The Lawmen of Cherryville

By Anthony Longo

A strange and puzzling incident, regarded as a high school prank, presents an unusual dilemma for Mayor Barnes and the small restful town of Cherryville. One morning the town awakens to find that their address numbers are mysteriously missing. Every single one of them, gone; taken from private homes, shops, boutiques, city buildings and industrial complexes and for no apparent reason. Normally this kind of theft would be handled by the local law agency, Sheriff Sam and Deputy Basil. However, at a Town Hall Meeting, a meeting called to sooth the nerves of a rattled community, Sheriff Sam becomes extremely frustrated over a number of things; the Mayor's pettiness over jurisdictional responsibilities and the constant carping of the town-hall people. Sam resigns his post as does his trusted Deputy, Basil.
Enter Max and Andy, two high school students on summer break, who offer their services to a very reluctant Mayor. Given the opportunity, the two eager temporary lawmen soon discover that the house number theft was not a mere prank but the prelude to a more sinister and complex case; one involving a fifty year old gem theft, infidelity, deceit, and an apparent murder.
Their odyssey begins when they investigate the strange and eerie noises emanating from a house referred to by the local community as "haunted". The house was abandoned, and then totally neglected, after the old eccentric owner was apparently kidnapped and never heard from again. However, once inside the house Max and Andy are startled when they hear creaking sounds coming from a room directly above them.
There are no footprints or smudge marks on the dusty floor below, so Max asks the obvious "How did they get up there." Despite Max's fear, which was bordering on panic, Andy's stubborn curiosity convinces Max to pursue their dangerous voyage up the stairs, to the second floor. And although they pay dearly for their journey they do come away with a few pieces to an ever widening puzzle.
The puzzle which was eventually pieced together by the young sleuths established why the address plaques were stolen. They also uncovered a murder, made to look like suicide, and developed an insight into a fifty year old jewel theft and the mystery of the "haunted" house.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 17, 2005
• ISBN: 9781469115801

Anthony Longo

Anthony Longo was born in Brooklyn, NY and now makes his home on Long Island, with his wife Sally. He has three children and six grandchildren. After a four year tour of duty with an advanced Naval Aviation Unit he received a BSEE (magna cum laude) from the New York Institute of Technology. He spent the next thirty years with RCA at various Research and Development Centers and retired as an Engineering Manager in 1986. He has written three books, primarily for his own personal gratification and, with naïve optimism, the amusement and entertainment of his grandchildren.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Home Again

It was the middle of summer and Andy was back home, in

Cherryville, looking to break the tedium that was now his life. It would be next to impossible to find anything that could compare to the thrills and excitement he experienced at his most recent job with the circus.

Andy was hired as a trainer’s assistant by the World Circus’ equestrian team to help with the feeding and caring of their horses. At times, he was used as a rehearsal fill-in for riding teams lacking a full working crew. And being a likable sort, team members would teach him things. Things like balancing himself on the back of a galloping horse or getting horses to obey commands. Andy loved that job.

But unfortunately, it was snatched from him ruthlessly, by a violent tornado that struck the Glen Bay fairgrounds, dealing the Circus a fatal blow. The storm lasted only a few minutes, but its raging winds devastated the circus leaving only a sea of shredded canvas and a forest of splintered masts.

And so, reluctantly, Andy returned home to spend the remainder of his school vacation in Cherryville.

••

Cherryville is a relatively quiet, peaceful town, as most small towns tend to be, but it is especially so in the summertime when the sounds of rustling leaves are interrupted only by the chirping of birds by day and crickets by night. There is a range of mountains that almost completely surround Cherryville, isolating it from neighboring communities and providing a protective shield against fierce storms, like the one that struck the Glen Bay area.

Andy enjoyed the simple pleasures that a small town afforded him while growing up. But now, at the age of seventeen, he wanted more. He needed some fun, excitement, something to stimulate and challenge him. There wasn’t much of that in Cherryville. And so, Andy rambled around town looking for things to do, trying to shake the feeling of being suffocated by an oppressive calm and tranquility and thinking; Wow, this town is really boring.

••

To most teenagers Cherryville probably was a bit boring. Even its infrastructure had a monotonous sameness to it. Streets were all laid out alike, homes were a collection of similarly styled wood frame buildings, and the shops along Main Street were almost identical to one another.

And so Andy thought, Yeah, this is going to be a long summer. But then things began to happen 1996.png , weird things.

CHAPTER 2

The Mystery

The Sheriff’s Office reports of strange occurrences at the old

Lawton house didn’t seem to upset many people. They grew accustomed to claims of flickering lights and chain-rattling emanating from the abandoned Lawton place at the end of Main Street. They had been through all of that before.

But then, there was that one morning. That Saturday morning, when the entire population of Cherryville awakened to find the plaque on the front of their home, missing, stolen. The plaque was a building identifier which contained each home’s street name and house number and was securely mounted to the front of each house. Oh yes, this upset nearly everyone. Andy wasted little time getting to his good friend Max’s house. After greeting Max’s mother he double stepped it upstairs to greet a sleeping Max.

Max! Max, wake up, somebody stole the town’s street plaques, every single one of them. They’re all gone, yours too. It’s unbelievable

Max, still not fully awake, yawned gave Andy a disinterested look, and said, What’s going on, what happened, what are you babbling about?

I’m trying to tell you; somebody stole the street number plaques from all the buildings in town. They’re gone, every single one of them. Every building, in town, was literally ripped off.

Why would anybody do that?

Andy responded, excitedly, How should I know? C’mon get dressed and let’s find out what’s going on. You should see the people crowding the street yakking about it. Word is that only Cherryville got hit; all the other towns weren’t touched. Man, oh man! I’ve been here all my life and have never seen anything like this before. Come on Max, move it.

••

If there was anything that eased the pain of losing his job with the Circus it was being able to hang out with his old friend Max for the rest of the summer.

Andy and Max’s friendship dated back to when they were very young. Their homes were adjacent to one another on Oak Street and so they were able to play in each other’s backyard before they were even able to walk. They spent their growing years together; attending school, competing at sports, going to movies, skinny-dipping at Dotter’s Creek, defending one another against bullies, and just plain hanging out. They were together so much of the time people often mistakenly thought they were brothers.

Max dressed in a hurry, washed his face, brushed his hair, threw on some clothes and was out the door before Andy could prod him any further.

••

The scene on the street was somewhat chaotic. It seemed like most of Cherryville’s inhabitants were out milling about forming small discussion groups, trying to find a reason for this gross indignity that was inflicted on them.

Is this some kind of joke? shouted someone.

What the heck is going on, shouted another.

And then another, Whose responsible for this lunacy?

Someone added, I heard we were the only chumps. All the other towns were untouched. What makes us so lucky?

They were visibly upset as they searched for answers. The noise level on the street rose as conversations became heated.

Andy and Max moved through the crowd picking up bits and pieces of conversations from the various pockets of people. As he and Max wandered about Andy noticed the conspicuous rectangular outline above each mailbox, along the entire block, where the plaques were once mounted. At that moment, somewhere deep within him, Andy felt his curiosity grow into a sense of exhilaration. He couldn’t quite explain the feeling at first, but then it struck him. Man, this is really something! I was looking for some excitement and now it’s here. We’ve got a full-blown mystery on our hands! Right here in town—Wow! This is great!

Andy didn’t condone the robbery. He came from a decent law abiding family and had what would be considered a proper upbringing, but still he had to admit there was something devilishly fascinating about what had happened.

Andy pushed his way through the crowd with Max following right behind. He settled into an angry group of people and with a twinkle in his eye and mock indignation shouted, Who the heck would do such a rotten thing, right here 1998.png in Cherryville. Andy had trouble forcing back a smile that was struggling to surface. There’s got to be a lot more to this than meets the eye, don’t you think?

Hey, do you think it could be aliens from outer space. Remember the reports of UFOs awhile back? said Max, trying to be cute.

His humor wasn’t appreciated.

This is no time for jokes, someone scolded.

Andy jumped in again, I don’t know who took them, but whoever did must’ve had a pretty darn good reason for doing it. He seemed to have everyone’s attention now. Just think about it. There must be three or four hundred buildings that were ripped off. So anyone who would go through that much trouble, prying off four hundred plaques in the middle of the night, maaan 2000.png , it had to be really worth something to them.

At first Andy was just trying to be whimsical, toying with the crowd. But he reflected on what he had said and it nudged his sense of curiosity even further. He had no answers to any of the questions he so smugly threw out at the crowd.

He had always considered himself to be somewhat bright and very logical; after all, he was an honor student at Cherryville High and had even taken advanced college-credit courses. And yet he couldn’t figure this out. He hated to admit it, but he was confused. He stood there, in the center of a hotbed of discussion, but his mind was light years away. A myriad of questions raced through his mind. Was it one guy, or a group of guys? Was it done for kicks, or money? Was it someone with a grudge against the town of Cherryville, or just a school hazing? Was it just a simple game or a game of intrigue? He turned to Max and said, Let’s get out of here and go some place quiet, I’ve got some serious thinking to do.

What’s to think about maybe it was an alien thing after all, you’ve got to admit this whole thing is kind of eerie.

Someone shouted to Andy, Well, what do you think about it hotshot?

Andy replied, loud enough for those around him to hear, but more humbly this time, Im really not sure. I guess the only thing you can rule out is a money angle. This wasn’t done for money.

Why not? someone asked.

‘Cause those street signs wouldn’t bring anyone enough ‘bucks’ to cover the cost of the gas they used.

Someone else yelled back, How do you know they used a car?

There was an increase in the chattering following that question.

Andy shot back, How are you going to lug three or four hundred of those things around, in the middle of the night, without a set of wheels. There is no way anyone could pull this off without a car or more likely, a van or a truck.

Max, felt a little left out so he jumped in, "First you say they aren’t worth much then you say somebody went through