-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rita then bawled out. "LINCOLN NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HO-HO-HOOOOOOOO!" The poor woman buried her face in her hands while the father, the grandfather, and the aunt just stood there, with tears in their eyes, as they looked at what used to be Lincoln loud.
"I'm so sorry for your loss, ma'am", I said. Rita then got up and looked at the body again. And then noticed there were some stitches on the boy's temple. "Wha...wha happened to him?" "We believe he was hit in the head by a hard object. The cororner was just-" "YOU CUT OPEN MY BABY!?" Rita shouted to Jenny as she began to lounge towards her. Luckily, her father managed to grab her before she could strangle Jenny. "RITA! CALM DOWN!" "CALM DOWN!? CALM DOWN!? MY BABY BOY IS DEAD AND SHE CUT HIM OPEN!" "She's a coroner Rita! She's supposed to do that!", said Ruth before turning to Lynn Sr. "I think we'd better get her outta here".
The Loud Family led the sobbing Rita out of the room. "This is one part of the job I hate", I said before turning to Jenny, "So do we know how the victim died?" "Yep", said Jenny, "He died of a huge bow to the temple and I also found these!" She lifted the blanket off of the boy and me and Hartmann saw brusies on the chest and stomach. There were even brusies on the private areas and legs. "Ouch", said Hartmann, "However did this, did a number on him". "I suspect the same object, that was used to kill him also made these bruises", said Jenny, ". At tAlso to note, I found these in his temple". Jenny held out a small glass jar with piece of wood inside. "Splinters", I said. "They were inside his temple. I suspect the object may have been something made of wood". That moment, Bowie came into the room. "Sheriff! Hartmann! You know that tramp we picked up in the park who said he saw something?" "Yeah?" "He's sober now and he's ready for interrogation". "Good", I said as we left the morgue.
EVIDENCE SO FAR:
- The victim's name is Lincoln Loud, age 11.
- The boy had been a victim of child abuse by being used as a good luck charm instead of a human being. Also to note that the minor had been thrown out of his own home because of 'supposed' bad luck.
- The murder weapon was made of wood, which splinters were found in the temple.
- The victim disappeared yesterday right after Lynn Loud Jr. disappeared.
- Brusies were found on the victim's body all over the chest, stomach, private areas, and legs. Aparently caused by the same object that killed him.