Chapter68 Suicide – And the Ripple Effect

News of the mayor's suicide raced through Beaver Ridge and the surrounding towns faster than a California forest fire during the Santa Anna winds. Everyone's abuzz with gossip and speculation on this shockingly morbid event. Most are confused and uncertain why the mayor had taken his own life. Others…being those among the political circuit and their confidants…are struck a little harder by the news. Between this suicide and Deputy Grotto's flight; they fear this is the beginning of the end of their political livelihoods. They feel these two events will start tearing the blanket of lies and deceit which had been woven and put into place to cover up and hide the all too sickening truth regarding the town council's corruption; and, the conspiracy to protect the so called integrity and honor of the Steinman clan. Cindy informed Martin of the news, and suggested that he and Beth spend the night in the city; allowing themselves time away from the house and the town's growing mess. He agreed, and was able to convince Beth to stay; providing they left first thing in the morning to return home. This was Beth's non-negotiable condition. During dinner, Cindy notices her uncle picking at his plate; not eating anything. She feels something's deeply troubling him. "What's wrong, Uncle Mike?" The deputy doesn't respond; he's in a sound contemplative state. Cindy tries again… following the method that her uncle used to use on her when she was a child zoning out …cupping her hands over her mouth as if she's speaking into a megaphone, calling out to him… "Earth to Uncle Mike! Earth to Uncle Mike! Come in Uncle Mike! Over!" Deputy Hopkins snaps out of his trance and smiles. "Yes, Kiddo; what is it?" "What's wrong; you're not eating…What; not enough salt and grease for you?" Again, he smiles; as he teases, "No, there's plenty." "Hey!" She tosses a napkin across the table at him and laughs. "So, what's wrong?" He leans back in the chair, tucks his thumbs behind his gun belt, and starts sucking on his teeth; looking around the room before answering, "I don't know, Kiddo; this whole day's just getting to me I guess. First, we find out Grotto's a rat fink for Steinman; then, Al offs himself. Don't get me wrong, I never did like the man; and. I'm sorry to say I still don't…I don't know, maybe I should feel a little worse for him; but, I just don't… But, that still doesn't mean I wanted the fat bastard to kill himself. I just don't get it." Cindy isn't convinced. "Uncle Mike; what's really wrong? What's bothering you?" He looks down, shakes his head and laughs. "You win, Kiddo; I forgot how good you're at sensing things. Alright; I suppose what's really bothering me is the fact that Roy Jameson…a man that I looked to as my mentor…just boldfaced lied to me." "Excuse me for interrupting," Professor Rhyies cuts in, "but, how do you know he was lying to you, Deputy? Perhaps, it was the mayor who was lying." "I'll tell you how I know, Professor; because Al blew his brains out today." "I'm afraid I'm not following, Deputy." "It's like this;" the deputy explains, "a court of law allows testimony given by a deceased individual who confessed or revealed something on their death beds; and, in most instances, that testimony's presumed truthful. The reason being, Professor; is that anyone that close to death isn't about to have their last words lies before passing on to Judgment. You heard of that expression, ‘Dead men tell no tales'; well, I guess you could also say that dying men tell no lies. Al was confessing this afternoon to Lloyd; he wanted to clear his conscious before sending a bullet blasting through it. Get the picture?" "Yes, I think I see what you're saying." "Roy lied about all those families faking their disappearances." Cindy suggests, "Why don't you go call and confront him about it, Uncle Mike?" "I tried calling him before; but, there was no answer. It's probably better that I didn't reach him." "Why's that, Uncle Mike?" "I was thinking that something like this requires two people to be face to face. I need to look him in the eyes and see what he's thinking. First thing in the morning, I'm heading on up there to have another chat with Roy." "What do you think happened to all those families then, Uncle Mike?" "I have no idea, Kiddo." Professor Rhyies asks, "You were with the department when some of those disappearances occurred; correct, Deputy?" "Yeah." "Is there anything you can recall that may help us figure out what happened; anything at all…no matter how minor or seemingly insignificant…that can possibly be a clue to this mystery?" "I don't know, Professor; it happened so long ago." "Tell me something, Deputy;" the professor removes his glasses to begin the cleaning process, "what caused the department to check on these families and discover they were missing?" "I don't know; there were different things. Sometimes a relative called the station saying that they couldn't reach them. Sometimes the teachers of the children from those families would call us when the kids didn't show up to class for awhile; and, they couldn't reach their parents. There was one time a mailman reported that a family's mail was piling up. He thought it was odd considering that their car was parked out front; and, they made no mention to him that they'd be out of town, or asked for their mail to be held at the post office until they returned. It varied each time, Professor." "Professor," Cindy wonders, "you don't suppose those families are being kept in some kind of limbo state like Anna?" "It's hard to say, Ms. Lidestrom. At this point, we don't know where Anna is. For now, we're just going under the assumption that your theory about the re-creation of that night is correct; but, we're not certain this is indeed the case. And, if it is; it's hardly likely that these families would be kept in some sort of limbo state for all these years. A short duration may be one thing; but, I don't think an extended amount of time is feasible. Do you, Ms. Lidestrom?" "Probably not, Professor. But, then where are those seventeen families? There's got to be something we overlooked." "Probably so, Ms. Lidestrom. The question remains; what is it we overlooked?" Cindy looks as if she's thinking for a moment; then, she shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe we should just focus on Anna's whereabouts for now, and get back to them later; after we find her. Anyway; let me start cleaning up this table. You guys done; or, do you want more?" After indicating they're done, Cindy starts to clear the table off; and, while walking to the kitchen with a hand full of plates, she stops suddenly. "The mirror." Her uncle looks at her with a baffled expression. "What mirror?" Cindy heads toward the living room, tossing the plates in her hand back on the dining room table as she passes. The deputy and professor follow her. Cindy stands in front of the mirror that Chelsea wrote her warning. "Uncle Mike; you said there was a message written in blood left on the mirror after Anna nearly froze that night…it said ‘stay out of the woods'?" "Yeah?" "Maybe that's where those families are." "Impossible, Kiddo; we searched those woods with the State Police looking for Delilah's body; I told you about that, remember? If there were seventeen families buried out there, we would have found some sign of something I'm sure." "Perhaps you didn't look in the right area, Deputy." Professor Rhyies suggests. "Well, I guess it's possible; after all, there are a lot of woods out there to be covered. But, where would we start to look?" Cindy's staring pensively into the mirror. She raises her arm, placing her hand palm down on the surface of the mirror, and closes her eyes; then, starts moving her palm and finger tips across the mirror's surface in small circular motions. Cindy does this for a few minutes before opening her eyes; then, takes her hand away from the mirror and utters aloud, "Ripples." "Ripples, Ms. Lidestrom?" "Yeah. Ripples?" "What about ripples, Kiddo?" "I don't know. I saw ripples; lots and lots of ripples. It doesn't…wait. A lake?" "A lake, Ms. Lidestrom?" "Yeah….shit…is there a lake anywhere around here, Uncle Mike?" "There's Miller's Lake; that's the closest one. It's probably a good ½ to ¾ mile due east of here; just on the other side of these woods. You don't think they're in the lake; do you. Kiddo?" "Think about it, Uncle Mike, Professor; Chelsea told Beth that all she could remember was a lake. Now, the story back then about Chelsea was that she committed suicide by jumping off a hill onto some rocks near a lake; but, Mayor Cromwell told you that Tommy killed Chelsea by hitting her in the head with a hammer. If that's the case; then, where does the lake fit into it? It doesn't. Chelsea bringing up the lake to Beth must have been her clue to us that the bodies of those families are out there in it! They have to be! Right?" Deputy Hopkins and Professor Rhyies take a moment to look at each other; returning slight shrugs of their shoulders at one another. Neither says a word. Professor Rhyies takes off his glasses and begins to wipe them down. Cindy looks over at her uncle waiting for a response from him. He looks at the mirror, sucks on his teeth; and then, goes over to the phone. He picks up the receiver and starts dialing. "Who are you calling, Uncle Mike?" "Lloyd. I'm going to tell him to get a hold of Corporal Nyce and see if he and some of his fellow State Boys want to come back down here to take a dip in Miller's Lake…Yeah; Lloyd? How's Ruth doing? Good. Look; I need for you to make a call."