Father Time: The Case of John Lawrence

By Devon Leland

The small town of Oakville, Massachusetts, has remained a quiet, calm, and safe place to live for generations. That all changes one Monday morning when John Lawrence's car is found in a junkyard among the carcasses of other vehicles, not a scratch on it. A fake body stuffed with newspaper sits in the driver's sear, holding a pocket watch inscribed, "In Due Time." John himself is no where to be found.

As the search for John ensues, the local PD and FBI find themselves with far more questions than answers -- and more missing than found. Oakville is now a town terrorized by time. Will they find John before it's too late? Or will Father Time succeed in changing their idyllic town forever?

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Feb 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798987649718

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© Copyright 2022 - All rights reserved.

The content contained within this book may not be reproduced, duplicated or transmitted without direct written permission from the author or the publisher.

ISBN: 979-8-9876497-1-8

Written By: Devon Leland

Edited By: Paisley Prophet & Devon Leland

Cover Art: Devon Leland

Table of Contents

I. July 2017

II. Stolen

III. Family and Friends

IV. June 2018

V. The House in The Woods

VI. The Search

VII. The Return

VIII. Kidnapped

IX. The Package

X. Prime Suspect

XI. The Chase

XII. Moving On

XIII. A New Day

I

July 2017

. . . Decapitated, she said, sobbing in terror. Silence followed, and the dispatcher realized the call had dropped.

Nowadays, every small town in America has some story to tell. It seems these little areas scattered through the country tend to have the most intriguing tales. To better understand the woman’s call into dispatch, there is a story to be told. Although today is June 4th, 2019, I believe it is best if we go back two years to July 7th, 2017. That was when things started to shift and the peaceful town of Oakville, Massachusetts, began to sour. It all began with a call from a man named John Lawrence.

John Lawrence had been born and raised in the small town of Oakville, Massachusetts, home to five thousand residents. It had originally been built as a suburban community during the time of industrial expansion, and due to that, most people traveled to the city for work. A ride through town showed mostly residential addresses outside of the six-block radius that made up the town’s center. The buildings in the town center had been standing since its incorporation into the state back in the mid-1800s. Here, one found the only businesses in town: a local market and pharmacy, a small gas station with a convenience store and liquor store inside, an automotive shop, storage lot, library, and the town’s police and fire station. Through time, Oakville had proven to be a quiet and simple place to live. That, in part, was what caused the interest in John’s case to skyrocket.

That Friday night back in the summer of 2017, a call came into the police station.

Hello?! My name is John Lawrence, and I think I’m in danger! Please help! Then the call dropped.

Oakville Police officers were sent to his house, but no one was home, and his car was gone. There was no sign of anything off, so they figured it must have been a prank. To be sure, the officers on scene called into dispatch and requested further investigation. Dispatch informed the Oakville Police Department’s captain, Mark Jackson. He sent out two detectives to review the home and ensure that the officers who had responded to John’s home hadn’t missed anything.

Head Detective Matt Andrews and his partner Detective Megan Thompson had been tasked with the case. They quickly reviewed the house and found that, though John was not at home, there did not appear to be any sign of foul play. Still, Matt requested Captain Mark put out an APB for John’s car, a silver 2015 Honda Accord.

The weekend passed, and early Monday morning, local law enforcement officers were called to a vehicle scrapyard in Longview, Massachusetts, two hours away from Oakville. A Honda Accord had been found parked at Rick’s Pick & Pull Scrapyard.

Longview was a working-class town, filled with many long-term family businesses. Rick’s scrapyard spanned four acres, and its cars were separated by car brand, which allowed people with the know-how to retrieve the parts they needed for their vehicle for a small fee. Rick allowed people into his lot for free, so they could bring their own tools and remove any parts they needed from the vehicles. All the vehicles in Rick’s lot were moved around by tractor, as nothing but a capable off-road vehicle could make it through the paths in the graveyard of cars. As the cars’ available parts became scarce, Rick would move them to the last chance area, to await their final fate in the crusher. In that final acre of his land lived only the skeletons of vehicles, and that was what made the Accord stand out to Rick that morning. The Honda Accord was a diamond amongst the rough.

What Rick couldn’t figure out was how. For it to be at the far end of the lot, the vehicle had to have been placed there, and with his house across the street, he would have heard the ruckus. He had been the owner and operator for nearly twenty-six years, and he knew the sound of his tractor running like a mother knew her baby’s cry. Rick called the police to report his findings and requested that units be sent to his yard.

Rick’s call to the Longview Police Department raised interest. The small station consisted of a captain and six officers. They were too small to have a force behind them or detectives to work a big case. When the captain heard of the vehicle, he thought of the APB he had received days earlier. He called Captain Mark and informed him that, although it was too early to tell, they might have found the Accord he was looking for. Captain Mark told him to keep him up to date with his findings, and if it turned out to be John’s Accord, he would send detectives out to process the scene further. Longview’s captain obliged.

Upon arrival to Rick’s Pick & Pull, Longview police officers reviewed the Honda Accord and found what Rick had reported to be true. The Honda had been placed in the back of the lot sometime over the weekend. A fake stuffed body was found in the driver’s seat, and the body had been stuffed with newspaper. The body had a beach ball for a head, kept covered by a winter cap. Also, in the hand of the stuffed man sat a pocket watch with the inscription, In Due Time. The only other thing in the vehicle was the vehicle’s registration, showing ownership by John Lawrence. Longview’s police captain called Captain Mark back and informed him of their findings. Captain Mark sent out Detectives Matt and Megan to investigate further.

The ride out of Oakville that brought the detectives to Longview was pleasant. The two towns were loosely connected by an east-to-west route that twisted its way through trees and past ponds and the occasional home or small gas station. This part of the state was not as inhabited as the middle and eastern parts of the state where two of its biggest cities found their homes. Instead, it was quiet, peaceful, and surrounded by nature. Upon arrival, both Matt and Megan were baffled as they reviewed the vehicle and the surrounding area. The ground around the Accord was rough, and there were no tire tracks leading up to the vehicle to show it had ben driven. It was clear that John’s Accord had been placed there, not driven there. Besides the footprints that they were able to match to Rick, there were no other signs anyone had been up close with the vehicle. This made at least one thing clear: when the vehicle was placed there, the fake body must have already been in place. Logic said that the person who had placed the vehicle there knew how to use machinery and had general knowledge of the yard. The issue was, with Rick’s yard being so popular, that did not bring the pool of potential suspects down at all. The obvious question arose—was Rick involved?

At this time, Captain Mark called Matt. Matt, what updates do you have?

Captain, honestly, not much to go on here. A very strange sight, to be honest.

Does it seem like a prank, or something real? Captain Mark asked.

At this point, it seems like the car was put here carefully, the body and pocket watch seem to be making a statement. But it seems we don't have any solid leads yet, sir.

Captain Mark sighed heavily. Please report any updates to me, and tell Megan the same.

Will do, sir, said Matt, and the captain hung up the phone.

Captain Mark demanded answers from Matt and Megan as soon as possible because things this strange did not happen often to the citizens of Oakville. Most days, Captain Mark’s desk would be filled with noise complaints, petty theft, pranks taken too far, and missing pets. The thought of John’s case being anything more than a prank worried him. Things like this just did not happen in a small town. He needed answers, for himself and to make sure that his town was safe. He hoped it would be nothing more than an elaborate prank, but just in case it wasn’t, Captain Mark would be investigating John’s case right alongside Detectives Matt and Megan moving forward. They would soon find that the information they had was greatly outweighed by the unknown, and this would become a trend that haunted this case as time went on.

Later that day, Detective Megan sat across from Rick in the interview room. Rick, this is protocol. I need to ask you some questions.

You don’t think I have anything to do with this, do you? Rick replied, a little uneasy about the entire situation.

Megan’s face remained impassive. We’re just trying to get the whole story, figure out anything you may have forgotten in your call.

Rick recounted his actions that morning and stated, I have nothing to hide. Please, ask me anything.

Can you account for your whereabouts this weekend?

I can! he exclaimed. I have cameras to prove it.

Rick was able to prove his innocence, as cameras around his home showed he had never left his property between the scrapyard’s close Saturday and when he’d returned to the yard Monday morning. Investigators reviewed the lone camera at the entrance of the yard. Around 2 a.m. Monday morning, John’s car was seen driving up to the gate. A man got out, opened the gate, drove the car in, then stopped and closed the gate. Almost one hour later, the man could be seen exiting the lot on foot, heading West before disappearing from the view of the camera.

The man had been dressed in all black, and this, combined with the low video quality, meant they could not identify who he was. Based on the video, they were able to determine the man was roughly six feet tall, medium build. This also proved Rick’s innocence, as he was roughly half a foot shorter and from years of drinking had grown an unmistakable beer belly. He gave the investigators full access to his lot and home, as well as all his recordings and any other information they might need. He wanted to help; he really wanted answers as to why his yard had been picked and why he had to be involved.

Captain Mark sent a forensic unit to meet Matt and Megan at Rick’s yard. They arrived around 12 p.m. and spent the day combing through John’s car. It was found to be meticulously clean, nothing remaining but the body, the watch, and the vehicle registration. The car appeared to have recently been detailed, but with a lack of even the most common dirt and grime found in a vehicle, it was assumed that John cared for the Accord regularly. With little to go on from the car alone, attention was solely focused on the body found in