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  “What did he die of?” I asked.

  Jason Norris was beside me and we exchanged pleasantries and small talk. It was actually kind of a miracle that we had somehow become decent friends after all our animosity in our youth. It was a testament to the human spirit, and the ability to forgive and move on, I guess.

  “That's the funny thing, Dick. He just died.”

  “What?”

  I could not believe what Norris said. Nobody 'just dies.'

  “What do mean? He had to have died of something.”

  “Kenneth died all right. He's lying right there in his coffin, and all. But it's a mystery how he died. Nobody can explain it. He was just buying groceries and supplies at Mercer's when they say he suddenly grabbed his chest, started babbling nonsense and he died.”

  “Babbling nonsense?” I asked.

  My detective's instincts started kicking in. I needed to know all the details about Stephenson's death. It was just as I thought. Nobody just died. Nobody. And someone like Kenneth Stephenson who was in the pink of health, wasn't likely to just die of cardiac arrest. Something had to be up with that and I needed to know more.

  “Yeah. He was rambling about snakes and how they would get him.”

  “Snakes?”

  “Yeah. You know he was always afraid of snakes. It was his phobia, or something like that. He started seeing snakes and then just died.”

  It sounded like Stephenson died of cardiac arrest brought about by sudden terror. I didn't really know him that well, but as far as I knew, Stephenson did not have any previous history of mental illness. He was a bully and a prick, but that was a whole lot different from having a mental condition. Something didn't add up here. I was just not sure what.

  “Was there an autopsy conducted on Stephenson's body?” I asked.

  “I think the county coroner did that.” Norris said.

  “Good. I can check around and look at the coroner's report. Maybe there's something there, I can find.”

  “You think something fishy happened?” Norris asked.

  “I don't know yet. I need to see the report first.”

  Norris did not know what to say. He was just as baffled as I was and he wanted answers. But I couldn't give him any. I needed to know a lot more about what happened first. It seemed like my homecoming would not be as idyllic as I thought it would be.

  That was when I bumped into Carla at the funeral.

  Chapter 4

  Old Passions

  Carla Jenkins looked every bit as gorgeous as she did when we were kids. With her blonde hair pulled back to a ponytail, she did not look like she aged a day since I last met her. I actually felt more than a little nervous when we met at the funeral.

  I had read somewhere that people still look generally the same from when we first met them as kids because of some kind of hardwiring or program in our brains. Studies showed that they actually aged a lot and showed it but our familiarity with them and how we tended to idealize them made them retain most of their youth. I was not sure what that was all about but it sure applied to Carla. I didn't care if it was a program in our brains or whatever. I had always been smitten with Carla, ever since we were kids and the years never really changed that.

  “Carla?” I said.

  “Dick? Dick Denton? Is that you?”

  I nodded.

  Carla approached me, smiled and hugged me tightly.

  “I think I'll leave you two to get reacquainted now.” Jason said.

  “Dick! It's been so long since I last saw you! I can't believe you're back here in town.” she said.

  “I could say the same about you, Carla. I heard that you left town shortly after I did. But you're here now. What brings you back here too?”

  Carla smiled at me. Maybe after all these years, she actually still liked me too.

  “I think we should continue this discussion at Kevin's Pop and Soda joint, don't you think?”

  I nodded and smiled at her too.

  Kevin's was just a short drive from the chapel where Kenneth was being interred. Everything in Tiny Town just had that small, homey feeling that made you feel good inside. That was the feeling that I was expecting in the town but Kenneth's death took a little of it away. Now, being with Carla again brought back the wonderful feeling in spades.

  We ordered two strawberry milkshakes. Those were the exact same things we ordered on our first date here. The date where we also first kissed. The taste of sweet strawberries brought all the memories and feelings flooding back to me immediately.

  “Remember when we first dated here? This stuff tastes exactly the same way it did as before.” I said.

  “I know. Seems like nothing in this town really changes through the years.” Carla said.

  I thought I saw her blush briefly but if she did, she did a great job of keeping it in.

  “So, what brings you back here? I heard you're a bigshot detective in the big city now.” Carla said.

  I smiled and was a little embarrassed.

  “Don't butter me up.” I said.

  “But it's true. You've solved a lot of high profile cases. You've moved up in your job. You're the local boy that did good. Tiny Town's very own, Dick Denton, now a bona fide private eye.”

  “Look, I admit, I'm flattered. And I really worked hard to achieve all that. But city life can get really stressful, know what I mean?” I said.

  “I know what you mean. It was tough when I worked as a real-estate agent. We were always scrambling for the next sale.”

  I was more than a little surprised at Carla's chosen line of work.

  “You work in real-estate now? You sell properties?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah. And I've got a whole lot of great properties you might be interested in investing on..”

  I rolled my eyes at her. I didn't want this to be a sales talk. I was catching up on old times, not looking to improve my financial status.

  “Are you actually going to sell me something now?”

  “Haha! I'm just ribbing you! You were always so gullible even back then! I can't believe you became a detective!”

  “And your sense of humor has never changed either. I still can't believe that you went into real-estate.”

  Carla shrugged her shoulders.

  “What can I say? It was the most profitable option available. I decided to go all out, especially when I left Tiny Town.”

  “Why did you leave home, anyway? I heard that you left shortly after I did.”

  There was a tense silence after my question. I felt a little uncomfortable and I regretted asking the question.

  “Oh, Dick. You've never really changed. Even after all these years, and everything you've achieved, you can still be so dense. But I don't hold that against you. Its just what makes you, well, you. And that's why I fell in love with you all those years back.”

  “Carla, I..”

  I hesitated. I didn't know what to say, and I struggled with my words.

  “Dick, I left because I was heartbroken that you left. When we split up, there was nothing left for me here. I couldn't bear to stay with all the memories that this town held. They were just too bittersweet and I had to move on. That was why I decided to just pack my things and go.” Carla said softly.

  I bowed my head. I could still remember the times when Carla meant something so special to me. When I saw her just now, I realized that she was still special to me. Perhaps, that would never change and I just didn't have the courage to accept that. But I had to do, what I did back then, no matter how tough it was at the tie.

  “Carla, I'm so sorry for what happened all those years ago. You know I never meant to hurt you. I would never hurt someone like you.”

  I gently touched her cheek. She held my hand, as well. There was still that feeling of electricity to the touch.

  “I just had to do what I did. I had dreams, Carla. Dreams that Tiny Town was just holding back. It's great that nothing changes here, but I needed to spread my wings, see how far I could really go.
” I said.

  There was another awkward silence.

  “You do know what I mean, don't you?” I finally asked.

  “Of course, I do. It was just so tough for me back then. That's why I had to leave as well. But after the years passed and my parents died, I thought that maybe I had to go back. There would be no one to manage our old house so I decided to move back in. I thought that maybe it was a good opportunity to start over. That maybe the years had given a chance to smooth things over, for old passions to cool down. And then, I saw you here, again and..”

  I did not even let her finish her sentence anymore. I just held her cheeks and kissed her again. We kissed long and passionately, just like the first time. The old passions had not cooled down.

  Chapter 5

  A Cup of Coffee

  I stayed with Carla a lot longer than I expected after the meet-up at Kevin's. We really got reacquainted very well from there. I was more than happy with the result and so was Carla. I was sure the whole town was probably talking about it, but I didn't care. Let them talk and spread the rumors. I didn't really care. What was important was that Carla was a part of my life again, and it felt so right.

  That was then, and this was now. I was back at Kevin's but this time, I was not with Carla. I was also eating there, but I wasn't partaking of a strawberry milkshake. I was drinking black coffee, the kind of coffee that I drank when I was poring over a case. And I wasn't with Carla now. I was with Davis.

  Davis was my best friend since childhood. Davis was African-American and was naturally drawn to nature and the sciences. We became good friends because we both saw how inquisitive and perceptive the other's mind was. While he excelled at the sciences, I was already showing flashes of a passion for detective work even back then. We often excelled in academics, much to the frustration of Jason and his gang of bullies. The fact that we would never help them in academics only made them persecute us even more.

  “You're wasting your time investigating Stephenson's death.” Davis said.

  I paused from poring over the coroner's report at his remark. I bumped into Davis as I went to the county coroner's office to get his report and I decided to catch up with him as well. That was why we found ourselves at Kevin's. But Davis' sudden remark surprised me.

  “Excuse me?” I asked.

  “You heard me. I just don't see the sense in investigating that idiot's death.”

  There was clearly more than a lot of bitterness and hurt in Davis' words.

  “Whoa. Davis, it's my job to investigate things like this. I read the coroner's report. It says here that Stevenson's body had massive amounts of norepinephrine in his body which triggered the heart attack. I think it was artificially induced.”

  “I know what norepinephrine is, Dick. I'm the scientist ,chemist, and naturalist here. I always had more of a grasp of science than you did.”

  Davis was still full of himself, as always. He always felt more than a little superior to all of us, even back then. He considered the town and its inhabitants as backwards and ignorant, and he was never the most popular guy on the block. I have to admit though, that Davis could always back his swagger up. He was always also a very intelligent guy. As usual, this made him a target for Norris and his bullies.

  “I'm just saying that Stevenson deserved to die and nobody would miss him.”

  Davis' words were icy cold and my coffee almost froze over. I never thought that he could harbor so much anger against Jason and our old bullies even to this day. I never liked what they did, and I still felt more than a little trauma from it. But I liked to think that I had already moved on. It was clear that a part of Davis still didn't.

  “Davis, come on. I can't condone murder, against anyone. It's my job to solve stuff like this.” I said.

  “Norris and his gang were never good people, you know that.” Davis said.

  “We were all bullied mercilessly by them, but me more so. They were much harsher to me because of the color of my skin.”

  I could feel the anger simmering in my friend. I didn't want Davis to be consummed by hate and resentments for old wounds. That never got anyone anywhere. I held his shoulder and spoke.

  “Davis, I know they were pricks. And we didn't deserve what they did. You didn't deserve that. But it's all over now, and someone's dead. I need to investigate this.” I said.

  He bowed his head, then spoke.

  “I know. And I'm sorry for my outburst. But it's really what I feel. I can't change that. I can't just wish that anger away.” he said.

  “I know that. And no one's asking you to. It takes time. It's a process.” I said.

  Davis nodded and slowly smiled. I could see that there was still a lot of resentments in his heart for the past. But maybe gradually, and through time, he would get over them. At least, I hoped as much.

  “I heard that you and Carla got back together again.”

  I did not answer and only smiled. Davis punched me playfully.

  “Great going, man! You were always crazy about her! I'm glad to see that you finally got the nerve to follow it through, even after all the years.”

  “Hey, nothing's certain in relationships. I've realized that, the hard way. I don't want to make anything official just yet. I want to take things slow.”

  Davis smiled again.

  “If that's even possible.” he said.

  We both had a good laugh and for a moment, I was back in the old days hanging with my best friend. It was a great moment, and I was more than grateful to have reconnected with my hometown.

  “It's good to see you again, Dick.” Davis said.

  “And it's good to see you again Davis.” I said.

  The old homey feeling was back and stronger than ever. Little was I to know that it would soon disappear completely and events would pull me into a chain of more murder and mystery in my hometown.

  That was when I received the call. My cellphone started ringing and vibrating.

  “Excuse me.” I said, as I took the call.

  “Hello? Ma! Hi. What's up? I'm with Davis and..”

  Ma started speaking so fast and ranting I could barely understand her over the line.

  “Whoa! Slow down, Ma. What's going on?”

  “It's Chet Walker! His house is on fire!” she said.

  I was speechless. The homey feeling was gone.

  Chapter 6

  From what I had pieced together, Chet Walker was going home from the wake. He had attended the wake of his childhood friend Kenneth Stevenson. Just like Kenneth, Walker was part of Jason Norris' gang of sports jocks and bullies. And yes, you guessed it, he had also bullied us in our youth. We were the butt of a lot of Walker's cruel and humiliating pranks which included getting sprayed with mud and slipping off bannana peels in stairways. He was no better than Norris and the others.

  Witnesses said that he was just chatting with Jason and paying his respects to Kenneth. He had viewed the body silently, then had talked with Jason in a corner of the chapel. I don't know what they talked about. I wasn't there. But what I do know was that, just like Stephenson, Walker was also very healthy for his age. He worked as a carpenter by trade, and kept in good physical shape. Jason and his gang were known to drink and party in their youth, but Walker had shied away from the partying and the vices in adulthood. He also did not have a history of heart disease which made what happened next even more strange. And deadly.

  Right before Jason's shocked eyes, Chet started babbling about how the dark was coming to envelop him. He ranted that there was a darkness coming to close in on him and he had to avoid this, at all costs. That was he ran out of the chapel. Jason and some others could not convince him otherwise and instead followed him to his home, where to their horror, they found him setting his house on fire. They heard him crying that the fire was his salvation from the eternal darkness. It was the last words he said before he was burned alive.

  I arrived at the scene of the crime much too late. I was in a small town, and things worked a lot d
ifferently here, than in the big city. Information did not move as fast as it should and when I arrived there, Walker's house was already burning beyond any kind of hope. It was burning even when Jason and the others arrived.

  I stared straight at the flames as they engulfed Chet Walker's house. I could barely move closer because of the heat. Jason Norris stood beside me in silent disbelief.

  “Dear God in Heaven.” was all that I could say.

  “I don't know what came over him all of a sudden.” Jason said.

  The fire raged on as we all looked in disbelief. The local fire department soon arrived and were putting out the blaze. It was slowly being contained, but we all knew that Walker was gone. There was just no way that anyone could survive such a fire, much less if he started it and was inside while it was raging. There was really nothing we could do.

  “Good Lord! I heard what happened!”

  I turned to see Carla. She was also stunned. I just hugged her and we embraced in silence. There was really nothing else to say or do. The fire raged on, but was slowly being put out. I realized that my homecoming had now become a series of murders that I had to solve. I also realized that I would be staying much longer in my hometown than I had originally planned. But it was not to reminisce about old times anymore. The murders had to be solved, one way or the other and I was determined to bring the mysterious killer to justice.