CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The nine-one-one call came into the sheriff’s office at ten o’clock PM. Officer Aileen who had worked for the sheriff’s department for over twenty years sat at the desk taking the calls and sending out information to the appropriate officer on duty.

  This call was not the usual call that Aileen would normally receive. This call was an alert and cry for help,” Good evening this Aileen at the sheriff’s department how may I assist you tonight?” Aileen asked in her calm voice.

  “ Help, help me please God help me, he’s gone crazy . Shurley, where’s Shurley?’ the female screamed over the phone making it clear that whoever she was she was in great fear.

  “ Ma’am, take a deep breath. May I ask your name?” Aileen continued trying to get the caller to calm down long enough to identify herself.

  “ This Hazel, Aileen and I need Sheriff Shurley, quick. Please send Shurley now! He’s going to kill me.” The phone call ended abruptly leaving Aileen in a panic.

  “ Captain Cole, it’s Aileen at the station. L back nine-one-0ne from Hazels’ and Hank’s place.” Aileen announced as she radioed Shurley Cole, her Captain.

  Within seconds Captain Shurley Cole radioed the station, “ Officer 2475, this is Captain Cole, come back.” Shurley replied waiting to hear from Aileen with a worried feeling in gut.

  “ Captain, I just received a nine-one-one call from Hazel at her home. She’s saying someone has gone crazy and is trying to kill her. She’s requested your presence at the house. Be advised that could been weapon involved, unclear. No further contact.” Aileen reported to the captain.

  Shurley’s gut feeling just increased tenfold as she responded to Aileen,” Ten-Four home base. I’m Ten- Eighteen to the scene. Send a back-up officer to assist. Twenty-Four-Seventy-Five out.” Shurley hit her red and blue lights and change directions as she was on her way home. Now she would need to contact her children and let them know that she would not be home anytime soon. She was used to taking late night calls, but this one bothered her more than normal. Hazel had shared with her months ago that she had begun to feel closed in living in Hershel. Hazel had made it known to her friend the captain that she was ready to sell and move to Florida. Something about the last time she had spoken to Hazel was now coming to her mind. Shurley had a very bad feeling and soon she would walk straight into a nightmare that no one could have an answer for.

  Shurley made her way back outside to the front porch. The scene inside the home of Hank and Hazel made no sense and she had to make sure that the house was protected as a crime scene. Her officer of five years, Ryan Goings specialized in crime scene evidence and evaluations arrived minutes after Shurley discovered the bodies. He exited his sheriff’s patrol car ready to overlook the scene. He was a rather young man of thirty-five with at least four years in criminal behavior, crime scene evaluation and securing evidence. For a small town in nowhere Oklahoma Ryan was more than highly educated for this scene.

  Shurley had placed a call to the office for two officers to help secure the outside of the home and to start checking for any indication of any one trying to enter the home in order to do harm to these two citizens of Hershel. She walked out to greet Ryan and explain what she had discovered inside the home, “ Evening Ryan. We have two deceased bodies inside. “She stopped taking a deep breath, hanging her head for a second the continued,” It’s Hank and hazel. Both have been shot to death.” She fought back the tears that were welling up in her eyes. How she hated to go back inside where her good friend Hazel laid in a pool of blood.

  Ryan looked straight ahead at the house saying, “ The other body, was it Hank?” he asked as he took steps towards the front porch.

  “ Yea, it’s Hank. Shot in the chest, I think. Both are dead.” Shurley responded flatly as she followed Ryan up the stairs.

  Within a minute of standing on the porch two more sheriff’s patrol cars arrived pulling into the driveway with lights on. Each officer exited his car walking up to the front porch not sure they were fully understanding how this crime had occurred.

  “ Captain, what did you need? How can we help?” Louie Parks a ten-year veteran of the force asked. He felt sick at knowing that his buddy Hank and Hazel both lay dead inside their house of more than forty- nine years. “ Capt., any ideas of what happen here?

  “ Not yet Louie, we’ve just got everyone here to help secure the house and grounds. You both should put up some yellow crime scene tape, just in case there are onlookers tomorrow. We need to do this by the book, no mistakes.” Shurley instructed the officers. “We have a killer running around until we know more. Be cautious. Start out here. Look for foot prints at the door and windows. Check to see if there are any sign of someone trying to open a window. Boys, please, go slow and look everywhere.” She lay out her plan for securing and investigating what had happen and why.

  Ryan explained that no one was allowed inside until he had reviewed the house and the bodies. “We need to place a call to the coroner in Palisade right now. We have to get a report from an official and we can’t do anything legal yet. Carl, go put in a call straight to the police station over at Palisade. Tell them we’ve had a double homicide and need their coroner stat. Sheriff and I will inspect the interior. Louie, you start looking for clues around the house. Carl after you make that call put up the yellow crime scene tape. Gents, this will be a long night I suspect. Call your wives.”

  The stars in the night sky shone brightly as the shadow of death floated easily over the home of Hank and Hazel. Without anyone knowing the angel of death had spread its wings taking the first of many.

  Leland sat in his room smoking a thin cigar feeling the power of the dark master’s will. He smiles as he spoke out loud to himself, “ So the dominoes shall fall and along with each one another soul offered up to the lord of darkness. Let the annihilation of wholesome goodness fall beneath the feet of the mighty master of all life and death.”

  ‘And the dominoes will fall as the flames rise up consuming all good things.’

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The initial investigation of the murders took all night as Shurley, Ryan, Louie and Carl worked to gather what clues they could find. The coroner from Palisade had arrived an hour after the sheriffs had been on the scene. Dr. Walter Hammond whom had been the coroner for Palisade had arrived looking tired and sleepy.

  He made his way into the house where he founded Shurley standing close to the first body which was identified as Hank. Shurley greet Dr. Hammond shaking his hand and apologizing for the late hour,

  ” Walter, sorry to call so late but I didn’t have any choice. Over here.” She concluded pointing to Hank’s body sprawled out on the dining room floor.

  Walter took a couple of steps bending down to look closely at Hank’s still body which was already becoming stiff from death. He looked to Shurley speaking in a low baritone tone, “ Hum, Hank. Let’s see what we have here. Help me turn him over Ryan.” Walter instructed Ryan.

  Ryan squatted down on one knee making sure to keep away from the pool of blood underneath Hank’s body. He slid his hand under hank’s shoulder and his hip as Walter reached up helping Ryan push the body up and over. What became evident was a large bull wound in Hank’s chest slightly to the left of center. There was no other gunshot wounds noted as there was a very large pool of blood where the hole in Hank’s chest would have laid on the floor.

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  Walter looked on the backside of Hank’s body noting that the bullet had not exited from the back. There was no weapon noted close to hank’s body indicating that Hank was not threatening Hazel or anyone else that could have been present. Looking up at Shurley Walter stated into his recorder, “Body of a sixty-two-year-old man found in home with one bullet wound to upper left of chest. No exit wound noted on back of subject. The decease has passed from excessive blood loss. No signs of any other injuries noted at this time. More to report after a full autopsy.

  Walter looked around asking his next question, “ Was there a gun found on scene maybe near Hank’s body?’ h standing to his full height.

  “ No, not close to Hank. The only gun found is over there by Hazel’s body.” Shurley showed him pointing to where Hazel laid.

  Dr. Hammond moved around Hank’s lifeless body to stand right by Hazel’s head. He bent down turning her head to the left in order to see the wound that was clearly apparent right above her right temple. Without having to look too far Walter found the thirty-eight-caliber gun laying on the floor not too far from Hazel’s right hand. He leaned over her still body inspecting the wound on her head knowing without having to decide further that Hazel had inflected the gun shot to herself.

  “ Well, Hazel apparently shot herself, its self-inflected. This definitely as you can see by where the bullet entered her skull and here’s the weapon. He said picking up the gun by its trigger with his ink pen and placing it into an evidence bag by its self. Without nothing more to say Walter stood up and simply finished his evaluation,” We need to bag them and get them to my office. I’ll get to their autopsies in the morning. I’m pretty sure we aren’t going to find much more, maybe some alcohol content, but that’s about all I expect. Shurley any idea why Hazel would do this?” Walter asked as he made his way towards the front door.

  Shurley stood beside Hazel’s body looking down at the woman that she had called her friend for almost forty years. There was nothing in the world that came to mind as to why Hazel of all people would kill Hank and herself. She was in a daze as to what could have happen.

  As Shirley began to make her way out of the kitchen area to go back outside the house phone rang. Shirley turned to look at the phone wondering who would be calling at this exact moment. She made her way over the small table in the living room picking up the receiver speaking, “ Hello.”

  Mom, mom is that you? Are you okay?” the voice on the other end was asking.

  Shirley turned to look at Ryan knowing that she would prefer that she didn’t have to pass on this awful news to the caller,” No, it’s Sheriff Cole. My I ask who’s calling, please.?” Shirely inquired sadly.

  “ OH my God, Shirley it’s me Jancie. Is everything okay?” She asked almost knowing that nothing would ever be the same because this night had brought the darkest of dark tragedies that Janice could ever imagine.ank, but over there by Hazel.

  The next several words out of Shirley’s mouth were met with screams , hollering and sobs that out sounded the worse wind storm. The heartfelt pain that Janice was feeling came roaring out through the speaker on the phone as Shirley swallowed hard trying to hold herself together.

  Ryan stepped up taking the receiver from Shirley and introducing himself to Janice’s husband, Ben. Ryan talked clearly and without a rush trying to inform him of everything that they had found so far. The wailing of Janice’s broken heart could be heard in the background. This was the hardest of all things and situations that law enforcement officers faced. There were never enough words, reason or explanation to take the hurt and pain away.

  Almost two hours later both bodies had been loaded up in an ambulance for transportation to Palisades coroner’s office. The yellow tape remained up and the lights turned off. The gun was taken for evidence as pictures by the dozen had been taken and would eventually end up with all the other items. There was not much left to said as each police car pulled off making their way back to town. Ryan and Shirley survived the house and grounds once more before loading up in Shirley’s car to leave.

  For the longest time neither of them spoke a word. To be called to this home for this terrible thing was almost unspeakable. Neither of them had any words for what they were feeling. The hardware store would remain noticeable closed as customers would one by one hear the sad news about the loving couple whose lives had ended up in such a tragic way. There just were no words to explain the why, how and what for about this.

  For the town of Hershel, the nightmare they all thought that had escaped from that only big towns suffer had come home to rest. Little

  did anyone know that this was only the very beginning to a force that had taken hold of this sleepy little town from nowhere America.

  The true forces that had embedded itself into the fabric of this wholesome little town had just begun. The dominoes had been lined up, positioned and readied to fall, and fall they would, leaving only the flames, ashes and cries of a town once secured in quaintness, peace and harmony.

  Those days were well on their way to becoming vanquished forever. A new era had arrived in Hershel and no one was safe or out of play. The master had sent his greatest warrior to do his bidding and darkness and heart ache would rein for a long, long time to come.

  Now, it begins in earnest.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Saturday morning the sun rose over the town of Hershel bringing what should have been a very celebratory day after the high school varsity team had won its first game of the season. News traveled much faster in a small town than anywhere else. On this Saturday there was almost no one that had not heard about Hank and Hazel’s death.

  With every hour that past more batches of flowers showed up at the unopen doors of the hardware store in town. Someone had hung a beautiful wreath on the front doors with a sign hanging below with the message saying, “ Forever our Friends”. Every now and then a few town’s persons would gather on the sidewalk to share a prayer for the couple who had graced the town for nearly fifty years.

  A solemn cloud hung over the town and the mood of the citizens could be felt. Leland walked with even steps as he stopped at the front desk to speak to Becca knowing full well what had happen. Yet, he could not resist acting as though he had no idea what had passed last night.

  “ Morning. Could you tell me if there is an antique store in town?” Leland asked with a pleasant voice watching Becca’s sadden face.

  Becca turned to gaze at the strange man that she was disliking day by day and for what reason she could not say, “ Yes. Go down to the end of Main Street and take a right on Melbrite Road. It is about four stores down from the corner on the right. It’s actually Melbrite’s Antiques and Things.” She answered not looking him in the eye.

  Leland knowing that she had a double reason to be upset asked as if he cared if all was alright. “ I’m sorry Miss, but you seem upset. Are you okay?” he spoke with a small smile of fake concern.

  Standing up straight she threw her words at him, “ Well two of our very good friends who were business owners have passed away. It’s just horrible, truly. So much is happening all at the same time. I cannot figure why?” she spewed her anger at him with restraint.

  Leland stood in front of the receptionist desk for a few seconds before replying,” Well it’s been long said that tragedy come in a group of threes. Things have a way of thinning themselves out and as far as I know no town no matter how tightly knitted the citizens are ever passed over from the reality of life’s sufferings. Life and death are intertwined and no one can escape that.” His dark eyes widen as he enjoyed putting people, these humans in their place. Not anyone could escape pain and dying.

  Feeling like this dark, weird man was judging her she snapped back,” You are not a member of this town or its business affairs. She did not even know Hank or Hazel. I think maybe you would be much better off keeping your unwanted opinion to yourself. I for one could care less about your theory of life and death. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do. Enjoy your day sir.” She turned and walked off in a huff. The nerve of that strange man that no one knew to say such a thing about life and death as though someone had just spilt milk on the floor. Becca refused to hear any more so she left him standing there alone.

  Leland watched as Becca disappeared to the back office smiling as she left. He knew he would be to rattle her seeing as how he knew exactly what had occurred with her and Troy last night. While Becca tried to act as though nobody was talking about that inappropriate kiss, Leland knew everyone would be talking about it sooner than later.

  With the only form of happiness that Leland could experience he left the hotel and headed out to The Tasty Treats for breakfast. He was assured that there would be a bountiful of gossip there. How could one little town from nowhere America had two of its most prominent citizens be shot dead, one was murdered and the other committed suicide while the new head coach of the high school football team got caught kissing a seventeen-year-old senior cheerleader.

  In Leland’s mind things were starting just great for a Saturday in Hershel. In a strange shift he felt a change in his mood as he could barely wait to be seated in the café and begin to enjoy the show. Silly humans how they thought that their whining lives were so relevant in the scheme of such an enormous universe. Let the dark party begin.