A Cozy Mystery: A Tale of Deceit and Acceptance.

In the tranquil, picturesque town of AppleWood, the chirping of birds and the gentle rustling of leaves filled the air, creating a serene atmosphere. It was where whispers flowed freely, secrets were traded like precious gems, and the air was thick with intrigue.

Samantha, a woman who had grown up in this close-knit hamlet, found solace in the quiet solitude that her introverted nature afforded her.

Despite being raised in the township, she had always felt like an outsider, and even her adoptive parents became distant once she left for college.

The crisp autumn air filled with falling leaves heightened Samantha’s curiosity about the town’s most mysterious and unsettling enigma.

In the heart of Applewood, the narrow-cobbled streets echoed with an eerie stillness, hinting at a hidden secret known only to the Sheriff. The town was shrouded in darkness after Jake, a retired firefighter and beloved community hero, mysteriously vanished, leaving behind an eerie silence.

In the days following Jake’s disappearance, whispers of gossip grew louder as people hungrily devoured every tidbit of information that leaked from the ongoing police investigation. The whispers filled the air with curiosity and fear as the town’s residents desperately tried to unravel the unexplainable.

And yet, amidst the cacophony of theories and conjecture, the silence surrounding Jake’s whereabouts remained impenetrable.

He had married a much younger lady who looked at him with admiration, seeing him as her knight in shining armor. Their happiness as a couple came to an abrupt end when Jake suffered a severe injury after leaping from a burning building.

Despite his efforts to heal, his knees remained forever altered.

He felt the heaviness of his age and injuries, which eroded his self-perception as a strong man. In her youthful foolishness, Sylvia had an insatiable craving for attention and a relentless pursuit of love.

Years after Jake disappeared, Sylvia would occasionally catch glimpses of Samantha with Dan and Ginger, which reminded her of the past. Samantha noticed her glances but never gave them much thought.

Before Samantha went to college, her parents fought often. She couldn’t leave town quickly enough before the ultimate rupturing of the nuptials. She felt she was the cause of the divorce but didn’t understand how or why.

During this peaceful period, she dedicated herself to her studies and accomplished her goal of obtaining a degree in criminology.

She had developed a taste for examining cold cases, at which she seemed to excel.

Returning to Applewood after college, Samantha ventured out of her comfort zone and carved her own path. While focusing on cold cases across the country, one cold case in the small community of Applewood stood out as a persistent mystery.

The Sheriff was a place to focus her attention. It was clear to her that he had no curiosity or enthusiasm about exploring the details of the missing firefighter case. The way he clenched his fists and tapped his foot impatiently hinted at the depth of his agitation, making the case even more intriguing.

Samantha’s routine visits to the post office, grocery store, and local tea shop took an unexpected turn when her path collided with Sylvia’s, creating a serendipitous encounter. Sylvia glanced at her, and to her surprise, she noticed tear stains on her cheeks, glistening in the sunlight, before she walked away in the opposite direction.

This event lingered long after the sun had set. Her actions were like a small gear turning in the grand mechanism that was Applewood. However, this gear seemed to grind and squeal as it turned in the opposite direction. Something wasn’t right about Sylvia.

When people ask her about Jake, Sylvia remains stoic, showing no visible emotion or anxiety, as if Jake’s unfortunate disappearance had no impact on her. The story was he had committed suicide somewhere, but she was uncertain how or why. There was a note, but no body. The Sheriff told the press how he rode off on his bicycle and disappeared.

Bears were in the woods, and he said he might have been a tasty meal for the local wildlife. This notion upset Sylvia as she cared about Jake.

Samantha couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that there was an untold side to this story, constantly gnawing at her like a persistent itch.

The local townspeople who remembered him told of Jake’s heroism and the tragic accident that ended his career as a firefighter. They talked about Sylvia, who disappeared for over a year after the accident before returning to her home.

Samantha and Sylvia’s bright red hair color caught the attention of many townsfolk, who couldn’t resist making a comment. As she chatted with a woman, she couldn’t help but notice her curious gaze fixated on her hair color, igniting her own curiosity about other things.

Her curiosity was piqued, and she couldn’t resist uncovering the truth behind Jake’s disappearance. In addition, Sylvia’s oddly indifferent behavior lingered in her mind, fueling her determination.

Unbeknownst to her, embarking on her quest for the truth would thrust her into a treacherous journey, where unexpected revelations would shatter the town’s peacefulness and threaten her existence.

The lake’s murky depths concealed any evidence of foul play, making it the perfect hiding spot. She had seen people using magnets to fish the lake before, transforming it into a thrilling search for hidden treasures. Not only did Jake’s cell phone vanish near the towering bridge, but his bicycle was also mysteriously absent.

Samantha purchased a special magnet and a rope with an unwavering determination to uncover the truth, unlike any other fisherman.

Samantha rented a small boat and set off on her fishing adventure, the sound of the waves gently lapping against the sides providing a soothing backdrop. While she concentrated on fishing near the bridge, a man on the road’s edge suddenly shouted, leaving her in awe.

“Sammy, what are you doing?”

Glancing up, she saw the Sherrif’s silhouette against the setting sun. “Treasure hunting.” She yelled.

Standing before her was her estranged father, the Sheriff, with a stern expression. On his way down to the bank, he rehearsed the upcoming conversation about finding a safer hunting ground when the cacophony of honking cars disrupted his thoughts.

He was so distracted by what she might discover that he walked across the bridge in front of the traffic.

As silence settled in, he reached the water’s edge, about when the magnet connected with a satisfying clunk. Samantha knew she had found something; her father knew what it was as the knot in his stomach tightened.

Alongside her father, the Sherrif’s daughter also had a keen sense for sniffing crime and unraveling mysteries. This mystery, however, was not one the Sheriff wanted solved.

Attached to the end of her rope, she dragged along the man’s bicycle, its wheels screeching against the pavement. Sam had a sinking feeling, a knot forming in her stomach, as she realized that the bottom of the shoe wrapped around the handlebars was undoubtedly connected to Jake’s leg.

The town was in an uproar as the medical examiner took the bicycle and the body, and the divers even recovered his cell phone, all within a few feet of the edge of the bridge. The mystery of why Jake rode several miles from home with a heavy chain wrapped around him and ended it all by jumping in the lake didn’t sit well with the local folks who knew him.

With a body in the morgue, the story shifted from that of suicide to that of murder. Samantha knew of Jake’s bad knees, making it impossible for him to ride all those miles, especially with 45 kilograms of chains on him.

In the dark of night, Sylvia fled from town, seeking solace from the relentless clamor of reporters. Samantha’s estranged father took a sudden leave of absence, filling her with curiosity.

Were the rumors true? Did her father and Sylvia sneak around behind closed doors?

Samantha didn’t know why her parents broke up, but she never would have guessed it had anything to do with him being unfaithful.

Her mother never spoke of the reasons for the divorce. What were all the rumors about her father and Sylvia about?

The gossip regarding Samantha’s incessant questioning reached her father’s ears. When he received a call from his ex-wife (Ginger), her voice brought back a flood of memories, and he knew he needed to stop it.

In a calculated move to eliminate Samantha from the equation, he convinced his daughter to go to the countryside, where Ginger lived. Ginger’s silence hung in the air, adding to Samantha’s growing confusion and leaving her with unanswered questions.

Pondering her guarded nature, Sam wondered why she had the instinct to keep her thoughts and emotions hidden, searching for the underlying motivations.

When her father appeared at the remote house in the woods, she felt a sudden surge of surprise take hold of her. “Pop,” she exclaimed, her voice filled with surprise, as she noticed him standing there.

His eyes briefly flickered towards Ginger before returning to rest on her. “We are trying to figure out where we went wrong, hoping you would appreciate being the first to know.”

“Wait, you and mom, back together after all these years?”

Their quick glances met hers, and they responded with a single, affirming nod.

***

Sam’s phone rang, and she noticed it was from the medical examiner.

“Excuse me,” she said, reaching for her ringing phone.

“Despite carrying a hundred pounds of chain several miles on a bicycle, there was an absence of the usual bruises on the man’s body?”

After hearing the report, there was only one conclusion to draw.

“So, was he the victim of a homicide?” She asked.

Her stepparents peered at each other, listening to her voice through the door before asking about the obvious.

“What’s your next move, pal? She’s gonna catch on that you whacked him,” She sneered.

“If Sylvia had taken care of that accursed abortion, we wouldn’t be in this predicament, would we?” He fumed.

“She’s your offspring. You handle it. I ain’t going to no clinker ’cause your pee-pee can’t behave,” she snarled.

Her father used the remote to his car to cause the trunk to pop open. The click of the latch caught Sam's attention as the light from inside the trunk flickered to life.

Samantha left the porch and walked closer to his car as a gust of wind ruffled the papers inside. She noticed the papers were from the office where he worked. The files were about this cold case. When she went to examine one with her name on it, the lights went out.

“You mean you shoved her in the trunk?” Ginger gulped.

“Well, she tumbled into the trunk after this unfortunate incident with that limb from the tree knocking her in the noggin,” He stammered.

“So, that’s your solution to every problem? Off ’em,” She spat.

He glanced at her while noticing that the garage had exhaust seeping out from under the large door. Closing the drapes, he stared at Ginger.

“Dead folks don’t yarn no stories,” he drawled.

“I can’t deal with you, go back to that whore that started all this. What are you going to do with Samantha?"

He grumbled, “The car’s parked in the garage; the engine’s purring. Gonna take her to the far side of the lake soon. Problem’ll be gone.”

Ginger shook her head. “It’s a shame. I liked her. She was just too clever for her own good. What you gonna tell Sylvia?”

His hair danced wildly as he shook his head, and errant locks blocked his eyes. “Nuthin'. She ain’t got the brains to fill a peanut shell.”

Lights outside caught his attention, causing him to stare at the curtains. The door burst open, and the room was immediately filled with the sound of guns being cocked and the sight of FBI officers with their badges prominently displayed.

Ginger dropped her cigarette, and Dan stood there in shock.

They swiped his piece and slapped the bracelets on the pair before Dan had the wits to inquire, “What’s all this?”

Samantha walked in, her head covered in a bright red rag that caught everyone’s attention. Sylvia stood by her side, ready to catch her if she stumbled from her dizziness.

Dan and Ginger gaped, unable to fathom what they were beholding. Sylvia and Samantha stood next to each other. It was a wonder that nobody figured out that they were related. They could’ve been twins, except Slyvia was a bit older.

“You wanted me to whack her in my own flesh and blood!” Sylvia spat, her voice dripping with disgust. “And you, you damnable piece, aimed to snuff her out to cover our affair and the hit on Jake. I heard you confess it, and I got it on tape,” she said, flashing the tiny recording device in her grasp.

***

They gave the hero of Applewood a proper burial, solemnly laying him to rest. At the same time, Dan was sent to federal prison, and Ginger was sent to a state prison for abetting murder.

Samantha joined the Applewood Police Department and became a dedicated investigator. Sylvia decided to work at a women’s shelter for abused women, determined to make a difference in their lives.

As Samantha and Sylvia endeavored to reconcile, their laughter echoed through the generally hushed lanes of Applewood, imbuing the air with a sense of unadulterated felicity. She came to terms with the convoluted reality that her mother was betrothed to the town’s luminary, an ardent antagonist of abortion. At the same time, her father was a roguish ne’er-do-well.