Unfinished Business: The Nursing Home Murders

review.

PROLOGUE

Memories:

Sitting here, looking back, it seems like some kind of a weird dream. It all started so innocently, just kids playing and living their lives, being kids.

I remember it like it was yesterday, laughing; riding my bike with my best friend, looking forward to the Saturday matinee to see what new movie had come out. The biggest problem in life was the end of summer vacation, and the start of the school year. Wondering if I would have some old bat teacher who would bore me to tears, and put me in detention for not paying attention to her as she droned on and on about things I already understood, or just didn’t care about.

Then Gran died, and a dark cloud fell on life, making everything a little uglier, a little harder to deal with. After that, I did what I felt was right, always the hero, working to make others proud of me, trying so hard to be the good son. But it all went wrong

Now I’ve decided to tell my story, after all, I’m the only one who really knows the whole truth, right?

And so it begins …

BOOK 1 – BEGINNINGS

Chapter 1

April, 1978

Farmington, Connecticut. It was a great place to be a kid. There were old buildings that had been around since the days of the revolutionary war, many of them looking like the mansions in television shows. There were cemeteries with headstones dating back to the days of the Pilgrims.

In the woods, if you were lucky, you could find flint arrowheads from the days when the Indians lived in the area. The entire valley, for in reality that’s what it was, the Farmington River Valley, was lush with trees. It seemed you could not go anywhere without looking like you would get lost in a primeval forest, though in reality, modern roads ran throughout the entire region.

Small towns dotted the region, the nearest city being Hartford, some six miles away. Or Waterbury, around fifteen miles in a different direction. Of course, to an eight-year-old boy, the entire world seemed to be nothing but woods, trails, and parks. Not to mention, hills. There didn’t seem to be a flat piece of land for miles around, and indeed, there wasn’t. This is the foothills of the White Mountains. And though most people in the Country thought of the Atlantic Ocean when they thought of Connecticut at all, the reality was that the ocean was over 70 miles away by highway.

The Devil’s Playground, a State Park, was not far away. And the Farmington River ran right through town, so there were plenty of fishing spots, and places where kids could go swimming. Even if you didn’t have a suit, you could either swim in your underwear, or skinny-dip. Nobody cared if a few kids were cavorting in the river. It was a simpler time, in a quiet little town. In short, it was a great place to grow up.

Robbie Lacombe, age eight, and his family (mom, dad, and grandma) lived in Farmington. Gran lived in a house near the river, and Robbie and his parents lived around a half mile away.

Robbie loved to go visit his Gran, and it wasn’t a really long bike ride. Most of it was uphill until you got near Gran’s, then it went down a little. But that meant that on the way home, it was mostly downhill, and that made it much better, especially since Robbie liked to help his Gran around the house, and would sometimes be a little tired when he finally headed home.

One day in August, Robbie looked out the window of his bedroom, and saw it was going to be another beautiful fall day in New England. School had not yet started, and it being a weekday, there were no cartoons on TV, so he decided to take a ride on his bike to see grandma. Riding down the lane, he could smell the sweetness of the fallen leaves, and enjoy the beautiful colors. It was a great time to be alive, and a great place to be a kid. When he got to grandma’s house, she was tending her little vegetable garden, getting the last harvest in before closing it out.

Oh good! she exclaimed, Here’s Robbie! Just in time to pick the last few veggies, so we can mulch and close down the garden for the year. Of course, Robbie was thinking of strawberries, not veggies, but it was a start. He was already tasting grandma’s strawberry rhubarb pie, when she said, Just imagine the nice squash and zucchini we will have. So much for visions of pie! But Robbie loved his grandma, so he enjoyed being there, even if he had to work the garden, and think of veggies. There weren’t a lot of kids his age in his neighborhood, so Robbie spent a lot of time either riding his bike, or helping his grandma. Mom and dad worked a lot, so he really didn’t spend time with them until suppertime.

After breakfast, Robbie’s Mom would give him his lunch (or lunch money), and send him off to school. Most days he would ride his bike to school, unless the weather was really bad, then Mom would give him a ride, and pick him up after school. When school was out for the day, he was free to ride around until supper time, as long as he didn’t have a lot of homework to do. Mom would have a nice supper ready for him around 5:00, so he knew not to be late.

After helping grandma in the garden, she took him into the house for some milk and cookies. Homemade chocolate chip cookies! Robbie’s favorite. Just being with grandma made Robbie feel warm inside, loved, protected, and safe.

August flowed into September, and school started once again. Now Robbie had a little less time to ride his bike, but since he liked school, it was okay. Never one to really spend a lot of time with the other kids, Robbie got along okay with them, but preferred to be by himself. The teachers all said Robbie was a good student, but very quiet and withdrawn. Not sullen, he was happy enough, just not a loud and rambunctious child. Since he was starting third grade this year, Robbie knew who his teacher would likely be. Hopefully not old Miss Simmons, who it seemed had been teaching there for the last two-hundred years. And he really hoped it wouldn’t be Mr. Grisko, who talked in a monotone all the time, and made it very hard not to fall asleep in class. Robbie had a love for math and anything to do with logic. The math just came easily to him for some reason, and the logic was a holdover from his favorite TV show, Star Trek. The way Mr. Spock could figure out the solution to just about any problem was really cool.

Robbie had started learning Piano when he was five, and though he liked to be able to play songs, the practice was reeeeeeaaaaaallllly boring! And Mom always had the egg timer ready to go after supper, so he would practice his scales for exactly half an hour and his finger exercises. Then the song he was learning at the time. After that, if he wanted to, he could play whatever he wanted.

Robbie wasn’t much for team sports, but he loved to run, and jump, and climb trees. In gym class, he always did well in strength and speed contests, but he really didn’t care for the ball games and such. Dad was teaching him archery, and he really liked shooting at targets. He didn’t shoot at any animals, dad told him not to, and he couldn’t see hurting an animal just for sport. Robbie still spent a lot of time riding his bike, because he knew winter was coming, and with the snow, the bike would be put away for the winter. Of course, then came toboggans, sleds, ice skates, and all that. But Robbie’s favorite pastime was riding his bike in the beautiful New England woods. He would find trails, and imagine himself as an explorer, the first person to ever find this particular trail. Of course he knew that someone had to have made the trail, but that was part of the fun. He would be the one to finish the exploration.

One day, as Robbie rode his bike past his school, on the way to the trails in the woods, he spotted another boy standing next to a bicycle in front of a small mom & pop grocery store. Robbie decided to stop, since the boy didn’t look familiar. When he got to the front of the store and parked his bike, he asked the boy "what’s your name?

Michael, but everyone calls me Mikey said the boy.

Are you just visiting, or did you move here? asked Robbie.

We moved here last week, my dad got a better job offer here, so we came to this town. I used to live in a small town outside Chicago, but dad wanted to get away from the really rough winters there, and his company had an opening here, so here I am said Michael

Robbie had a feeling that he and Mikey could get along well, so he asked if Mikey wanted to go out and explore some of the trails in the woods.

Sure, sounds great! said Mikey. I love a good ride in the woods, and I hope there are plenty of trees to climb, too!

Robbie had found someone he could really be friends with. Although not one to hang around with friends much, Mikey was different. He could climb a tree almost as fast as Robbie, and ride his bike along the same trails Robbie did without getting lost or tired out. They both had the same strawberry blonde hair, same general build, and the same height. But where Robbie had hazel eyes, Michael’s were blue. The two of them made a good pair, acting like lords of the jungle. Life was good, and Robbie was making the most of it. Now when he went to help grandma, he had an extra pair of hands sometimes. The two of them cleaned out grandma’s attic, and found lots of interesting stuff, even some old clothes from the 1800’s, and an old bayonet from the civil war. Of course, Robbie gave the bayonet to grandma, even though it was rusty and dull, because he didn’t want to mess with a weapon. Funny thing, like all boys his age, he carried a Boy Scout pocket knife all the time, and whittled with it, but he knew the difference between a tool and a weapon.

A few days later, grandma supervised as they cleaned out the old shed. It was a lot of work, but he enjoyed it, because it was helping grandma, and because he was finding all kinds of interesting stuff. There were toys from many years ago, and grandma said he could have anything he wanted.

One afternoon, when Michael was not around, Robbie set off to explore a new set of trails he had found. It was a bright sunny day, and he was in the mood for adventure. Traveling as he always did, Robbie decided to try some new trails. He found one he hadn’t traveled yet, that didn’t seem to be used much, the trees almost growing over the trail, and small trees growing up from the trail surface itself. This trail took him over a couple of hills, and past a small stream. He knew he had gone a couple of miles, and stopped to have a drink from the canteen in his backpack. The Kool-Aid was a little warm, so he put it in the stream for a few minutes, to cool it down. The water was pretty cold, coming down from the mountains as it did. Once the drink was cooled down, he drank it, and ate a few crackers. Then he set off once again to explore. As he rounded a corner in the woods, he could see that the trees were thinning, and there was something in the distance. Curious, Robbie rode closer, until he could see that one of the trails passed through what seemed to be a natural fence of bushes, and wound around a building. It was an old Victorian style mansion, with gables, peaks, and ornamentation on the outside. There were even gargoyles on the edges of the roof. He called it the Ghost house, because it reminded him of the haunted house in the old TV show.

When he heard someone walking around the other corner of the building, Robbie left, and went back into the woods. Robbie pondered the old house, it seemed pretty cool, something he wanted to explore further, but he didn’t know who was there, and he didn’t want to get caught gawking at someone else’s house. After that day, Robbie made a point of riding by the old house as often as he could, because it seemed really cool to him.

One day, as he looked at the East gable, he noticed a movement in the window on the third floor. From where he stood, he couldn’t see much, so he cautiously crept a little closer, leaving his bike in the edge of the woods for a quick escape. It may have been his imagination, but as he crawled across the open space from the edge of the woods to a place where he could see better, it seemed that the air grew still, and a cold wind swept across the grounds. When he looked up, he noticed that the clouds had closed in, looking ominous and gray. Remembering all the ghost stories he had heard, he gulped, and wiped nervous sweat out of his eyes. By the time he managed to once again look up at the third floor window, the curtains were closed, and there was no sign of life. Puzzled, Robbie made his way back to where he had left his bicycle, and pedaled home. He thought about what he had seen and felt at the old house, but he couldn’t figure it out. He told Mikey about the new trail he had found and said there was a really cool house off the trail a little way, but he didn’t mention the old lady, or his fears that the old place was haunted. After all, he didn’t want his new friend to think he was a baby.

The weather turned cold and rainy for the next few days, so the boys didn’t return to the old house. When the weather finally turned decent again, and the ground had had time enough to dry out, Robbie set out once again to check out the old house. After a short trip through the woods, he found the path he was looking for, and followed it to his destination. When he arrived, and looked around, he noticed that though the lawn had been mowed, it was overgrown with weeds, and ivy was taking over most of the walls of the old mansion. It seemed as if someone was taking care of the place, but not doing a really good job of it. The paint on the outside was a little faded, and peeling in places. The windows were all intact, but ivy had grown over the walls, and in many places had caused the window frames to crack. The chimneys weren’t looking good either, with missing mortar in their joints, and a lot of black soot around the tops.

Robbie started riding by the house every day after school, but didn’t notice anyone looking out of the windows after the first time, though he did suspect that the curtains seemed to move a little on the third floor when he passed by.

Time went on, and as all things do in the life of a young boy, the thrill of the old house faded away, until he rarely thought about it at all. With winter coming in, Robbie helped his grandma to ready the house for winter, closing the storm windows, sealing the cellar windows with plastic and tape, putting the garden hoses away, and all the little things that had to be done for a home in New England when old Jack Frost was getting ready to make himself known once more.

Thanksgiving was right around the corner, and Robbie spent some time making a special card just for Grandma. He took his time carefully copying the picture of a turkey he found in a coloring book, and then he colored it in so it looked really neat. Then he copied the letters from a book on lettering that his Dad had, called calli … something, he couldn’t pronounce the word, but it had pretty letters in it. He put an extra special message inside, because he loved his grandma so much.

When the big day came, he waited to see what she would say when she opened her card. When she looked at how much work he had put into making her the perfect card, she hugged him tight, and told him how much she loved him, and just how special he was to her all the time. Grandma’s special helper. Robbie felt like his heart was going to pound out of his chest; he was so proud and happy.

Everyone ate too much turkey, and when his father sat back to watch football, and the ladies went to talk about woman stuff, Robbie went outside to play for a while.

Robbie walked to Michael’s house, to see what his friend was doing. The weather wasn’t too cold yet, being around two in the afternoon, it was still around fifty degrees.

Most of the leaves had fallen from the trees now, so they looked somewhat skeletal swaying in the fall breeze. There weren’t many kids out playing; most families were together for the holiday.

When he got to Michael’s house, he rang the doorbell, and waited as he heard people inside. To his delight, Michael answered the door.

Hey, what’s going on pal? Michael asked.

Nothin’ really, just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out, or go ride our bikes for a while. It’s not too cold today, and all the grown-ups want to do is watch football, or talk about each other Robbie replied.

Hang on a sec Michael said, then yelled into the house, I’m going out for a while to ride my bike, Ma. Back in a while!

The two boys took off, racing down Main Street, across the bridge, and up Center Street. They stopped to catch their breath for a minute, then decided to go look for possible sledding hills. Later in the winter, when the snow fell, it would be important to know where the good hills were.

Around five o’clock, the boys decided to head home, it was going to start getting dark soon, and neither of them had any lights on their bikes. Plus, it was starting to get a little chilly. So home they went. Robbie followed Michael to his house first, then went home alone.

In the days that followed, thoughts turned to Christmas, and presents. Robbie thought long and hard about his Christmas list. He didn’t really know if Santa was real or not, but to be on the safe side, he figured it would be best to make out his list.

Dear Santa,

I have been good this year, and did my best in school. I made Gran a card, and she really loved it. And I saw an old lady in some big building; it looks like a haunted mansion of some sort. So I want to ask for a few toys, but the first thing is the most important one.

1. Rescue the old lady from the Haunted House.

2. If you know God, please tell him that I love my Gran, and to please make her feel better.

3. A new pair of ice skates, mine are getting too small.

And the list continued, with the usual toys boys that age would like to have. Robbie went to sleep that night feeling a little better; maybe Santa could help the old lady, or at least get a message to Gran.

As December started, Robbie looked at the Farmer’s Almanac, trying to figure out when the first real snow of the year would be. But he could never really figure it out, so he decided to ask his dad.

Too soon, if you ask me said his dad, who then went on to rant about shoveling driveways, being late for work, and having to put something called snow tires on the car. Robbie couldn’t figure out how you could make tires out of snow, but that’s grown-ups for you!

Report cards came out, and once again Robbie came home with a good report, six A’s, two B’s and an A+ in math. Robbie’s parents rewarded him with a night at the pizza place, followed by Dairy Queen. They let Michael come along too, since he was Robbie’s best friend.

On Pearl Harbor day, Robbie and Michael made a wreath, and got a ribbon to put on it. On the ribbon they wrote Rest in Peace with a magic marker. Then they went to the local cemetery, and put it down in the section where the veterans were buried from the war. Robbie’s uncle was in that part of the cemetery; he had died in World War II. Robbie knew that the men in his family traditionally spent a few years in the military, doing their duty as his dad put it. He didn’t really know what that meant, but it sounded good, and made him