Murder on Route 30

By Michael Ward

It's senior year for Adam Madlock, Derek and Bonnie Baglish, Zach Brehm, and Humphrey Warth at Eagerton High School. Adam Madlock is found murdered at 8:00 p.m. in the St. Joe's parking lot. What is supposed to be an intervention to get Adam the help he needed to turn his life around and save his friendship turns to tragedy. As each person pulls up, they see sirens and squad cars. They're interviewed by detectives Chris Appleton and Jeanie Pinkerton. One of these friends is the killer, or are they? As the days turn into weeks and weeks into months, lives will be forever changed, and friendships will be tested in the small town of Dyer, Indiana.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 8, 2024
• ISBN: 9798891124387

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Epilogue

About the Author

cover.jpg

Murder on Route 30

Michael Ward

ISBN 979-8-89112-437-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89112-438-7 (Digital)

Copyright © 2024 Michael Ward

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Chapter 1

At 8:00 p.m., a body lying in the parking lot of St. Joe's in Dyer, Indiana, was identified as Adam Madlock, an eighteen-year-old senior from Eagerton High School who grew up in Dyer, Indiana. His friends were Derek Baglish and his sister, Bonnie Baglish; Brian Borto; Zach Brehm; and Humphrey Warth. All of them grew up in Dyer and went to kindergarten at St. Joe's, eight years of grade school, and now the same high school together. They pretty much did everything together, like going to the movies; eating at the same restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings; and bowling. That all changed in their junior year in high school when Adam decided to hang out with a different crowd and wanted to become cooler and have more friends. Adam distanced himself from his real friends and started drinking and doing drugs. He hurt his relationship with not only his friends but also everyone who ever liked him. His friends started to ignore him, but they wanted to give him the help that he needed. They needed to meet up and have a talk.

First on the scene was Detective Chris Appleton, who had been a cop for fifteen years and was Adam's neighbor. The history between these two goes back to when Adam moved next to Chris. Both lived on Chestnut Avenue, behind the Stardust bowling alley in Dyer, Indiana. Adam was an only child; and his parents, Jaimie and Oliver, were lawyers who gave Adam everything but were rarely home because of work. Once the Madlocks moved next to Chris, everything changed. The Madlocks had a German shepherd who used to bark and shit on Chris's lawn, which Adam never picked up and always stepped on while cutting grass. But that wasn't the only thing that Chris was pissed off about; it was the fact that Adam loved techno and would crank up the volume in his 1999 Mustang. Chris would sprint out of his house, yelling and cursing at Adam to turn down the music.

That Friday morning, on September 8, 2002, Adam was getting ready for school and, as usual, cranked up the volume to his stereo. Before Chris could even get out of his driveway, Adam cut him off because his car was parked on the street.

Adam slammed on his horn and said, This is the last time. You're going to pay for this.

Adam just laughed and waved his hand as he headed off to Eagerton High School.

Adam's grades began to suffer at the start of his junior year at Eagerton High, as well as his friendships with those closest to him. Even his teachers at school noticed a change in character—from a young man who was humorous, had good grades, and made people laugh to Who is this guy? His friends at school—even his cheerleader crush, Amanda Bines, whom he wanted to ask out for Turnabout—eventually turned him down and began distancing herself from Adam. His friends began to see a change in him as well. It started out as a beer or two, then escalated to a case or two with drugs, continuously being late to the movies, and not showing up at events to get high with his new friends Carlos, Bernie, Alex, and Terrance Holmes, brothers who liked to get high and drink daily.

When senior year rolled around the corner, Adam, whose grades were once As and Bs, now had Cs and Ds. His GPA went from 3.4 to 2.1 and kept falling. His friendship with those closest to him, from grade school until now, barely noticed him, and they never called him to do anything because they couldn't deal with his drug and drinking problem. The first month of senior year, Adam would appear drunk and stumble into the classroom high on coke and crack. His teachers were worried about him. They even tried to tutor him and get his grades up because everyone cared about him, including his dean, Mrs. Jackie Kherr. She cared about all the students at her school, and even the teachers loved her because of her heart and passion.

When the dean of a high school comes up to one of her students and pleads for them to get help, it means she cares about her students. When that didn't work, Dean Kherr went up to Adam's closest friends—Derek, Bonnie, Brian, and Zach—to convince him to get the help needed to overcome his addiction and drug problem. She did not want to flunk one of her students and have him take senior year all over again.

When September 8 rolled around the corner, Adam was met at his locker by those closest to him about having an intervention. They wanted to meet up at the St. Joe's parking lot to talk to him. They wanted him to hear them out and just listen to what they had to say. They didn't want their best friend, whom they still cared about, to die so young from drugs and alcohol. Adam agreed to meet up because he admitted that he has a serious problem, and when they looked into his eyes, they knew that he wanted help and was ready to listen.

However, Humphrey was still pissed at Adam from the other day in weightlifting class. When Humphrey was about to change back into his school clothes, Adam took his clothes, turned the water on, and threw his clothes into the shower, resulting in wet clothes. When he left the locker room, he was laughing with his friends Carlos and Bernie. Humphrey, not finding it funny at all, yelled out, I'm going to kill you, Adam! as he was walking down the halls to his next class. Everyone heard him, including the principal. Without any dry school clothes, Humphrey had to borrow some from the lost and found bin in the principal's office.

If there was one guy who had motive and opportunity, it would be him. Humphrey was picked on by Adam religiously in weightlifting class as well as homeroom. He was never the biggest guy, and all this started by junior year in high school when Adam decided to ditch his real friends for guys who liked to smoke weed every day and drink a case of beer because he thought it would make him cooler, and the fact that Carlos would steal his dad's six-packs of Miller Lite from his dad's basement. Carlos's dad owned a liquor shop in Dyer, called Spirits, on Route 30.

Next at the scene of the crime was Detective Jeanie Pinkerton, Appleton's partner for the past three years. Jeanie came from a small town in Orland Park, Illinois. She was a small-town girl who only wanted to be a cop while growing up. She loved the shows Columbo and Forensic Files and always wanted to solve crimes and make a difference in her town. She was thirty-four and single and wanted a change in scenery. What she knew from her new partner was that he was a no-nonsense type of guy, having been on the force for sixteen years. Jeanie had been on the force for seven years but, after four years, transferred to Dyer.

Jeanie was looking around for evidence and found a.40 S&W bullet slug, the same type of slug used by her partner. She also noticed a size 11 shoe print, the same size her partner wore, and commented on it earlier in the day but once again brushed it off. Then there was the fact that early on Friday, around 4:00 p.m., Chris left work to run some errands. He never left work early, especially on a Friday. He was forty-three, never married, and worked late on Fridays, usually being the last one home.

Chris never questioned his partner on any arrest or murder, but for some unknown reason, he felt uneasy at this crime scene with Jeanie here. He knew his partner would dig deep and stop at nothing to find the killer. He knew that eventually, all evidence would point toward him, but he allowed her to do her job and question all of Adam's friends. Maybe—just maybe—one of these friends had the motive and means to kill Adam.

Jeanie also asked her partner if he knew Adam, and without taking a breath, he said, Yes. He went on to say that the history between the two went back to when Adam moved next to him. He continued, explaining that Adam was a great kid growing up, but once high school came around, he changed. He became annoying and went out of his way to piss off his neighbor, playing loud music and not cleaning up after his dog. He went from saying hi every morning and drawing with chalk to not cleaning up after his dog and cranking up the volume in his car so he could get a reaction out of his neighbor, even an angry one.

This was going to be a difficult case for both Jeanie and Chris. Jeanie was determined to solve the case, connect all the dots, and cross every t until she found out who killed Adam. If that meant asking her partner the tough questions that no other cop would ask, she was prepared to do it. Chris was hoping the case would be solved quickly and without too many questions. He was hoping for a quick confession from one of the suspects, something that would divert suspicion off him and onto somebody else. Jeanie was a good detective and a great partner.

One of two outcomes was going to play out from this case: either Chris was the killer, or someone else was. It was a game of chess for both players. One player would win, and one would lose. This question remained: Would Jeanie be able to solve the case and stay one step ahead of her partner, or would Chris solve the case by any means possible?

Chapter 2

The first two friends of Adam's to arrive at the scene were Bonnie and Derek Baglish. All three were on the same youth soccer team, the Dyer Kickers Under-8. They couldn't believe that the friend with whom they were supposed to have an intervention was now murdered. When the two arrived at the scene, both were in shock to see that there were squad cars, an ambulance, and a forensic team looking for clues and evidence. Also on scene were Detectives Chris Appleton and Jeanie Pinkerton, also looking for clues and anything that could help find the killer.

They were briefly asked where they were that day and if they had any reason to harm their friend or possibly murder him. First was Bonnie; she was asked to give her whereabouts that day, from morning to when she got to school to when she met up with Adam at his locker. Also, she was asked if she had classes with him that day or this semester, if she had any contact with him after school, and if she went anywhere or had receipts to verify her location.

Bonnie said in her own words, I got to school around seven forty-five in the morning to grab my books for the first few classes and immediately went to Adam's locker. He appeared to be in good spirits when I was there, along with Derek, Brian, Zach, and Humphrey. They said they wanted to have an intervention with him at St. Joe's at 8:00 p.m., in the parking lot. He reluctantly agreed and would hear us out tonight.

So Bonnie and Adam had German class together in first period and had homeroom together after second period. After that, the two went their separate ways until lunch period. Both had lunch together, which meant you had classes first, then a thirty-five-minute lunch, then your fifth-period class for an hour.

After school, Bonnie went to grab food at Burgerhaus on the corner of Routes 30 and 41. She got the usual there: a Campania Grilled Cheese with chicken and tomato. She normally sat in the same spot all the time and usually had the same server, Mora Bardot. Mora always asked how Bonnie's day was at school and if there was anything new going on with her. Bonnie didn't go into detail but said she and the rest of her friends were gathering at their own stomping ground to meet with and try to talk some sense into someone who really needed help and that she could see it in his eyes: he was screaming for help.

After an early dinner, she went home to do her homework, take a nap, and get ready for the evening. She didn't know how the evening was going to end or if the intervention was going to work or register with Adam. All she knew was that she and her brother Derek were supposed to meet up with the rest of the clique and get Adam help. Bonnie was