Murder in a Small Town: Lancaster, WI

Lancaster, WI

Jessica arrives at the Lancaster sheriff’s department close to dusk and wearily drags herself up the mountainous steps, finally entering through the massive and ornately carved wooden door. She scans the interior and notices the gray, monochromatic stillness - silence. “This is quite different from the Cleveland precinct”, she thinks. On alert, she then walks to the vacant duty window and rings the bell. The sound echoes eerily in the emptiness. “Hello,” she calls out. Just then, the unmistakable sound of a toilet flushing can be heard. A smallish uniformed deputy rounds the corner zipping his pants and is surprised by the petite brunette standing at the window.

 Flustered and perturbed at being caught off guard, he gruffly asks what she wants. “Hi deputy, I’m Jessica Reddit from the Cleveland Joint Task Force on unsolved homicides”, she says flashing her badge.

“I’ve been temporarily assigned to the state of Wisconsin, particularly the Lancaster office to go over some of the more complex cold-cases and to offer assistance on clearing them.” “Whew!” she thinks. “I’m glad I rehearsed this part.”

The deputy glares at Jessica. “Well, I heard you were coming Ms. Rabbit. I’m Deputy Yoder and I am not going lie about being glad you’re here. I didn’t ask for your help, so don’t expect a whole lot of cooperation on my part,” he says. Jessica is used to this kind of response, she rolls her eyes, sighs heavily, and firmly speaks up,

“The name is REDDIT, Deputy Yoder, and I am here to assist your department in clearing cold cases. I’m to coordinate all investigations with a detective Dominik Swarovski. If you could just point me in his direction, I will kindly be on my way”. Jessica’s adrenaline is surging at this point.

“Okay, Ms. REDDIT”, says Yoder condescendingly. “Don't get your panties in a wad. If you want to find Swarovski, you might start by checking Allie’s Pub down the street. He’s there most evenings about this time. Of course, I’m sure he’s had more than a few by now. Good luck and b’bye”.

“What about Sheriff Gerrard?” asks Jessica. “If he’s here, I’d like to speak with him as well”. “The Sheriff has left for the day”, says Yoder without looking up from his ledger. “He’ll be back in the morning”.

“Well, isn’t this just splendid”, says Jessica. She looks at her watch and sees that it is just 7:30. She is tired. “Okay then, I guess there’s nothing left to do but go to the hotel. I forget these small towns roll up their sidewalks as soon as the sun goes down”, she says to no one in particular. She turns and exits the station, then begins her slow descent to the waiting Prius. On her way, she glances down the deserted street and recognizes the all too familiar garnishments of small-town America. The county courthouse, chamber of commerce, and sheriff’s office were all cookie-cut block buildings, like a facade of an old 50's movie, neatly, and conveniently, aligned on the street she now walks . Her mind wonders back to West Virginia and the small town where she grew up. “Very similar to this place”, she thinks. “But then I guess they all look more or less the same”. She can’t help but notice the one thing missing – the “Mainstreet Gym”.

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