"C R I M E - T I M E" the unravel/Chapter 4: by- tomevans

t h e u n r a v e l: Chapter 4/"crime-time"

When James Sterling pulled up to his home on this bitter-cold January night, it appeared as if the social event of the season was underway, but as he would soon find out, his assumption couldn't have been farther from the truth. After muddling through the crowd of authorities, neighbors, and usual nib-noses - it was almost instant that James, Lydia, and Dylan Sterling would embrace in an emotional embrace. The truth, as hard as it might've been to accept, was that Anna Marie was not ever coming home- even worse, her demise was the ultimate terror. The Sterling home had become a crime-scene. A crime-scene that no-one in this close-knit community could understand or fathom. Evil was lurking somewhere in Timberlake, Wisconsin, and there were a million questions lingering that had no answers..............

As the family tried to come to grips with the horrific murder of one of it's own- Detective Dan Ricketts was methodically trying to salvage a scenario behind the awful crime. Ricketts was in his mid-50's, a loner, a listener to the oldies station out of Madison, Wisconsin, and a man on a lousy diet. He had moved to Timberlake nearly l0-years ago, to be closer to his son Jake, and the only grandchild he had, Jude. He was a 25-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, and after cracking a large child pornography ring- suffered the loss of his daughter Katie, who mysteriously vanished when she was l0-years old. He also endured the suicide of his wife, Ellen, who couldn't cope with the trauma of losing a child she loved so dearly. He sat at his desk inside the Timberlake Police depot, staring at a photograph album that once belonged to Anna Marie Sterling, now deceased and a victim of a violent homicide. A large book full of memories, memories that once were those of a teenage girl who was taken way too soon- before her dreams and aspirations could be realized.....

From his view and opinion- six pictures were missing from the photo-album. The photographs that hid beneath clear plastic inside the album were just basic life pictures. Pictures with dogs, cars, friends, and family. Pictures that captured Anna's past. The photo's also timelined her mature-process. From cute little freckled-faced girl- to beautiful, pristine teenager, who was slowly evolving into a young-woman. There were many friends from many places inside of the photo-album, and it amazed Dan Ricketts to see how the family had grown into it's more lavish lifestyle, from modest beginnings. "Who is in the missing pictures"?, he asked himself, and did the killer escape with the photo's in hand? "Where did these folks come from, before Timberlake"? He wanted to get answers but was well aware of the timing, and knew he couldn't ask about the photo album and it's contents until the family had some time to grieve. He'd get some answers sooner than he expected. As he rose from his chair to head out into the cold winter night, his phone rang. "Have you got any suspects yet"?, the voice asked from the other end, "Who could do this to my sister"? "Sir, I want to find the answers for you and put this madman behind bars, but I need to know a couple of things", Ricketts replied to Dylan Sterling's questions. "When can we sit down and talk for a few minutes"?, Ricketts asked. "Tommorrow, afternoon, lunchtime- whenever", Dylan responded. "Okay, how about l:30 tomorrow afternoon"? Dan Ricketts asked. "Cool, I'll be there at l:30 tomorrow". After hanging up the phone, Ricketts grabbed his coat, and journeyed out into the darkness. He slipped into the drivers seat of his car, started it, and turned up the radio. The song Helter Skelter was gracing his oldies station. How fitting- he thought quietly, then he headed to his little apartment. His thoughts rattled aimlessly through his mind, "Someone linked to this family committed this crime, someone who wanted to keep their identity unknown, someone in those photographs".................

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