My Case Files: A Collection of Mystery & Crime Short Stories

CASE NO. 2: The Death of Samuel Townsend (pt. 1)

NOTE: For old time readers! I changed the female servant's name from Bertha to Rose. Happy reading!

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SAMUEL TOWNSEND KILLS HIMSELF

June 24, 1927
Black elite, 65-year-old Samuel Townsend was found dead in his mansion at his hometown in Nigeria. Townsend was said to be struggling with his issues with alcohol, prior to his death.

His daughter, Betty Louise Townsend-Welch, refuses to give any information nor speak about how she is feeling about this horrific incident. Her publicist speaks on behalf of her: "She is going through a tough time at the moment. She'd like to be left alone."

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June 22, 1927

Early into the summer, Betty was summoned by her father to their hometown in Nigeria. She and her husband flew to Africa to take care of some parts of the Townsend business. Meanwhile, their daughter was left at their home in New York, for the teenager had school projects to accomplish.

Although, as Betty arrived to Nigeria and faced her father, he was showed his disappointment when he was told that his granddaughter wasn't brought along. He wanted to see how much his little princess has grown over the full year he was away. He had flown to his hometown after announcing his break from his businesses in America to tend to his businesses in Africa.

Betty's daughter, Alicia Louise, undoubtedly loved the company of her grandfather. He would always bring her to carnivals, even at his age when he could not ride every ride anymore. He also brought her to plays even when he would probably end up explaining the story after all.

Betty's husband had then convinced her to consider having their twelve-year-old daughter spend a quick vacation at the mansion for the poor old man's sake and sanity. Betty had also thought that it would be, indeed, delightful for her daughter to finally visit the mansion. And so she had decided to fly back to America to fetch her daughter. They couldn't resist being overprotective of their only child, especially since the money their family had aquired also came with enemies and maniacs.

She thought her father and husband would work just well together. She reminisced on when her father welcomed Anthony into the family––he being of white complexion––but her father's understanding of love was enough not to rebuke his daughter for it. She felt even more in love with her then-fiancé, that she couldn't remove the picture of an additional branch in the family tree from her mind.

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June 23, 1927

When Betty had arrived back to New York she wasted no time to tell her daughter that she was coming to Africa that instant. As Alicia was packing her raiments, she did not fail to express her enthusiasm and this filled Betty with joy. That was until their maid had interrupted them.

"Madam, this is urgent," the maid spoke by the door and Betty told her to proceed. "I have devastating news for you, Madam," the petite lady said with an anxious look on her face.

"What is it?" Betty stood from her seat, anticipation clear.

"Your father... something horrible has happened to your father, Madam," the maid choked out.