seymoure

     Hannibal Agamemnon was standing on his back porch waiting for his grandson. "And just how long do you think those fish will wait?" He called back into the kitchen.
     The eight year old rushed out, with egg yolk all over his chin, and dragging fishing gear behind him. "Sorry Pappy," He said, "Nana made me finish breakfast first."
     Mehitabell Agamemnon walked from the kitchen wiping her hands on her apron. "You are a growing child, and you need to eat breakfast."
     "We got bass to catch," Her husband told her.
     The Little boy stood with his rod in hand and looked up at the old man he adored. His beaming face made the eldest member in the Agamemnon family grin.
     "We gonna catch 'em all, Pappy?"
     "We've got to leave a couple for the folks who drive all the way in from the city just for the honor." The chortling grandfather said.
     It was at that moment the Police car pulled up.
     The word "Damn" escaped under the breath of both elderly people.
     Tooley Baker got out of the car, put his hat on, and walked to the back porch of the house.
     "Hey, Tooley," Said little Albert.
     "Hey, Albert," Said the Deputy. There was a pause, then he took another step towards the old man.
     "Mornin' Mr. A." He offered.
     "There another one, Tooley?" He said without looking at the officer of the law.
     "The Peterson boy, sometime last night." He admitted, "That makes 8 all together, since the 4 of July."
     The old man looked back at his wife of so many years. She knew what was going to happen, even though she hated it.
     The old man leaned down, and spoke to his grandson. "I am going to have to let you down, Albert. But Tooley here has something he wants me to look into."
     "Would you like to help me? I'm going to bake bread." His grandmother said.
     "Boy, oh, boy!" The excited child said, dropping his rod as he rushed into the house. The old man walked with the deputy.
     "Everything the same?" He whispered.
     "Just like the others," He said, and then added, "And the other time."
     This was what took the old man's breath away. He had avoided these bodies, but he had been in charge when the last set was discovered. It was the only time he had failed to find enough clues to work out a murder. The Setonville 12 was the most notorious murder series in the history of this part of the country. He had retired with it unsolved. And now, it had begun again.
     He got into the Police car and rode back into the world he thought he had escaped. But he was going to stop it this time.
     He had too.
(c) 2005 by C. Wayne Owens