Winchester's Secrets

Nine☄️

"Mayor, we have a new lead and I came to ask about it." I said, as I entered his office. I struggled to not shout, or show my anger. He knew what had happened to his wife.

He glanced up at me, before returning his attention back to the papers he had been signing on when I came in.

I already called the cops who were on standby. If what the journal said was true, he would be arrested.

After a few minutes, he smiled and nodded for me to continue.

"Sir, we found your daughter's journal. She made mention of the fact that you didn't tell her about her real mother." I continued, trying to slowly unfold the story from him.

Inclining his head, he looked at me curiously, "Yes, I already told you that. Did she mention anything else?"

"As a matter of fact, she did. She also mentioned that you know how her mother died, and it wasn't a house fire." I finished calmly, watching for his reaction.

For a second, I saw fear, and worry on his face. Just as soon, it was gone and replaced by a look of sheer curiosity.

"That's what killed my ex-wife. What else could have killed her? She was probably still angry about everything, and wrote something else." The mayor replied calmly, too calmly for my liking.

I frowned, "According to your daughter, you and your current wife killed her mother."

"How do you even know that's her handwriting? I didn't kill anybody." He muttered, in a panicked voice as he stood up looking sideways frantically.

"We've seen her other write-ups, and it all matches. Mayor, it would be better for all of us if you started talking." I said, making sure he heard the disappointment in my voice.

Looking miserable suddenly, he sat down and held his head in his hands. "She's right, my current wife killed my ex-wife. I didn't help her do it, but I knew about it.

I was more shocked to hear it come out from his own mouth. This was the mayor everyone in the town looked up to. I shook my head, all was not always what it seemed.

I was fuming, but I had to be as calm as possible in this.
"Why did your current wife kill Emily's mother?" I asked, even though the truth was glaring.

"I and Emily's mother had been having problems in our marriage, two years after Emily was born. Frustrated, I cheated on her with my current wife. It was supposed to be a one time thing, but somehow it continued. My current wife became jealous and wanted me to marry her, as my marriage at that time was on the brink of breaking totally." He mumbled, as he cleaned his eyes. Was he crying?

After a few moments, he continued, "Somehow, I and my dead wife resolved our differences and we put the past behind us. I decided to break up my affair, my mistress was very angry. One day, I came back to find my wife dead in a house fire.
She died in that fire, and my current wife made sure of that.
She told me about her involvement after my wife had been confirmed dead. I couldn't go to the police to report her, my reputation would be ruined especially as I had been running for mayor that year." He finished, sobbing quietly.

I was dumbfounded. He didn't kill his ex wife, but he knew about it and didn't say anything. That made him guilty too, but not as guilty as his current wife. I never trusted that woman.

I had one more question, as I put all the facts together, "This means your wife is responsible for kidnapping your daughter. Is that right, Mayor?" I asked, dripping sarcasm on my last word.

Silently, he nodded his head.

"Mayor Daniel, you're being arrested for being the accessory to the murder of your ex wife. You have the right to remain silent or anything you say will be used against you in the Court of Law." I said, as professionally as I could muster.

Dejectedly, he stood up as I called in the guys who would keep him there. Because he was the current mayor, we couldn't keep him in the local police station, at least not yet. However, his daughter's life was in danger because of him. Shaking my head, I walked away to meet my assistants.

*****

22nd December 2019

"The mayor isn't in his office anymore." I heard a voice from my phone say.

"What?" I screamed back jumping out of bed before rushing into my car. Destination: White House.

I was frustrated, and angry. Mrs. Ann Brooke wasn't in the mansion when we got there. The butler told us she had been last seen yesterday. How did she know we would come looking for her? It seemed like as we took a step forward, something dragged us back.

It was three days to Christmas, and here I was chasing the Mayor and his family. The whole town was glittering with red, yellow and green lights and Christmas hymns and songs filled the air.

When we got to his office, everything was normal, except for the obvious fact that he was nowhere to be found. I would have taken him to the station but it was against the constitution of Winchester. A lot of things in this town had to be changed.

The whole office was turned upside down but no sign of him anywhere. Did he suddenly disappear? I looked around once more looking for any hidden doors, but finding none.

Angry, I hit the central table and that's when something happened. The table moved to the left, revealing an orange leather rug we hadn't noticed before on the ground. Flipping it sideways, there was an open space in the ground.

I frowned, a hidden passage. It all made sense now. Our mayor was worse than I thought this afternoon.

"Hey, bring torches. We're going down there, I had to find where it leads to." I said to no one in particular.

Slowly, I and my assistants made our way into the darkness of the passage, with the fear of the unknown in our minds.

*****

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