Iniquity and Retribution: Lineage Series, Book Three: Lineage, #3

By Michael Paul Hurd

As a young man, Edward Smith was devoted to his mother, or so everyone thought. When she disappeared, Edward began a downward spiral into the dark abyss of mental illness. In spite of his illness, Edward was a genius with an eidetic memory, and he used those attributes to his own advantage many times throughout his relatively short adult life. He even fought heroically in World War I and earned the nation's third-highest honor for gallantry in combat. He gets justice in the end for his wrongdoings, but from a very unexpected quarter.

 

This book, the third in the author's "Lineage" series, expands on the main characters of Book One ("Lineage: A Novel"), Chapter One.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lineage Independent Publishing
• Release date: Feb 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393034919

Michael Paul Hurd

Michael Paul Hurd was born in Michigan in 1959. He is the son of Paul S. Hurd and Carolyn J. Hurd (both deceased). Married to his wife, Sandy, since 1980, they have two sons and three grandchildren; however, their eldest son, Adam, passed away from cancer in 2010. During his formative years, Michael Hurd lived in Michigan, Virginia, and New Hampshire. He graduated from Hopkinton High School, Contoocook, NH, in 1977. Hurd is a veteran of the United States Air Force, serving from 1978 until 1992, and was Honorably Discharged as a Technical Sergeant. While on active duty, he earned a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Maryland/European Division during an assignment to England. Once honorably discharged, he was employed for another 26 years as a civilian employee of the United States Government and retired in 2018 along with his wife. It is during this time that Hurd developed a love for the written word and the deep research that was needed to author first book, "Lineage." For Hurd, that work simply fell together after finding numerous anecdotes about his family history during the research. Work on "Lineage" started in late 2018 and was completed in February of 2019, with a Second Edition being released in May, 2019. The "Lineage" series was inspired in part by Sara Donati's "Wilderness" series and the many works of James Michener. The original “Lineage: A Novel” was constructed so that each of the chapters could be spun off into a full-length book. As of October, 2020, three more books had been released in the series and a fifth book is a work in progress, with publication planned for early in 2021. Michael Hurd is an avid fisherman, has hiked all 43 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maryland, and is a slow-but-steady road bicyclist. The Hurds currently reside in Maryland, within 10 miles of all three grandchildren. They travel extensively and are huge fans of the Disney Cruise Line.

Book preview

Iniquity

and

Retribution

Iniquity

and

Retribution

Lineage Series, Book Three

Second Edition

Michael Paul Hurd

Lineage Independent Publishing

Marriottsville, MD

Copyright © 2019 Michael Paul Hurd

Cover Design by Michael Paul Hurd

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, without the express written permission of the author, Michael Paul Hurd.

ISBN (e-Book): 9781393034919

Public Domain Cover Photography by Howard County, Maryland, Department of Recreation and Parks. Taken at Belmont Manor in Elkridge, Maryland, circa 2019. Enhanced by the author.

Our Last Dance by Lisa Talbott: used by permission

Published by Lineage Independent Publishing, Marriottsville, MD

Maryland Sales and Use Tax Entity: Lineage Independent Publishing, Marriottsville, MD 21104

[e-mail]

Previous Works by Michael Paul Hurd:

Lineage: A Novel (First and Second Editions)

Soldier, Citizen, Settler: Lineage Series, Book Two

To Adam, whose interest in our family history prompted me to keep researching, even though my results conflicted with family legends.

This book is also dedicated to families who have been affected by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injuries, regardless of cause.

Iniquity: (n) immoral conduct or practices harmful or offensive to society; wickedness; sin

Miriam-Webster Dictionary

retribution: (n) deserved and severe punishment

Cambridge English Dictionary

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Prologue - 1902

Chapter One: Déjà vu’

Chapter Two: The Awakening

Chapter Three: A Woman of Character

Chapter Four: Into the Abyss

Chapter Five: The Proposal

Chapter Six: Sinking Into the Deep

Chapter Seven: Another Body – Or Two

Chapter Eight: Minor Problems

Chapter Nine: Confusion

Chapter Ten: It’s A Boy!

Chapter Eleven: War at Home and Abroad

Chapter Twelve: To Hell and Back - Almost

Chapter Thirteen: Prohibition

Chapter Fourteen: Greater Clarity

Chapter Fifteen: Occam’s Razor

Chapter Sixteen: Unearthed

Chapter Seventeen: Retribution

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I have to recognize my wife, Sandy, for her contributions to this book and my two previous books. She has been my editor, my proofreader, my story line counselor, and my best friend throughout the production process.

Second, to my cousin, Vincent S. Hurd, who provided creative background on our family history. Vince is the last survivor of his generation and the only one with first-hand knowledge of the basis for some of the more dramatic and macabre aspects of the Iniquity and Retribution story.

I also have to recognize my one-man focus group, Detective (Retired) David Wilson of the Peoria County Sheriff’s Department. David joined my review team as this book was being written, and has been my late-night sounding board when the ever-looming writer’s block hit. 

Finally, I have to give a quick nod to poet Lisa Talbott for allowing me to use her poem, Our Last Dance, on page 182. I discovered her poem on one of the many social media groups for authors and it was a perfect separator between Chapters Eleven and Twelve.

Introduction

Historical Context

This book builds on the narrative of Chapter One of Lineage: A Novel, the first book in this series. A warning to more sensitive readers: it includes and exposes societal conditions as they existed in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, including rampant racial and religious prejudices; these are not the beliefs or the opinions of the author.  Most of the Smith family characters in this book are composites of the author’s direct ancestors or cousins, three to four generations removed. 

Also laid bare are some of the more volatile issues of the day, especially the pervasiveness of extramarital unions. Because of the adult nature of these themes and the macabre’ happenings throughout the book, it is not recommended for readers under the age of eighteen unless they have the emotional and social maturity to deal with these themes.

During the period covered in this book, technological change was a constant. The Wright brothers made their first powered flight in North Carolina. Automobiles became more affordable, thanks to Henry Ford. The country was reliant on the telephone for communications, and more areas of the country were electrified.

The late 19th and early 20th Centuries also saw sweeping social changes. Women were slowly being given the right to vote, and some women’s groups were very vocal in their stance against the consumption of alcohol. Their pressures contributed to the implementation of Prohibition in 1919. Attendance at public high schools was increasing and a secondary education was no longer only within the reach of the financially advantaged who could afford private academies.

In 1917, Congress passed the Selective Service Act, giving the United States Government the authority to conscript men for military service as the United States entered World War I. The original Act remained in force until 1920.  Also in the 1920’s, the Ku Klux Klan reached its peak membership of approximately 4 million people.

"You are not wrong, who deem

That my days have been a dream;

Yet if hope has flown away

In a night, or in a day,

In a vision, or in none,

Is it therefore the less gone?

All that we see or seem

Is but a dream within a dream."

Edgar Allan Poe

Prologue - 1902

Ophelia Smith Arkwright had disappeared. She left behind a handwritten note to her husband, Harold Arkwright, and her sons, Edward and Gaylord. Edward had just completed High School, and Gaylord was still living at home even though he was nearly twenty-one. When Ophelia disappeared, Edward said he was asleep and didn’t hear a thing. Harold and Gaylord were on one of their visits to a lumber camp about one hundred miles away.

My dearest husband and wonderful boys,

I am left with no other choice than to leave you to pursue my dreams and my one true love, Franklin Emery. He has reached out to me after all these years and we realized that we were truly in love, despite all of the things that have happened since that night when Emil was killed. I hope you will understand. Please do not try to find me.

Ophelia, Wife and Mother

Edward saved the note in a cigar box.

History is a set of lies agreed upon.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Chapter One: Déjà vu’

A Small Town in the American Midwest, 1894-1897

Gentlemen of the jury, you have heard testimony for the past week regarding the case before us and the alleged murder of Mr. Emil Smith, late of this county, in his own home by a person or persons unknown. Doc Parker has testified to this and Emil Smith’s death certificate, signed by Doc Parker as both attending physician and county coroner, attests to that very fact, including an indication that the fatal wound was a single gunshot to the head. We also have two potential murder weapons, entered into evidence by Police Chief Nathan James.  He has unequivocally stated that both weapons had been fired quite recently and that they were both found in proximity to the scene of Mr. Smith’s demise. Meanwhile, the prosecution believes that Mr. Smith’s widow, Ophelia, and his life-long best friend, Mr. Franklin Emery, are complicit in the death and should be convicted of murder. But... we have also introduced reasonable doubt into the case:  two murder weapons. Mr. Emery’s alibi that he spent a good share of the evening in question with Miss Rosie, and that Doc Parker passed Mr. Emery at the crossroads coming from a direction that was not consistent with a recent departure from the Smith homestead. You cannot render a guilty verdict for either defendant if there is reasonable doubt that they committed the murder. I urge you to consider the presented evidence – and only the presented evidence—as you begin your deliberations. If you do that, you are left with no choice but to render a verdict of ‘not guilty.’

Edward Smith was in the back of the courtroom, listening to the defense attorney’s closing argument. At the time, Edward was only ten years old and really did not understand what was happening. All he knew was that his mother, Ophelia Smith, and his father’s best friend, Franklin Emery, had been accused of killing his father, Emil Smith.

Throughout the trial, Edward had been sequestered by his maternal Uncle James and not allowed to have any contact with his mother, who he loved dearly. This was the first time he had been allowed in the courtroom during the trial, and it was also the first time he had seen his mother in several weeks. His older brother, Gaylord, was also taken in by Uncle James, but was given much more freedom than Edward; after all, Gaylord had not killed anyone and wasn’t even aware of what really happened on that fateful night.

As the trial dragged on through jury deliberations, Edward became more despondent. He blamed Emil Smith’s death on Franklin Emery. He blamed Emil Smith’s death on his mother, Ophelia. He was also conflicted by the opposite emotions he was experiencing toward his mother. Love on one hand and hatred on the other. Edward had also loved Emil dearly, despite his father being absent so often for his job. Edward’s 10-year old brain could not comprehend or process what was going on at that moment, and it seems that he had also blocked out every memory of having pulled the trigger himself on the night his father was killed. That suppressed memory would haunt him in the future.

After the case against his mother and Franklin Emery had been split into separate defenses, the trial dragged on even more. Emery was acquitted first, but the case against Ophelia Smith remained unsettled. The prosecution realized eventually that its case was predicated on the combined guilt of the two defendants and that there was not enough evidence to convict either of them separately. Edward understood most of this but was jolted back to reality as the judge called the court back into session.

Gentlemen of the jury, observers, members of the press, we are once again in session, Judge Meredith began.  "It is the finding of this court that there is currently insufficient evidence in the state’s case against Mrs. Ophelia Smith.  Because of this lack of evidence, it would be impossible to establish guilt or innocence.  It is therefore my decision to enter a nolle prosequi action into the record for this capital case and release Mrs. Ophelia Smith from custody forthwith. Mrs. Smith, I caution both you and your defense counsel that this finding does not mean you are acquitted of the charges against you; rather, that there is not enough evidence to proceed.  Such a finding can be overturned if additional incriminatory evidence becomes available.  Should that happen, a warrant will be issued for your immediate arrest and we will begin a new trial."

Ophelia’s attorney acknowledged the finding. He volunteered that Ophelia would remain in that county for a period of one year in case new evidence came to light. This, he believed, was a show of good faith on her part and would help cement the view that she was innocent.

After they left the courtroom, the defense attorney, Joseph Abernathy, told Ophelia, Ophie, you need to be on your best behavior and be a model citizen for the next year. Go to church regularly, be seen doing things with your children, and most importantly, do not invite men into your home for overnight visits. You must be discrete.

Mr. Abernathy, she replied, I understand what I must do. I will make the boys the center of my life. But mark my words, as soon as the year is over, we will move to a new town and start over.

And start over, they did. Exactly one year from the date of the nolle prosequi finding, Ophelia Smith sold the farm, packed up the house and her two sons, Edward and Gaylord, and moved to the town of Jeffersville, about 200 miles away. Because she had sold the farm at a considerable profit, despite its storied past, she was able to purchase a craftsman-style bungalow on the outskirts of town, mortgage-free.

Overall, the house floorplan was simple. It had an ample kitchen, coal-fired stove, and icebox. Ophie’s bedroom was on the main floor, while Edward and Gaylord shared the expansive loft upstairs. There was also a stone-walled basement underneath the house. Unlike 21st Century basements, it was suitable for little other than storing coal for winter heating, home-canned fruits and vegetables, and whatever fresh winter vegetables that would keep for long periods.

In reality, the basement of most Victorian-era houses was a scary place. In this house, the coal-fired furnace had ductwork leading everywhere and resembled a mad octopus. When the burner was fired, the front intake grate glowed with an almost sinister grin. The floor was composed of packed sand with a high silica content. It sometimes smelled like it had been used for a toilet more than once to avoid a trip to the outhouse on a cold winter night, before the house was fitted with running water and a flush toilet.

The Smiths arrived in Jeffersville just in time for the start of the school year. Edward entered Sixth Grade, and Gaylord was a year ahead, in Seventh.  They were fortunate that the town also had a high school, as most small towns in agricultural areas stopped their formal public education programs after the Eighth Grade. It was Ophie’s intention for the two boys to make it through high school and not leave school after Eight Grade to start working.

They had been in Jeffersville for less than six months when Ophie entered into her first dalliance with one of the local merchants. Because she did not want to use up what little cash she had