Midwinter Mystery Series - The Town of No Return - Chapter One - A 1960's based Supernatural Mystery series

_{Midwinter Mystery – The Town of No Return
Chapter One: The Beginning}

    _{A high piercing cry shattered the peaceful natural order of the countryside, as the heavy locomotive sounded it's whistle, heralding the passing through yet another deep narrow railway cutting, before vanishing into a series of short tunnels. The engines exhaust fumes, a mixture of steam and smoke, trailed behind the preceding rail carriages creating an illusion of being transported on some kind of unearthly cloud. Inside one such carriage were two estranged passengers sharing a small private compartment, both of whom were too self absorbed to take notice of each other or the outside world.}

      _{Time can be a rather relative matter, contemplated Detective Inspector. John Foxe, as he sat watching the wintry landscape roll past, through a nearby window. In your youth a summer can feel like an eternity, but when you're older a season seems to be over with the simple turn of a calendar page.
It's said that time “flies” when you're enjoying yourself, but if you're engaged in some tedious task or waiting on public transport - then Tempus Fugit, it most certainly doesn't ! It was the latter of these activities that John currently found himself caught up in - perhaps 'trapped' was a more appropriate word - on this interminable journey to a little outpost of a village on the Cornish coast, a town strangely called... Mistry. He drew back his sleeve, glanced down at his watch, and shook his wrist gently, before holding it up-to his ear for a second hand opinion. But it was only his patience that was slowly running out, all he could do now was resign himself to a higher power – The British Railway Timetable.}

     _{The steam radiator situated under the seats was performing well in the lower regions - from the knees downwards there was a definite degree of warmth - but from the waist up the climate dropped noticeable. It was beginning to turn dark outside and the walled gas mantle lamps were already burning brightly, imbuing the compartment with a warm flickering ambiance. The windows were steamed up on the inside but lightly iced up on the outside - John had to wipe his hand across them in order to peer out. As he did so, he caught sight of his own dark image looking back at him in the window. He could clearly discern his thin features, the short slightly receding, well brylcreemed hair with a high straight parting swept cleanly back. The reflection made his hair seem almost black, rather than it's natural dark brown, nor did it highlight the slight greying around the temples. He could however, trace the line of his broken nose, although the mirror'd image failed to register his keen intelligent hazel eyes and their surrounding gentle expressive lines, which were testament to a wry sense of humour. John's attention was momentarily deflected by the erudite looking gentleman sitting opposite him, as he recrossed his legs, for the umpteenth time. He was an emaciated looking man of advancing years with a heavily starched composure, which he maintained with a rigidly uptight position, extremities held in close proximity to his body, along with an overall sombre tone. He wore a dark charcoal suit with a white shirt and thin black tie, his bowler hat rested next to him, on the padded bench seat, it's curved brim facing down. He was seemingly engaged in a particularly weighty tome - The Complete Works of Charles Dickens, Readers Digest, omnibus edition, unabridged - but John had caught the odd furtive glance coming his way from over the top of the silver rimmed round spectacles, that framed the glazed but tired eyes of his scholarly companion.}

_{In all the time that had passed during their drawn out excursion, no meaningful dialogue has been exchanged – perhaps in-part, due to a lack of common interest, or just a general lack of interest in common. In fact, the only real discourse that had transpired between them was when John had first entered the compartment and discovered that his 'silent partner' was already in situ, and sought to ascertain whether or not the seat, on the opposite side was available. After that they observed an unofficial communication blackout.} 

_{The train fell into another tunnel, this one longer than the others, and a sudden blast of wind shot through the carriage extinguishing the small lamps - plunging the compartment into utter darkness, absent of all signs of light and life. John felt himself consumed in the depths of the black void, detached from reality, existing only in his own thoughts and memories. In this state of revelation he was compelled – as so often – to relive the circumstances that led to this day, this journey, this 'little escape', on this date, which he would never forget: January 7th, 1961}

_{Where does anyone's story truly begin, is it with the start of a new challenge, moving home, a change in career, or perhaps with a death – after all even an end can be a sort of a start – or is it simply a moment, a point in time, that intersects between 'all our yesterdays' and 'what might have been tomorrow '. To Detective Inspector. John Foxe, it was a combination of all these things, which seemed to coalesce themselves during a somewhat unusual and unexpected meeting, on that fateful afternoon.}

_{The bright sunlight streamed into the Chief Inspector's office, although it was late-December, the sky was deep blue and clear, offering no hiding place or resistance from the sun. The Venetian blinds were at half mast – to reduce the glaring brilliance – and cast a broken shadow over the heavy oak desk and the nearside wall. Around the room hung the usual suspects, a collection of photographs – black and white – showing various policemen through the stations history celebrating some landmark arrest or being decorated for an act of bravery in the course of their duty. Other culprits were the ubiquitous humorous print of drunken constables standing in a row, a kind of unlawful line-up, and then there was the old felon, a large oil painting reflecting rural life by some unknown artist from an undated period, depicting a small elderly lady, an over-laden cart, a running river and a faraway windmill, in the style of the 'Haywain', as if it's mere presence gave the surroundings an air of gravitas.}   

_{The Chief Inspector – Peter Neuman – looked immaculate in his uniform, the crisp white shirt and polished silver buttons offset the highly pressed black tunic. He was a slim, alert man for someone in their advancing years, and his regulation short dark receding hair laid flat and swept back. His long face, with a narrow, pinched nose, was supported by a strong jawline. He sat at his desk, on which stood two small framed photographs of his wife and children, also taking up precious space were two shallow, wire trays, one was resigned as “In” the other consigned as “ Out” - the former of which was stacked high with an ever-expanding 'pile' of bureaucracy, displaying clear evidence of criminal neglect.}

_{The office was situated on the top floor of the police station, which allowed John - sitting facing the Chief Inspector's desk - the occasional opportunity to gaze out over the city's rooftops. He could feel the warmth of the sun on his face, filtered and intensified by the large windows, and noted the minuscule particles of dust caught in the sharp brilliance of the winter daylight, floating - almost imperceptibly - around him. All of which was a welcome distraction as he sat there waiting for the Chief to finish his telephone conversation to some hapless caller. “ Well, sergeant, you tell that constable, I don't care how cold it is out on the streets. If I catch him on patrol with his hands in his pockets, one more time... I'll have him transferred to the Mounted Branch for a month...and it WON'T involve riding them !” finished the Chief.}

_{John heard a garbled electronic reply from the harassed officer, although he couldn't make out the words just a general put upon theme.}

_{"Yes, I'm well aware of his 'imposing' mother's disposition, thank you ! And, while I admit the force would probably be better off if the mother was serving in it rather than than her son ! We simply cannot be seen giving in to public pressure, no matter where or who it comes from, is that clear ?” responded the growingly frustrated Chief, and with that he slammed the receiver back into it's cradle.}

_{"Ah, parental guidance meets the cold hands of the law,” John mused then continued, “ So, you're familiar with the mother, is she really that bad ?”}

_{"Unfortunately, I do know her, 'relatively' speaking, and yes, she is really is ' that bad'. She's also...” the Chief paused for a moment, before revealing, ” .. my sister ! ”}

_{"Ahh ! So that would make the young constable, your...” John started..}

_{"Problem !” interjected the Chief.}

_{" I was going to go with Nephew, but I see your point,” sympathized John.}

_{The Chief, leaned forward in a conspiratorial gesture, clasping his hands in front of him on the desk top,” When she was younger, we all thought she was just highly competitive, but with the hindsight of age I can see now that she's simply...a right pain in the backside ! Still, I suppose not even the best of us can evade our personal lives at work, can we ?” with this final remark, the Chief fixed his gaze a little more closely on John, as if to indicate some underlying meaning to his final words.}

_{"Anyway, enough about me, how are you keeping John ? I'ts been a while since we caught up with each over... probably a bit too long," the Chief paused for a moment his fingers gently tapping over some files on his desk. " The last time must have been just after Cathy's funeral, wasn't it ?"}   

_{"Yes, I suppose it was, a little under three months, give or take a couple of days,” recounted John as he averted his eyes, and then seemed to look up into space, purposely avoiding eye-contact – as he invariably did - when handling questions about his wife's death. He still didn't really feel comfortable or want to talk about it, to anyone.}

_{"You, never did take our advice for some personal leave, did you ? In fact, according to our records, you haven't had any break for quite sometime now, is that right ?” the Chief continued his investigation.}

_{"Well, no, I never took any time off, there didn't seem much point, I mean, it wasn't as if I could do or change anything. All I have at home for me now, is a slightly bigger house and a much smaller life,” John suddenly became aware that he had disclosed more than he had intended, and decided it best to simply address the issue at hand. 
“ We were planning to go down to the coast for a few days, in the Spring, and stay with Cathy's sister. Perhaps, I might still do that, I think she'd like that... the sister that is,” clarified John. “ But, for now, I'd rather just keep going. If that's all the same with you,” he finished.}

_{" SPRING ! That's months away, and an awful long time to 'just keep going', John,” the Chief empathized, “ Look, I appreciate, that we all have to deal with the loss of a loved one in our own time, in our own way, some with others, some alone. But, you shouldn't under-estimate how powerful and deceptive grief can be, John. Why, you could be affected by it right now, and not even know it. How does that saying go... “ No man is an island”, perhaps it's time you talked to someone professional about it ?” the Chief studied John's face, for any sign of acceptance, but there was no evidence of movement, facial or otherwise. So, decided the more prudent course was to continue,} "Well, I suppose that brings us to the other reason why you're here today !” He shifted in his chair before drawing it nearer to the desk, then after pulling his tunic down, straight – in an orderly fashion - he shifted a few papers around and then picked up a file that he'd been resting on. “ A matter has come to my attention involving your recent case notes, which I'm rather concerned with. Some of the entries display, shall we say, a somewhat questionable conduct, combined with a fast and loose style of investigation and frankly, rather shoe-horned results, which are, how can I put this, just plain indefensible !” the Chief rubbed his forehead, too ease his troubled brow before delivering more critique. 
“ Furthermore, I've been hearing accounts from some of your fellow colleagues, voicing their concerns of your uncharacteristic and 'erratic' behaviour over the last few months.”

_{John, sat there in stunned silence, whether in shock or denial, it was too close to call, neither of them knew what John was really going through. But, given the lack of response, he had only one recourse open, to continue on, “ I'm sorry, John, but given such incidences, I have to be seen to take these allocations seriously and apply the appropriate action,” he paused so as to let the implications sink in, and then continued.
“ If I send this report 'upstairs' – as it stands now – then I will have no choice, but to follow protocol. Now, that would involve temporary suspension – with pay – following a recommendation for grief counselling and psychiatric evaluation, on the grounds of a suspected, emotional breakdown. Re-instatement, would be pending an 'all clear' from the medical board.” The Chief wagged the file up and down, as if weighing the consequences before pronouncing his verdict, “ That's of course, IF, I send these papers upstairs, in THIS condition.” Suddenly a lifeline was in the air, John shifted in his chair, curiosity and desperation preparing him to grab it with both hands.}

  _{The Chief stood up, walked round his desk and perched himself on the other side just in front of his worried visitor, placing his hands flat on either side of him, in a more casual, more approachable manner. "Look John," the Chief exhaled, " I admit that as your immediate superior and as an old family friend I am just as responsible for this situation as you. I should never have let you talk me into continuing working while you were going through such a obviously emotional time, " he confessed. "So, perhaps there is another more mutually, beneficial solution, one where we can both keep face. It's possible your file could be 'misplaced' – for the time being – especially if you were to be suddenly, and temporarily ' seconded out' to another station. Now, if you're amenable to this, then I have a little proposition I'd like to run by you,” the Chief paused as if to let his opening gambit to take root. Then, turning over his right shoulder, whilst remaining seated, he picked up a rather thin old file from behind him. “ You, see, John, I need a reliable, experienced man, that I can trust, to investigate a slightly 'lost' station, development.”}

_{"Lost ! What, as in metaphorically or geographically ? “ quizzed John.}

_{"More, accidentally,” clarified the Chief, “ from what little I can make out, the station just kind of, fell off our 'radar', during the last round of Home Office, regional, re-shuffles. Ever since then, we haven't heard hide nor hair of them, not a single reported incidence or recorded offence, no response - verbal or otherwise - 
at all !”
" How has it come to light, now then ?"
" The good old payroll office, brought it to my attention, when they flagged up that they were still paying the sergeant's wages, despite the fact that he retired - or died, we're not too sure which - over 15 years ago !"}    

_{" Ahh ! You can always rely on payroll to get their man... eventually ! So, how long exactly, has this 'lost station' been incommunicado for, are talking days or weeks ?” John's interest began to stir.}

_{"Three years, two months and a couple of days, a Tuesday I believe “ the Chief itemized his answer.}

_{"THREE YEARS ! Well, obviously, something is seriously wrong, you should be sending someone down there, right away !” was John's stunned reply.}

_{"Look, let's not get hung up with conjecture, at this point. What's needed now, are calm heads and hard facts, in order to make an informed assessment of the situation, and then we can... panic ! I mean, for goodness sake man, do you have any idea what the newspapers could do, with a story like this !” the Chief returned to his side of the desk and slumped back into it, with exasperation.}

_{"I can think of one headline, ' One of our stations is missing ! If seen, please contact police headquarters, with information regarding it's whereabouts !” John fantasized.}

_{"That's not helping, John. This is a delicate matter, which could be very embarrassing for the whole Force ! So, for now let's just keep this ' in-house', until we know exactly, what we're dealing with. I'm relying on you, John, to go down there, find out what happened, and then report back to me, personally, is that clear ? “ summarized the Commissioner.}

_{"Crystal clear ! I keep you and the powers that be, out of the papers, and you'll bury my mine,” John replied cynically.}

_{"Hmmm, that's a somewhat harsh, and simplistic synopsis. But, at least we understand each other, so I take it that you accept my terms,” the Chief Inspector smiled confidently.}

_{"When, do you want me to start ?” John simply followed.}

_{"Well, finish up whatever case you're currently working on – under supervision by me, of course - and get any personal affairs that you may have, in order. Then head off down there, say, the beginning of the New Year. They've waited this long, a little bit more won't make much difference, " the Chief smiled. " I wouldn't be at all surprised if it wasn't just some silly administrative error. Looking at this file there doesn't seem to have been any arrests down there for years. You may have to put them out of their misery and just close the station down, I'll leave it to you to decide, anyway. The Sergeant in charge is called Keel, can't make out his first name from this," the Chief held out a badly stained and tattered sheet of paper from the stiff card file. " And, that's about all we really know about it, not much I know, but I'm sure it won't take you too long to get to the bottom of it all. Besides just think of all that fresh air and the peace and quiet of village life, I'm almost envious of you," he smiled friendly at John,   satisfied that he had killed two birds with one stone.}

_{After, the two men had finalized the rest of the details, John made his departure, at the door he turned} back, "Yes, John, is there anything else, ?” enquired the Chief Inspector. “ Eh, no, I just thought you said something, that's all !” explained John, hurriedly. However, this wasn't the truth, but, given the recent conversation, he thought it best not to confess that he was actually watching Cathy as she stood next the Chief, peering over his shoulder at the report.  Then she raised her head, a concerned expression written across her face, and gently shook it, whether it was some sign of  disapproval or as a warning was hard to say. But, these unpredictable, unwarranted intrusions into his life from his dead wife were certainly starting to become ….a problem.

_{to be continued...
lifeandfunnies.blogspot.com}