Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Devil at Dusk - Installment Number Fourteen



1950's Film Noir themed stories and photos
Photo by Dave Haworth: davesphotoexploration.wordpress.com


Welcome again everybody for installment number fourteen of Devil at Dusk!

Once I got to the office, I pulled out my notes regarding Mr. Boggs. I typed up a full report of what I found pertaining to Lenny plus the few pictures that I had taken. Then I called over to Mrs. Boggs’ house and asked her if she had a moment to speak with me, she told me to come on over. I drove over and she met me at the door and let me in. I explained to Mrs. Boggs’ that her husband had not been cheating that he was just having an occasional boys night out which entailed having Chinese food by himself for dinner and then pool with the boys in the lounge and occasional flirting with the cocktail waitresses.

She said ah yes, you must be referring to Ling’s; they have the best food in town. I replied yes and the friendliest staff in town also! Mrs. Boggs’ started to laugh and I joined in. I could tell she was relieved to find out that Lenny was not cheating on her. I gave her the report I had typed and the bill for what she owed, she paid it and I gave her a receipt. I told Mrs. Boggs’ thank you very much and headed on my way. I went home and had dinner, then did a little bit of reading and got ready for bed.

The next morning I went back to Mrs. Rothschild’s house to interview all of her employees. I interviewed them separately for about a half hour each in the library. When I was done I collected my notes and all of my things. I told Mrs. Rothschild that I was done and that I would call her when I got back into town.  I headed to the office and attached the notes to the file I made for Mrs. Rothschild. I left the file on the desk with a note for Bet to type the notes (keep the originals) and put them all in the file. In the note I wrote to her, I reminded her that if she needed me while I was in Chicago I would be over at mom and dad’s off and on while I was there. I went back to the cottage and got ready for my trip to Chicago. I went to bed early that night and was up bright and early the next day.

Saturday March 7th, 1955 at 8:00 am I was on the road again heading back to Chicago. While I was there I was going to see my mom and dad, clear out my apartment then connect with Winslow my old boss at the investigation firm I used to work at in Chicago. I was also going to visit all of my friends who were planning a big going away party for me. This time I did not need to be in such a hurry on this road trip as the last one, thank goodness. At 6:00 pm I got to the halfway point found a motel to stay at, I went and had some dinner then went back to the room to listen to the radio and read the paper. Finally I drifted off to sleep and was awake and on the road at 7:00 am.

I was pulling up in mom and dad’s driveway just in time for dinner. They heard my car pull in and they both ran out and gave me a big hug hello. I came in and put my things down while mom tells me to go and wash up. We all sit down for dinner, mom made a roasted chicken with all of the fixings! She made sure to have my favorite meal all ready for me. They asked me a lot of questions at dinner about my life in Laurel and how “the family” was doing down there. Then they asked me questions about the investigation and the firm I inherited from JT. They told me that Nathan – my older brother and only sibling - was going to be coming down for a small vacation in a couple of days. Nathan went to law school; he passed the bar a few years ago then moved to Boston to work in a large law firm. I had not seen Nathan since he moved away; it would be great to see my big brother. Nathan is five years older than me; I always admired and looked up to him. Mom and dad both said they were so proud of both of us (with me being an investigator and Nathan an attorney).

After dinner we all went in to the parlor to relax, read the paper and listen to the radio. That evening before it got dark I headed over to my apartment in down town Chicago. I had called ahead to let the apartment manager know that I would be moved out by the end of the week. I had tried to make it back to Chicago right after JT passed away and right before the first of the month but then the latest murder back in Laurel happened so I was not able to make it back at that time. So I took the first opportunity that I had to get back here. I spent the night in my old apartment and the next morning mom and dad met me here to help me get my things cleared out. We ended up donating my furniture, kitchen ware and some old clothes. I consolidated only my things that I needed or were my favorite into one closet, that way when it was time to leave I would pack everything up and go with it in my car. We saved the apartment cleaning for tomorrow because we all just wanted to go have a nice dinner and relax for the rest of the night.

To be continued…..

Thanks again folks for joining us for yet another installment of Devil at Dusk!



Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Devil at Dusk - Installment Number Thirteen

Thank you so much folks for joining me for yet another installment of Devil at Dusk!

I did not stay out to late the night before; I pretty much got all the information regarding Lenny that I needed to know, so there was no reason for me to stay out late. I made my way home, tucked myself in bed and several hours later my alarm went off. I got ready for the day, it was Thursday. Today was the day I was going to meet with Mrs. Rothschild in the morning at 10:30am and then later on in the day to meet with Mrs. Boggs.

I got into my car and left the cottage at 10:15am and I made it to Mrs. Rothschild’s house in 10 minutes. The house was a big old Victorian home with cupolas, stained glass windows, a huge wrap around porch with a porch swing and a gazebo in the back of the giant yard. She had quite a bit of property behind her house also. I went up to the front door and rang the doorbell. A very tall, thin, older gentleman came to the door; he had on a black suit with a white starched shirt. I introduced myself and he said he his name was Avery the butler and chauffeur for Mrs. Rothschild. I told him Mrs. Rothschild was expecting me at 10:30am. Avery asked me to take a seat and told me he would go get Mrs. Rothschild. A few moments later a very grandmotherly looking lady came into the parlor, she looked to be close to about 80 years old. She had on a high necked dress with a cameo broach pinned to the neck, a shawl and granny boots. Her steel grey hair was rolled up into a bun at the very top of her head. Not only did her house appear to be from the Victorian era so did her clothing too. It was a very charming look for her and it suited her well.

Avery was a few steps behind Mrs. Rothschild and she told him to make some tea and bring it to us. I introduced myself to Mrs. Rothschild; she told me she was very glad I was here. She has called upon me for my services because she strongly believes that someone who is among her staff has been stealing from her. She told me she had compiled a list of the missing items and the date she realized they had been missing. I asked her if I could take a look at that list, she got up and went to the roll top desk behind us. She took a key out of her pocket and unlocked the desk then pulled out a small note book, she handed it over to me. I took a look at the list and notated all of the items in my head: check book, very old jewelry that she had inherited from her grandmother which consisted of 2 rings and a pair of earrings, a necklace and a bracelet, a few pieces of silverware, and a couple of tea cups (fine china), a 50 dollar bill and two rare books. These items were all taken over the last 3 months.

Soon Avery came out with our tea plus he had a plate with small cookies, scones and biscuits. I took my note pad out and made notes about the missing items. I asked her to tell me about her employees, their names, their position there, how long they have been there and there approximate ages. Mrs. Rothschild began naming off employees: Avery Thomas Brown he is the butler and chauffeur, she guesses him to be about 60 years old, he has been there for about 25 years and is like a son. Next is the gardener Terry Jo Parson, he has been there for about 15 years and he is around 45 or 46 years old. The gardener’s son Bo Parson is his gardening assistant, he just started 4 months ago and he is 20 years old. The cook is Bessie Morton, she is around 50 years old and has been there for over 10 years. Mrs. Rothschild tells me she has two cleaning girls, Paris Le Roux who has been there for 6 months and is 19 and April Leigh Devlin, who has been there for almost 4 months and is 20 years old. She tells me that is all of her employees.

I folded up my note pad and put it away. Then I asked Mrs. Rothschild if I could come back by tomorrow- at the same time-to interview each of the employees and Mrs. Rothschild said yes you most certainly may. I told her that over the weekend I was going to head up to Chicago-where I was from- to tie up some loose ends. I was going to be gone for about a week and that I would touch base with her as soon as I got back into town. Then I discussed my retaining fee with her (which she paid), I had her fill out the appropriate paperwork and sign it. Then I thanked her very much for her time and I was on my way.

Next up I would head over to the office to type up a report and to stop over at Mrs. Boggs’ house.

To be continued….


Stay tuned next week for the next installment of Devil at Dusk! 

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Devil at Dusk - Installment Number Twelve

1950's Film Noir, Female investigators, short stories
Photo by: Dave Haworth: davesphotoexploration.wordpress.com

Hello again and welcome all to Installment number twelve of: Devil at Dusk!

The next day I went to the office in the afternoon, it was Wednesday. I brought the notes in from the most recent murder and put them in the appropriate file. Bet was in the office, she said she had gotten a call from a Mrs. Clara Rothschild; she is an elderly widow that lives at the top of the hill in a giant mansion on Willow Street. She said she was in need of an investigator, she believed that one of her employees there at the mansion was stealing from her. Bet handed me a slip of paper with Mrs.Clara Rothschild’s number on it. I gave her a call and set up an appointment to speak with her on Thursday. In the mean time I asked Bet how she was doing, she said pretty good. She had just been busy organizing the files in the filing cabinet.  I dropped off my notes in the file folder then I told Bet I was going to head over to speak to the sheriff. I gave her a hug good bye and told her to have a good day.

Next I walked over to the Sheriff’s Office, I checked in with Sheriff Holifield, I asked him if they found anything new. The Sheriff said no however he did inform her that he was in the process of hiring another assistant deputy sheriff because they had been spread a little thin lately with just the three of them. Not only did they have the sheriff’s office, they had the jail there too. He said he had just started doing interviews that morning, so far he got one out of the way, then he had two more the next day and another on Friday. I wished him the best of luck and told him to have a very good day. I went home to take a nap because I was heading over to Ling’s to have dinner and then to hang out in the bar. I was hoping that Lenny would show up, if so that would be the last and final investigation on him.

When I got to my cottage I tucked myself into my bed and napped for a few hours. I woke up and got ready to go to Ling’s. I went and borrowed another one of JT’s vehicles, this time it was a modest sedan. I left the cottage a little bit after 6pm and headed over to Ling’s. When I got there I went in to the restaurant and there was a sign that said please wait to be seated, in a few moments the hostess came to seat me. She seated me at a table by the window; I looked around to see who all was here. There was a family of four in a booth, a couple in a booth and a single man at a table. I did not see Lenny yet, a few minutes went by and then speak of the devil (well in this case it was think of the devil, I guess) Lenny comes through the door. He waves hello to the hostess and says hi Mihn how have you been doing? Mihn replies that she has been doing really well and thank you so much for asking Mr. Boggs. She seats Lenny at a table across the building from me. After a short bit the waitress comes out and takes my order. The hostess makes some more small talk with Lenny and then says Loretta (the waitress) will be right out. My food arrives in a timely manner and it was delicious! Now I was starting to see why this place was so popular, the staff was very friendly without being overly friendly (they did not dote upon the restaurant costumers as much as they did in the lounge) but they were very efficient. The service was prompt and the food very good, I was impressed. Lenny made some more small talk with the waitress. I finished up my meal, paid and then I made my way to the lounge.

I sat at the bar, the bar tender asked me, what would ya like ma'am? I told him that he could get me a scotch on the rocks please. I looked around and the place was starting to fill up. I noticed the cocktail waitresses flirting and doting upon the patrons again. I told the bar tender I had just eaten next door and I had a great meal. I told him this place was different than most, usually at a restaurant or diner there seems to be at least one thing missing for example they may have great service but bad food or vice versa but this place had it all. Then I mentioned in other lounges the cocktail waitresses were not as friendly, these girls catered to their customers every whim it seemed. I also made a point to tell him, I had driven by here on several occasions and every time they were busy, they seemed to be doing a land office business!

The bartender then introduces himself as Bernie and I tell him my name is Brooksie. He then thanks me for noticing that it is quite the business. He tells me it is a great place to work and that he loves working for Mama Ling. Ah ha, the business is owned by a female and here I had assumed it was run by a man. I tell him Mama Ling is a very smart business woman! He tells me she came over to the states from Hong Kong in 1934, she lived on the east coast for a few years and then traveled down south and ended up here and opened this restaurant and lounge in 1938. Prior to 1934 when she lived in Hong Kong, she ran a brothel (for close to 20 years) which was where she learned her business acumen. That also explained why the waitresses were so friendly because obviously Mama Ling trained them to be that way to help garner business. Then Bernie the bartender added - just so you know even though Ms. Ling used to run a brothel in Hong Kong - that does not mean there is any funny business going on here. She does not allow anything at all like that here. Then he asked me if I would like to meet Mama Ling? I said why yes, I would love to. Bernie tells me she comes in occasionally but for the most part she just lets her staff run the place. He goes in the back and brings out Mama Ling; Mama Ling must have been close to being about 60 years old but did not look a day over 30! Out from behind the door comes this tiny, beautiful, well dressed lady with a face like a china doll. Bernie introduces us to one another; she says to me, you do not sound like you are from these parts. You sound like you are from Chicago; I told her yes that she is indeed correct. She said she spent several months in Chicago right after she lived in New York and New Jersey for a while. She explained that when she came to the states she arrived in New York, lived there for a while and then moved on to New Jersey. She really did not like either city, then she spent time in Chicago and that was not for her either. So she made her way south until she landed here.

Then she asks me if I am just passing through and I tell her no that I just moved here. Now she is really curious (because Laurel is a hole in the wall kind of town in the middle of now where) and I tell her that I was JT’s god daughter and that I inherited the cottage and have since moved in it after he had passed away. She then made a tsking sound and said the death of JT was such a shame and it was a very sad day when he died. I wholeheartedly agreed with her, JT was one of my best friends and was like an uncle to me, I had explained to her. She tells me she is deeply sorry for my loss and bowed her head for a few minutes. She then tells me it was so wonderful to meet me and that she has things to get back to doing in the backroom. She then tells me to stop by any time and to ask for her again when I come back, so she and I can chat a little bit more next time. Mama Ling mentions that she is not here on a regular basis but she does pop in from time to time. I thanked her so much for coming out to meet me and saying hello.

After that I watched Lenny and the others play pool, while I enjoyed my Scotch. I took in the whole scene, this time I was on the inside rather than the outside looking in. I watched the cocktail waitresses flit and flirt about. I thought about Mama Ling running a brothel in Hong Kong for many years and then coming to the states and opening up a successful business here. There was no Mr. Ling ever mentioned, I was beginning to wonder if there is a Mr. Ling. I proceeded to ask Bernie if there was a Mr. Ling, he said as long as he has known Mama Ling, he has never known of there being a Mr. Ling. Bernie tells me he has been working here ever since Mama Ling opened the place. I thought to myself, Mama Ling is just one of those strong women that has been able to do it on her own. That is pretty rare these days.

By the end of the night I had learned a lot about this particular business establishment and got to meet some new people. I also had come to the conclusion that Mr. Leonard Boggs was not cheating on his wife. I would write the report regarding Lenny tomorrow, right after meeting with Mrs. Rothschild. Then I would be in touch with Mrs. Boggs to let her know my findings and to give her a copy of the report.

To be continued…..


Well that concludes another installment of: Devil at Dusk. Stay tuned next week for another segment of our story! 

Saturday, July 13, 2013

My new vintage motorcycle!

1968 Honda CT90
My 1968 Honda CT90!

I bought this cute little 1968 Honda CT90 the other day, to add to my collection of fun props for doing photo shoots. I have never ridden a motorcycle before but it is a nice new fun piece to add to my vintage antiques, clothes and props collection.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Devil at Dusk - Installment Number Eleven

1950's Film noir short stories
Photo by: Dave Haworth: davesphotoexploration.wordpress.com



Welcome to installment number eleven of Devil at Dusk!

It was Sunday March 1st 1955, yet another body had been found the day before. This was now body number four. I had the next couple days off (I contacted the sheriff and told him to call me as soon as possible if anything new regarding the case was found). I was glad to have a couple of days off to rest and recoup, plus it gave me time to think. I also started a journal to write about daily life and to put my thoughts down regarding my investigations. I felt it gave me some clarity and helped to give my thoughts some direction. For the next couple of days, I cleaned my cottage, wrote in my journal, did some water color painting and hung out with Bet and Will.

On Tuesday it was time to get back to the grindstone. I started the day off with going to the office to look at the information so far I had collected in the file regarding our latest victim, Iris Lynne Bennett. In the file I made a notation regarding her living with her mom and dad. Then I contacted the sheriff’s office, the Assistant Deputy Schneider answered the phone. I asked him if he by chance knew the names of the parents of our latest victim, he said yes, Harold and Alice Bennett. Then he gave me their phone number and address so I could contact them and question them.

I stopped by the Bennett residence right after I got off the phone with the sheriff’s office. Mrs. Bennett answered the door, I introduced myself and I asked if Mr. Bennett was home also. Mrs. Bennett said yes, he had taken the next few days off work and that he was in the living room reading the paper. Mrs. Bennett asked me to come inside and to join them both in the living room. I said I was very deeply sorry for their loss and they had told me they were also sorry for my loss. They knew I was like a relative to JT, they said that loosing JT was an incredible loss to the community but they were very glad I was there to help out. They told me they understood time was of the essence and questioning them at this time would be alright because it may save another life.

I asked them when they last saw their daughter; Mr. Bennett took over the conversation at that point and spoke for both of them because Mrs. Bennett was starting to tear up. They last saw her on Friday February 27th she was going over to her friend Ruby Anne Lockhart’s place to stay the night. She left the house at 6:45pm just before dusk (they did not want their daughter out after dark) to walk over to Ruby’s apartment. Ruby worked at the diner and was off at 7pm. Around 7:18pm Mr. Bennett said they got a call from Ruby telling them that Iris was not there, Mr. Bennett told Ruby to call the sheriff’s office as soon as possible. She sounded scared she said she got out of work a little later than usual. She kept apologizing over and over that it was her fault that she should have been there already but one of the waitresses was new and in a hurry and dumped a whole pot of coffee on herself and all over the floor. The new waitress was badly scalded and ended up having to go to the hospital to be treated for her burns.

Ruby said she tried to call several times over to the Bennett residence to let them know that there was an accident at the diner and that she was running behind but she got a busy signal. Mr. Bennett said he was on the phone talking to his mother that she had not been feeling well all day. As soon as he found out he said he got in his car and drove down to Ruby’s and had Mrs. Bennett stay home in case anybody called regarding their daughter. Mr. Bennett followed the route that Iris would have taken to get to Ruby’s and found nothing out of the ordinary. Ruby called the sheriff’s office and they were at her apartment taking a statement from her when Mr. Bennett said he had arrived. The Assistant Deputy Schneider said he would start searching for Iris that night, he said there is usually a 24 hour hold on missing person cases but since there was a serial killer on the loose they would start their search right away. He called the sheriff office in the neighboring town for men to help and they sent a couple others over right away. They searched through the night but did not turn up with anything. We did not come up with anything until we got the call from Mrs. Wheaton the next morning, the lady who ended up finding the body.

I was taking notes the whole time Mr. Bennett was talking, when he was done talking, I thanked him for his time. Next it was time to go to see Ms. Ruby Anne Lockhart; I went to her apartment and knocked on her door. She was in the process of getting ready for work when she came to the door, I introduced myself and she let me in. I told her I was incredibly sorry for the loss of her friend. She started crying and I asked her if she was going to be okay to work today and she said she would make it. I asked her how old she was and she said 22 years old. I asked her how long she had known Iris, she said her whole life. She was going to have her over Friday night and they were going to do some sewing, then she was going to sleep over. Ruby said she had a rotating schedule and that week she had Tuesday and Saturday off (she has split days off). She said on Saturday they were going to see a movie and then Iris was going to walk home. I asked Ruby when she last saw Iris, she told me it was a week ago at the grocery store and they had just talked on the phone on Thursday night to confirm plans for Friday night.

I told her to explain the events of the evening prior to the disappearance of Iris. Ruby said she got up and got ready for work. She worked the 1pm to 7pm shift; she had to be at work at 12:45pm to get ready for her shift. She made it to work and it was a busy day. Several minutes before 7pm the crew at the diner was  getting ready to close up when the new girl tripped and spilled hot coffee all over the place including parts of her body. The new girl, Doris Jean was very nervous all day; it was her first day and also her very first job.  She ended up scalding herself very badly and had to go to the hospital. This was the reason why she got out of the diner later than usual and why she was not there for her friend, she felt horrible. She kept on saying it was her fault and that she was so sorry. I consoled Ruby and told her it was not her fault at all, it was circumstances that were beyond her control. Ruby said finally at 7:10pm the diner’s evening shift manager told her she could go home, Ruby said the shift manager called for the ambulance to come to get Doris Jean because she was in a lot of pain and was burned very badly.

Ruby got in her car and drove home; she lived about 5 minutes from work. As soon as she pulled up she noticed Iris was not there and she was alarmed because the plan was for her to be there already. She ran inside and called over at the Bennett’s home again and finally got through to Mr. Bennett. She told Mr. Bennett that Iris was not there, he said that is not a good thing because she left the house at 6:45 pm and is only a 15 minute walk to Ruby’s. Mr. Bennett told her to call the sheriff’s office as soon as she got off the phone with him and that he would be on his way. Ruby did exactly as she was told and the Assistant Deputy Sheriff Schneider came as soon as possible and shortly after that Mr. Bennett arrived.
To be continued….


Well folks this concludes this week’s installment of: Devil at Dusk. Please join us next week for our next installment! 

Monday, July 1, 2013

Devil at Dusk - Installment Number Ten

Film noir short stories
All photos by: Dave Haworth: davesphotoexploration.wordpress.com
Where the body was found.

Taking notes.

Taking pictures.


Welcome back everybody to installment number ten of Devil at Dusk!

The next day was Friday and I did another night of surveillance on Lenny, everything was just like before. He went to have dinner at Lings, played pool, socialized in the lounge and flirted with the waitresses. I was only going to do surveillance on Lenny a couple more times and if nothing transpired I was going to chalk it up to basically this; he is not having an affair and that he just loves to hang out at this local joint and have fun without his wife knowing about it for some reason. Soon I planned on having dinner at Lings then stepping into the lounge for the full Ling’s experience. After watching this vicariously through someone else it was time that I went and enjoyed the food and went to partake in some drink, who knows it may just happened to be on a night when Lenny was there even!

I went home and went to sleep; I woke up at 10am and got ready for the day. It was Saturday February 28th and a lady by the name of Mrs. Wheaton called in to the sheriff office reporting that she saw a body in the stream along Main Street (that part of Main Street is a wooded area with small trees and a stream and across from it are houses). Mrs. Wheaton called the sheriff’s office shortly after 11:30 am and the Sheriff Holifield called me right after that, letting me know the scoop. The sheriff asked me if I would meet him and the coroner at the stream on the mound of grass over the drainage ditch as soon as I could get there. I got into my car and the sheriff was already there, we were waiting for the coroner.The coroner arrived while I was in the middle of taking notes and pictures.

The sheriff and the coroner got the body out, it was tangled up in a black plastic garbage sack and it was female. So far it looked as though our killer has struck again! The coroner said he would take the body back to the lab and let us know what he found as soon as possible. Next the sheriff asked me if I would talk to Mrs. Wheaton to get more of her story, why she happened to be there at that moment, because it is not along a path or anything. Also to find out if she knows anything at all about what happened.

I then realized the address that the sheriff had for Mrs. Wheaton was just across the street from where the body was dumped. I went over to the house it appeared to be nice and neat. I rang the bell and a little old grandmotherly looking lady came to the door. I asked for Mrs. Wheaton she told me to call her Mable and I explained to her who I was then I asked her if she minded if I asked her a few questions right now. She told me to come inside and asked if I wanted coffee, I told her no thank you. I asked her to tell me how she happened upon a body that morning? She said her cat got loose after dark (her cat does not go outdoors) she went to take some trash out around 9pm and that was when her cat made his escape; she had a look around after that. She said when her cat gets out he always heads for the woods across the street. So she went calling for her cat over there at that time she did not see anything in the stream. She went home and figured she would have a look in the morning but she had been up very late that night so she woke up a lot later than usual. She said at that time after she woke up she went to look for the cat and happened upon the body, it was so horrible she said! She seemed visibly shaken. I asked her why she had been up so late. She said that her husband was bed ridden and that he had cancer. Last night he had not been doing well, he had just started receiving his cancer treatments, they were making him very sick and he had to throw up several times in the night.

I asked her if he was doing okay at the moment, she said he was doing much better finally. He got some sleep, when he woke up she gave him some broth, tea and crackers. I asked her if I could speak with him and she said she would check to see if he was awake. She came back out of the room and said yes that he  would talk to me. I came into the room and he said thank you Ms. van Pelt for helping out with this investigation and for trying to make our community a safer place. He explained that his pa was a sheriff in Alabama for many, many years and has nothing but respect for the law. I asked him if they had a cat and he said yes, he said he likes to escape and go across the street. I asked him how he was and that I heard he had been sick in the night and his wife had been taking care of him and he said yes, she is a good one. He said she is a good lady and that he loves her dearly. I asked him what he knew about the investigation and/or the killer that was on the loose. He said he really did not know too much just that there was someone on the loose killing young women. I told him that was all I needed to know for know and I thanked him for his time. He said to me to come back anytime if I had any other questions at all.

I stepped out into the hall for Mabel and she came and got me. She asked me if I had any other questions and I said yes, did you finally get your cat back? She said yes and then I asked what she knew about this case I was investigating. Her answer was pretty much the same as her husband’s. I thanked her very much for her time and she said for me to stop by if I had any other questions. I thanked her again and went out to my car.

I got to the office and dropped off my notes, after that I went home. I ate some lunch and listened to some music. Then the phone rang and it was the coroner, he said our victim was Iris Lynne Bennett, she was 20 years old, and she lived at home with her mom and dad and was not employed. He said she had a giant stab wound in the back and everything else was consistent with the prior murders except they did not find any fibers on the black plastic garbage bag due to the fact that the body was dumped off into the water. I made notes of all of these facts and I would take them to my office and put them in the file the next time I was there.

To be continued…

This concludes this week’s installment of Devil at Dusk; please join us next week for installment number eleven!