by G Oldman
"If only my other officers were this dedicated."
Daniel returned to his desk and reviewed the paperwork on the Jewelry store. It was likely that it was the same person. The cuts around the drywall make it appear like the scratches on the safe. What didn't work for the massive Jewelry safe, worked just fine for the wall safe at the watchmakers?
As he was typing up his notes, the phone rang. He answered it. "Sergeant Corgan."
The switchboard operator told him she had a someone looking to talk about the jewelry shop robbery.
"Transfer her over."
The line beeped and then Daniel spoke again, "Sergeant Corgan, how may I help you?"
"Um, yes. My name is Nancy Laughlin. I am Gary's sister." The voice sobbed into the phone.
"I am very sorry for your loss, ma'am. We are doing everything in our power to find who did this. I have a few questions for you. Is there any way you could meet me at the shop or here at the station?"
She took a few seconds to get herself under control. "I am at the shop now. We lived in the upstairs apartment. I was out of town."
"Let me meet your there. I can be there in about 20 minutes. Would that work for you?"
"Yes, that will be fine. Thank you."
Daniel gathered his gear and headed out to meet the sister. It only took him ten minutes to reach the shop. The front door was boarded up.
He knocked on the door and shouted out, "This is Sergeant Corgan. Can I come in?"
From inside, "Yes, can you come to the back door?"
"Will do."
He walked around to the back and found Nancy waiting for her.
"Hello, are you Ms. Laughlin?"
"Yes, please come in Sergeant."
They came into the back room and they sat at the table and chairs she prepared for them.
"Would you like some tea?"
Daniel smiled and said, "no thank you. I have a couple of questions. Where were you the morning that your brother was attacked?"
"Our Aunt has been sick. I was out of town visiting her in the nursing home. She isn't doing well and is showing signs of dementia. She was our favorite Aunt. We were closer to her than our own parents."
"I am very sorry to hear she is doing poorly. Do you know why anyone would want to hurt your brother?"
She shook her head back and forth. "No, he was well liked by all of his customers. I don't think he ever made an enemy. He was a very kind man."
"Do you know what is in the safe? We know the robber was attempting to access it when we arrived."
"Oh, that's right. You were the first officer to arrive and found my brother. You got hurt, didn't you?"
Daniel smiled, "Not badly. But he was trying his best to get in that safe. Can you tell me or better yet, show me the contents?"
Nancy Laughlin gave him a nervous smile. "Well, there are some gemstones including diamonds and natural rubies in there. There is the gold he works with to make jewelry. Customer's pieces he is cleaning or working on go into the safe."
She shrugged after that.
Daniel leaned forward and gave her his best winning smile, "It is really important to find this man. I need to know what he was after. What else is in that safe that someone would kill for?"
Nancy stood and started to pace. She shook her head with her arms crossed protectively in front of her.
"I can't. I just can't."
Daniel tried to see what he could do to turn her around. "Look, Nancy. If there is something embarrassing for you, I can leave it out of the official report. If I don't know why he attacked, we will have a much harder time catching him. You are the victim here. I am trying to help you. If it is something illegal, it'll have to be confiscated, but no one needs to know. Did your brother have drugs in the safe?"
The last question occurred to him as he was talking. He was completely improvising this. This red herring question should draw her out to defend her brother against the drug accusation and may lead to the truth.
She spun on her heel with wide eyes. "No, at least, no! My brother had nothing to do with drugs. That can't be it. He drank a little but never got drunk that I ever saw. He has never used drugs."
Tears fell down her cheeks. Her body shook with each sob.
Daniel stood and spoke with a calm voice with his hands open and extended in front of him.
"Look, it's all right. There was a similar robbery at the watchmakers. We think we know what they were looking for there. We were wondering if there was something similar in your safe."
At the mention of the watchmaker, Nancy's face went ghost white. She reached for her chair and sat down in it.
She took a minute to get control of herself but never returned her gaze to Daniel.
"Did they get what they were looking for?" she whispered.
"The burglar in this case, took the entire safe."
She let out a low moan.
"I take it you know of the chronometer then?"
She lifted her head, "Oh, that is what he had? We suspected that they were one of the guardian families but you could never know for sure."
Daniel knew he was on to something here. Finally there was a breakthrough.
"Please tell me more about guardian families. What are they and what are they guarding?"
"Please don't think I am hiding anything. I honestly know very little. What our parents told us was that there was a device. It was very dangerous. The device was broken into three pieces. One piece was trusted to different families. I have seen our piece only once and I have no idea who the other families are. What I remember was it very large."
Daniel asked softly, "can you show it to me?"
She nodded and slowly stood. Daniel followed her to the safe. He turned his back as she worked the combination. When he heard the audible click and the turning of the wheel to move the locking mechanism, he turned around.
She pulled the safe door open wide. She shivered upon seeing the object. The safe was divided in half. The left side had several shelves with various gems, diamonds on them. There was another that was filled with gold ready to be worked into rings and necklaces. Another with labeled pieces of jewelry on it. The right side was divided into two large sections. At the top was two hand guns, and a short-barreled shotgun. Daniel wasn't worried about either of these. Underneath it was a ring of what looked to his eyes to be gold. It was an inch thick and four inches wide with a hole in the center. There were gemstones of various types inlaid on it in a pattern.
"I am sorry, but it is far too heavy for me to lift out."
Daniel knelt by the safe and pulled out his flashlight to study it. In the hole in the center, there looked to be attachment points for something. He guessed that it was for the chronometer. He never touched the device but looked it over carefully. From what he could see, the gems on the ring might be pushed in. The center hole of the ring looked as if it had moving parts. There was a fine layer of dust that had accumulated on the thing. He couldn't even begin to calculate the value of it.
Standing, Daniel turned back to Nancy.
"Please secure your safe again. Thank you for showing it to me. I won't describe this in my report. But this does help me. Do you have any idea what the third piece would be or who would have it?"
She shook her head. "No. I didn't even know the watchmaker had the chronometer. It makes perfect sense as he could maintain it. What little I remember of the tale was that the third piece held them all. I can't imagine something that could hold that thing."
She pointed back to the safe. Daniel could only nod in agreement.
The spoke on for another half hour. Some of it questions related to the case. Others just idle curiosities such as will she continue to run the shop. When he left, Nancy was doing better. She smiled as he left. She even seemed confident about running the shop on her own.
Daniel returned to the precinct.
Chapter 8: History Lessons
Daniel's shift was over. Blessedly, he didn't have to work in the big box store a
gain tonight. He exited the station at the back of city hall. He noticed that the plaque on the side of city hall showed that the original building dedication was back in 1806.
The building was made of cut stone and was solid and commanding. The police station in the back of the building was of newer construction and added on but still followed the same style as the front half of the building. Daniel remembered that in the basement of city hall was the historical records of the town. There have been so many odd things going on that he wondered if he could find out more.
His boss at the big box store said there were references to the bear creatures there. He wondered if there might be information on the device. Daniel checked his watch and saw that there was time before it closed.
He walked around the building and went into the front door. The entry point of the town hall was really nice. The floor was marble or at least some marble like substance that Daniel couldn't tell the difference. There was a grand staircase leading up to the upper floors. That is where the court room, mayor's office and other offices of important folks. The left wing was where the town conducted business. Permits were issued and city run utilities were organized. The right wing was more office space where the flood of paperwork existed that kept a town this size afloat.
Behind the grand stair case was a spiral staircase that led to the basement. This is where Daniel was heading. The town's historical society kept a small museum and history of the town down there. Ironically, this backed up to the town jail. This was under the new portion of the building in the back.
He went down the stairs and saw that the place was like a small library. There were many books on shelves and several display cases that contained artifacts from the town's history. What was interesting was a scale model of the town from eighteen oh-six? It showed the town hall as it was back then. Interestingly, the streets near the city hall were nearly identical to how they look today.
He studied the model for a few minutes when he felt someone was nearby. Standing, he turned around and came face to face with the caretaker.
"Oh, hello. How are you?" Daniel said trying to hide his surprise.
The lady was elderly but still held herself with extreme dignity. She was nicely dressed and had a pair of small wire-framed glasses hanging from a chain around her neck.
"Why thank you, officer. I am doing quite well. It's good to see younger folk taking an interest in our little museum. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Actually, I am interested in some of the folklore surrounding this town. I feel getting to know that sort of thing, connects you to a place and gives you a better idea of where you live."
He mentally crossed his fingers that this was the right approach and that she might know something helpful in this case.
"Well, there is quite a bit of folklore as you say about Hemisphere. We have tried to include as much as possible in the welcome packet. I take it you just moved into town, officer?"
"Daniel, ma'am. My name is Daniel Corgan. And yes, I have been here less than a month."
Daniel was getting frustrated. At every turn, someone mentioned that damn visitors packet. He knew he needed to finish reading it, but damn it was boring.
She held out her thin hand to him, "I am Agatha Smallwood. I am the curator here at the town museum and president of the historical society. I think I can be of some assistance. What were you interested in? The bear creature?"
Whoa, how did she know about that? Well, in a small town, the speed of gossip comes close to the speed of light.
Daniel swallowed his thoughts and responded, "Not at this time, thank you. I am interested in the older families of the town and the mark they have made. I have had two cases involving some of what I think are the older families here that have been victims or robberies and on a hunch, I wanted to see if there was something that connected them. Do you know the Laughlin's and the Whitaker's?"
She patted his arm as if he was a precocious nephew that said something cute. "Lands sakes, yes I know both families. Both going back three generations. Both families reach back to the early English settlers of Hemisphere. You did know this was a French trading settlement in the 1750s?"
Finally, something he knew, "Yes, ma'am. It was founded before the French and Indian War. Following the war, it came under English rule."
"Very good. It was under nominal English rule but the settlers were still French Canadians mostly. It wasn't until closer to the American Revolution that English settlers arrived. Most of the original settlers died off. The oldest families were here since the 1790s. Both the Laughlin's and the Whitaker's are among them."
"That is interesting. I know some small towns have founding families that their importance is linked to the town. A friend of mine grew up in such a small town and told me that in his, they were the ABC's of the town. That was because their names were Adair, Bailey and Copeland. Streets, parks and businesses still bore their names to this day. Is that the same thing here?"
She thought for a moment. "In their case, no. When they arrived, they weren't wealthy as I suspect your ABC's were. They were working class and opened small family businesses that are still operating to this day."
She walked closer to the model of the town and pointed at an intersection. "There is the Laughlin store as it was in eighteen oh-six. It is in the same place but the building was rebuilt at least three times as far as I can remember. The last time was in the 1930s. That is the same building, but it has been renovated with modern conveniences. And over here is the Whitaker shop. It too has been rebuilt, but it has remained in the same place all this time. While many things change, it is amazing how much remains the same, isn't it young man?"
Daniel couldn't help but smile, "Yes, ma'am."
He was desperate to think of a follow up question. His mind wasn't focused right as his last dose of Tylenol had worn off and his shoulder was throbbing.
"I have to say, the town hall is beautifully made. The stone work is amazing for its age. I see that most of the town was wooden buildings instead of brick or stone."
He wasn't even sure what he was trying to get at.
"Very good observation. Did you know both families helped to build the town hall? The Whitaker's made the clock in the clock tower. The face of the clock is stained glass with the numbers being cut and polished obsidian done by the Laughlin's. Now the hall itself was built by a family of stone masons, I think it was the Sanders. Did you know their old homestead became our masonic hall?"
"Er, no, ma'am. That is very interesting. Now the current lodge dates back to the 1920s. Before that, it was a wooden building. The Sanders family hosted the meetings until the death of the family in nineteen nineteen during the Spanish Flu Epidemic. Few came down with the illness here in Hemisphere but the few cases we had, killed off entire families. The masons received the building in the Sanders estate and built their current hall on it."
The pieces were coming together. He knew what his next stop was going to be.
"Thank you very much. This has been very useful. I know you are closing soon so I'll leave you along to do it. Thanks again."
She smiled at him and shook his hand one more time before Daniel headed back up the stairs and out of City Hall.
Chapter 9: Stone Cutters
Daniel headed straight for the Masonic Lodge. He parked his car in front of the building. Knocking on the main door, Daniel prepared to wait. He had no idea if there even would be anyone there. The sign said meetings weren't until Saturdays. There may be no one there. On a whim, he remembered the glasses in his uniform pocket. He put them on just to see what would happen.
The world around him took on a reddish hue. Similar to how the world turned green when he wore his shooting glasses on the range that brightened everything. He looked at the world around him. There were no people on the street. The buildings appeared to look like the buildings he had seen with his naked eye. But there was a quality of things he couldn't put into words.
He heard footsteps
inside the building. Daniel pulled off his glasses and shoved them back in his pocket. When the door opened, a skinny man with thick black framed glasses opened the door. He had a white short sleeved shirt with a pocket protector.
"Um, can I help you, sir? Oh, Officer. Is something wrong?"
"I was hoping to find someone from this lodge to ask a few questions of. Do you have a historian or the like I could talk to?"
With a shrug, he pushed his glasses back up on his face from where they'd slid down his nose.
"As a matter of fact, I am the historian here. My home is being fumigated for termites and I am staying in the apartment we have upstairs. What can I do for you?"
Daniel struggled with how to bring this up and not seem like a raving loon.
"Two of the families involved in creating the town hall were robbed this week. The Sanders family was the third that worked on the construction. My understanding is that the Sanders family started the freemason lodge here in Hemisphere and your lodge is built upon their old homestead. Do I have that right?"
"Why yes, you seem to be rather well informed already. The Sanders family also helped design and build two of the churches downtown. They were both built after the city hall. Would you like to come in and have a seat?"
"Sure, that would be nice."
"I'm not supposed to allow anyone who isn't a member into hall itself. We can go upstairs to the apartment. Follow me please."
He entered the building and turned left to into a narrow hallway that led to the stairs up. Daniel didn't even get a glimpse of the ritual hall but he wasn't interested other than mild curiosity. At the top of the stairs, the man opened the door for Daniel.
"My name is Sheldon Fitzherbert. I'm pleased to meet you."
"Thank you Sheldon. I am Daniel Corgan. In particular, I am looking into a series of robberies where the burglar was looking for something specific. Each family had an object that was a family heirloom. We think these were the targets. I was wondering if the Sanders family had anything similar that might be the burglar's next target."