The Crime in the Woods

By Ashad Mukadam

In April 2019 in Ellis, Columbia State, Grade 5 students Mitchell "Mitch" Carter, Mike Brock, and Morgan Lamb are walking to their treehouse in the woods nearby after school.  As soon as they reach the main trail, they hear gunshots, and rush to find out what happened.  When they get to the scene of the crime, they discover the body of Jeremy Diggins, an accountant with Eckstein's Goods who used to do forensic accounting in Alford, Pulford State.  The three boys, who call themselves the 3 "M"igos, rush to get Detective Mack Evans of the Ellis Police Service, but when they return, the body's gone!  Detective Evans and the officers with him are unimpressed, and leave in a huff of anger at the boys' "game."  Mitch, Mike, and Morgan decide to take it upon themselves to solve the case.  Will they get the cooperation of other adults in Ellis as they investigate?  Will they be able to find Mr. Diggins' body again?  And, most importantly, will they be able to get Detective Evans to believe that they were telling the truth, and enlist his help to solve the case?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ashad Mukadam
• Release date: Oct 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393019626

Ashad Mukadam

Ashad Mukadam was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and he still makes this city his home with his parents, Nizar and Nasim, and his brother, Ayuz. After finishing high school in June of 2001, he went on to the University of Calgary in September of that year, where he finished his Bachelor of Commerce degree in 2005 with a major in Management Information Systems. He worked in the IT field for a while, but realized that he enjoyed writing. His passion for writing led him to return to school in September of 2008, where he attended the University of Calgary. He finished his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications Studies, With Distinction, in April of 2010, and graduated in June of that year. After he finished, he took some time to volunteer with CJSW and The Gauntlet to help him prepare for the world of journalism, while he also helped out as a blogger for the Ismaili Soccer League to help him improve his blogging and writing skills. From September 2012 to May 2013, he worked in different positions, being a marketer for a fitness company from September to November 2012, and a freelance journalist for various publications around Southern Alberta from October 2012 to May 2013. Also, from April 2013 to July 2014, he tried his hand at a database development and consulting business, but decided to end that because he just wasn’t interested in returning to the IT field, especially the programming aspects of it. Now, he is focused full-time on his writing, specifically on writing books, and his photography business.

Book preview

The Crime in the Woods

By:

Ashad Mukadam

Published 2020 by Ashad Mukadam in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

All rights reserved

ALSO BY ASHAD MUKADAM

Kicking from Beyond the 40

Journey Through the Video Game World

The Treasure of Milky Lake

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ashad Mukadam was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and he still makes this city his home with his parents, Nizar and Nasim. After finishing high school in June of 2001, he went on to the University of Calgary in September of that year, where he finished his Bachelor of Commerce degree in 2005 with a major in Management Information Systems. He worked in the IT field for a while, but realized that he enjoyed writing. His passion for writing led him to return to school in September of 2008, where he attended the University of Calgary. He finished his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications Studies, With Distinction, in April of 2010, and graduated in June of that year. After he finished, he took some time to volunteer with CJSW and The Gauntlet to help him prepare for the world of journalism, while he also helped out as a blogger for the Ismaili Soccer League to help him improve his blogging and writing skills. From September 2012 to May 2013, he worked in different positions, being a marketer for a fitness company from September to November 2012, and a freelance journalist for various publications around Southern Alberta from October 2012 to May 2013. Also, from April 2013 to July 2014, he tried his hand at a database development and consulting business, but decided to end that because he just wasn’t interested in returning to the IT field, especially the programming aspects of it. Now, he is focused full-time on his writing, specifically on writing books, and his photography business.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

The Crime in the Woods

1st Electronic Edition

© 2020 Ashad Mukadam

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please write to the author via the email addresses provided at the website below, with the subject line Attention: Permission Requests.

Ashad Mukadam

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

http://ashadmukadam.wordpress.com

Cover Design by Ashad Mukadam

Editing by Ayuz Mukadam and Ashad Mukadam

To my parents, Nizar and Nasim, and my brother, Ayuz

CHAPTER ONE

It was a beautiful spring day in the city of Ellis, Columbia State on April 3, 2019. Though known as an agricultural town, the city of 50 000 also hosted a healthy arts scene, including two museums. Many of the works of local artists could be found on display all across town. The main square of downtown Ellis saw local musicians play for the town’s citizens on the weekends. Ellis was also surrounded by beautiful woods on the west end, which was a popular place for the city’s residents. Besides hiking, Ellis residents also frequented the area for general walks and picnics.

Mitchell Carter, Mike Brock, and Morgan Lamb, all of whom were 10 years old, were walking towards the woods after school had ended, where the treehouse that they had built was located. All three boys, who were in the 5th grade, attended Jimmie Ross Elementary School, which was named after a famous sports announcer from Ellis who did national baseball broadcasts. The school was fairly large, and consisted of a library, a science lab, a computer room, a lunch room, a music room, an art room, and a gym. It also had two classrooms for each grade.

Mitchell, who had black hair and brown eyes, preferred to be called Mitch. He was obsessed with mysteries, and it showed in everything that he did, from writing mysteries in creative writing class, to watching mystery shows and movies. Sometimes, he even would get his friends to also play a mystery game during recess. And because he wanted to be a police detective when he grew up, he called every foul and penalty whenever he played sports with his friends. His brother, Logan, who was a couple of years older than him, nicknamed him Fairplay Mitch as a result.

Mike, who had brown hair and brown eyes, was the most creative of the three, and while not as big of a risk taker as Mitch, he was open to taking on new challenges. His dream was to be a writer, but his father wasn’t too happy with it because he wanted Mike to follow in his footsteps to go into IT when he grew up. His favourite subject was Language Arts, partly because he got to read a variety of books, and partly because was able to study different writing styles. He also made sure to spend a lot of time with his younger sister by three years, Susan. She would play video games and sports with him so that she could be with her brother, and in return he would do some of the girly activities with her, including joining her for tea parties.

Morgan, who had brown hair, blue eyes, and wore glasses, was the smartest of the three, and was into comic books, video games, and science fiction TV shows and movies. While he dreamed of working in one of the STEM fields when he grew up, his father was consistently pushing him to become an engineer so that he would follow in his footsteps. He had an older brother named Jack, who was four years older, and played sports and video games with him when he was not with Mitch and Mike.

Together, Mitch, Mike, and Morgan called themselves The 3 Migos, since all of their names started with the letter M. They referred to themselves as this since the 1st Grade, when they first met and had become instant friends.

The boys had been walking for about 20 minutes, and were discussing about what they would do after school. So, we got lucky today that Mr. Mickson didn’t assign any homework, Mitch said. Too bad. I was hoping he would assign us to write a short story just so that I could write about a mystery I thought of.

"You always write about those things! Mike snapped back. Can’t you, for once, write about something else?!"

I get that you want to be a detective when you grow up, Morgan added, "but, for once, can’t you take a break from your obsession with mysteries?"

But there’s nothing else that I can really think of writing about, Mitch replied. I mean, while I do like sports, there’s not much I can write about there. I don’t want it to sound like I’m writing a sports article for the newspaper.

Well, what are you going to do today? asked Mike. "Because we have no homework! I know that I’ve got to spend time with Susan today because she has been complaining a lot for the past couple of weeks that I’ve had so much homework that I haven’t been able to play with her."

I’m just going to play video games with my brother, Mitch replied. What about you, Morgan?

Depends on how late we get back home. Morgan said. Then, looking at his watch, It’s 2:30 right now, so if we get back by 4, I’ll probably play catch with Jack.

Just as the three boys were turning from the pathway from town onto the main trail in the woods, they heard a loud pop. A few seconds later, they heard a series of what sounded like gunshots. What was that?! a startled Mitch asked.

I think it sounded like a series of gunshots, Morgan replied. At least, that’s what I think it was. Those were certainly a loud series of pops.

We’d better check! Mitch replied.

Are you sure? questioned Mike, a little scared of what danger they might run into if they investigated the source of the sounds. If those were gunshots, then the shooter might still be around! I don’t want to die just because I become curious and wanted to find out where the shots came from, and I came face-to-face with the shooter!

Well, do you see any one else around here? Mitch said. "We’re the only ones here! And we’re the only ones who heard them! If we don’t look around, we might be letting a murderer escape! So, let’s go!"

I agree, Morgan said. We can alert the police after we have finished checking out the area! So, let’s go!

I still don’t know, Mike said, still feeling scared about the possible consequences.

"Mike, we need to take this risk! Think about it for a second. What if something serious just happened, and we didn’t look into the situation because we were too scared? Mitch replied. We’d get into more trouble for not investigating!"

After thinking for a few moments, Mike then said, Okay, fine, you’ve convinced me, Mitch. Let’s go and see what those pops were about.

Great! Let’s go! Mitch eagerly replied, as he turned onto the main trail.

The other two followed him, and before long, all three were running. After a few minutes, they arrived at the first clearing. They checked it out thoroughly, and found nothing there. It must have been deeper in the woods, Mitch said. There’s another clearing if we head west. Follow me!

Okay, let’s get going! the other two said in unison.

The boys then turned west, and ran towards the second clearing. They reached the second clearing several minutes later, and what they found left them shaking. They found a body lying on the ground, and the victim had been shot multiple times in the chest. The scene was even more shocking because they recognized the dead man. Oh my goodness! It’s Mr. Diggins! Morgan yelled in horror.

Jeremy Diggins, a 47-year-old man with an athletic build, brown hair, and brown eyes, was an accountant at Eckstein’s Goods, a local retail chain headquartered in Ellis. He had completed his university and accounting certifications in Alford, Pulford State, where he had also met his wife. He also had two boys who were now grown up: Thomas, his older son, who had finished school two years prior and was now working, and Barney, his younger son, who was finishing his third year of university. Prior to moving to Ellis, Mr. Diggins had lived in Alford, where he had worked as a forensic accountant and auditor for various firms. His specialty was exposing cases of regular fraud, tax fraud, and tax evasion, as well as embezzlement and money laundering, with a focus on auditing celebrities and athletes. As part of his duties, he had often testified in court over any accounting irregularities, which had resulted in many people going to jail, losing their jobs, or being fined heavily to the point of bankruptcy. The result was that Mr. Diggins had received death threats from many sources, including from the celebrities and athletes themselves, and sometimes even from their fans. Mr. Diggins had moved to Ellis after being laid off due to downsizing and outsourcing. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Mr. Diggins’ new job in Ellis meant that as he didn’t have to do any more auditing. Rather, his position in Ellis allowed him to do just regular accounting, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He wasn’t known to have any enemies in Ellis, and in fact got along with everyone. And, he never mentioned anything about his past jobs to anyone in Ellis, as the city allowed him a fresh start.

As the boys looked over Mr. Diggins’ body, they were amazed that someone would do something so awful to such a kind man. Who would do this to him? Mitch emotionally asked. He was such a great man! I mean, even when he was coaching soccer, he never lost his temper!

I don’t know! Mike responded. He was so good to us kids! I remember on career day, when someone told him they didn’t want to be an accountant when they grew up, he didn’t get mad. He talked about the jobs his friends did, and even gave their numbers to us if we were interested in talking to them!

Well, we’ve got to inform the police! Mitch declared. We have to let Detective Evans know about this!

Let’s go! We don’t have any time to waste! Mike added emphatically.

Before the other two could start running, Morgan shouted out, Wait! We can’t just leave Mr. Diggins’ body here!

Why not?! Mitch replied. We have to alert the police about this!

But if we leave, what happens if the body disappears?! Morgan said.

How would the body disappear? It’s not like it can fly away! Mike retorted.

Well, if the killer is nearby, they might drag it somewhere else, and then all we’d be showing Detective Evans is just a patch of grass! Morgan responded.

You make a good point that the killer could be nearby! Mitch replied. "Which is why we have to inform the police! Because they can then investigate, and catch him or her before they get too far!"

"And also, Morgan, the killer might come after us if they find us standing here! Mike added. Think about it! We did hear the gunshots, and we did find the body. What if they don’t want there to be any witnesses to the murder? If we inform the police, the murderer wouldn’t dare follow us because we’d be leading them right to their arrest!"

I don’t know, Morgan said as he shook his head. I don’t feel right about leaving a dead body in the middle of the woods like this.

Hey, I’d rather have Detective Evans investigate than us just standing around like fish in a barrel, ready to be shot at, Mitch said. "If the killer is still around, Detective Evans is big enough, fast enough, and strong enough to catch him or her before they have a chance to get away. Besides, if the body does disappear, Detective Evans would have to believe us, wouldn’t he? I mean, he knows we wouldn’t lie about something like this. And, it seems like there’s enough evidence for him to start an investigation to find out what went on here, body or no body!"

Okay, if you say so. Let’s go get Detective Evans, Morgan reluctantly said.

Soon after the boys left, a shadowy figure had emerged from the bushes behind Mr. Diggins’ body, and dragged it away deeper into the woods. The person was not happy that someone had found the body, not to mention that they were going to get the police. The figure returned with a shovel to clean up the site, including putting dirt in strategic areas where the body once laid in order to avoid any suspicion. However, the person knew that something would have to be done about the witnesses. Still holding the shovel, the person then went back into the forest to bury the body in a place where they hoped no one would find it.

The boys ran as fast as they could to inform Detective Evans about what they had just found in the woods. When they arrived at the police station, they headed straight for the front desk. The receptionist