Murder in Peekskill
by
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“The dead cannot cry out for justice; it
is a duty of the living to do so for them.”
Lois McMaster Bujold Diplomatic Immunity 2002
Prologue
Following a particularly harsh winter, on the first warm day with melting ice and receding snow, a body was found floating in a small pond within the expansive rolling grounds of Depew Park, Peekskill, N.Y. It had been precisely nine months since the New York Senator’s daughter was declared missing. A maintenance worker had spotted a strange object slightly submerged in the murky pond waters almost directly underneath the towering statue of John Depew and local authorities were immediately notified. The body was unrecognizable, but the media converged like locust at the coroner’s office.
The prior months were a media circus due to the magnitude of the Senator’s celebrity status, a political heavyweight. New York had always required its political representatives to possess a formidable portfolio. The Empire State requested quasi-emperors to represent it…ordinary people need not apply. Today, media interest remained unrelenting due to the family’s prominence.
The local chief coroner immediately took control, and by morning the medical result was known. Several missing females were normal statistics for an area nestled next to New York City, so initially uncertainty prevailed. At 11:05 A.M. that morning, the press conference was officially held. Afterwards, as though scripted from a public relations playbook, Senator James Benjamin McThellan’s family went into seclusion because the remains of their daughter, Abigail Ruth McThellan, the youngest child of three offspring, were identified.
The investigation officially moved to homicide status. There had been no breaks…no evidence. The prior missing person’s investigation was at a dead end, but the political pressure and media exposure continued rising like a summer breeze lifting nature’s lightest particles upward and outward. Public interest whetted its insatiable appetite for more information.
“Crime butchers innocence to secure a throne, and innocenc struggles with all its might against the attempts of crime.”
Maximillien Robespierre 1758-1794
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About the Book
Murder in Peekskill is a story about who murdered the youngest daughter of prominent New York Senator, James Benjamin McThellan, and his beautiful wife, Barbara Baker Adams-McThellan. The body of Abigail Ruth, the youngest daughter of three siblings, was discovered in the murky waters of a pond at a local popular park in the City of Peekskill after the first warm weather started melting the winter snow. A maintenance worker discovered the remains and immediately alerted authorities.
The McThellan family initially hires a familiar private investigations firm to handle the search for their then missing daughter who mysteriously vanishes after going to visit a friend. But a missing person case evolves into a homicide after the remains are discovered. There are three potential suspects…two former high school friends of the deceased are nationally recognized athletes…a NFL running back who was in the same high school class as Abigail and a former boyfriend who was two years her senior and also one of the top ten marathoners in the country. The third immediate suspect was Abigail’s latest male friend, an aspiring New York City actor who also happens to be the son of an alleged Mafia boss.
The investigation by the private firm is not yielding any informative information leading to the identity of the murderer and Barbara Baker, after finding her daughter’s diary, now distrusts whether she is getting a ‘full disclosure’ from the private firm. With her suspicions now sufficiently aroused, she now encourages additional investigative resources to be employed and wants Detective Lincoln...the sleuth who found fame by solving the famous or infamous Oakland Hills Vodou Hills Murders.
There is a litany of personalities that the detective must contend with to uncover the layers of comments, facts, and observations to make informed decisions to stumble forward in an intriguing and interesting mystery to find out the truth and hopefully...administer justice!
About the Author
This is the third novel in the mystery series. The Author is a Finance Director with a California Central Valley city and lives where a real life murder had rocked the national headlines as well as another high profile case that had consumed the national airways linking a US Congressman with an intern. The author has an undergraduate degree in mathematics and a MBA. Mr. Carrington is on several boards in his community, an avid tennis player, golfer, wine maker, chess enthusiast, and a general conversationalist. Born and raised in Peekskill, NY, the author has been living in California since 1981.
The first novel started as an intellectual exercise after reading the inside cover of a now famous author. That author also had no formal training or history in writing.
The fourth story involving Detective Lincoln is almost finished and will be published soon.