Chapter I
It was a little after 8:00 PM when Jack pulled into Lynn’s driveway; listening to the Beach Boys on the radio. He noticed light coming from one of the first-floor windows. Good, he thought, Lynn was home. He had tried to phone earlier in the day but there had been no answer. At least, the trip across town wasn't in vain. Just then his peripheral vision picked up a flash of light coming from the upstairs window. He turned off his head lights, put the car in park and turned off the ignition. “She must be taking pictures again” Jack thought. Lynn was very good with a camera; she had once waited behind a large rock on the beach next to an old water logged tree that had washed up on the shore. As the waves came in they would rock the log gently back and forth. Once in a while the water would hit the log just right, and it would shoot out a spray of water from a knot hole and create a beautiful fountain effect. With the sun beginning to set and waiting over an hour for precisely the right picture, a seagull gracefully floated down landing on the log. Just then a wave hitting the log sent a jet of water into the air. The setting sun in the background shown through the fountain of water turning each droplet into a sparkling diamond as the startled seagull jumped into flight. With its wings spread wide it launched itself in the direction of the camera, and Lynn snapped the shot that would win her first prize in Photo Monthly.
The snow crunched under his feet as Jack stepped out of his 57 ford and made his way to her front door. Jack paused and rang the door bell. He could hear footsteps running down the stairs to greet him but as the footsteps approached then ran past front door, Jack could hear the back door open, and the footsteps fell silent. Jack wondered what had just happened. He tried to give the door handle a twist, but it was locked. He hurried around to the back door and found it agar. Something was not right with this picture. Jack stepped inside and called her name. There was no response, He reached around and flipped the switch for the back porch light on. There were two sets of fresh foot prints in the snow, one set he had just made the other a large print but at a much greater interval, as though the individual was in a hurry to get away. Jack closed the door and went to the bottom of the stairs and once again called for Lynn, this time much louder. Still no response came from the second floor. His mind began to race as he hurriedly made his way to the top of the stairs.
Lynn’s room was straight ahead, and her door was half open. The other two rooms on the second floor were a second bedroom and a small bathroom. Jack pushed against the door opening it all the way. The room was in shambles, and Lynn was laying motionless face down on the bed. Jack placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a shake, as he did a large spot of blood on the bed became visible “Lynn” Jack uttered. Her motionless body remained still. Jack quickly checked for a pulse but could not find one.
It was time to get the authorities involved. Jack reached for the phone that was always on the night stand, but it was missing. As he looked around the room, he saw the phone lying on the floor as if it had been thrown there, and the line had been severed in the struggle. It was then he realized he should leave the room as it was and not tough anything. He hurriedly made his way to the stairs and braced his dissent with his left hand on the banister. He quickly removed his hand thinking of the finger prints he was leaving. To remove them would be a mistake because in doing, so he may also remove the finger prints of the person that had fled the house minutes ago, besides that would look suspicious in itself. It was better just to touch as little as he could from this point on.
He ran down the stairs taking two and three steps at a time and into the dining room where there was another phone. The downstairs was relatively untouched; nothing seemed to be out of place. The phone was where it was supposed to be as he picked it up and after hearing a dial tone called the police.
