by Laura Greene
LAURA GREENE
A BOARDING
Case Mystery
COLLECTION
Copyright © 2020 Laura Greene – All rights Reserved
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
THE DEADLY SCHOOL
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
BURIED IN THE DARK
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
CLOSE TO HER KILLER
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
GRAVE DANGER
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
HUNT THE JUDGE
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Epilogue
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THE DEADLY SCHOOL
Chapter 1
If only the night could speak, it would tell of the demise of one Anna Grayson. But the night does not speak; it alone knows what is happening now at Hartford Boarding School and it holds the secret tightly in its abysmal bosom.
Fear not for the night, for this is not the first but the sixth of such encounters in the past six months that it has promised to keep hushed. However, tonight is different, because when death visits this small town of Newport, secrets are bound to surface.
Anna is walking silently down the hallway of her school. Her school uniform, a white shirt and tie, a black, blue and green pleated skirt with wisps of orange through it, and thick black tights to fend off the cold are her choices of attire. Oddly enough, a white bedsheet is in her hand. Where she is headed is to the back entrance from the west wing of the school.
Winter has been merciful this December. Until recently, when the strong Atlantic winds pounded heavy water on the Rhode Island shores and sent trees howling night and day for the past two days, all was at peace. Perhaps that was the warning unheeded by the residents – that on this night, Anna will be no more and she will unveil with her death the secrets of the elite.
A mere twenty steps from the door, Anna’s hands are shaking. She is muttering words under her breath that if any person in the school is to hear they will halt her with urgency.
Fifteen steps. If a student is to walk by or even if the hall monitor right now on her rounds notices her, either will call Anna’s name out loudly and disrupt the devastating trance that appears to have overcome her. None walk by. None can prevent what is about to take place.
Five steps. Anna squeezes the bedsheet tightly with one hand, and both eyes are shut. She is mustering up the courage to continue.
One more step. From the comfort of the heated hallways in Hartford, Anna breathes her last of the warmth, turns the cold knob on the door, opens it and breaks the silence of the hallway with a loud howl of the night. She disappears into the dark. Even her black tights can no longer shield her.
It is the beloved daughter of Tom and Sue Grayson, leading philanthropists and tech giants known for their kind donations to top foundations around the country, whose life has ended. Were Anna still with us, she would have been in line to continue the family heritage and begin her grooming to head the family foundation upon completing college. Not even a high school graduation will take place for her now, let alone college, because Anna is gone.
Come early morning break, the bedsheet is found near the water tower with Anna’s cold, lifeless body under its shelter.
She took her life. Though not the first, she is the sixth in the last 5 months at the school. In the quaint town of some of the world’s renowned mansions of the wealthy, her parents, her friends, and her town, are left to pick up the pieces and reel with pain following her demise. Why, is the question on their lips, but none dares utter it lest the cloak of safety the residents of Newport rest under is too quickly removed and the bitter chill of death invades their skin.
Rather than ask why and risk exposure, they simply turn to the lifeline many have called to quietly handle delicate matters – The Newport TaskForce.
*
The phone rings.
“Hello?” answers a groggy Agent Tina James; hair ruffled, pajamas creased on the side she slept on yet untouched on the other. She would do anything for another hour of sleep right now, but duty calls.
“Agent James, have you arrived in Newport?” comes the commanding yet firm voice of her director.
“Yes,” Tina coughs to clear her voice and sound more chipper, only succeeding to sound half-awake. “Last night.”
“I’m sorry to wake you Agent James, but there has been some development on the case I assigned you. You’ll need to go to the site right away. You’ll be briefed there.” Tim Brooks never did mince his words. He’s always straight to the point and just as prompt to end the call.
“Yes, Sir. Right away.”
The call ends as Tina reaches for her hair to see how much grooming she’ll need today. She has never liked her hair’s many personalities. One day it’s bouncy curls and the next it’s the Amazon. Well, today it has no choice but to cooperate. She reaches for her brush and jumps past a box, knocking over another, and the man who was lying next to her comes to life.
“Hey honey.” Dale Hodges’s brown eyes flutter, his broad arms stretching in either direction. He brushes his hand where she once slept, a smile on his face as though cooing her back to bed. But she can’t return; duty calls. Taking a couple of lashings to the hair with her brush she decides it’s a hair up day and rushes to the bathroom. Out escapes, “Hi sweetie,” as she turns on the shower.
Tina and her fiancé Dale moved to Rhode Island hoping for a fresh start. Months of late nights and missed dates were all Dale could take from the woman he loves, and as a compromise she requested a more relaxed assignment in the hopes of salvaging what they have.
He’s a good man and the last thing Tina wants to do is push off another good man. She loves being a detective, but she also longs for a family and finding that balance is harder than she thought it would be. It’s only fair that she meets Dale halfway and finds a good compromise. I have to make this work, she thinks.
She needs to get to work. Jumping out of the shower and into her clothes already laid out last night, Tina rubs her belly to ease the butterflies in her stomach. Day 1, she thinks, first impressions are so important.
Like he can read her mind, Dale shouts from the kitchen, “I’ve got you breakfast to go in case you want to eat it later.”
“Thanks babe.” Shoes on. Bag...hanging by the door. Grab breakfast. Kiss.
“8 minutes. Nice one. Don’t
forget our dinner plans tonight.”
“I can’t wait.”
The door shuts.
Tina backs out of the driveway. She pushes a box out of the way. This car was one of the last items left to unload last night. After hours of packing, moving and unloading, both she and Dale thought getting some rest was more important.
What a crazy day it was yesterday. Rushing to open boxes, leaving behind the life they knew in Boston to promptly start a new one. Tina can’t help but wonder if her and Dale moving in together was just as rushed. When the Newport assignment emerged neither of them was ready for it, but decided to go ahead and give it a go. Given their relationship trouble, it’s all they could do to keep from tearing apart.
Driving through the quiet town of Newport into the outskirts, the streets are charming, and trees almost hover over to protect and bow at the passersby. Yet, somehow, as Tina looks past the army of trees, she can’t help but wonder if they are hiding what lies in the castles behind them. Mansions and houses that barely missed being called mansions are peeking through the trees, majestic yet malevolent. To the odd tourist it’s a sight to behold, but to Tina’s trained eye, it’s only a matter of time before the peaceful silence of Newport is broken.
Chapter 2
The drive through town is longer than she expects. Mademoiselle’s, where Dale and she had an early dinner last night before unpacking, looks fuller in the morning than it did the previous evening. It was the first eatery they saw and stopped at when they entered town.
Mademoiselle’s is such a chic cafe; a warm, small-town environment with modern blush lamps and metallic copper circles neatly planted on the pale gray walls.
Decorating. Tina has always dreaded decorating a new home – something about being passed around from parent to parent week after week when she was eight just left a bad taste for new beginnings in her mouth. Divorce has a way of doing that.
She often wondered, would she decorate both homes the same way or try to appease her parents’ need for approval and affirmation and let them buy the moon for her? Neither would back down. Her parents tried to out-buy the other to win Tina’s affections when all Tina wanted was for them to be around, play with her and tell her she was going to be okay. Most evenings after school were spent with her nannies explaining why Mom on odd weeks or Dad on even weeks would not make it to dinner again. This was followed by a gentle hug from the nanny and a bribe to eat ice cream after dinner to ease her sorrows.
“What brings you into town?” Julie, the blond-haired, fair-skinned owner of the cafe who seemed to know all about the town had then interrupted her trip down memory lane. She sure was talkative, but Tina noticed that she was not your regular gossiper. She didn’t dish out details about the locals, which Tina found strange.
“Do we look that out of place?” Tina glanced down at her long, gray sweater and dark blue skinny jeans to assess what could be making her look like an out-of-towner. It wasn’t her fanciest outfit but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Perhaps she had food on the side of her mouth?
“Oh, no darling. People come into Newport for one of two reasons,” Julie lifted two fingers emphasizing her point, “they’re either moving here or passing through on their way to Martha’s Vineyard.”
“Well, we’re moving in. Isn’t Martha’s Vineyard an island near here?” Tina engaged Julie while Dale admired his sandwich, doing all he could to avoid small talk. He’d rather bite on a nail than participate in small talk; this fact he had reminded Tina of several times. Well, she just had to carry the conversation herself.
But Julie was not phased by Dale one bit. “Listen, honey, just a piece of advice – stay in your lane. There’s a reason why townspeople keep to themselves.”
“Why is that?” Normally the conversation would have ended here, but Tina’s detective instincts had told her to press the topic further. She might have been onto something that could help her.
“Some secrets are just not worth uncovering darling,” Julie offered with a warning look. She had chuckled, “Look at me talking your ear off. Enjoy your meal. And yes, Martha’s Vineyard is just a short ferry ride away.”
Tina had heard of Martha’s Vineyard and hopes to take Dale on their anniversary in July. That is if they are still together.
Dale, biting into his sandwich, mentioned diving into his job search without so much as a moment’s hesitation when Julie had excused herself. He had looked into other accounting firms in the area when he turned in his two weeks’ at the firm in Boston, but nothing had turned up yet.
Tina, eating her salad and half sandwich, only looked on while he talked. She knew he was trying and she didn’t want to worry herself with what might happen if he didn’t get a job. Are we just trying to put a band-aid on a wound that’s past repairing? she wondered.
Before leaving Boston, Tina had promised this job would give them more time together to work on their relationship. The last thing she wants is to end up like her parents just before the divorce: living together but married to their jobs. We need to at least try.
As the road curves, the tall oak trees bow out and yield to a narrow two-lane road leading to her next assignment. On either side the trees are now replaced by neatly trimmed bushes, equally spaced like military men welcoming and announcing their guests’ arrival. The one distant recollection of the majestic trees now in her shadows is the familiar scent of pine lingering in the air.
Pine brings back bittersweet childhood memories but she can’t waste a moment on them, not now. Tina’s entering her next assignment which she expects to be her easiest so far, although, she is anxious to find out why she has been suddenly thrust into the case this morning. Turning into the parking lot, Tina catches the first full view of Hartford Boarding School; immediately she’s struck by its grandeur. Its walls scream 18th century whitewashed history. The school is a building lurched right out of the old streets of London, but its untold tales are quickly masked by thick brushes of moss. Tina now knows the bushes on the road that once pronounced her entry have delivered her into the hands of the school.
She steps inside. That’s strange, Tina thinks, I don’t hear the slightest whisper of children in the school. She eases down the silent halls, certain to not utter a sound until she can identify at least one soul.
Years of being a detective have taught her to spot even the slightest detail in her surroundings, but her curiosity has taught her to connect the dots that others, even her colleagues in the force, cannot see. It’s undoubtedly a gift that has given her a career edge over her peers but placed her in difficult cases long before her time or experience.
Her director did say she is the best agent for this case. I just hope that he was right.
No security. Knowing this could come in handy for Tina. The doors to the classrooms have a small window that she can utilize to spy through without disrupting the classes. There are vents just below the ceiling, but even they cannot save her nostrils from the pervasion of a faint but familiar old musty scent like...like the old church in the heart of Boston that her school once took her to when she was eight. She remembers it because her parents had just announced their divorce the night before, each word precisely knocking like a hammer to her heart. Organ music was playing tenderly, stained glass portraying what the apostles may have looked like as she sat admiring each face on the glass from a sturdy wooden pew. And then as she listened to each note, a peace washed over her. That was the most serene she has ever felt. She hasn’t been to church in years, though a pull seems to tug on her heart from time to time.
Tina now walks through the thick double doors to her right. It is the administrative assistant sitting at a desk who she sees first. She’ll report to Principal Amy Roberts for her briefing.
“Agent James. Please come in, I’ve been expecting you.” A voice welcomes her from a room behind the assistant who doesn’t so much as lift a brow in response. Principal Roberts is a stately woman, stoic and heavy-set in form much like her speech; her face is fair
to look upon, complemented by brunette curls effortlessly pinned back to reveal blond, almost silver highlights underneath. She appears a woman of charm who will equally not be undermined.
“Thank you. It’s a pleasure,” she responds. Quickly bypassing the formalities, Tina begins, “My director said you would brief me on the case.”
“Yes, suicide.”
“Suicide?” Tina’s puzzled face reveals her amazement as to why a federal agent would be called in for a suicide. She may be looking for a more relaxed case, but this seems like a job for the local PD.
“Not just one. Several,” the principal says in answer to her inquiry.
“How many?”
“Last night made it six and we’re only halfway through the year.” The principal turns to her window, her face revealing momentarily what appears to be grief.
Tina pauses, “I’m sorry for your loss. Has... a common cause been determined?”
“None as of yet, Agent James. Just that they all picked the same location for their demise.”
“Why am I just now hearing of this?” It’s unusual to Tina that not a single one of these suicides has been in the news. How did they manage to ghost the news?