The Case of the Negligee Murders

Chapter 1

Sitting on his veranda, Detective Jack Sinclair enjoyed the early morning cool and calming breeze that was blowing from the Chesapeake Bay.  The flowering perennials that decorated the upper rails around the deck were dancing as if in tune with the music of the Bay.   The swaying the branches of his weeping willow tree were in step with the perennials.   Nature’s well-choreographed dance routine, he thought.   

Laying his head back and staring at the early morning sky, he allowed his thoughts to drift as he rocked in his newly purchased, white, wicker rocker. 

He began reminiscing about his tour as a Washington, D.C. detective and why he left all of that glamour and politics for this quiet small town of Onancock, VA.  After his fourth year, he began losing interest in the big city police politics.   Receiving a call, out of the blue, from his best friend in high school about a detective position opening in his home town, he immediately emailed his resume to the captain of the Onancock Police Department, which in turn, was ceremoniously accepted.  Jack couldn’t wait to make his move back to Virginia.  He contacted a realtor to sell his Georgetown apartment and started the packing process.   He was definitely returning home, back to the laid-back atmosphere of the Eastern Shore. 

Upon his return, he immediately he purchased a beautiful and spacious Victorian-Style beach house, utilizing the money he made from the sale of his apartment.  He knew it was too large for a committed bachelor, as he described himself, but he loved it.  This was his dream home.  The downside to the purchase was the location ¾ at the end of Breezy Point Road ¾ the same road where the large vacation houses were located.  Most of the year, he was the only one on the beach, but during the tourist season, virtually every one of the houses was occupied, and every inch of the small beach was covered by visiting families.  

Jack soon became the senior detective for the VA Eastern Shore Major Crime Unit, with its main office located on the second floor of the Onancock Police Department.  The MCU was the integral unit for all major crimes spanning the area from the border of Maryland to the north and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to the south.  

A lull in major crimes had provided an opportunity for Jack, and his partner, to enjoy some well-needed, and deserved, downtime.  In fact, the only ‘murder’ during this lull had been committed by an old, nearly blind farmer who shot a neighbor’s cow, mistaking it for a small deer.   This incident became instant fodder, for the jokes around the OPD.   Jack remembered entering his office a couple of days after the “murder”  to find pictures of cows, and deer, placed around his office with the comment “Help me, I’m just a cow!” written on each picture.  

Jack slipped from his daydreaming as he stood and leaned on the veranda’s rail to inhale the fresh breeze flowing from the Bay.  The cool morning breeze was intoxicating.  The music of the bay, caused by the rolling waves crashing onto the sandy beach, provided the background for the singing and squawking of the seagulls hovering over the beach, searching the sand for small sand crab to emerge thus proving a morsel for their early morning breakfast.   He turned his glance toward the open waters and watched as other seagulls, following an early morning shrimp boat, diving in and out of the water to gather their meals from what the boat was churning up from the bay.   The scene made him smile. 

He decided he would take a vacation day and remain on his veranda, taking in all of the scenery from the Chesapeake Bay.   He was the senior detective, and damn it, he was going to take the day off; but he knew he had to keep abreast of the open cases in his jurisdiction.  Crime, petty or major, didn’t take the day off, he thought.  He turned from the rail and sat at the circular glass patio table to view the files that he had earlier placed there.

He was so engrossed in his reading of the case file that he hadn’t heard the sliding door open. 

“Good morning, early bird!  Time to get dressed!  Doc Randy called.”

Startled, he turned and saw his partner, both at work and privately, Detective Maggie Williams, standing in the doorway completely dressed.  Why was she already dressed, he wondered?

Seeing Maggie standing in the doorway, Jack’s mind immediately drifted back to the time when he and Maggie were ‘thrown together’ to solve his first major crime in Onancock.  The crime turned into an interstate cooperation which resulted in Maggie being sent from the NYPD to assist him in the crime.  Their meeting was ‘love at first sight’, but Jack being a confirmed bachelor didn’t know how to handle the feeling he had for her.  During the investigation he had to travel to New York City, where he and Maggie became even closer.  When the case ended, Jack had returned to Virginia, while Maggie remained in New York.  As the weeks went by, Jack soon realized that his job, as well as his life, began to suffer.  It wasn’t long before an opportunity opened that brought them together again.  Within a few weeks of Maggie’s returning to Onancock, Jack realized that his bachelorism had to end.  He asked Maggie to move into his home, and she quickly accepted.  

“Dammit, Maggie, you almost gave me a frickin’ heart attack.  Make some noise next time.”

 “Oh my God!  What a drama queen!  Get off your ass and let’s move.  You know Randy.  If he calls, he expects us to be there immediately.  Now get up and get ready.  We have to go.”

“He can just wait until tomorrow.  Today I’m taking a vacation day!” Jack protested.

“Yeah, right,” she muttered as she turned and reentered their beach house without providing any more acknowledgements to his comment. 

Jack knew that if the local M.E. summoned, a major crime had occurred.  It couldn’t have come at a better time, he thought. He, along with Maggie, was tired of the boring and mundane tasks of assisting with the petty crimes.

Jack rose from his chair, took one last look across the bay, gathered the files, and turned toward the door.  He paused and watched his partner’s long brunette hair toss about her upper back as she walked through the house.   As he stood watching her sleek five-foot-eight frame swaying, his thoughts struggled with going to work or rushing into the house, sweeping her into his strong muscular arms, and carrying her back to their bed.  As fast as the thought jumped into his head, it left just as quickly ¾ he knew she was right.  His daydreaming came to an end, he heard Maggie yelling from inside the house. 

“Move your ass, Jack!  Murder doesn’t wait!  It’s time to go to work!”