"Murder In Boston Heights"

Murder In Boston Heights. | Story by Butch Leake

It was a balmy evening in the prestigious neighborhood of Boston Heights. The sun had long since gone down, and the sky was awash with shades of orange, pink, and purple. The streets were lined with towering mansions, behind which lay sprawling gardens and opulent swimming pools. The crème de la crème of Boston society called this neighborhood home, and for Detective Sachel Drummond, it was a decidedly unfamiliar world.

She was tasked with investigating the murder of one of Boston Heights' most prominent members, Jim Stanton, a businessman with a fortune built on real estate. He was found dead in his own home, his body stuffed in a closet. The suspect list was long, and every one of them was wealthy in their own right. But as Sachel delved deeper into the case, she couldn't help but feel like something wasn't quite adding up.

She had been on the case for five days and had spoken to everyone who had any ties to Jim Stanton. One person, in particular, stood out to her, Jim's wife, Sandra Stanton. At the crime scene, Sandra had been inconsolable, but there was something about her that seemed forced, like she was trying too hard. Sachel had a hunch that she was hiding something.

The next day, Sachel set out to interview Sandra again. She arrived at a palatial mansion that could only belong to someone as wealthy as the Stantons. Sandra greeted her, dressed in a crisp white suit, her makeup impeccable. Though she looked composed, Sachel could see the tension in her body language.

"Mrs. Stanton, may I come in and ask you a few more questions?" Sachel asked.

Sandra hesitated for a moment before stepping aside and allowing the detective in. The house was a palatial Renaissance-style affair, with ornate columns and paintings everywhere. Sachel, who had never been in a home this grand, couldn't help but feel a little out of place.

Sachel took a seat in the living room while Sandra poured her a glass of water, her hand visibly shaking as she handed it over. Sachel noticed that her hair was disheveled, and her makeup appeared to be smudged, as if she had been crying for hours.

"Mrs. Stanton, can you tell me where you were the night your husband was murdered?" Sachel asked.

"I was here, at home. He had gone to a business meeting, and when he didn't come back, I called the police," Sandra replied, her voice cracking.

Sachel studied her for a moment, her gut instinct telling her that Sandra was lying.

"Mrs. Stanton, are you sure that's what happened? Because we have evidence that suggests otherwise."

Sandra's eyes widened, and she appeared to be on the verge of tears.

"I don't know what you mean. Please, Detective, just find my husband's killer," Sandra pleaded.

Sachel could tell that she was hiding something but didn't have enough evidence to extract the truth out of her. She left, determined to find out what Sandra was hiding.

Over the next few days, Sachel Pieced together everything she had gathered from witnesses, but none of them pointed directly to anyone. With no definitive answer, Sachel invited Commissioner Marshall Hall to help solve the case.

As Commissioner Hall arrived, Sachel greeted him at her desk briefing him on everything she found so far. He seemed pleased that she had gathered the evidence and praised Sachel's dedication. From then, they decided to work together.

The next place they visited was the office of the deceased, Jim Stanton. As they entered, they greeted his secretary, who was shocked by his murder on the night he left the office. They asked her several questions about Jim's current projects and the possible business rivals that he may have had, and she was willing to answer all their inquiries. She mentioned that another executive, Gregg Peter, would probably know more details about Jim's business.

On leaving the office, they made their way to Gregg Peter's house, a magnificent mansion situated off the beaten path. Both officers knocked on his door, and he came shortly afterwards. They introduced themselves and asked him if he had any information about Jim Stanton's murder.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about" replied Peter.

"Please, Gregg, we have to know anything you know if you were a part of his last deals," Sachel appealed.

As he opened his door, he led them inside and told them what he knew. He said that Jim was negotiating the purchase of a vast parcel of land in the city and the project was exciting. He also mentioned that there were two other developers bidding for the same property.

"That's interesting. Can you tell us who those other developers were?" Commissioner Hall asked.

At first, Gregg hesitated but ultimately relented. He gave them the names of his direct competitors, who were equally keen on investing in the same purchase.

Sachel had all the information she could gather for the day, and they returned to their office, and it was time for them to tie all the information together.

Hall took the lead on this occasion and made sense of the data, and it didn't take him long to set aside all the suspects, focusing just on the two developers. As they began to pull back more information, it became apparent that one of the developers had associations with substantial organized crime family.

They suddenly had a motive, and as Sachel took up the task of interviewing people who may have been involved in the related activities, she collected further evidence, which further linked the connection.

The team applied for a search warrant and took the suspect into custody. Gregg ran all his business negotiations indirectly through the company, and he thought he would never be caught. But the evidence against him was too substantial.

Gregg Peter was eventually convicted for his part in Jim's murder for the motive of the property deal, orchestrating the whole crime from his base of operations.

Sachel was grateful that Gregg was in jail for life, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was still off. So, she went back to Jim's house again and re-examined all the clues left behind.

She found a white cloth on the grass, just beyond the hedge in the front yard. It was too clean to have been there for too long, and she concluded that it had to have been placed there recently.

It was then Sachel made a breakthrough; she remembered seeing a white cloth still unstained in the last picture she saw on the hall's wall. She went back to grab the photo, examining it closely.

Sachel noticed the corners were a little frayed, suspiciously so. With nimble fingers, she took the photo apart, revealing an envelope hidden behind the photo. Within the envelope, she discovered a love letter from Sandra to another man, who was revealed to be the second bidder on the property, Dexter Rodd.

The idea that it was an affair in the middle of her husband being murdered was too much for Sachel to ignore, thinking that her motive was anger and passion.

On gathering the evidence and presenting it to higher authorities, Sandra was arrested shortly after for the affair and plotting her husband's murder. They managed to put together a case that gave them a guilty verdict. After convicted, Sandra admitted that she committed the murder while Greg Peter plotted her escape. She received life in prison.

Commissioner Hall visited Sachel soon after.

"Good to see that woman brought to justice," he said.

"Indeed," Sachel replied, "But I still can't shake off the feeling that we might have missed something. Something was still off."

Commissioner Hall chuckled.

"Come on, Sachel. You can't always find an answer even as an experienced detective. Sometimes, we can leave the odd loose thread untied, as long as our suspect isn't out there plotting their next murder for us to worry about."

Sachel nodded, relieved that her intuition had not let her down. And with that, the murder in Boston Heights was solved.