Cold Cases

By Peggy Hargis

About the Book
When Alex hires six new team members to solve the open murder cases, the team must look at each victim and figure out who could have killed them by looking at their social media.
Max and Alex must find out who killed five people in an area in West Virginia. The new team is assigned a victim, and goes out to find out who they are friends with. They must determine if any of the friends are involved with their murder. Each victim has connecting friends. So, who could have done it and why?
The youngest was found on his high school campus. Did he know too much and is that why one of the suspects had to shut him up?
About the Author
Peggy Hargis lives in the country in New York with her fiance, three dogs, and two cats. She has lived there most of her life. Hargis had lived in Georgia at the age of five and moved back to New York in 1993. She went to school there and graduated high school.
Hargis enjoys playing games on her phone, watching YouTube, and learning whatever she can on the internet. She believes you can never learn too much, and she loves learning what other countries and cultures have to offer.
Hargis is the author of Murder in the Night and The Fourth Floor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: RoseDog Books
• Release date: Oct 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798890278982

Book preview

Chapter One

Alex and Max both got up about the same time. Alex went ahead and got a shower and went out to the kitchen to make coffee. She then took out a bowl to have a bowl of cereal. No sign of the kittens yet. She could hear Max upstairs so she knew that he was up. She then heard him talking. He must be talking to the kittens. They have adopted him as their master. She had hoped that they would get used to her and sleep with her sometimes too.

Max came walking downstairs. Well you are not able to make the bed with two kittens that will not get out of it.

Alex laughed. Well they were trying to tell you it was not time to get up yet.

Every time I tried to make up the bed, one of the kittens was always under the covers. And the other one kept trying to attack the other from on top. I am going to have to put them both out of the room, shut the door and then make up the bed. They are a handful.

Yes they are. They do not come down to my room at all.

Give it time. I do not know what it is about me that they like but they need to give you some Momma time too. Both kittens went to their dish to eat breakfast.

Alex went over to the table to sit down with her cereal and coffee. Today is going to be a busy day. We will have to map out where each murder victim was found.

Well let’s talk about that at work. It’s a new day. We have had a busy week and weekend. Neither one of us have really had a day off. You have been there helping me to get settled in here. I appreciate that.

You’re welcome, Max. You have been a great friend to me. We have become best friends. That is what I fell in love with is how you treat me. No one else has ever done that for me. To show that they care for me like you do.

It is the way that I was brought up. To respect women. I would never disrespect you.

Thank you, Max. And I will never disrespect you either.

Max sat down next to her and took her hand and kissed it. Thank you, Alex. That is all I ask from you. Our country the women are very loyal to the men. As the men are to the women. Most of them are, some do wander. We are human but I would never do that to you.  

Thank you, Max. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Max smiled at her. Well I have to finish getting things together for today.

Alex finished up her breakfast and washed the bowl and her cup.

At the office Max and Alex were the only ones there; it was still early yet and Alex wanted to get the coffee maker going for everyone. Max had grabbed the files and started marking on the map with different colored push pins and placed each one on the map where every victim was found and put each file by date.

Misty Miller was the oldest case. She was found on the beach. Max placed a red push pin on the map.

Betty Hill was the second victim. She was found in an abandoned house. Max placed a yellow push pin on the map.

Cynthia Smith was the third victim. She was found behind a supermarket on Elm. Max placed a green push pin on the map.

Daphne Collins was the fourth victim. She was found in the river. Max placed a pink push pin on the map.

Alan Coleman was the fifth victim and the last. He was found on the school campus. He was a senior at the high school. And the only male of the group. Max placed a blue push pin on the map. He then took a marker and put a circle dot at the top of the case file so that he could keep up with who was who on the push pins. Each color represented each of the push pins.

Madison had showed up with muffins. I baked some muffins last night to share with everyone. There are two kinds, blueberry and chocolate.

Oh. Thank you, Madison. Alex put them on the conference table. She went into the breakroom and placed coffee creamer and sugar out by the coffee pot and poured herself a cup of coffee. Then she went into the conference room and sat down.

Bill came in and went to his office. He grabbed his notebook and went into the conference room to go over the files. Well I see someone has been busy with the map. Is this where all the victims were found?

Yes, each color represents each victim.

Great. You really have been doing your homework. Did you even go home last night?

Yeah we did. We just came in early.

Once everyone gets here, we will start going over the files. I don’t want to have to repeat myself again. Max then walked into his office and got the paperwork so that he could get things ready to file for each one.

After everyone was there and seated, Max had started to go over each file.

Ok so open case one is Misty Miller; she was found on the beach. Here is where she was found on the map. Max points to where the red pin was on the map. She was found up here on the beach. She was found by some kids who were playing on the beach. Apparently she had washed up there. We do not know exactly where she was killed and we actually believe that she was killed on a boat and then dumped in the water. We still do not know who her killer is as of yet that is why we have brought you all in to help us find out who killed her.

How long ago was she killed? asked Charles.

She was killed in October of 2017.

How old was she? asked Tommy.

She was twenty-nine years old. She is a white female. No children. She was found with stab wounds but she was still alive when she went into the water because she had a lot of water in her lungs.

So there are no clues to who killed her?

We had one clue but that person was found to be in prison already. It was our only lead. We went to talk to the person and they claimed that they did not know her. This could have been carried out by a woman as well.

Are we just looking at the one case today?

No. By the end of the day I will go over all of the cases with the names of the victims.

So who were they friends with that was placed in jail or prison? Who do they have connections with?

We had already looked at that but have not had much connections with other people. Misty was found on the beach where Daphne was found in a river. So that might have some kind  of connection there because they were both done the same way. She was also stabbed and then rolled off into the river.

So why do we go ahead and look at those two first and then work on the other three after. Because more than likely we have some kind of connection here. Both were stabbed and found in the water. But where were they found on the map?

Well Misty is the red push pin and Daphne is the pink push pin. So look on the map and see where they were at. The killer which I believe is the same one is in the same area. The red push pin looks like it is across the city from the pink one, Max said.

Once we get the files all open, we need to assign people to them. I have hired six of you to join our team and I am going to assign you to different cases. Since Bill was already working on Misty’s case, I am going to let him work on it and I am also going to assign him to Daphne’s case as well because I believe that they are somehow connected.

That is fine, Alex. Thank you. I think that you’re right on that as well, replied Bill.

Well there are three left to look at. Betty Hill was found in an abandoned house dead. She was found shot. She had some things there and was living there so someone had followed her back to the house and killed her. She was working but could not afford to live in a home.

What did she do for a shower?

She had cleaned up at the store where she worked. She had a job at Scott’s Convenience store. She was not getting many hours and she lost her home. So she would sneak into this home that was shut down for over a year.

Ok so what do we know about her co-workers? Someone there could have followed her home or even a customer that was a little too friendly. Was she sexually abused?

They did a rape kit on her and no she was not, replied Alex.

Ok well let’s wrap this up for now and go for lunch. We will meet back here at one thirty.

Everyone got up and left for lunch. Madison decided to stay behind.

Do you want to go out with us today?

No, I will stay here, thank you, Alex. I want to get some work done.

Ok well can we bring you back anything?

No, I ordered my lunch already. From a little deli down the road.

Ok. Well we will see you later.

Have a nice lunch.

Max and Alex left to go to the diner, their favorite spot. It was a little crowded.

I am glad that we love coming here. Technically we should have our own booth reserved just for us.

I agree, replied Max. We should be able to decorate it the way we want.

Yes we should, Alex said jokingly. Can we request our own booth?

Why we shall. Let’s go. Claim our booth. Max had to laugh. Ok well not really that would just be silly. They would probably look at us funny and then kick us out.

Yes I think so, replied Alex. Max had a sense of humor that she loved. He did not hold anything back.

The hostess came over to show them to their table.

Well I see a few of our detectives have made it down here as well.

Alex turned around and saw Tommy and Sammy sitting at another table. Ah well yes. I mean it is a public establishment.

Yes I know it is. Just never figured that they would come here to eat.

Well they probably want to come to a place that they do not normally come to.

The waitress came over with two menus and took their drink orders.

What are the specials today?

Oh don’t look, said Alex. You do not want to see what they have today. But I am going to get it and you’re not allowed. We are not able to have the same thing and walk into the house with turkey on our breath.

What? What are you talking about? Max asked. And then he saw what she was talking about. Oh wow, turkey and gravy with mashed potatoes. I want corn to go with it.

Oh don’t forget the cranberry sauce.

Yes I want all of the cranberry sauce.

Max looked at her as if she had gone crazy.

Alex laughed. Oh wow Max stop looking at me like that. I could eat this year around.

And you can. All I have to do is buy the stuff and make it up.

What? You can do that?

Yes, silly. Why don’t I make it next weekend?

Oh that sounds so good. I have only bought the TV dinners that I buy in the frozen section of the stores. But we do not need to buy a big turkey. Maybe just a turkey breast.

Ok sure. We will get everything on Saturday and I will make it on Sunday.

Thank you, Alex.

You’re welcome, Max. But I am still going to order the turkey special.

So am I.

The drinks came back and Max and Alex had put in their order. Well now I am so hungry for our dinner.

We might not have to eat later on when we get home.

Yeah right. You will eat. You always do eat something.

I wonder if we should have gone to check on the kittens.

I am sure that they are ok. They are cats. They do not need us to bother them.

So what do you want to do for dinner tonight?

Can we come back here and get the same thing?

No. Let’s get something different. Maybe something with chicken and I can cook it for us and the kittens.

Ok that will be good. Oh, maybe a casserole.

Yes that does sound good. I love a good casserole. It was one of my mom’s favorite things to cook.

They seem to be easy to do. Everything gets put into one dish and cooked.

Yes it does. Oh, here comes our food.

The waitress came over with their food. Here you go. We are close to being sold out. We started out with quite a bit, but we have had people call up for take outs too.

Oh wow, glad we got our dinner then too.

If you need anything else you know the drill just let me know.

We will. Thank you.

After lunch everyone was back to the office before one thirty. Everyone was on board with wanting to take care of the cases. Now let’s get back to Betty Hill. She had been there for a few days. The store manager had reported her missing when he had not seen her come to work for a few days. Her colored pin is yellow. So as we look at where she was across town in the busy section and the store that she worked for was close enough for her to walk. She was able to buy food from work and bring it back to the house.

How did she get in and out of the house?

She got in through a wooden board that looked to be nailed to the back of the window. The window she was able to slide up and get in that way. Since there was no electricity, she was able to use battery operated lights in the house. Somehow the water was still left on, but she was not able to wash up with it. Just to be able to flush the toilet.

Why would she have to live there? She could have been able to stay at a hotel?

Not if she was not able to afford it. She may have been able to check in for a week or so.

But still it would have provided her with comfort, said Sammy.

That is true. But it still costs money, replied Alex.

Ok so moving on to the next victim.

Next one is Cynthia Smith. She was found behind the supermarket on Elm. Hers is the green push pin. Which is also in the same area as the other two. Do we have one killer or separate ones?

Well it depends. Who would have this much motivation to kill all of these people?

I think that we had a serial killer here. Because these were done in the same area. I think that this person had gotten to know everyone and then when something went bad that person turned on them. Most of them are women. Could this be one man that was killing these women because they had hurt him?

Yeah but what about the high school kid. Alan Coleman.

Could have been a friend or someone that had found out about him and was going to turn him in.

That is true. Yes, that could have happened. He was killed at the school.

So tomorrow I want everyone to go down to the police station and pull the evidence boxes and go through and see what you can find. Look to see if they all have something in common. These cases were ones that we were not able to solve ourselves because they were spread out. We could not figure out who the killers were. But I think that it was the same killer. They never seemed to stay in the area for a long period of time to get caught. It’s almost like they were visiting or something. Max was starting to think about this even more.

Ok I am going to assign the cases to Misty and Daphne to Jack and Bill. You both can work on this case together because I believe that they both have the same killer. So Bill, you and Jack can go to your office and try to see what other information you can find online.

Sure thing, Max. Come on, Jack, said Bill. Let’s go and see what we can find.

Tommy and Nathan, I am going to assign you to Betty Hill’s case. I believe having two sets of eyes is better than one.

Where can we work for our case?

What about the break room?

Sure, we can go in there. What about a computer?

Well, I will let you use my computer in my office so go ahead and work there.

Charles and Mike, I am going to have you work on Cynthia Smith’s case. You can work on it here. I can see if there is another computer here somewhere. I think I have one in my office.

Sammy, you’re going to work with Alex on the Alan Coleman case, said Max.

Ok wow. When did it happen? asked Sammy.

Last year.

Wow, that is still fresh.

Yes it is. His parents are still upset that we have not been able to solve the case. That is why we have hired six of you to help us. We do not want these families to suffer any longer.

It’s an honor to be able to work with you all.

Thank you. Now let me go and get that other computer for Charles and Mike. I am hoping that together we can get these done.

Max went off into his office to look for the other computer. He found it on his bookshelf. He dusted it off and opened it up and plugged it in.

The computer sputtered on and then went off.

Hmm, I wonder what is wrong with it. I think it would be best that I go out and buy another computer. I have to buy a few anyways so I might as well buy them now. You and Alex stay here and help the others if they need anything.

Ok sure, said Sammy.

I will let Madison know that I am going out.

We will just hang out on the other end of the conference room.

Ok, I will be back soon.

"Ok so let’s go ahead and look at the information that we have for Alan Coleman. There has to be a reason