Ghosts of Windsor Pass

By John M. Patrick

An elderly couple, Wilbur and Ellie Weiss, who had escaped the concentration camps under the Nazi regime during World War 11 were headed for home when they were accidentally forced off the road on a treacherous snowy New Year's Eve night in 1980 and killed instantly when their car landed sideways in a dit

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Media Reviews
• Release date: Jul 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781961395084

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Ghosts of Windsor Pass

John M. Patrick

Copyright © 2023 by John M. Patrick.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author and publisher, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review.

ISBN: 978-1-961395-09-1 (Paperback Edition)

ISBN: 978-1-961395-10-7 (Hardcover Edition)

ISBN: 978-1-961395-08-4 (E-book Edition)

Some characters and events in this book are fictitious and products of the author’s imagination. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Book Ordering Information

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Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Chapter 1: The Accident

Chapter 2: The Rememberance

Chapter 3: House Hunting

Chapter 4: The Move In

Chapter 5: Mysterious Moves

Chapter 6: Meeting The Neighbors

Chapter 7: Revenge

Chapter 8: Encountering Cummings

Chapter 9: The Pritchards

Chapter 10: The Visit

Chapter 11: The First Mishap

Chapter 12: Wilbur Struck

Chapter 13: Cory Sees A Ghost

Chapter 14: The Investigation

Chapter 15: Hank Gets A Jolt

Chapter 16: Time For Pizza

Chapter 17: Hangovers

Chapter 18: Andy Is Confounded

Chapter 19: The Visit Ends

Chapter 20: A Horrific End

Chapter 21: The Blood Test

Chapter 22: The Police Investigate

Chapter 23: Marisa Is Close

Chapter 24: On The Way Home

Chapter 25: Decorating

Chapter 26: Strange Noises

Chapter 27: The Celebration

Chapter One

The Accident

I

t was New Year’s Eve of Nineteen Eighty in the city of Charleston-a city in southeast Missouri just above the boot heel. The weather was typical for the winter season. The snow was weighing heavily down on this community and had been for about a half an hour. The roads were completely covered. The tips of grass barely stuck out above the surface of the blanket of snow. The wind was starting to pick up bringing blizzard-like conditions.

The forecast was calling for snow the entire night, up to twelve inches before it tailed off early the next morning.

Wilbur and Ellie Weiss were returning to their Victorian London home after another night of fun being with their friends at a church gathering to celebrate the arrival of Nineteen Eight-One.

This was customary for Wilbur and Ellie, every year at this time for the past fifty-five years. Both were senior citizens-he at seventy-eight and she at seventy-seven having been happily married for fifty-nine years. More incredible was the fact that Wilbur and Ellie had survived the Holocaust. They had been able to escape one of the death camps at Auschwitz in Poland in Nineteen Forty-Three under The Third Reich of Adolph Hitler and Nazism. They migrated to the United States in Nineteen Forty-Four. They got married seeking a better life, as had millions and millions of people wanting to migrate to the land of opportunity. Then again, any life certainly had to be better than what they and millions of other Jews experienced during the Nazi Holocaust.

When they had these get-togethers with their friends at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Ellie always talked about the spring planting season, flowers and other gardening activities with her friends. Wilbur always had some horrifying tales about his survival of that horrible and dark time during the twentieth century. It was a little past eleven o’clock when Wilbur and Ellie decided to call it quits for the evening.

Wilbur smiled as he shook hands with his male friends. Ellie hugged her female buddies, as she and Wilbur were ready to hit the road.

Wilbur yawned a little during their trip home. A trip, which was normally a thirty-minute drive home under normal conditions, took about an hour because of the snowstorm. Tonight however, was different. Not just because of what would be a longer journey home, but what was about to happen.

Tired honey? Ellie asked while grooming her husband’s gray hair back.

Yeah, Wilbur answered in a tone of fatigue.

I hate driving in this weather. As much as I like getting together with our friends every year on New Year’s Eve, maybe we should have stayed home.

"I know what you mean. You can hardly see out the windshield because the snow is so heavy. You’re right we could have stayed home. But I had to get out of the house.

And I think you did too."

True, and it isn’t often we get to see our friends like this. Turn on the radio and see how long this weather is supposed to keep up.

Migrating from their native country of Poland, Wilbur and Ellie had those distinct European accents.

Ellie turned the radio on and the tuner to WFAD—Ninety-Eight FM for the forecast.

"There is a winter storm warning issued for the southern part of Missouri and will continue until early tomorrow morning. Snow is expected to accumulate to about a foot and end around five o’clock tomorrow morning. Temperatures will drop to single digits in the morning with highs to be only in the upper teens. This will cause freezing making for very slick driving conditions."

No shit Sherlock. Wilbur said. "What the hell was his first clue? I didn’t need a meteorologist to tell me that. So, it sounds like this snow will stick around quite a while.

Damn.

When they give forecasts like this when it is so obvious, we could make the kind of money they are making and say stupid things like that.

Yes, we could. But we are retired now, and I have no reason to go back to work. I am taking the easy life now.

As you should. You earned it.

We earned it.

Ellie kissed Wilbur on the cheek. They both smiled while Weiss drove through a winter storm on Highway Sixty at thirty-five miles per hour.

The headlights didn’t provide much leeway in terms of brightening the road up ahead of them.

Did you clear the snow off the lights? Ellie asked.

Yeah. Didn’t do much good did it?

Considering how hard it’s snowing, there is probably little you could do about it. We are in no rush to get home. Let’s just get there safely and stoke the fireplace and sit in front of a nice warm fire.

I am all for that, Wilbur said with a grin.

He and Ellie were about twenty minutes from their home, which was on Windsor Pass in Charleston, Missouri, when a couple in pickup trunks sped by them.

Look at those idiots. They are driving as if the conditions are perfect for driving fast. If they don’t slow down, they will end up killing someone, Wilbur yelled.

If that happens, it better be them and not some innocent bystander, Ellie replied.

Though the windshield wipers were going at top speed, they did a half-ass job of keeping the window clear of the driving snow.

Ten minutes later as the roads got worse and the snow got deeper, another vehicle, this time a car, sped towards the Weiss’ Nineteen Seventy-Five Ford Station wagon.

It got close enough that it started tailgating the Weiss vehicle.

"Get off my ass you, dumbass," Wilbur yelled at the top of his lungs.

Ellie looked back and saw there were four people, all of them adults and they were laughing and drinking.

That’s real good. They’re drinking and driving and laughing as if they have no clue as to what they are doing. They are drunk out of their minds, Wilbur. Let them pass. We don’t want any problems. We aren’t far from home.

Just as Wilbur was about to slow down to change lanes, the green Chevy Malibu accidentally clipped the rear fender of the Nineteen-Eighty brown Station wagon causing the Weiss’ car to veer out of control.

"Oh…shit Wilbur," Ellie yelled hanging on for dear life.

Wilbur tried everything he could to regain control of the car, which was now making a doughnut. A term used to describe a car making a complete spin around.

This scared the hell out of the four people in the Malibu.

Dear Jesus Andy, you hit that car, Marisa yelled at her husband.

I know. I wasn’t trying to. He slowed down when I wasn’t expecting him to, Andy Janzen yelled trying to regain control of his car as it started to spin too.

Screaming and yelling was uncontrollable at this point as neither driver could control their vehicles for a spell.

The Weiss’s car was completely out of control. It went to the left, then to the right before leaving the road through a guardrail and going down an embankment. It rolled over two times before crashing into a huge tree; the vehicle coming to a rest at an angle against a tree.

Janzen finally regained control of his car, stopping on the shoulder.

Jesus, Andy, you ran that car off the road, Janzen’s wife, Marisa, yelled at him again.

You don’t think I know that, Marisa?

Now, we need to go down there and see if they are all right.

All four adults, Andy and his wife, Maria Janzen, Hank and Cindy Pritchard got out of the car in the middle of the driving snowstorm. They saw the Station wagon leaning against the tree.

Dear God, do you think they’re dead? Cindy asked.

Only one way to find out? You girls stay here while we check it out. Janzen went to his trunk to retrieve a flashlight. Come on Hank.

Using the light as their guide, Pritchard and Janzen sidestepped their way down the embankment very carefully, nearly slipping at times with their feet buried in snow as they made their way to the partially overturned car. They shielded their faces from the snow as the flakes, some of them large, hit them in the eyes.

You people okay in there? Janzen called out.

They looked in the front seat and saw Wilbur and Ellie Weiss not moving. There was blood all over the windshield, caused by head wounds. Sweet Jesus. How are we going to check to see if they’re okay?

I don’t think they are. Andy responded.

Why do you say that? We haven’t even checked them.

Look at their ears. They’re bleeding from the ears.

So.

When someone is bleeding from the ears, that usually means you’re dead.

Being a doctor however, it was Andy’s duty to check to see if the Weiss’ were still alive.

The doors are locked. How do we break the window? Hank asked.

Can you get the lug wrench from my trunk? I can break the windows with that.

Sure.

Pritchard struggled to get back up the embankment with the keys held tightly in his hand.

Are they dead? Marisa yelled folding her arms. freezing her ass off despite the fact she wore her winter coat.

Don’t know. The doors are locked. We have to break into it so we can check them out.

Hank opened the trunk and removed the cover over the carjack and took out the lug wrench.

You and Cindy might as well get in the car and stay warm. There is nothing you can do.

I won’t argue. Cindy Pritchard agreed with her husband. I am freezing my ass off.

You and me both, Marisa said as the wives got back into the car to stay as warm as they could with the heater on.

The girls got back in with the heater on full blast. Pritchard hustled back to the accident scene. Andy took the lug wrench and smashed in both windows. Shards of glass flew everywhere inside.

Andy checked Wilbur’s pulse first. Dammit, he’s gone. Then he went over to check Ellie’s pulse. She’s gone too. They’re both dead…shit."

We better get back to the car. We can’t do anything here.

Yeah, Andy said looking at the car with the elderly couple lying dead inside.

Pritchard and Janzen climbed the embankment for the car to join their wives.

The men got in the car, knocking the snow from their hair.

Boy, does that feel good! Andy said putting his icy cold hands against the vent spraying hot air.

Well-are they okay? Marisa Janzen sked. No honey. They’re not. They’re both dead.

Oh God. Marisa held her stomach.

You know what we have to do now, Cindy asked.

What? Cindy’s husband answered.

Get the police.

Get the police? Are you crazy?

Andy, you caused an accident by rear-ending those people causing them to skid out of control and roll down that embankment. And now they’re dead. Yes, we have to go the police and report this.

And what do you think they will do to me?

Nothing. It was an accident. They happen all the time.

Check my breath. I have been drinking tonight. They’ll arrest my ass and charge me with manslaughter and any other charges they can hit me with. I’ll lose my medical license. I’m not going through that. I am not going to jail.

They can’t arrest you if they don’t catch you doing it. They have to catch you in the act, Hank said.

Listen to the two of you, Marisa stated. Andy you ran two people off the road, albeit by accident, and now they are dead. And you Hank are backing him up by not going to the police. This is crazy?

It may be, Marisa, but I don’t want to see Andy go to jail or lose his license.

Nobody does, but this is not the way to go about it.

In any case, we are not going to the cops, Andy said.

So, we should act like nothing happened and let those poor people just sit there? Cindy asked.

Yeah, Andy said. They are dead and as tragic as that is, there is nothing we can do about it.

No. We are going to our hotel. What the police don’t know won’t hurt us.

I don’t believe I am hearing this.

I think Andy is right. We need to go back to the hotel and try to figure out what to do.

Marisa asked shaking her head. How in the hell do you try and pretend something like this didn’t happen when two innocent people were killed because of us?

Andy didn’t answer. He shifted the car into drive. He slowly pulled off the shoulder and they were headed for their hotel, leaving Wilbur and Ellie Weiss dead in their car.

Two people, who survived the brutality of the Holocaust, would die a horrible death because others on the road did not adhere to the adage that drinking, and driving don’t mix.

Idiots like that will end up killing someone one of these days, were Wilbur Weiss’ words just before the accident occurred and suddenly, he became a prophet. For those were the last words spoken by Weiss and how true those last words became.

It wasn’t until daybreak, when a passerby saw a Station wagon tilted on its side against a tree in a ditch, that a call went out for the police. By now, the snow had weakened to flurries, but not until it had already piled up to a foot in the city. The highway had been cleared by snowplows. Any evidence that the Weiss’ station wagon was forced off the road was gone.

Five officers from the Charleston Police Department answered the call, including Chief Bradley and his senior detective, Roger Millik.

From the naked eye, it seemed simple. The police figured the driver lost control, spun out of control, hitting the bottom of the embankment.

This accident, however, was not as it appeared to be.

Detective Millik, wrapped in his trench coat with his collar turned up, carefully looked over the scene on the highway and the accident down the embankment.

Other officers at the crash site looked over the car, sitting on one side and leaning against a huge oak tree.

Has Dr. Roberts from the medical examiner’s office arrived yet? Chief Bradley asked over the radio.

No sir, he hasn’t, an officer responded.

When he does, just have him come down here.

Yes sir, Sergeant Baker said, looking down the east bound lanes when he saw a car coming their way. It was black with the words Mississippi County Medical Examiner printed in white letters on the side.

Chief, Doc Roberts has just arrived.

Good. Thanks Baker.

The snow flurries kept falling with a small gust of wind making road conditions even more hazardous.

Flares were placed on the road warning oncoming traffic of the pending danger ahead of them. Police assisted in directing traffic when cars came by.

The medical examiner’s car pulled on the shoulder on the same side of the road.

Dr. Roberts! Sergeant Baker greets the medical examiner.

Sergeant Baker. I don’t have to ask what the problem. I see where our problem lies.

The chief is waiting down there for you.

Doc Roberts sidestepped his way down the embankment to the crash site.

Doc Roberts.

Chief Bradley. How many victims?

Two, an elderly couple.

Any identification on them?

Yeah. Wilburn and Ellie Weiss.

Chief Bradley watched Dr. Roberts do his preliminary examination.

In the meanwhile, Ray Millik, and Sergeant Baker continued their investigation by looking at the road.

Sergeant, you want to be a detective some day? Millik inquired of Baker.

Yes, I do.

What do you see?

As Baker was about to answer, they heard sirens approaching. They turned around and saw flashing lights come into view.

Here comes the ambulance, Baker responded.

They can’t do anything until Dr. Roberts processes the site and releases the bodies. What do you see? Detective Millik asked as the ambulance slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road ahead of them.

I don’t see any tire tracks-anywhere.

That’s right. What does that suggest? Millik asked.

This highway was just plowed.

And?

Whether that car was forced off the road and went out of control, was virtually taken away because the road was plowed. There is just no way to tell if those people were run off the road or the old man simply lost control of the car.

That’s right. We can’t. You have to go through an alternative method.

Their car.

Yep. We need to get the car to impound and see if there is any evidence it came in contact with another vehicle and take it from there, Millik said.

Sergeant Baker and Detective Millik headed for the crash site where Doc Roberts continued his preliminary examination of the victims.

I cannot believe what happened to these people.

You’re acting as though you know these people, Chief Bradley, Roberts asked.

I do, doc. I recognized them the second as I saw them.

Who are they?

Wilbur and Ellie Weiss. I would see them at the Millie’s coffee shop eating doughnuts and drinking their coffee three times a week. They were a terrific couple. They survived the Holocaust.

Roberts look at the chief and Sheriff Waller saying. No way.

Yeah. Mr. Weiss always told me stories when I saw them at the coffee shop about their horrors at Auschwitz and how he and his wife escaped that Nazi death camp in Nineteen Forty-Three and migrated here in Nineteen Forty-Four. They got married and had three kids upon moving here.

So, they survive one of the darkest eras of the twentieth century and they die in something like this. Son-of-a-bitch.

My guess is they were returning home from a function they attend every year on New Year’s Eve at St. Mary’s Catholic Church when this happened.

How do you know that? Doc Roberts inquired.

Weiss told me that’s what he and wife did on New Year’s Eve every year. They would go to St. Mary’s Catholic Church and mingle with their friends?

How is it going down here? Detective Millik inquired.

Doc Roberts is just making his way through. Find out anything up there, Roger? Bradley asked of Millik.

No, sir. It is impossible to determine how this happened from the road. The only way to know is to bring the car to impound so the technicians can go over it.

Chief, detective, you might want to take a look at this, Sergeant Baker called out from the rear of the car.

What do you have, Baker?

Look at this, chief, Baker pointed to it.

A dent in the fender and green paint. They were run off the road. Roger, get a sample of this paint and have it sent to the lab. They should be able to tell us what kind of paint it is.

Even when they do, chief, how will that help us find who this car belongs to?

One step at a time, Baker. One step at a time.

Whoever ran them off never bothered to call for help, Detective Millik said.

I don’t care what it takes, I want to nail the bastards who ran them off the road.

Don’t worry, chief, we’ll get them, Millik assured his superior. Millik hustled as fast as he could up the steep embankment to retrieve his kit from the trunk of his car. He sort of ran back down with the kit in hand with the tails of his winter coat fluttering in the wind.

The wrecker should be here shortly to get this to the impound garage. Then we’ll see what story it tells, Chief Bradley said. What did that passerby have to say?"

Not much, chief. He told us he saw the car here and called from his car phone. So, I let him go. I got his phone number and asked him to call us if he can remember seeing anything else.

What have you got so far doc, Chief Bradley asked with the snow still coming down in flurries.

Typical injuries, Roberts said during his preliminary examination, you normally see in a crash site; contusions on the side of the head…probably severe head trauma. I’ll know more when I perform the autopsy. What did you guys uncover?

Green pain on the fender and it is dented, Sergeant Baker replied.

S0, they get forced off the road.

Yeah, doc they were.

And that person just left them here and it doesn’t matter if they were killed instantly. It is morally repugnant they would not go for help. Terrific, Roberts said shaking his head.

The person who did this was obviously scared they would get in big trouble, Baker stated.

Which they are, Baker. That you can count on, Chief Bradley said.

No tire tracks, which could mean our job just got five times more difficult gentlemen. Let’s hope that paint leads us somewhere.

Chief, I have the sample and I am headed to the lab right now.

Thanks, Roger. I’ll meet you at the station.

Look at this. They had plenty of valuables on them, Doc Roberts said. Wallet, purse, watches, a lot of jewelry.

Robbery can be ruled out, Baker stated the obvious.

There are any number of ways this could have happened: not paying attention to the road, going to fast and could not slow down, you name it.

For now, we treat it as an accident, no foul play until we get evidence to the contrary.

Got it, chief.

Thanks, doc.

Baker, you stay until this place is cleared out, then get back to the station. I’m going back to the station.

Yes sir, chief.

Chief, I’ll let you know when I am done with the autopsies.

Yep, gentlemen, I sure hope this car can tell us something. They were damn good people. What a waste, Bradley said hiking up the hill to his car.

I’ve done all I can here. Okay guys, you can take them. Roberts told the ambulance attendants.

The police heard airbrakes from above.

Good, the wrecker is here, Baker, announced, looking up at the road.

Sergeant, I will see you later. Be careful and have a safe drive to the station.

I will, doc. Thanks.

Sergeant Baker waited while the bodies of Wilbur and Ellie were taken out of the car and placed on stretchers. Baker helped the attendants place the bodies in two black body bags. They were then put on two gurneys. If rigor mortis wasn’t enough to stiffen their bodies, the cold weather added the extra touch.

A wrecker backed up to the shoulder and with the help of Sergeant Baker, he and the two men operating the wrecker pushed the car forward, away from the tree so it landed on its tires.

The roof and hood were damaged beyond repair. Yep, the car was totaled. Two chains were used to hook the car on both sides of the rear axle.

While one of the operators went up to activate the pulley, the other man stood by Sergeant Baker.

Think you’ll have any trouble getting it up in this weather?

No sergeant, the man said. We do this from time to time, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

Good.

Anxious to get back to the warm comforts of the station, sergeant?

You bet I am, Baker said shivering even with his heavy winter coat and gloves on.

Don’t blame you.

Police held up traffic as the wrecker started its operation to pull the station wagon out of the ditch.

The rear of the station wagon was pulled towards the embankment. When the car straightened up, it was pulled to the top of the hill and onto the bed of the wrecker. Once secured, the wrecker took the car to the impound garage of the Charleston Police Department. Police stopped all the traffic while this was going on.

With the highway finally cleared, the flares were taken up and the police allowed traffic to move again, but at a snail’s pace.

Chapter Two

The Rememberance

I

t was three days after that horrible accident on New Year’s Eve that claimed the lives of Wilbur and Ellie Weiss, that their three grown children, with help from their spouses, held a funeral and memorial service for their parents.

Kind neighbors living next door offered to hold a little get-together at their house for family, relatives and friends.

Ted and Barton Weiss wore beanies to mark their Jewish heritage during the ceremony and party afterward.

Are you doing okay, Elizabeth? Barton asked his sister sporting her long black hair and beautiful blue eyes that matched her blue dress.

Yeah Barton, I’m doing okay…I guess. I can’t believe mom and dad are gone. Barton embraced his older sister by the shoulder.

It’s hard, but time will heal us.

Ted came into the picture carrying a beer.

Everyone okay in here?

We’re doing fine, Elizabeth stated.

As the evening got late, friends and relatives started to leave for home. They offered the children of Wilbur and Ellie Weiss their sympathies and condolences with their families standing by their sides.

Ted, Elizabeth, and Barton, we can’t say how sorry we are for your terrible loss. Your parents were terrific people. They will be sorely missed.

Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Weatherly. That means a lot to us knowing how much people loved our parents.

This is such a beautiful home. It is a shame nobody will be living here anymore.

I agree with you, Mrs. Weatherly. It is hard to imagine our parents will no longer be occupying this house.

The Weatherlys, were again, offered their sympathies before leaving the house, as did all the guests who attended the party until the last person left. The process took about two hours.

Looks like everyone left, Ted said.

The Weiss kids and their spouses walked into the library. Ted walked around rubbing his forehead.

Everybody doing alright in here?

Yeah Bill. We can’t thank you and Phyllis enough for holding this party. It was real nice of you, Ted said shaking hands with his late parent’s neighbors and friends.

We were happy to help out. Your parents were good friends of ours. This was the least we could do for the family.

Lady’s, how about we go in the kitchen to see if we can help Phyllis clean up while the men talk.

That’s a good idea, Elizabeth, Mary Weiss, Ted’s wife said. Thanks, ladies. Bill Myers said. I’m sure Phyllis can use the help.

No problem, Mary responded in kind.

Elizabeth and her two sister-in-laws headed for the kitchen to help the woman of the house.

What about the house if you don’t mind my asking?

Not at all, Bill. We know our parents said they planned on leaving the house in our name in their will when they went.

But?

But my family has no use for it. We are quite content where we are living.

So are we, Barton stated.

As are we, Bryce, Elizabeth’s husband said.

None of the kids in the family will move into it?

No Bill. There is no reason to move in.

So, it will just sit there?

You want somebody to buy that house, don’t you? Ted asked.

It’s a beautiful home. I hate to see it go to waste.

It won’t go to waste. Barton said. We are going to meet with the real estate agent tomorrow. It may take time, but it will be sold.

My concern is it might get torn down if it isn’t sold after a period of time, Bill Myers said.

It won’t get torn down. I assure you of that, Ted stated.

As this conversation went on, something went through Ted’s mind.

Ted, what is it? You seem agitated, Bryce inquired.

There is more to this accident that killed mom and dad than meets the eye.

The green paint found on the rear fender of their car.

Yeah, Barton, that’s it. I knew dad would not have lost control of that car just like that for them to go into that ditch. He was too careful of a driver. Hell, the only ticket he got was for a parking violation fifty years ago. Someone rear-ended them and forced them off that road-intentional or not.

What I don’t understand is why they went out in that weather in the first place. I know they went to that church every New Year’s Eve to meet with friends and ring in the New Year, but mom and dad were never crazy about driving in weather like that.

So why did they go?

I don’t know, Bill, Ted said.

Could they have gone out before the weather hit?

I don’t think so, Bill, Bryce said. Mom and dad were very reluctant to go out in that weather even before it hits.

As a precautionary measure?

Yeah, Ted said.

I know Wilbur and Ellie were terrific people who would not hurt a soul after what they went through forty or so years ago, but do you think someone had animosity towards them for some reason?

I wish I knew, Bill, Ted said walking around with his arms folded. I don’t know. I truly don’t know.

At this juncture, the police have no evidence if they were intentionally run off the road, Bryce said.

Were it not for that damn snowplow, they might have evidence of what really happened on that highway.

But that isn’t the way it is, Ted. Sure, that snowplow could have removed something vital to the investigation, but it is all speculation about why they were forced off the road. If there is any evidence someone intentionally ran them off, the police and their lab will find it. But for now, the police have nothing to prove that and since that’s the case we can’t worry about it until they know something.

Yeah, lucky for the asshole who did it, Ted said.

You are really convinced someone did it on purpose, aren’t you.

Maybe it was an accident, but Jesus Christ, why could they not have called the police and got them out of there. It doesn’t matter if mom and dad were killed instantly. Just do the humane thing and call for help. Instead, the bastards let them just sit there. That is what really has my blood boiling.

I don’t blame you one bit, Ted for being angry, Bill said, shrugging Ted’s shoulder. I would be angry too if someone did that to my parents and they just let them sit there without calling for help. Never-mind, that nobody could have helped them. That isn’t the point.

Thanks, Bill.

Bryce told the men of the family. The truth will eventually come out.

And how much do you want to bet that bastard was drunker than a skunk? Ted asked.

Probably right. It was New Year’s Eve, Bryce said.

We will probably never know unless that person grows a guilty conscience and tells the police.

Barton gave a sarcastic laugh as he walked about the room. What do think the chances of that happening are?

How about between slim and none, Ted stated.

Whoever did this better pray I don’t cross paths with them because their asses are dead.

Wouldn’t it be great if when you die under circumstances like this, you could rise from the dead and torment the hell out of the people responsible? Talk about revenge.

Revenge or vengeance, Bill? Barton asked.

Doesn’t matter. It means the same.

During their talk, the ladies came out to join their husbands.

Are we ready to go? Ted asked everyone. Barton, Elizabeth, and myself, have to meet Mrs. Flanders from the real estate agency tomorrow concerning the house.

I guess we are all set, Elizabeth said, embracing one of her kids. Word of the wise to all three of you.

Sure, Bill, Ted, stated.

I know you guys are pissed. If this was intentional, you have every right to be angry. But don’t do something you might regret, whether the police find evidence of that or not. I just don’t want you guys to get into trouble.

Advice taken, Bill. Thanks.

What is Bill talking about? Phyllis asked.

Has something to do with the police report, Phyllis.

I read it and it said some green paint was found on the rear fender where it was dented.

Yeah, Barton sighed.

Phyllis approached Barton Weiss and held his head up.

Don’t do anything stupid that will land you in jail. The police will find out how this happened, and they will pay dearly for it. Okay, she smiled.

Okay, Barton grinned. Phyllis and Barton hugged.

It was close to eight o’clock. Ted, Elizabeth Weiss-Neilson, and Barton left with their families to their late parent’s home next door. The snow had quit hours before the funeral. And temperatures were going down even further.

The families walked across the snow-covered yard to the house. Ted, being oldest, opened the door with the key the real estate agent gave each person when they arrived in town to make the funeral arrangements.

It is getting colder by the hour. Elizabeth said trying to keep warm even with her winter coat on.

Ted unlocked the door. It was a gloomy feeling. Bed sheets covered all the furniture in the living, room, family room, and dining rooms. The utilities are cut off.

Why are we here? Barton’s wife, Amanda Weiss asked.

To make sure everything is the way we left it before Mrs. Flanders comes tomorrow. We all agreed on what we would take for ourselves… right?

Kids, stay here in the foyer. We won’t be long. Alyssa Weiss, Ted’s wife told her kids.

Elizabeth and Barton echoed those instructions to their kids as well.

If the community wants to, they can auction off anything we don’t take, or they can donate everything we leave behind. I don’t really care anymore.

Elizabeth looked at the picture of their parents hanging over the mantle.

I am looking forward to having their picture hang in our family room, Elizabeth thought aloud.

It will make a wonderful addition, Bryce said.

I still can’t believe they’re gone, Elizabeth stated.

Nobody can, Ted answered.

I’m thinking of asking Chief Bradley if they have anything new for us, Elizabeth said.

I can’t imagine they do. It’s only been-what - four days.

Maybe, but I’ll ask anyway, Ted said. Even though I doubt if they’ll find anything based on their reports.

Why do you say that, Ted? Chief Bradley said they had no evidence their car was forced off the road on purpose, Elizabeth quizzed her brother.

I know.

Then why do you believe someone did this on purpose?

Elizabeth, I don’t. I just want to ask him if there is anything new that came in before we leave town after meeting with Flanders.

Whatever the case is, the police need to handle it and we need to leave and get back to the hotel. Come on kids, we’re leaving, Elizabeth said as she prepared to exit the front door.

Yeah. Ted walked around the foyer under the crystal chandelier.

What time is Mrs. Flanders expected to be here tomorrow morning?

Ten o’clock. Once this is finalized, we are gathering our things and heading back home.

We better leave now before we freeze our asses off, Barton stated.

Barton…Elizabeth, Mrs. Flanders gave you keys to the house as well?

Yeah.

In case Sharon and I don’t get here before you do, you can get in. I’m going to the rental place early tomorrow morning and get that trailer so we can get our stuff out of here. Now that mom and dad are gone, I don’t want to be around here any longer than I need to be.

I am in agreement with you on that, Ted, Barton told his older brother. Ted, if this was done on purpose, that someone wanted to kill them, do you really think there is any chance that happened-I mean for what reason?

"Probably none. Maybe I am just being paranoid. I would like to hope that I can give this asshole the benefit of a doubt, but when they just let them sit there without calling for help. I pray to God that wasn’t the case, Barton. I really pray that is not the case."

Maybe the person who did this was too scared to come forward thinking police would have arrested them.

Are you guys coming? Elizabeth came back in calling to her brothers.

We’re coming out now, Elizabeth, Barton called out.

Ted and Barton finally withdrew from the house and rejoined their families. Ted locked the door behind him-as he was the last person to leave the beautiful Victorian London home their parents owned as late as four days ago.

Early the next morning, with three U-Haul trailers parked in the driveway and in the street in front of Two Eight Ten Windsor Pass where Wilbur and Ellie Weiss had made their home