Chapter 1
Spring has finally sprung in southern Wisconsin. The breeze is pleasant. The birds are singing merrily. It is early Monday morning and Janesville is waking up to a new work week. Paul Reese is heading out the door for his daily walk/quiet time and praise time. Paul enjoys these contemplative moments mixed in with the cacophony of human-made noises: cars motoring to early work schedules, trains whistling down the tracks even at the crack of dawn, and sirens blaring as another ambulance call awakens the neighborhood on its way to help someone in need.
As he begins his walk, Paul prays to the God of the Universe, who created the source of much more pleasant sounds: the aforementioned birds, the gentle lapping of the Rock River upon the shoreline, and the wind whistling through the trees. Paul’s walk takes him on the bike path that winds through Monterey Park.
Paul gazes to the north at Monterey Stadium, the sight of many gridiron battles and track competitions pitting the hometown schools, Craig and Parker, against a myriad of foes. Adjacent to the stadium is Wilson Elementary, the school that serves the poorest segment of town. His thoughts and prayers turn to the students, teachers, staff, and administrators who will be arriving in a short time. He prays especially for his friends: Gary Beavers, maintenance man, Joanne Dickson, 4k teacher, and Lindsay Cooper, music teacher.
Paul peers to the south and espies once again the sprawling General Motors facility, once the lifeblood of the community, now a mere shadow and glaring reminder of “the good ole days.” The plant closed it’s doors In 2008. Like everyone else in town, Paul ponders what will happen to the 250 acre property. A recent article in The Janesville Gazette; the local daily newspaper; reported that GM had narrowed the potential buyers to two companies that specialize in reclamation properties like the plant. “That makes sense”, Paul mused, “since the place is loaded with petroleum and various metals. It’s going to be an environmental nightmare for whoever purchases it.”
Paul continued his walk and admires God’s handiwork as the ducks and geese squawk and the fish jump out of the water. After his usual trek west to the Van Gelder Bus facility, Paul stops in at the local Stop-N-Go for his morning coffee and to chat with his friend, manager Mandy Cousins.
“Hello, Mandy!”
“Oh, good morning, Paul. Out for your morning walk I see.”
“Yep. I had to come in for my coffee and see if anything exciting happened over the weekend.′
“Nope it was a quiet weekend here. No robberies, no shoplifting, no drunks roaming in and out. No crazies stripping naked and locking themselves in the bathroom for hours.”
Paul snickers, “I thought Lucy was going to quit after that one!” Lucy Brandt, assistant manager, has some pretty amazing stories to tell from working overnights at the store. She still blushes each time someone brings up that night.
’It would take more than that for Lucy to quit. No incidents involving the police, so it was a good weekend! Of course, having a good sales weekend helps, too.”
“That’s good to hear. Well, I best be going. I need to get ready for work.”
“I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”
“Thanks, Mandy! Great cup of coffee! Have a great day!
Mandy was already busy with a customer and had a vendor waiting for her attention, so Paul left quickly to finish up his jaunt around the neighborhood.
As he approached his front door he picked up the Monday morning eduruib of The Janesville Gazette. “I’ll look at it during breakfast. Gotta get ready for class.” After a quick shower, Paul made himself some eggs and toast. His wife Laura, had a late night preparing herself for the beginning of the new work week. She works as an Advertising Executive for her company. They have been married for 34 years and are blessed to have two children; Jonathan, a big, strapping man of 33 years; and 22 year old Melinda, a senior studying Communications. Jon and his wife of almost one year live in River Falls, Wisconsin.
Paul and Laura pray for their kids everyday.
Paul had a few minutes before Laura would come down, so he opened the newspaper . . . and froze. The headline on the front page shouted out at him: SKELETON DISCOVERED AT GENERAL MOTORS PLANT by Janet Thompson..
Paul read the story, captivated by such an amazing twist of the normal for Janesville. He was appalled that something like this could happen in his own backyard, just across the river, in his neighborhood. Yet he was enthralled by the mystery of it all.
“The Janesville Police were called to the General Motors facility late Friday afternoon to investigate the discovery of several human bones found by Bill Butler, a crew member for J & R Excavating. J & R is the company GM hired to clean up the petroleum and other contaminants spread all over the 250 acre property. The skeleton was found in what was known as the ” haul away zone” located on the south side of the complex.
Lieutenant Bud Meyers held a brief press conference Sunday afternoon to confirm that the bones were excavated unexpectedly. “It is too early to draw any conclusions about this matter,” he said. “Here is what we do know: the bones sat undisturbed for a long time. The bones show that the victim was an adult, probably a male. The bones seem to indicate the victim died a violent death. More information will be forthcoming.”
This reporter tried to ask Lieutenant Meyers about the nature of the evidence that pointed to violence. Meyers said he could not divulge that information at this time. The Gazette will keep abreast of this story as it continues to develop.”
Paul set the paper down and immediately prayed for the victim’s family. He prayed for the police, that they would be safe and have wisdom in solving this mystery. He prayed for the employee of J & B Excavating who discovered the body. He prayed for the people who were reading this story in fear and astonishment; concerned about their safety and shocked by this discovery at the revered grounds of the plant.
And Paul prayed for himself, since he knew he was going to get involved in solving the case. As he rose from his chair to greet Laura several questions clouded his mind. Who was the victim? How did he/she die? When did the crime happen? Where was the crime committed? What was the motive for the murder? And, most important, who done it?
On the north side of town, Bill Butler slowly gets out of bed. He is still mortified over the dead body he unearthed at the GM plant late Friday afternoon. The police questioned him for an hour, then, instead of going home, he went to his favorite bar, The Friendly Tap.
Normally Bill would have a good time with his buddies, but not this night. He just stared into space, seeing the blank expression of the skeleton over and over again. The neck bones were cracked and all of the bones were charred. Whoever this person was, he or she had died a violent death.
When Bill finally made it home it was 2 am on Saturday morning. He couldn’t sleep. The skeleton and the evidence of foul play, kept haunting him when asleep or awake. He finally gave up trying to sleep. “Maybe getting more drunk will help dull my senses or even knock me out.”
The next thing Bill remembered was the massive hangover Monday morning. Then the images from Friday afternoon crashed in on his consciousness. He looked in the mirror, decided it was a lost cause and went back to bed. There was no reason to go to work today since the police had cordoned off the whole property as a crime scene. Even though the crime, the murder, had happened years ago.
Bill flipped on the TV to get his mind off of things. He fell once again into a fitful sleep.
Lieutenant Bud Meyers was ready for the long week to end. He had been a cop for 29 years, the last six as a lieutenant. After 23 years as a uniform officer then a detective, Bud was grateful to be a lieutenant. The responsibilities were greater, but he had better privileges too, like working only one weekend a month instead of all four or five.
Bud was ready for some R & R with his beautiful bride of 25 years. He and Sarah met when Bud first joined the force. Sarah was a dispatcher. They became friends, dated, fell in love, and a year later they married. Bud and Sarah have two strapping boys, Bobby, a junior at UW Whitewater, and Jimmy, a senior at Craig High School.
Jimmy’s graduation was fast approaching. He had big plans for college and a career following in dad’s footsteps. Before graduation, before the huge party the Meyers’ were planning, Bud needed to get away. Spend some time with Sarah. Do some fishing at the cabin up north. Stay away from people, work, the media, the news. He needed some down time.
The phone in his office shocked Bud out of his reverie.
“Homicide; Lieutenant Meyers.”
“Lieutenant Meyers, this is John Boardman, of J & B Excavating. Lieutenant, one of my workers made a disturbing discovery at the General Motors site where we are extracting contaminants.”
Bud didn’t like the sound of this. “There goes my R & R,” he muttered under his breath.
“Lieutenant, I think you need to come over here right away. He found a skeleton. We are on the south side of the property at the haul away yard. And Lieutenant, it looks like murder.
“Okay, Mr. Broadman, I’ll be right over.”
Bud hung up the phone, saw that it was 4:30 and texted Sarah to let her know she could unpack. The weekend R & R was gone. So was any sleep and real dinner. He sighed and muttered to himself, “I am so ready to retire.”
Bud headed towards the door. On the way out he stops by Sergeant Casey Howard’s desk.
“Hey, Howard, looks like we’ve got ourselves a mystery over at the General Motors site. One of the excavators discovered some bones. The boss said it looked like murder.”
“Great,” Corey said sarcastically. “Let’s go.”
The two officers arrive at the GM plant a few minutes later.
“It looks like most of the guys have gone home for the weekend,” Bud quipped with obvious envy in his voice.
“Yeah. Well, let’s get this over with.”
They approach a couple of guys standing by a small hole. John Broadman; the co-owner of the company, still has his tie on after a long day’s work. And Bill Butler is just staring into space, like he had seen a ghost or something.
“Mr. Broadman; I’m Lieutenant Meyers and this is Sergeant Howard.”
“Thanks for coming over so quickly. We haven’t disturbed anything since Bill discovered the skeletal remains.”
“Good,” said Corey, “we would like to ask Mr. Butler a few questions. Mr. Butler?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, okay,” Bill whispered like a shocked, unhinged man.
“Exactly when did you find the bones?”
“Around 3:30 or so. It was really freaky. Here I am working quickly so’s I could be done with this section before the weekend. I’m digging and all of a sudden I hear a big thump. and, voila, a skull appears. Pretty scary stuff, huh?”
“Yes, indeed, Mr. Butler. Did you happen to notice anything that might give us a clue to this homicide?”
“Nothing. Maybe something under the bones, but I didn’t want to move anything.”
“You did the right thing,” Bud replied. “Mr. Broadman, we will need to cordon off this whole section, what do they call it, the haul away zone?”
“Yes. Does this mean what I think it means? How long will we need to shut down our work here?
“Until our investigation is over. And it means that the whole operation comes to a halt. We can’t run the risk of anyone disturbing the evidence,“” the lieutenant said authoritatively.
“That’s just great. We were hoping to wrap things up in a week or so. How long is this going to take?
“As long as it needs to, Mr. Broadman. We must be very precise, careful, and detailed. It’s obvious these bones have been here awhile and we can’t afford to lose any evidence,” Meyers informed him.
“Okay. Well, Bill, it looks like everyone gets some vacation time until further notice.”
“Good. I think I can use some time right now,” Bill said absentmindedly.
John turned to the lieutenant. “Is it alright if we leave now?′
“Yes, as long as you leave us some keys to the place and your phone number.”
“Okay, Bill, you can leave. Are you going to be alright?”
“Yeah, sure boss. I’ll see you when we can start up again.”
“See you soon. Well officers, here are the keys and my number. I expect to hear from you soon.”
“We’ll keep in touch. Goodbye, Mr. Broadman.”
Bud turned to Sergeant Howard, “Well, Sarge, I guess we better call the Medical Examiner and the Forensics team to come and check out the scene.”
“Yep. You go ahead and make the call. I’ll nose around a little, although I don’t think it’s going to help much.
