Tranquil Heights is a Newfoundland town with a population of
about 40,000. It is infamous for its cult, which has been
investigated repeatedly for drug trafficking. Tranquil Heights is so full of
scandal that my friends and I started a news magazine about it. Before we
started our news magazine, my friends investigated the deaths of two
individuals. One death we investigated was that of Alex Moody. Alex Moody was a
trans man who was brutally assaulted and murdered while leaving work one night.
Alex was the younger brother of my brother-in-law, Steve Moody. The other death
was that of Jason Lawrence, whose murder was made to look like a suicide.
"I'm sorry for your loss," I told Steve while
attending Alex's funeral.
"Thanks," Steve said.
"You haven't said anything about Alex since you found
out he was dead," Shelly said. Shelly is my twin sister and obviously
Steve's wife.
"I'm trying not to think about it," Steve said.
"It's bad enough this happened to my brother. What will
happen if our sons decide they want to transition?"
"Josh and Scott are only four and three, respectively.
They can barely speak."
"The police have been investigating the cult regarding
the deaths of all these trans people for a while, but they can't find a shred
of evidence," I said.
"Are you saying that the cult killed my brother?"
Steve asked.
"I have no idea. While there is no evidence that the
cult is behind these deaths, they have been involved in various crimes in the
past, including murder."
"Maybe Allison knows something."
"I would leave her alone. She's dealing with a
lot." Allison had a friend named Jason Lawrence, who recently died under
suspicious circumstances. Somebody created a fake Facebook account, pretending
to be Allison. This fake Facebook account spread lies about Jason, and most
people believed them.
"Allison has confided in me recently about Alex's
death," Steve said. "I'll go talk to her."
We think Allison may have some insight into Alex's death
because one of her fathers is a cop.
I went to Allison's home later that day. Before I entered
Allison's house, I saw Melody and Sarah coming out of the house.
"Hey, guys!" I said.
"Allison never told me you were coming here,"
Sarah said.
"It was last minute," Melody said.
"Allison is taking Jason's death hard," Melody
said.
"I can imagine. This isn't how you two would celebrate
your nine-year anniversary," I said.
"It's still early in the day," Melody said.
"Besides, I have some surprises."
"No kidding," Sarah said. "While we were talking
to Allison, Brian was listening to the radio. Melody requested that they play
our wedding song."
"Damn, that was romantic," I said.
"It was a brief distraction for Allison," Sarah
said. "Good luck, Michael."
I knocked on Allison's door, and she answered immediately.
"Hey, Michael," Allison said.
"Are you here to check in on me?"
"Well, yeah," I said. "Isn't that what
friends do?"
"I appreciate it. But I've had so many visits that I
haven't had time to investigate Jason's death. It turns out Jason didn't commit
suicide. He was murdered."
"What?"
"Take a look at Jason's last Facebook post."
Allison took out her phone and showed me the post.
"If the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary tells you I
died by suicide or in an accident, don't believe them. I was murdered."
Steve and Shelly were here earlier today. Steve agreed to
help me figure out who murdered Jason, and I'm going to help him figure out who
murdered his brother.
"Don't you think you two should take time to grieve
first?"
"How can we? We both had loved ones who were murdered.
Jason was like a brother to me."
"Let me guess, you think Kate Novack murdered
Jason."
"Who else could it be?"
One year prior to his
death, Jason was on trial for the attempted murder of Kate Novack. Long story
short, Jason was found not guilty due to lack of evidence. So, Kate had
motivation to kill Jason.
"I'll leave you to it," I said.
"You're not going to help me?" Allison asked.
"I have no idea what to do. Besides, Steve is helping
you."
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