The Ash Murders by Edmund Glasby

Author:Edmund Glasby
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, police procedural, horror, supernatural, myth
ISBN: 9781434443700
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
Published: 2013-07-30T00:00:00+00:00

PALE LILAC

A stranger with a strange obsession had come to Harvest Wood....

It was a wet Tuesday evening and Maggie’s Bar was quiet, empty almost, with only a few regulars and old-timers inside. Some dull country and western track was playing on the jukebox and in the corner, near the bar, a black-and-white television was showing a late-night boxing match, the commentator failing to arouse any kind of passion amongst the handful of viewers inside.

Sheriff Rod Hooper was off-duty. Peering along the length of his pool cue, lining up his shot, he made a deft forward thrust, cursing as the white ball missed the remaining black.

“Looks like your luck’s run out.” Maggie Brennan, the owner of the bar, screwed back and potted the eight-ball. “Guess that’ll be five bucks, sheriff.”

Hooper laughed. “Ah well, maybe next time.” Returning his pool cue to the rack, he picked up his beer from a nearby table and took a swig. He delved into his pocket for the cash and handed it over.

“Do you want another game?”

“Just so as you can beat me again and show me up in front of all these....” Hooper looked about him, wondering how exactly, and more to the point, politely, he could describe the uninterested aged patrons, “...fine folk? Besides, I can’t afford to play you anymore.” He turned to Maggie and smiled, liking what he saw. Thirty-three years old, auburn-haired, bright blue eyesb and one hell of a figure. Admittedly, she wasn’t the brightest of women but she was by far the prettiest in town. He himself was in his mid-fifties with two divorces under his belt and a considerable belly above it.

“Suit yourself.” Maggie went behind the bar.

“Say, Maggie. You heard of anything recently? Anything I need to know about?” This was something Hooper asked her every time he came in. It had become a routine. Like nearly everyone, he knew he had lived in Harvest Wood, the small town ten miles south of Crawford, close to the Nebraska-Wyoming border, all of his life and he knew that all local gossip eventually filtered its way through to the bar. He found out about more things that were going on in here than he did on his police radio.

“I hear tell that Old Jed’s dog died the other day. That damn mutt must’ve been nearly as old as he is.” Maggie began cleaning some of the glasses. “Do you want another beer?”

“No, I’ll just have this one and then that’s me.”

“Suit yourself.” Maggie began stacking some of the glasses away. Suddenly she stopped and turned. “Gee, I nearly forgot, but I don’t suppose you’ve heard the news about Aubrey?”

“Aubrey? Aubrey Penton?”

“Yeah. Seems that he’s managed to shift the old MacPherson place.”

Hooper raised his eyebrows in surprise. “God, I didn’t think anybody would ever buy that place. Certainly not after, well, you know.”

Not surprisingly, the MacPherson farmhouse had lain abandoned for close to fifteen years after its previous owner, Danny MacPherson, had murdered his entire family. His three sons he

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