A Problem in Paxton Park Read online

  A Problem in Paxton Park

  A Paxton Park Mystery Book 5

  J. A. Whiting

  Copyright 2019 J.A. Whiting

  Cover copyright 2019 Susan Coils at www.coverkicks.com

  Formatting by Signifer Book Design

  Proofreading by Donna Rich

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, or incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to locales, actual events, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from J. A. Whiting.

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  Created with Vellum

  For my family with love

  Contents

  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

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Thank you for reading!

  Also By J.A. Whiting

  About the Author

  1

  With her Calico cat, Justice, curled up next to her, Shelly Taylor slept in her comfortable bed in the bungalow she rented in the mountain resort town of Paxton Park, Massachusetts. It was a clear night in late May with the stars sparkling high in the sky and the nearly-full moon’s light battling the darkness.

  Sound asleep, Shelly turned over and a dream began to play in her mind.

  She and her friend and neighbor, Juliet, ran together along the forest trails past the towering pines that lined the paths, their feet stepping into golden pools of dappled sunlight as they moved at a quick pace through the woods at the base of the mountains. Because it was only a dream, Shelly wasn’t winded at all and she felt like she could run for miles and miles without tiring and without the slight ache in her leg that was always present when she ran.

  Finally, the young women slowed to a walk and headed down the trail to where it ended at a large park.

  A slender woman with soft brown hair falling just below her shoulders stood at the end of the trail watching Shelly and her friend approach, and when Shelly saw her, her heart flooded with joy.

  Lauren. Her twin sister.

  Just as Shelly was about to hurry to her, Lauren lifted her hand, her index finger in the air, urging Shelly to wait a moment.

  Lauren turned and glanced at the walkway near the trees that led away from the woods and into the park, and when Lauren looked back at her sister, she gave Shelly a warning look, and slowly, slowly, she disappeared.

  Shelly walked gingerly to the end of the path. She thought she saw something on the ground, but before she could investigate, a loud bang and a flash went off in her head.

  Waking suddenly from the dream, Shelly bolted upright in her bed and blinked as she looked around the bedroom feeling disoriented and shaken.

  Her clock radio was on the floor, the alarm honking like a fog horn while Justice sat on the side table in the clock’s usual place staring at the young woman.

  Shelly’s light brown hair tumbled over her shoulders as she reached down to turn off the bleating alarm and she asked the cat, “Did you knock the clock off the table when you jumped up there?” Noticing the time, she said, “Oh, gosh. I’m going to be late. Has this thing been going off for fifteen minutes and I didn’t even hear it?”

  Jumping out of bed and hurrying to get dressed, she looked at the Calico with a smile. “That’s why you knocked it off the table. Thanks for waking me, Justice.”

  * * *

  Shelly’s neighbor, Juliet, was dressed in a t-shirt, bike shorts, and light jacket and was pumping the tires on her bicycle when Shelly dashed out of the house.

  “Morning, sleepy head,” Juliet said. “I was about to bang on your door. I checked your tires already. We’re all set.”

  Shelly thanked her friend. “I overslept by fifteen minutes. It would have been longer, but Justice knocked the clock-alarm off the table because I didn’t wake up when it went off.”

  “Good thing the cat is on the ball,” Juliet grinned. “Otherwise, I would have left without you.”

  The young women put on their helmets, rode down the lane to the town’s Main Street, and took a left towards the resort where they would leave their bikes while they ran three miles on the trails before work. The sun had just lifted over the horizon and was painting the sky with pinks and lavenders and various shades of blue.

  “I saw Lauren in my dream last night,” Shelly told her friend as they rode along the street in the bike lane.

  Juliet took a quick glance at Shelly. “Did you? It’s been a while. Is anything wrong?”

  “I don’t think so. Well, I’m not sure. In the dream, you and I were running through the woods. Lauren was at the end of the trail waiting for us. She gestured for me to move slowly.”

  “Why did she?” Juliet asked.

  “I woke up before I could find out.”

  The two sisters had lived and worked in Boston before a terrible car accident took Lauren’s life and left Shelly with serious injuries and a long, painful recovery. A talented baker, Shelly had saved and scrimped and was about to purchase a bakery in downtown Boston when fate caused a change of plans. Unable to work during her months-long rehabilitation, Shelly had to use her savings to support herself which put an end to her dream of buying her own bakery … at least until the day she was able to replenish her savings. Shelly applied for and was offered a part-time job as a baker at the resort in western Massachusetts so she left the city and moved to the beautiful mountain town of Paxton Park.

  Ever since the accident, Lauren occasionally appeared in her sister’s dreams, and when she did, it was usually to give clues or information about a particular crime that had occurred in the area.

  Juliet’s sister, Jayne ‘Jay’ Landers-Smyth, was a veteran police officer in town who encouraged Shelly to take her sister’s dream-visits seriously believing that Shelly’s mind used the appearance of Lauren to point out something important she’d ignored or overlooked during her waking hours … things that very often ended up being key to solving several criminal cases.

  “So did your sister just drop in to say hello?” Juliet asked as they rode onto the resort’s extensive grounds past lawns, a lake, rental condos, a hotel, several restaurants, and a promenade of high-end shops.

  “I hope so,” Shelly said in a soft voice, dismounting from her bicycle and locking it into the bike rack outside the employees’ building.

  They took their helmets inside to leave in their lockers and then headed out to run on the paths and trails that wound around the base of the mountain.

  “Nothing has happened in town since winter,” Juliet said as they started their run. “Everything’s been quiet for months. No crimes, no misdemeanors, no trouble. Was Lauren’s appearance in your dream a warning that the quiet time is about to end?”

  “I like it quiet so I hope not.” Shelly’s breathing started to even out as she began to fall into her jogging rhythm.

  “Are you worried?” Juliet asked.
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  “It was only a dream.” Shelly said, a pulse of anxiety moving through her as she and Juliet ran along the trails side-by-side.

  “How many times have I heard that?” Juliet reminded her friend.

  Shelly ignored the question and moved the conversation to the early spring weather, what was going on around the resort, and their plans to go out for dinner together with their boyfriends on the weekend.

  During the last quarter-mile of the run, Shelly’s leg began to stiffen and ache, but she pushed through it and completed the planned three miles. When she slowed to a walk to cool down, she moved with a slight limp which was an ever-present and unpleasant reminder of the car crash.

  The early morning sun was slightly higher in the sky and the warming air felt good against Shelly’s sweaty skin as they headed down the trail to the park where they would loop around and head back to the employees’ building to shower, change, and head out to start their workday at the resort.

  Juliet was talking about an adventure hike she would be leading the next day explaining that so many tourists had signed up for it, they were scrambling to find another guide to go along.

  “More guests are visiting the resort earlier in the year. Management must be very pleased,” Shelly said.

  Stepping out of the woods onto the walkway that led through the park, a wave of nervousness began to pulse over Shelly’s skin causing her heart rate to speed up. She looked from one side of the space to the other. A few people were walking their dogs, a couple strolled hand-in-hand, a young man jogged near the playing fields, and several people sat on the benches that were set here and there along the walkways.

  Shelly tried to shake off her unease by taking slow, deep breaths, but the feeling lingered and picked at her. Taking a look to the tree line, she halted abruptly.

  For a few moments, Juliet didn’t notice that her friend had stopped and then she realized she was walking alone. Turning around, she saw Shelly staring off to a point near the trees. “What is it?” she asked warily.

  “There.” Shelly gestured. “What’s that in the grass?”

  Juliet looked to where her friend’s gaze was focused. “Is someone asleep near the trees?”

  When Shelly started across the grass, Juliet hurried to catch up to her.

  “Wait.” Juliet gripped her friend’s arm. “Hold up.”

  Shelly asked, “Is it…?” And then she let her voice trail off.

  They moved a little closer, and then stopped short.

  “Oh, no.” Shelly took a couple of more steps and crouched down. A gasp escaped her throat when she saw more clearly what was before her ... a man on his side, half on the walkway, half in the grass, facing away from them towards the trees.

  “There’s blood,” Shelly said in a shaky voice. “His head.” She turned away and pulled her phone from her short’s pocket. “I’ll call for an ambulance. You should call Jay. Tell her there’s a problem.”

  “I think it’s too late for an ambulance, but you better call anyway.” Juliet’s eyes were pinned on the man in front of them, and as she pressed on her phone to make the call to her sister, she said to her friend, “Now we know why Lauren was in your dream last night.”

  Shelly’s stomach tightened as she knelt beside the man to feel for a pulse and it took all of her strength not to become ill.

  2

  Three people stopped within minutes of one another when they noticed Shelly and Juliet standing by the body.

  A young man in his mid-twenties was jogging up the slight incline and did a double-take when he saw the man on his side on the grass. When he offered to help, Juliet told him she’d called for emergency assistance and that the unconscious man didn’t seem to have a pulse.

  A tall, very slender, older man on his way to work at the town utility company hurried over to see if there was anything he could do and a woman in her mid-forties who was walking to her job as a receptionist at the hospital saw the people standing over the man on the ground and offered to help until she saw the head injury the man had sustained. She stepped back and turned away, but remained nearby, perhaps to give moral support if any of the others needed it.

  Jay arrived within minutes followed by other officers and an ambulance. The crime scene investigators were not far behind. At the age of forty-three, Jay was fifteen years older than her sister. She was tall, stocky, and strong with short hair cut in layers around her face. A well-liked and respected member of the community, Jay was intelligent, honest, kind-hearted, and hardworking.

  “Tell me what you found,” Jay said as she strode to the man and touched his neck repeating Shelly’s earlier search for a pulse.

  “We think he’s dead,” Juliet told her sister. “Shelly touched his arm. He’s very cold. We didn’t see him take any breaths.”

  “We got close to him. I tried to find a pulse, but I didn’t feel anything and his chest isn’t moving at all,” Shelly informed Jay. “When I felt his cold skin, I was pretty sure he must be dead.”

  EMTs swarmed to the fallen man to check for vital signs and Jay, Juliet, and Shelly stepped back.

  “I didn’t feel a pulse either,” Jay said and then she instructed the other officers to keep gawkers away from the area.

  One member of the emergency medical team looked over at Jay and shook her head.

  Jay cursed and pulled out her phone to alert the medical examiner as the EMTs covered the body with a sheet.

  When she got off the phone, Jay moved Shelly and Juliet further to the side and asked them questions. “Tell me what happened when you arrived here.”

  The young women took turns reporting how they found the man, and then Juliet said, “Lauren showed up in Shelly’s dream last night.”

  Jay made quick eye contact with Shelly. “Did she? It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Can you tell me about the dream?”

  Shelly took a deep breath and told Jay about Lauren’s appearance. “Juliet and I were running on the trails.”

  “Like today,” Juliet said.

  “Lauren was waiting at the end of the trail,” Shelly said. “She put her index finger to her lips and then gestured for me to walk slowly.”

  “What happened then?” Jay asked.

  “Lauren disappeared.” Shelly shrugged. “That was it. It was brief.”

  Jay took a look at the body covered with a sheet. “Why do you think Lauren showed up?”

  “I don’t know. I have no idea.”

  “It’s like Lauren knew about the dead man and that we were going to run in this area today,” Juliet said.

  Shelly gave her friend a look of disbelief. “When Lauren is in my dreams, it’s only because my subconscious mind is working on some details from the day that I overlooked. I didn’t know anything about this man in the park when I was dreaming.”

  “Well,” Juliet said. “Your sister probably knew about him and came to alert you to the crime.”

  “That’s not how I think my dreams work,” Shelly said.

  “But it’s how I think they work.” Juliet folded her arms over her chest. “And nothing in our experiences have proven me wrong.”

  “Yet,” Shelly said.

  “Let’s leave speculation to the side and focus on what can be helpful,” Jay suggested in order to end the bickering. “Did your sister communicate with you in the dream?” The question was directed to Shelly.

  “Just by her hand gestures. Lauren never speaks to me in dreams.”

  “How did you feel during and after the dream?” Jay asked.

  “During the dream I felt happy to see her, then my feelings changed to apprehensive, but curious. When I woke up, I was uneasy. Kind of shaken.”

  “Why do you think you felt shaken?” Jay questioned. “Was the dream disturbing in some way?”

  Shelly screwed up her face in thought trying to recall the details of the dream. “Lauren seemed to be warning me of something. As soon as she disappeared in the dream, I walked forward. I think I saw something in the grass, but then I w
oke up and the dream ended. I don’t know if there was something on the grass or not.”

  “Did the setting of the dream seem familiar?” Jay asked.

  “Not really. We were running in the woods just like we did this morning, but I don’t think the dream path was the exact path we were on earlier today. It looked slightly different.”

  Jay nodded. “Did either of you recognize the man in the grass?”

  “He looks slightly familiar to me,” Shelly said.

  “I’m not sure,” Juliet admitted with a frown. “I didn’t look closely at his face. You know, with the blood and all.”

  “We’ll see if he has identification on him. Let’s hope so,” Jay said.

  “Wait.” Shelly’s blue eyes were wide. “I think he works at the bank in the center of town. I think I’ve seen him in there.”

  Jay nodded and stepped over to one of the other officers who handed her a wallet that was taken from the man, and after speaking at length with the EMTs and the officers, she returned to her sister and Shelly.

  “The man’s name is Wilson Barrett. Fifty-eight-years-old. Lives in town. His wallet was in his pocket so robbery probably wasn’t the motive for the attack,” Jay told them. “The medical examiner is on the way and this part of the park is going to be closed off shortly. Andrew is on the way, too.” Detective Andrew Walton and Juliet had been dating for several months.

  “Should we stay?” Juliet asked.

  “Andrew will want to take your statements, then you can head to work. Why don’t we meet later today so we can discuss where things stand?”