Follow the Crime

  Follow The Crime

We follow our characters Jimmy and Cash as they travel from town to town pretending to be lawn maintenance workers, but   in actuality they are criminals. 

They were mowing grass, in a little town called South Bearlsburg. There was really nothing there, a hotel and Bettys Bar, but a few fancy houses were arranged on the outskirts of town, just far enough away for Jimmy and Cash to go unnoticed as they slipped through the neighborhood in the evenings.

What they didn’t know was that the local police had been following them. Mornings and evenings, they watched their every move, but could see nothing to arrest them for; even to bring them in for questioning. “These two are awfully slick Tom, are we looking at the wrong guys?” “No!” Said officer Tom, “people have been murdered and I won’t stop until these two loners are in prison.”

Since the two men had moved into town, two housewives on the outskirts been murdered. Of course no-one had seen or heard anything because of the location of the houses.

A few weeks passed, no more murders or break-ins, but no arrests had been made. Now the two had vanished into the night and may never be caught. 

Jimmy and Cash laughed as they drove the old pickup truck into another small town; Maryville. They laughed and hollered, “Maryville, maybe we’ll find Mary and have some fun.”

They would have to be more cautious here, the houses were close together and neighbors were out and about at all hours. They would canvas the neighborhoods and make their plans.

JoAnn noticed the pickup truck driving past her house, but she didn’t want to panic, after all it could be a new neighbor, she hadn’t been out forever. But she would make note as to how often she saw it.

I couldn’t run fast enough; it was like my legs were jello. The cat was running like a lion, I could see his fangs as the moonlight glanced on them, faster and faster he came. I gasped for breath as I felt him jump on me. Then I woke up. I could breathe! I thought;  I’m safe, it was a dream.

But then; I could hear a woman screaming, this is not a dream!  I hear her, where is she, who is she? I jumped up, dripping with sweat, and made my way to the window. I saw a dim light in my neighbors bedroom; shadows on the curtains, more screaming then… nothing. Silence.

I heard a door slam and saw a dark shadow of a person running off the side porch. A short but heavy figure, it seemed like a man.  I could not see a face or even what he had on, maybe a short windbreaker. Then I heard a car door slam and a racing engine and squealing tires speeding off.  

My mind began to race, oh what am I going to do? I had just got out of my ankle cast, but I had to do something. I wanted to help! I stumbled to the bedside and grabbed my phone. 

Soon I heard police sirens and saw lights as they came up the street. I hurried to the front door, sure they would want to speak with me. A police woman came up and rang the bell, I asked her to come in. I explained what I had heard and seen, she thanked me and left to go next door.

Several police cars had pulled up. They were banging on the neighbors door, I guess they kicked it in; I heard their heavy boots on the wooden floor and steps.

After what seemed like an eternity the police started coming out and an ambulance pulled up and took a stretcher in. I thought poor Mrs. Carey, I hope she’s ok, but I still worried about what had happened. Soon the EMS came out with her on the stretcher. They sped off with sirens blaring like train whistles.

The police woman came back over and quietly knocked, I opened the door. “Ma’am, I just wanted to let you know that your neighbor is being taken to Lake Mary Hospital. Did you know her  well?” “No, they only moved in a few weeks ago and I’ve been in my ankle cast for a month. So I really haven’t been out at all.” 

“Well thank you for calling us, if we have any more questions we will contact you” she replied. “Thank you for coming, goodnight.” I made sure I locked the door securely. I couldn’t sleep now, it was 4AM. I turned on the TV and made a pot of coffee.

The next evening I saw on the news that my neighbor had died from her injuries, I thought; I wish I could have done more, this is so sad, and scary. A murder in my neighborhood?

I called one of my best friends to see if she had heard anything else. She said her brother in law who works at the police station said that her husband had also called 911. How could that be? Was he home? Did he murder his wife? Could he be the one I saw sneaking out the side porch and dashing away?

I found out later that the husband had just come home from work and caught the guy attacking his wife, but was so distraught he just ran away. So that was him I saw, not a murderer but the hysterical husband who had just seen his wife being murdered. As he dashed away in his car he had called 911. So that’s how the police got here so fast I thought, he called even before I did. 

He didn’t know the person that had broken into his house, and could only give a vague description because of the shock of the situation. 

I have been extra cautious since this happened, how long could we go with a murderer on the loose in the neighborhood? I got more scared as time went on, being a widow alone is a little frightening even though this has always been a safe location.

By the next weekend I was going stir crazy. I fixed a light dinner and sat down to watch the news. There it was! Breaking News, murderer caught after a week long search, I let out a sigh, thank God this was over. Not only can I get out of the house now but my neighbor will get the justice she deserves. 

Apparently the previous lawn maintenance man had come to set up a schedule when Mr. and Mrs. Carey moved in. But they said no, they had someone else they were going try. He explained since they had taken care of the property before they were aware of the work that needed done and would give them a discount to continue with their company. So they had decided they would use their services. 

Jimmy came to the house thinking he had the job they had discussed previously. They really needed the money because they had left South Bearlsburg in a hurry with no money. The police had started following him and Cash all around town. They had no choice but to pack up and move as soon as they saw what the police were doing. Around those little towns they could lock you up for anything.

Mrs. Carey had explained she was sorry about the mix up but she and her husband had decided to keep the lawn service that the previous owners had used. Jimmy yelled; “we had a deal!” But Mrs. Carey said no again and started to close the door. He became enraged, and pushed his way into the house chasing her up the stairs as she ran to her bedroom.

Carrying only a pocket knife, he pulled it out and began to slash her violently, around her face, her neck, her chest. She was lucky to have survived even that one day. 

When her husband came in and caught him, Jimmy jumped out of the window and fell onto the muddy yard. Even though Mr. Carey had panicked and ran out through the side door, the police were still able to solve the mystery. The footprints in the muddy flower bed and the bloody fingerprints on the knife he dropped as he fell out the window, were enough to identify and capture Jimmy.

They found him and Cash in a cheap motel on the opposite side of town, arrested Jimmy for three murders, and Cash for two. 

The police that had followed the two murderers around South Bearlsburg were able to give the Maryville detectives enough information to put these two criminals in prison for many years.

They were glad they had been so conscientious to continue their pursuit of these two. They wouldn’t be able to hurt any other people.