The Hometown Crisis

The Hometown Crisis

By Ryan Liguori



As the ’89 Alfa Romeo Spider gleamed black and cruised down the highway, its driver pressed a button on a cell phone that was hooked up to the dash.  Sidian Lombardi trained his eyes calmly on the midwinter road.  He’d been expecting this call.  He was returning to his hometown to visit some old friends.  It had been several years since he first left, and he certainly had no lack of stories for his old school buddies.  There always seemed to be the strangest situations cropping up around him, and his natural talent for seeing the less-than-obvious had shown through as he ran into countless obtuse crimes or unsolvable mysteries that he managed to work his way through, usually with at least a little difficulty.  He’d even taken to naming the escapades he found himself in.  The Pickaxe in the Lamp Shade would be a tale for another day.  At the moment, he was ready to have a nice, calm conversation with a girl he’d known since elementary school.

“Oh my god Sid you’ve gotta hurry, some one was killed this morning!”  Sidian just about jumped to the ceiling of the car as the female voice erupted nonstop from the car stereo.  The car swerved a little on the slushy road, but he managed to pull it under control before there was an accident.  It seemed that this trip was about to get a little more grim.  He’d need some more information.

“J-” She was still talking, nonstop.  “Ja-Jan.  Jan!”  He just about had to yell to get a word in edgewise.  “Just calm down, tell me slowly…slowly…what happened.”  His voice was practiced and smooth.  If someone was hysteric, the first thing to do was calm them down, and Sid had done a lot of calming down over the years he’d been gone.

“I-I don’t know.  I mean, it’s just so—just get here, quickly!”  She hung up before he could respond.  He glanced at the sign he was passing.  The next exit was the one he would have to get off.  Making sure that his was the only car for quite some distance on the road, he adjusted his rear view mirror so that he could see himself.  A pair of hazel eyes stared tiredly back at him.  He’d hoped to have stopped at home first to clean up a bit.  He hadn’t shaven since the day before, and his short, black hair was unkempt from the long drive, half of which he’d napped through. 

As he turned the car smoothly up the exit ramp, a thought crossed his mind that sent chills down his spine.  He wasn’t out on the road anymore.  This was a small town, one that he grew up in.  Whoever was murdered, it was likely that it was someone he knew.  It was also likely that he knew the murderer, as well.

The Alfa turned into the town.  Even as he passed the first few houses, his tired eyes flicked towards one in particular.  It was his mother’s house.  He was staying there for a week, and he’d planned on stopping and taking a nap as soon as he got into town.  A 7 hour drive drains a good portion of your energy, and this one had been 8 hours long.  Unfortunately, there was no time to rest.  He forced himself to bypass the house and continue on towards the murder scene.  Luckily he didn’t have far to go.  It was a small town, so it was only another 3 blocks before he found himself parked next to a police car.

In no mood to wait, he shoved the door open and quickly stepped out.  The door slamming caught the attention of the police officers standing nearby.  One of them immediately broke away from the group and approached, brandishing his badge as if the uniform didn’t give him away.  “I’m sorry sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave the area, this is a crime scene, and-“

“And no civilians are allowed in the area, I know, I know.  I’ve heard it all before.  Look.”  The cop didn’t seem too surprised at the answer.  He didn’t look very amused, either.  “If you just let me talk to Chief Casey, we can avoid any wasted time, officer-” He squinted to see the nametag.  “Officer Hall.  Can I call you Steve?”

“You can call me sir.  And I really don’t think-”

“Ah!  If it isn’t Sidian Lombardi!”  A young woman in a police uniform approached and placed a hand on the first police officer’s shoulder.  “What good timing, you’re here to take a look at the crime scene, right?  Right this way.”  Officer Hall didn’t have time to respond as the woman pulled the young man into the alley.  Sidian looked at the ground along the way.  A relatively fresh sheet of snow was marked with a large number of footprints, mostly going in and out of the alley.

“Quite the outfit.  Give me the information.”  Sidian still wasn’t in the mood for small talk.  He hadn’t opened his eyes since they entered the alley.  He didn’t want to.  He couldn’t brace himself for what would happen.  Not until he heard the name of the victim.  He hoped for the sake of the investigation that he didn’t recognize the name.  Having personal interest in a case makes it very difficult to investigate properly.  “Who’s the victim?”

“Sarah Palmer.”  That wasn’t what he wanted to hear.  “A 20 year old woman, married straight out of high school to one Richard Dodge.  She worked as a jewelry store clerk, but she never had the keys to the store.  He’s a factory worker.”  Chief Aria Casey closed the notebook audibly.  He knew the victim, sure enough.  But now he could brace himself for it.  He let his eyes crack open very slightly.  The initial shock was enough force his eyes wide open.

         “What...”  Sidian swallowed his questions and his horror as he stared at the wall in front of him.  What he was looking at wasn’t anywhere near anything he’d ever seen.  And he’d seen a lot.  Sarah Palmer had been staked to the wall.  Someone had muffled her quite soundly and driven stakes through her wrists.  Sidian flinched at the scene, but forced himself to look on.  He did indeed know this woman.  In fact, he’d graduated with her.  She was that girl in school that everyone had admired.  Every guy at some point in time had wanted to date her.  Even Sidian had to admit that he’d once had a crush on her.  His mind began to click off emotionally, set itself into a detective mode.  He called up his information on her as he studied the corpse.

She looked different than the last time he saw her.  She had gained a considerable amount of weight.  Her face had begun to wrinkle with an overabundance of stress.  The hair that used to be a golden blond was dull and fell over her shoulders listlessly.  Even if she wasn’t dead, she had seen better days.  She must have had a hard time after graduating.  Her arms were spread wide, the metal stakes driven through the wrists in such a way that she was suspended, with her knees on the ground, her lower legs splayed to either side and the sides of her feet pressed against the wall.  There was some blood-flecked snow below her, thinner than out in the open:  The wind must have blown it in. 

Sidian recalled Sarah’s husband.  Rich Dodger:  The boy who had been the envy of all the other boys in high school.  A high school running back.  It was a textbook romance back then.  A popular guy, a popular girl:  instant prom king and queen.  From the rumors, after high school Rich’s football career hadn’t taken hold.  He didn’t get enough in scholarships to qualify for college, so he had decided to work at a factory in order to save up for a good football school. 

“Do you know the cause of death?”

“If I had to guess…”

“I didn’t ask for a guess.”

“...We don’t know yet.  I’d say she died from blood loss through the wrists.”

Sidian looked at the police chief evenly.  “Blood loss?  That’s quite possible.”  He swiveled around and looked at the building opposite the body.  “What is this here…the jewelry store she worked at, right?”  Almost directly across the alley was a door that presumably led to a back room in the store.  “Lots of expensive things in there, could she have been killed when someone was trying to get in?”

“No, we talked to her boss.  She’s never had the key on her person, so she would have had no reason to be back here.  Besides, if someone were breaking in, then they wouldn’t have made such a show of the murder.”  She crossed her arms and watched Sidian examine the door.  “There’s no sign of forced entry.  There are some scratch marks around the lock, but before you go jumping to conclusions…”

“The shop owner is a drunk, yeah.  Can’t tell you how many times I’ve explained that to other people.  How about footprints?  There’s plenty of snow, surely there was something.  Hold on; explain it to me as we walk.  I’ve seen all I need to.”  He turned and strode back towards his car.  The police chief fell quickly in step.

“That’s what’s making this so hard.  There were a lot of footprints, and quite a few going in and out of the alley, but they were all blurred by the snowfall and they’re all nondescript.”  Sidian stopped walking and turned to look back down the alley for a moment.  There wasn’t so much as a trash can to hide in, and only one locked door to speak of.

“Chief, tell me, have any particulars of the investigation been leaked to the public?  Have any civilians had the chance to see the body or gather any information about murder at all?”

“None whatsoever.”

Sidian climbed into his car and took a deep breath.  He felt like he was going to retch, but he held himself back.  After a few more deep breaths, he finally felt ready to head home to think.  However, just as he turned the key in the ignition, something slammed against the driver’s side window.  Sidian jumped again, making a mental note to get a higher roof for his car.  He landed back in his seat and brought a hand to rub his head, turning to look at the offending object.  Some kid who barely looked to be old enough to be in high school had his face and hands pressed against the glass.  “Are you Sidian Lombardi?!”

Sidian sat at the kitchen table of his mother’s house, rubbing his forehead.  Somehow, he’d managed to take on a temporary assistant.  The kid sitting opposite him was short.  His black hair was mussed and unkempt.  He had a sweater and a pair of jeans on, with a Christian cross hung on a chain around his neck, and was sipping tea.  He was also doing a poor job of hiding his distaste for it.  The car ride over had been strangely silent, so Sidian began the conversation.  “Ok, if you want to help, you need to know all the details.  What do you know about the victim?”

“Let’s see; she’s 20 years old, Caucasian female, married straight out of high school-”  He went on, just about listing her entire profile.  It sounded like it was straight out of the police report.  “-and yesterday she had a day off of work, so it’s unclear why she would be at the store in the first place.”  The boy concluded with a deep breath and a sigh.

“Very astute.  Though you seem to know quite a bit about the woman’s personal life.  Are you sure you’re not a stalker?”  Sidian chuckled after he spoke.  The boy bowed his head and blushed in response.

“I…I have a bit of a confession.  I may not look it, but I’m in high school.  A Junior.  When I was a freshman, Sarah was a senior.  I kind of…had a crush on her.  It became a bit of a habit of mine to notice things about her.  Where she was, where she wasn’t, her work schedule.  I didn’t mean to, I wasn’t actively chasing her around, but those things just jumped into my mind.  I guess you could say I was a bit…”  He paused there.  Sidian had folded his hands in front of his face and had been staring at this kid the whole time.  Thinking back, he remembered a story about a kid who had advanced 2 years to high school.  A prodigy, they called him.  His name was…

“Stone!  Marcus Stone!”  Marcus tilted his head as he looked across the table.

“You know me?”

“I just remembered hearing about you.  Sorry I startled you.  Now, tell me what you think.  With the evidence compiled now, what line would you follow?  What do you think happened?”  Sidian rested his hands on the table, again intertwining his fingers.  He listened intently as Marcus began.

After a long pause, Marcus spoke.  “I…would want to investigate the husband.”  His hand was visibly trembling now.  “You saw the body, Sarah’s condition had deteriorated.  That would suggest poor living conditions.  Perhaps things were so bad that her husband took his frustrations out on her.”

Sidian clapped.  “Brilliant.  Let’s go with that, shall we?  What do we know about Richard Dodge?  Ex high-school football star, couldn’t get into college due to lack of funds.  He’s working to save up for it now, at the factory just outside of town.”

“He’s a very frustrated person.  He’s never hit Sarah as far as I know, but he never treated her well either.  To him, she was just there.  An…object.”  Sidian frowned as Marcus spoke.  The boy was getting angrier and angrier, and was trembling more as he spoke.  “It was only a matter of time until he snapped.  She deserved a lot better than him.  Anyone who would do something so cruel…I can’t imagine the pain, having those stakes driven through her wrists…”  Marcus pounded his hand on the table, causing the tea cups to shudder.  He seemed to recoil, as if he’d just punched a dog who had done nothing wrong.  He took a few deep breaths and a swig of tea and finally calmed down.

“Right, so he was inattentive.”  Sidian closed his eyes and nodded, receding into thought.  “I have no solid evidence as of yet, but I have some ideas that I’d like to look into.  You said you had some insight into Sarah’s home life?  Something you’d be willing to testify in court?”

“Anything I can do to help.”

“Good.  We should head down to the police station and clue them in.  The shorter the investigation, the better.

No more than 10 minutes later, they sat in a closed room with the chief of police.  Aria shot Sidian a quizzical look after regarding Marcus for a short time.  Sidian nodded his approval silently, making sure she knew that he had to be there for this.  “This is Marcus Stone.  He says that he’d be willing to testify in court against Richard Dodge.  I decided that he should be here while we discuss the case.”

“Sidian, I’m a cop.  I can’t-”  She stopped as he raised his hand and looked evenly at her.

“No one knows what we’re talking about in here, unless you’re recording without my knowing.”  Something in the tone of Sidian’s voice made her shake her head and reach for something on her belt, only to pull away a moment later.  “Right, so Marcus here had a bit of a crush on Sarah.  He says that there was a lot of tension between the couple, and he believes that deteriorating home condition and an unstable personality on Richard’s part may have caused him to snap, per se.  Marcus here really revered Sarah, so I think he wants justice done properly.”

Chief Casey watched Sidian’s eyes carefully, trying to read them.  She then turned to Marcus.  “Is this true?”

“Every word.”  Marcus had flushed red again and turned his head.  He was apparently embarrassed of his crush.  Not that it would do him any good now.  He seemed to shrink into his chair, looking even shorter than he was to begin with.

“One thing bothers me…”  Sidian leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees.  “It’s just weird, if a full grown running back were to stake someone to the wall, why would she be on her knees?  It would be much easier to ”  Marcus visibly twitched in his chair.  Both the police chief and Sidian calmly eyed Marcus.

“Wh-what are you talking about?  It was probably easier to-”

“And more, it’s quite an elaborate way to dispose of a body.  Not a very clean one either, there’d be clues all over the place.  Surely you realize, Marcus, that she couldn’t have died on that spot.  There was hardly any blood on the ground, yet one of the major arteries was nicked enough to have made her bleed out.  No, she died some other way.  To guess I’d say she was drugged, I’m sure the autopsy will reveal a deadly amount of some poison or another in her system.  The third thing I found interesting is the question of why.”

“She…She was murdered by her husband, she had to be.  He’s a cruel, heartless man who-”  Marcus was speaking quickly, but Sidian was quick to interject.

“Not why she was killed, Marcus.  Why she was put in that position.  Why, with her arms spread wide open, with stakes driven through her wrists.  Why, she almost looked…”  His eyes moved to stare at the cross around his neck.  “Glorified.”

The silence could have been cut with a knife.  Then the laughing began.  Marcus tilted his head back and laughed, going so far as to double over and slap his knee as he laughed.  The boy who had asked to help in this investigation was long forgotten.  When he looked back at the pair of law enforcers, his eyes were wide with frenzy.  “You really are brilliant, aren’t you?  Not even any forensic evidence, amazing!”  He burst into another fit of uncontrolled laughter.  Chief Aria reached for her handcuffs, but Marcus continued anyway.  “I had to do it.  I couldn’t let him torture her any more.  She’s free now!  Free!”  And those were the last words Sidian heard him speak.  Aria had to nearly drag the laughing maniac out of the room.  When the door closed, Sidian sighed.  He stood and strode out of the room.  He paused at the front door of the police station, listened to the echoing madness, and left to get some well deserved rest.