AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Chef? You might want to call the police.”
Chef Stuart grinned. “I’ll tell them the Mystery Writers’ Murder Club just solved another cold case.”
CHAPTER3
VICTIM
The roar of the tumbling cascade of water crashing down the side of the mountain seemed a fitting accompaniment to Daniel Monkton’s flight for his life. The demons that had plagued his psyche had become real. Described as a ‘tortured artist’ by some in the New York art scene, Daniel had retreated to Angel’s Rise to quell the monsters of his past.
Most people outgrew their fear of the monster that hides under the bed, but not Daniel. He was all too aware that such malevolence in the world was real and often took corporeal form. He ran toward the edge from which the water catapulted itself into the rocky pool below. As he climbed the promontory that overlooked the town, he hoped that the angels that were said to rise from the mists of the pool below would be his salvation.
His hopes had been in vain. The angels had turned their backs on him, forsaking him when he needed them most.
He’d been found. He thought his flight from the big city to the small village in the far reaches of Maine would save him, but he’d been so wrong. His next masterpiece was almost finished, but there were those who were trying to suppress his voice, his art. They feared him, and he had begun to believe he could rise up and destroy them. Instead, alone and afraid, he now faced his own demise.
* * *
SLADE
Augusta, Maine
So, Daniel Monkton was dead. That presented a plethora of problems Slade Rafferty hadn’t been prepared to take on. He’d known Daniel for years, and when he’d called the first time spouting delusional gibberish, Slade had dismissed it as drug-inspired hallucinations. When Daniel had called again, he’d been far more rational. Slade became convinced that someone was trying to harm Daniel—maybe not murder him, but do him harm.
A call to the police in New York had done nothing to make him feel that Daniel was safe. The cops had been dismissive and unwilling to do anything other than write Daniel off as a paranoid junkie. Slade had reminded them that it wasn’t ‘paranoid’ if there were actually people out to get him. The cops dismissed Slade as well.
Slade had done the only thing he could think of: he’d gone to New York and moved Daniel out of his artist’s loft and up to Slade’s A-frame retreat in the woods above Angel’s Rise, where Slade was convinced Daniel would be safe. Only that hadn’t been true at all.
When the CO of the State’s Major Crime Unit began to lay out the new cases at their weekly meeting, the hair on the back of Slade’s neck began to stand up.
“You okay?” asked Thorn Wilder, his best friend, who was sitting next to him at the conference table.
“Yeah. I know the victim,” replied Slade.
“Rafferty, did I just hear you say you knew the victim?” asked Andrew Mills, Slade and Thorn’s direct boss.
Slade nodded. “Yes, sir. I’ve known Daniel Monkton since we were kids. Where did he die?”
“Some little hamlet known as Angel’s…”
“Rise,” Slade completed for him.
Leaning into him, Thorn said, “Don’t you have a place up there?”
Slade nodded. “Just outside the village, up by the falls. I have an A-frame. Daniel had been staying there for a few months.” Lifting his hand, he said, “Boss, I’d like to take lead on this.”
“You sure you want to do that? And he’s not family, just a friend?”
“Yes, I think I’m the best one to do it. He wasn’t family; just a friend, and not a particularly close one. I’ve just known him a long time, but to be completely honest, I took Daniel up to my place because he was certain someone was trying to kill him.”
“If you’re feeling guilty…”
“No. that isn’t it at all. I just know more about him. I can get up to speed on all of this, and I know the town and the cops.”
The chief nodded. “Slade, you’ll take point. I’ll have the chopper fly you up there.”
“No problem, chief. I’ve got my go bag. I’ll have the cops cordon off not only where he was killed, but my place, as well. I’d like forensics to fly up with me and get started on the house.”
The first thing Slade did once the meeting was over was get on the phone to the chief of police in Angel’s Rise, Jimmy Langden. Jimmy was a dedicated and good guy to have running a small-town village police department, but Slade suspected he would be woefully out of his depth running a murder investigation.
