OldTown Story
Detective Charley Ryan
The OldTown Story, Detective Charley Ryan, introduces a detective still coming to terms with his brother’s murder, but now he must investigate a new mystery. Twice the courts have reversed guilty verdicts, and in his brother’s case, he can see why, but in the case of the newest member of the OldTown community, Sabina Lewis, could they have made a mistake? The OldTown community is counting on him, and some may be watching from beyond their graves.
Charley Patrick Ryan, thirty-three, five-foot-ten, brown hair with matching dark brown eyes, wearing black slacks and a blue button-down shirt, stood before a gray tombstone and studied the lettering that would be forever etched in his soul: Donald Eli Ryan.
The even-numbered birth date followed by the even-numbered death date made it easy to calculate the boy’s lifespan. Charley’s brother, Donny, had been seventeen when he was hit on the head with brutal force by a friend who didn’t understand his own rage, cutting short a life that promised so much good in the world.
Charley didn’t bother shaking his head. He had shaken it so many times in the last five years that the action had become meaningless. What did it matter if he disagreed with reality? He couldn’t change anything.
A buzzing in his pocket warned him of a reminder text. He exhaled a plume of white breath into the air. Yes. I’m coming.
Picturing the friendly woman with a perpetually earnest expression, Kelly Love Clandestine, he forced his mind back to the present day.
Who names their kid Love, even as a middle name? A Christian pastor, of course. Apparently, Kelly had taken her name seriously. She certainly acts like she cares, anyway. OldTown high school students might scoff, but when they needed help, they knew where to turn. Now there’s someone who will change things!
A ringtone following the buzzing suggested urgency. Charley dragged his phone from his back pocket, pressed the green button, and held it aloft. He glanced around. There was no one to hear.
Kelly’s typically cheerful tone hovered just above anxiety. “Hi, Detective Ryan. It’s me, Kelly Clandestine, at the high school…you remember?”
Almost giving in to the rejected head shake, Charley lifted his gaze from the grassy grave. “Of course. And, yes, I am coming. I just had a little stop to make before heading over.”
After a short pause, then an intake of breath, her words gushed like a spring stream. “I know it’s Donny’s birthday today, and I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize when I set up the—”
Charley swiped the air with his free hand and tried to ignore the tight feeling in his chest. “No problem. I’m happy to come and talk to your students. We need good detectives, but who knows, OldTown High may have one in the making.” He scanned the sky. The mid-day sun blazed from the blue dome above. “One o’clock, correct?”
“Yes. That’s right.” A short hesitation. “It’s quarter till now.”
Charley held back a snort. “Well, I’m just a couple blocks away. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
A long exhale. “Oh, that’s great. I just wanted to make sure. I mean, the kids have been looking forward to this, so…”
“Not to worry. See you in a bit.”
Kelly’s chipper goodbye reflected obvious relief.
Charley crouched down by the tombstone and patted the grass covering the coffin that held his brother’s remains. “I couldn’t help you, but maybe I can help…” Who? A school counselor with dreams of making a better world…teenagers who don’t have a clue what they want?
He pictured his brother’s wide brown eyes set in an honest, square-shaped face. Well, maybe there’s a Donny somewhere who needs to hear what I have to say.
With that hopeful thought, Detective Ryan rose and paced away from his brother’s grave. Stopping at his parents’ graves next to Donny’s hadn’t even crossed his mind.
Facing a classroom of bored teens wasn’t high on Charley’s favorite Friday afternoon activities. But it was work-related, and his boss, Lieutenant Shomaker, had encouraged positive community outreach programs. Miss Clandestine was on the department’s short list of good people to know, and Lieutenant Shomaker wasn’t someone Charley wanted to annoy.
Following protocol in his non-exuberant style, Detective Charles Ryan made his way laboriously through his professional overview of life as a detective. He highlighted the points related to community support and intellectual stimulation. Detective work was like putting together a very complex puzzle, and the challenges meant that—even if you didn’t solve a case—you always learned something. Bringing closure to victims, taking dangerous criminals off the streets, and the higher pay were also plus points.
Dressed in a demure pantsuit that fit her lithe figure, making it hard to pinpoint her late thirties to early forties age, Kelly’s perpetual smile and occasional nod emphasized her agreement. Her side glances suggested that she was keeping her eyes out for eye rolls, slackers, or anyone nodding off to sleep.
Surprisingly, none of the students seemed bored. A little perplexed, Charley completed his talk with the offer to take a couple of questions. Not expecting any, he mentally prepared himself for a quick escape and wondered if he could review a small stack of open cases sitting on his desk, get his paperwork finished, and still catch the dinner special at the Let’s Eat Café.
A hand waved high in the air.
Miss Clandestine wasn’t about to let an opportunity for independent thinking slip away. “Yes, Joel? You have a question for Detective Ryan?”
Leaning back in his chair, the lanky teen with blue eyes and blond hair dropped his hand back to his desk and straightened. “Uh, yeah, I’d just like to know what you’re going to do about Sabrina Lewis. She’s getting out of prison next month, you know. Though she was found guilty of killing her brother, the case was thrown out after an appeal. But there are two outstanding murders she may have committed. You done any investigating on those cases?”
Frozen in place, Charley’s mind nearly blanked. Words tumbled forth before he could process a comprehensive rebuttal. “Yes, I heard about Ms. Lewis being released, but there is no firm evidence connecting her to the two open cases in OldTown.” Detective Ryan tried for a casual stance as he stared at the sophomore and tried an evasive maneuver. “Besides, she was working in Norway before she was found guilty of her brother’s death. Likely, she’ll head back there.”
Another hand rose, and another and another. Two girls jiggled their arms for attention, while a stocky young man, who looked like he might be on the wrestling team, shot his hand into the air and held it steady.
Miss Clandestine went into full teacher mode. “Joan, you first, then Rob, and then Jessica.”
Spiky black hair and a prominent nose ring set Joan apart from her classmates. With a decisive nod, she leaned forward as if sharing a spicy secret. “Ms. Lewis is definitely coming back to OldTown. Her cousin, Mr. Dewar, is going to take her in. My sister’s got health issues and takes online math with him, and he mentioned that he’s taking some time off to deal with a family matter next month. And a friend of mine said she overheard his wife, Rhona, in the diner, talking about fixing up an out building as a guest house.”
Detective Ryan hated gossip as much as wild speculation. “Hold on, now. That’s all—”
Rob wasn’t about to skip his turn. “No, it’s true! My brother helps out at Mike’s Repair, and he heard all about it while doing an oil change. Sabina Lewis is registered to vote in our county, and my postal lady said that there’s already been some mail delivered to the Deware residence in her name.” His smirk asserted his confidence.
Jessica’s shy tone hardly seemed strong enough to break through, but perhaps it was her hesitancy that stopped the murmuring conversation in mid-flow. “M-my grandma is worried that the L-Lewis woman will get people thinking about how much old people cost. Money’s tight, and if she thought her own brother wasn’t worth keeping alive…and maybe helped that poor, old woman end her life…well then, who’s next?”
While lifting his hands in a time-out gesture, Detective Ryan forced himself to hold his temper in check. He flashed an annoyed glare at Kelly, though heaven knew she looked as horrified as he felt. “Look, all this is pure speculation. There is a possibility that Ms. Lewis might resettle in OldTown, but that’s her business. If the Dewar family wants to take her in, that’s their call. She was imprisoned for the murder of her brother, Chippy Lewis, but the case was thrown out after further evidence revealed that she had acted in good faith in trying to assist her brother, and she never actually handed him the lethal drugs.”
Eye rolls and snorts filled the room. Even Kelly seemed to hold her head stiffly in place in an effort not to join the consensus.
In a crystalline moment, Charley Patrick Ryan knew he had a decision to make. He could refuse to acknowledge his gut instinct and pretend ignorance of any real connection between Sabrina Lewis and two of the cases on his desk, or he could face the fact that life was far more complicated than he wanted to admit.
His brother’s killer, Salvatore Jude, had been found guilty, but then not guilty, after a Dominican Sister took pity on him and discovered the reason for his periodic rages—a small brain tumor in the frontal lobe.
Twenty years old now, Salvatore was out of prison, but after a failed surgery, his brain was damaged beyond repair. With a low IQ and social isolation—even his family wanted nothing to do with him—the man had few options and worked at a facility for handicapped people, earning a mere pittance. Charley actually felt sorry for the man, though not enough to ever visit him. He couldn’t see himself ever doing that.
This whole week, the Sabrina Lewis case stared at him from his desk. Another guilty verdict overturned. But should it have been?
Composing himself, Detective Ryan did the only honorable thing he could. “I honestly don’t know what part Ms. Lewis might have played in the other OldTown deaths, but, being a detective, it’s my job to find out. And I’ll start doing that as soon as I leave here today.”
The sparkling interest in the students’ eyes and the brightness in Kelly’s suggested more than words could convey. They were counting on him, but for what? To discover the truth? Protect them? Solve a complex puzzle?
After a quick wrap-up and a promise to keep the public informed, Detective Ryan made his way to the door. He did his best to ignore Miss Clandestine’s gentle arm pat as he passed and the concern in her eyes.
He swept out the door much the same way he had swept past his parents’ graves earlier. There was only so much his heart could give, and he was sure he didn’t have an ounce to spare.
A. K. Frailey Amazon Author Page
