Farthington Return

By Thomas Mazzarella

In the small mill town of Farthington, three men and two women were murdered by gunshot, on the bank of the Farthington River on April 3rd, 1884. The crime had gone unsolved for 140 years. Erika Landry, the Farthington town historian and museum curator requested the assistance of her former boyfriend Spencer Fulton to investigate the crime so that this broken link to the past could be resolved and laid to rest. As Spencer begins to learn about the victims, he finds out that there is more going on than just solving a crime. He finds a much deeper connection to the victims than he, or Erika, could have imagined.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Mazzarella
• Release date: Apr 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9798990201026

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Unsolved Crime

I hadn’t seen or talked to Erika in over a year, not after we had split up, and I was somewhat surprised but elated, honestly, to see her name flash on my phone.

Spencer? she asked.

Erika! I responded. How are you? It’s been a long time.

I know! she replied.

It is a surprise to hear from you, I said.

Listen, she continued.

I’m listening, I said.

I’m still in Farthington, she interjected. Do you think that you could come out here for a few days in the next few weeks?

That’s a bit forward of you! I said smiling to myself.

Now stop, she said. If you aren’t really busy, I’m trying to get your help on something.

I’ll try to be more serious, I replied.

I took a job as the town historian and museum curator in Farthington about seven months ago. I’ve been trying to collect as many records and artifacts as I can, working to build up the museum, and just trying to solidify the continuity of the past with the present in this town.

I’m following you, I commented.

In the 1880s there were five deaths in Farthington that happened at the same time with no understanding of how it happened. It has since been referred to as the ‘Farthington Five.’  People ask me about it, and we get lots of questions at the museum from locals and visitors and we must tell them that we really don’t know what, how, or why it happened. There are some facts, though not very many, and lots of speculation but nothing definitive has come to light. Understand so far?

Yes, sure, I replied. What can I do?

As I was asking a minute ago, she said pausing. It sounded for a second or two that she was having a side conversation with a dog or cat. Perhaps you could come out here and maybe put your brain on this unsolved mystery and see what you can decipher through. Any little tidbit you could come up with would be more than we know now.

It sounds interesting but why me? I asked curiously.

I know how you are about finding things out. Nothing gets by you, she said. And perhaps selfishly I would like to see you. Maybe we could work on it together at least for a little bit.

She wanted to see me. That was surprising. We had split up right around the time that Erika was planning on moving back to the East Coast to be with family as she said. I felt at the time that it was just a reason to break off the relationship. We hadn’t been doing that well. We weren’t communicating, we weren’t really doing anything together anymore, we were distancing from each other for work reasons, friends, family, and Erika was having some medical issues. I was unsympathetic toward her and that just seemed to drive a wedge between us.

I was shocked at the time when she said that she wanted to separate from the relationship but after several days of thought I had to admit that I wasn’t really surprised. I had gotten too comfortable in my own routine that I just couldn’t see the yellow traffic light flashing in front of my head.

I would like to do that, I said and paused. You don’t think it would be too awkward for us?

Spencer, I hope that it won’t, she said as I heard her voice escalate a little. I was going through some stuff at the time, and I just wasn’t in the best emotional place. It hurt our relationship and I never got to say anything until just now thinking about it, but I am sorry.

I am sorry too, Erika, I said. I wasn’t very supportive or understanding and if I ever had the chance to do it over again, I would do a lot of things differently.

Then that means you will come out here and work on my little project? she said as I could hear a bit of elation in her voice.

It definitely means that, I said nodding to myself. I’m glad that you called me and that we had a couple of minutes to say a few things. I feel better and I hope you do too, possibly?

Yes, me too Spencer, she replied. Let me know your plans and I’ll look forward to seeing you.

Chapter 2

The Farthington Five

I arrived in Farthington planning to meet Erika at her office at the museum. As I walked through the museum, I noted the progressive displays of the town’s history beginning as a native American settlement. Because of its central location it quickly became a convenient travel route via land or river and a distribution conduit for industries that had developed within the town.

Farthington had become a center for the manufacture of furniture and carriages as well as textile production. The museum had several displays, information booths, dioramas, and videos to depict the characteristics of the town plus events such as a native American uprising protesting the expansion of white settlers into the region and a fire that occurred in the early 1800s that decimated nearly half of the town’s central buildings.

There was a walled off and curtained display that was labeled Under Development. As it had followed the museum timeline during the late 1800s, I assumed that it was probably in reference to the Farthington Five that Erika had discussed with me over the phone and as the main reason I was making the trip to Farthington.

I see you found the display, Erika said as I turned around half startled.

I thought it just had to be about the ‘Farthington Five,’ I commented.

She looked different from when I had last seen her, but I couldn’t really pinpoint exactly why. Perhaps she was feeling stressed or down about something.

It’s good to see you, I said and reached over to give her a hug but held back and regained my earlier stance. I’m glad that I came.

It is strange to see you since we haven’t seen each other in a while, she continued. I could feel my sensitivity. But I don’t think it will take us long to get through it especially when you start digging into the ‘Farthington Five.’

Is there anything in the display? I asked pulling back a draped over canvas to peek inside.

Nothing noteworthy, she replied as I could hear the disappointment in her voice. Just empty tables and showcases.

Can I buy you lunch and perhaps you could fill me in on what you know? I asked.

We can go to lunch, but it is on me, she said holding a finger in the air to stop me. I asked you out here so it is the least I can do. Plus, the museum will pay for it.

I won’t argue with that then, I commented.

Erika walked me over to Gourmet Gayle’s, a quaint eating venue with local artist paintings for sale and numerous black-and-white photographs of the town from days past. There were photos of Clothier establishments, General Stores, and Hotels.

That looks like the hotel that I am staying in, I said recognizing the similarity of the hotel in the picture from the 1890s to its current presentation.

A lot of the buildings are still standing, Erika replied and moved to another photograph and pointing to it. Just repurposed for the current day. And here is an article from the newspaper about the ‘Farthington Five.’

Tragedy Strikes as Three Men and Two Women are Found Dead by the Farthington River

In a shocking and grisly discovery, the bodies of residents Willis Holmes, the town’s mayor, Nathaniel Thompson, Elizabeth Harris, Maximillian Stanton, and Delia Stanton were found dead from gunshot wounds. The gun believed to have been used in the crimes was found next to the body of Delia Stanton, the wife of Maximillian Stanton.

Residents of Farthington have been left shaken with fear and sadness at the loss of their fellow townspeople. Authorities are conducting a thorough investigation to find the cause of these horrific deaths.

The community is urged to contact Sheriff Bishop with any information that may help in the investigation and lead to bringing justice to the victims.

There has been some speculation that has occurred over the years. One story was about a man by the name of Luther Bradford who had been in and out of the town jail for public drunkenness and brawling as a possible suspect as he was noted having skipped town a day or two after the murders and never was seen since. There are more, Erika elaborated.

We ordered our food and continued discussing the details of the deaths. Erika described how attempting to solve the murders was always a pet project of Farthington residents and of visitors to the town.

As you can imagine, she elaborated. The technology for gathering the forensic evidence that would be necessary to aid in the investigation was not available at the time. And with the passing of time, it is too late to collect it now. We still have the gun.

No witnesses? I asked thinking ahead for my question and picked up on her last comment. Where is the gun?

It’s part of the museum property now, she answered. There were no witnesses. I suppose that the other victims were witnesses of each other.

Any family members or friends know anything? I asked thinking that I was