Two Murders by the River: Upstate Mystery, #5

By fj donohue

Two homicides within minutes of each other! Robbery? Revenge killing? Contract hit? The police have to solve this quickly, or the impact of this horrific crime on the town will be devastating.

Detectives Hendricks and Adams embark on an investigation that takes them far outside of upstate New York to another country.

Nobody will feel safe until the crime is solved.

• Language: English
• Publisher: fj donohue
• Release date: May 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201475680

fj donohue

I’m a retired International Sales Director, having worked in the commercial and military flight simulation industry for over 30 years. I lived in Brussels (Belgium) and Bonn (Germany) for eight years and met my British wife in Brussels. Before my career in the flight simulation industry, I was an Armaments and Electronics Maintenance Officer in the USAF during the Viet Nam era conflict. We have three children and seven grandchildren. Since retirement I continue to chase an ever-elusive golf game. Home is a small town in central New York State where the novellas are set. I'm a volunteer mediator and Lemon Law arbitrator and this occasionally appears in the stories. An underlying theme in my novellas is people helping people. In spite of the difficulties and crime that may surround us, there is always hope in friendship and good neighbors. Go to my website below for information about my novellas and to contact me for a FREE short story. I won't use your information for any other purpose.

Book preview

Two Murders by the River

Upstate Mystery #5

By

FJ Donohue

© FJ Donohue 2020. All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Epilogue

About the Author:

Prologue

This is where it happened!

TWO HOMICIDES WITHIN minutes of each other! Robbery? Revenge killing? Contract hit? The police have to solve this quickly, or the impact of this horrific crime on the town will be devastating.

Detectives Hendricks and Adams embark on an investigation that takes them far outside of upstate New York.

Nobody will feel safe until the crime is solved.

Chapter 1

Binghamton High School football coach Sean McCarthy called Brad Petronella on his mobile. He answered on the first ring, which was a rarity. He caught him as he was finishing up some case work for the Broome County District Attorney, Mary Louise Eldridge. There were two cases scheduled to go to the Grand Jury the following week. Brad had been instrumental in helping Sean solve the cold case of the 1975 abduction of Eddie Filmore, a young boy from his Scranton neighborhood. The two men had formed a close bond. It had been a month since Brad and Sean talked, so some time was spent catching up.

Sean asked, So, are the cases going forward to the Grand Jury next week major bank robberies or axe murders?

Nothing so interesting, just a couple of domestic assault issues.

Such is life in a small town, replied Sean.

Yeah, agreed his friend. I see you had a good team and season this year. Nice job, Coach. Does this mean you’re still going to retire?

Well sort of, but they asked me to stay for one more season. They want to find a coach who can cover both football and teach academics.

I can understand that. You’re a double threat! Math and sports. I wonder if that sports and academic model is in play anymore.

I think so, but it will take some time to find the right person. Having the coach teach in the school is a good idea. It brings the students and coaches together in the classroom rather than have the sports programs operate as separate entities. It’s always surprising the amount of influence a coach has on students and athletes. Do you remember the brokerage firm E. F. Hutton? I think they’ve been acquired and may be sold off by now, but they had a great advertising campaign back then, and the slogan was, ‘When clients talk, E. F. Hutton listens.’ I think coaches are like that too.

Definitely. Anyway, what brings you to call me at my citadel of fourth century thought?

Well, Brad, my brother-in-law, Dave Collins has filed a small claim against the city of Binghamton. It involves sewer backup in his basement. He lives at the bottom of a hill. His house is the last sewer line on the street before it connects to a larger city line. Twice now he has had sewer backup. The city attorney has contacted him and suggested they try mediation to sort out the issue as opposed to a court proceeding. Dave is wondering if this is a good way to go. You have been active at the Resolution Center as a mediator for a number of years. What do you think?

Brad replied, It’s a proven process for parties to reconcile differences and disputes. If you go to mediation, both sides have an opportunity to work out the issue and not be relegated to a five-minute presentation and court decision. This way, they’re controlling their destinies, not the courts.

Can you set this up and be the mediator? asked Sean.

I can’t assign myself to a case. Have Dave call Debbie at the Resolution Center and tell her about the call from the city attorney. Let her know he is agreeable to mediation. He can also request my participation. Tell him not to worry. We have a good cadre of mediators; he’ll be in good hands with whoever does it.

As it turned out, Debbie was able to assign Brad to the case. Two weeks later the parties met at the Resolution Center. When they started the mediation, Brad took time to explain the process to Dave. It was important for him to understand that in a meditation, the clients that is Cathy, the city attorney, and Dave make all the decisions on the matter. Brad’s role was to facilitate the conversation between the parties.

Dave and Cathy presented their side of the dispute. Even though there were statutes in place that protected the city from claims such as sewer backup, fallen tree branches, water main breaks and the like, it was clear as they talked that the city felt some responsibility. This was the second occurrence. Clearly the problem was not fixed the first time. Cathy could have refused to accept any responsibility as she had the law on her side. However, she was sympathetic to Dave’s claim and the city accepted that they were not free from blame.

The parties settled with the city paying Dave $1,500 to help in his cleanup expenses and pledging to replace the old pipes in the main city sewer line at the bottom of Dave’s street. Brad was happy with the outcome.

Sean called him that evening. Many thanks for the good work. Dave’s a happy guy. He did not want to go to court.

It was a good outcome for both parties, Brad said. A lot of times in small claims mediations the parties are so rigid in their position that a solution is not possible and they end up rolling the dice in court. It was a pleasure working with Dave. Is he retired or getting close to it like you?

He retired about three years ago and is always telling me to do the same and get on with my life. Dave leads an active life. He’s a volunteer at Binghamton General Hospital and has outfitted a jon boat for river fishing.

What's a jon boat? asked Brad.

It’s a boat with a flat bottom. It’s very stable, excellent in shallow waters and easy to fish from. Perfect for the lakes and rivers around here, replied Sean.

Dave and his neighbor Fred Miller shared ownership of the boat and designed all the modifications. It was their pride and joy and they were always tinkering with it. The boat was electric powered. The batteries gave them over six hours running time. The boat was very quiet and left a small wake from the propeller. Great for fishing and talking.

My sister says Dave loves the boat more than her! laughed Sean.

Chapter 2

Dave got a call from his fishing partner Fred Miller that evening. Let’s do some fishing tomorrow. Weather looks pretty good. I was thinking about going up the Chenango River around State Park. We had good luck there last week.

Can’t make it. I’ll be over at Binghamton General volunteering for the next three days. A couple of the other volunteers are out sick so I’m filling in.

Okay, let's find a window next week and go up to Dorchester Park at Whitney Point. Get in early and make a day of it.

Deal. I’m off most of next week.

The next day