First to Fall Page 5

  ‘Time’s up,’ the guard to the left of Brandy suddenly informed them.

  ‘That is fine.’ Aiden began collecting together his things. ‘We will continue this another time.’

  Brandy nodded sadly, still overcome by the painful emotions of her past.

  ‘Sharing pain does not ease the burden you carry, it just makes others hurt,’ she said wistfully as she was being escorted out.

  The main church in Avalon stood proud opposite the local hair salon. It was a modest building; the windows were not made from stained glass and the fence around the front had seen better days. It reminded Aiden of a well-loved toy, the cracks that appeared on the surface merely an indication of how much the building was loved and frequented by the people of the town.

  It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning so the family had decided to walk to the church. Isla was wearing a floral sundress which emphasized her beautiful curves, Aiden was in a shirt and khaki pants and Meegan had been allowed to wear one of her Disney princess dresses. She was skipping along merrily, a parent holding each of her little hands. Most people had the same idea as them, it seemed, as numerous families were meandering along the roads, all heading towards the same destination.

  Outside the church, the noticeboard read: ‘Trinity Church will be cheering on the Avalon Angels this Wednesday!’ Aiden thought it was endearing how the whole town got behind the high school football team.

  ‘We should go,’ he nodded at the notice as they walked in.

  ‘To the game?’ Isla asked.

  ‘Yeah, I think it would be fun.’

  ‘Sure.’

  Inside the church was bustling as the parishioners piled into the wooden pews. Aiden swiftly ushered Isla and Meegan into an empty row at the back; he didn’t feel comfortable being up at the front with the more hard-core churchgoers. The wood was stiff and hard beneath his back, reminding him why he hadn’t been to church in so long.

  Meegan couldn’t get settled and climbed up onto her father’s lap.

  ‘Woah, you just get heavier and heavier,’ he joked, tickling her sides.

  ‘Make sure she keeps quiet during the service,’ Isla hissed. She was taking this all rather seriously.

  ‘Aiden!’ A man called from a few rows ahead, waving furiously. He looked up to see Edmond Cope, surrounded by a huge brood of a family. He waved back, as did Meegan. ‘We will talk later,’ he mouthed to Aiden.

  After a few more people had settled in the service began. The church was packed, some late arrivals were forced to stand at the back. It wasn’t as formal and dull as Aiden had feared, Father West was an engaging man who had an amazing connection with the people. He looked to be somewhere in his mid-forties, with dark curly hair which was showing no sign of turning grey. He had bright blue eyes and stood at an impressive 6ft. He was a handsome man for sure. Just to clarify, he whispered to Isla during the service, ‘What do you think of Father West?’

  ‘He seems lovely,’ she cooed, not even taking her eyes off the priest to answer her husband.

  An hour later, when the service had ended, Aiden hung back, wanting to speak with Father West about Brandy. He was lingering outside, Meegan asleep in his arms, when Edmond Cope came ambling over.

  ‘Aiden, my boy, so lovely to see you here. And this must be your darling wife.’ He shook Isla’s hand. ‘A pleasure to meet you, my dear. How are you finding Avalon?’

  ‘Oh, it is really lovely, we are starting to find our feet now.’

  ‘Good, good.’ A portly woman with white hair came over. ‘Allow me to introduce my wife, Carol.’ Aiden politely shook her hand, as did Isla.

  ‘I’ve been meaning to see you,’ she told his wife. ‘Knowing that you are new in town, I wondered if you’d like to join my book club…’ The two women wandered off, lost in their own chitchat. He watched Isla for a moment, in case she flashed him her ‘I need saving’ face, but she appeared to be happy in Carol’s company.

  As Aiden and Edmond stood declaring what a fine day it was, a tall, thin man walked out of the church, some while later than everyone else. Edmond immediately cornered him and shook his hand furiously.

  ‘Aiden, I am pleased to introduce Buck Fern, our local sheriff. Buck, this is my new partner, Aiden Connelly. Came here all the way from Chicago!’

  Aiden offered his hand to Buck but he ignored it.

  ‘Pardon my rudeness,’ he explained in a slow, southern drawl which was laced with a slight lisp, ‘but until I know a man, I will not shake his hand.’ Aiden was put out by his attitude but decided against saying anything; he was, after all, the sheriff. Buck Fern had small slits for eyes and a face ravaged by age. His thinning hair had been strategically combed over but it wasn’t fooling anyone. He regarded Aiden with suspicion.

  ‘Ed tells me you are handling the White case?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘That wretched whore deserves to burn in hell.’ Aiden was shocked at the sheriff’s harsh words.

  ‘Buck is always more than happy to assist us with our cases,’ Edmond said awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable with Buck’s surly behaviour.

  ‘Is that so?’ Aiden queried the old man, trying to keep his temper in check. ‘In that case, I need to see the police report from the night of the murder.’

  Buck’s cheeks flushed and he pursed his small lips in anger. ‘Why might that be?’

  Aiden was enjoying making the old dinosaur cross. ‘Protocol in any murder case. I need to review all the evidence.’

  ‘Protocol?’ Buck spat at him. Edmond was looking decidedly uncomfortable and made his excuses and scampered off. The old man stared Aiden down for a moment but the younger man refused to flinch.

  ‘Fine,’ the sheriff said, admitting defeat. ‘But be careful, if you shake too many trees, a bee might just come out and sting you,’ and with that strange threat Buck Fern ambled off. Aiden was seething after his encounter with the sheriff. He was all riled up and ready to go home and let off some steam when he saw Father West. Isla was now beside him again so he grabbed her arm and walked over to the priest.

  ‘Father?’

  ‘Yes, can I help you?’ He looked Aiden and Isla over. ‘I don’t believe that we have met before.’

  ‘I’m Aiden Connelly, this is my wife, Isla, and this lump over my shoulder responds to Meegan when she is awake. We recently moved here.’

  ‘Ahhh yes, you are working with Edmond Cope?’ Aiden nodded. ‘News travels fast in a town this small. Welcome to Avalon, I hope that you enjoyed the service.’

  ‘Oh, yes, father, it was wonderful,’ Isla told him a little too enthusiastically. He smiled at her warmly.

  ‘Some found it not so interesting.’ He nodded at Meegan and laughed.

  ‘Actually,’ Aiden passed Meegan to his wife, a not so subtle hint that he wanted to be left alone with Father West, ‘I need to talk with you.’

  The priest nodded solemnly as Isla began walking back to the house, Meegan still sleeping soundly.

  Father West led Aiden back inside the cool of the church.

  ‘I’m representing Brandy White,’ he began. At the mention of her name Father West seemed pained. ‘You were close with her.’

  ‘Yes, I was, she was a very troubled young woman, such a terrible business.’

  ‘Well, she has been asking to see you, over at Eastham. I wondered if you could possibly go and see her?’

  Father West nodded slowly. ‘No doubt she wants to make peace with God. I will go and see her, that is not a problem. I’ve known her many years and have been deeply troubled by all that has occurred.’

  Aiden found himself lingering, unsure of how to proceed.

  ‘Everyone is quick to judge her,’ Father West offered, sensing what was troubling Aiden. ‘But I think for someone as spiritual as she is, to do what she did, well, there must be some form of logic in her mind, don’t you think?’

  ‘Yes,’ Aiden agreed, wondering if Father West knew more than he was letting on. ‘I need to find out more abo
ut the case as a whole. Brandon appears to be very loved around here.’

  ‘Oh, yes, indeed.’ Aiden didn’t want to press Father West for any more information; it didn’t seem right, especially in a church. He was about to leave when the priest called after him.

  ‘Tread carefully, Mr.Connelly.’ Aiden nodded solemnly and turned to walk home, even more sure that there was much more to this case than met the eye.

  Chapter Four : He’s Our Hero

  BRANDON WHITE – OUR SHINING KNIGHT, was the headline. Aiden Connelly was sat in a library, scouring old newspapers for stories about Brandon White. His high school football career had been heavily documented by the local paper, The Avalon Informer, and when his team won the state championship, he appeared in even more publications. In each article he was hailed as a true team player, who was not lacking in courage or passion. The numerous pictures showed that he was strikingly handsome, he had a chiselled jaw and a deep tan with soft blue eyes. Aiden learned that, like Brandy, he had lived in Avalon all his life, yet his childhood had been a much more stable one. His father owned a successful local company, Avalon Pine, where Aiden later went to work after graduating from high school. He was 6ft 2 and well built, once again highlighting Aiden’s confusion as to how Brandy had managed to overpower him. In the brief police report that Edmond had given to him there had been no record of toxins in his blood which means that he can’t have been drunk.

  He read how Brandon had taken his high school football team, the now famous Avalon Angels, to win their first ever state championship almost ten years ago. It was the first time they had won such a prestigious award and his success has yet to be repeated, which undoubtedly had helped cement his reputation as a local saviour.

  Aiden had been disturbed by his encounters with Buck Fern and Father West at church, so the following day he had driven out of town to a college library to gather some sources and find out more about the enigma that was Brandon White. In every interview he gave he was polite and well spoken, constantly praised for his gentlemanly manner. It was getting increasingly difficult to understand why Brandy would have killed him.

  As Aiden scanned through the papers, he came across an exerpt marking their wedding day. He did the math: Brandy was a young bride at nineteen and Brandon was twenty-three. That was five years ago. In the small photograph the couple are beaming happily and seem the picture of wedded bliss. The byline described how ‘local football hero marries former beauty queen’. The reference to Brandy’s shambolic time as Miss Southern Star surprised him; perhaps enough time had passed by the time she wed for the bad blood over her disqualification to have passed.

  The final entry for Brandon White was his obituary. It was a glowing review of a young man who loved his family, served his community and basically never put a foot wrong. Brandy was only mentioned in the conclusion, when she was named as the prime suspect for his murder. Having been married for five years, Aiden wondered if those closest to the couple had ever sensed that something was wrong. There would be no point in tracking down Brandy’s mother as she would not even be aware that her daughter had been married. Clyde White seemed like a good source. He was Brandon’s father and from the articles Aiden guessed that they were very close. Perhaps he could shed some light on his son’s marriage.

  Once he felt he had successfully found all the articles relating to Brandon, Aiden turned his attention to Brandy, in particular the Miss Southern Star competition. A small voice in his head queried if she was being entirely honest with him and he wanted to silence it.

  When Brandy had said that the whole town had turned against her she wasn’t exaggerating. At first the Avalon Informer had championed its young beauty queen; from the moment she made it past the preliminary rounds she was receiving a mention within the front pages, and when she won, a photograph of her smiling proudly made the front page. The paper gushed how she was a sweet local girl done good, there was no mention that she lived in a trailer or of her mother’s troubles. However, all that changed once news broke of her disqualification.

  LITTLE MISS SCHEMING STAR, was one of the kinder headlines. Her controversial stripping of the crown even made national papers. They called her trailer trash, mocked her mother’s addictions and said that she had brought shame upon Avalon. She then disappeared off the radar, her name only reappearing once she was connected to Brandon. Considering she was made a local hate figure, people must have wondered what Brandon saw in her. She was stunningly beautiful, but having the reputation that he did, he must have been able to have any girl he wanted.

  Aiden sat there pondering on it all. He realised that he needed to press Brandy further for answers. He felt relieved that thus far she had told him the truth. It was always so much easier to represent a client when you felt that you could trust them.

  Seated in his car, before he started the engine to travel back to Avalon, Aiden fished out his mobile phone. He called Eastham to inform them that he would be visiting Brandy again the following day. Then he called Betty to tell her that he wouldn’t be in until the afternoon –Edmond was also working away from the office. Finally, he dialled Avalon Pine from the number he had sourced on the internet moments earlier, and a pleasant woman informed him that Clyde White would be on site all day. Aiden turned the key in the ignition and set off to pay Brandon’s father a visit.

  Avalon Pine was located on the outskirts of town. Aiden parked in the designated customer lot and walked over to what he presumed were the offices; a long log cabin with the company logo emblazoned on the side. Inside the wooden structure it was blissfully cool, thanks to half a dozen fans whirring away. It was an insanely hot day; Aiden was thankful that his car had air conditioning. In Chicago, air conditioning came as standard wherever you went, but in Avalon, things were different. Only the well-to-do could afford such a commodity; most people made do with electric fans scattered around the place, as was the case with the offices at Avalon Pine.

  A heavily made-up young blonde woman was seated behind an ample desk filing away at her nails. She greeted him with the fakest smile he had ever seen, her lips a most unnatural shade of fluorescent pink.

  ‘I’m looking for Clyde White,’ he told her.

  ‘Is Mr. White expecting you?’ she asked insincerely, obviously not really caring what answer he gave.

  ‘No, but if he has five minutes I’d really like to talk to him. It is regarding the trial of Brandy White.’ The false lashes framing her eyes widened in interest. She was suddenly much more attentive, realising that she was witnessing some potential high-level gossip.

  ‘Please, take a seat and I’ll call him, Mr…?’

  ‘Connelly.’ Aiden settled himself down on a pine bench in the lobby area, watching as her lacquered nails furiously clicked numbers into the phone on her desk.

  ‘Mr. White, sorry to disturb you, I have a Mr. Connelly here to see you.’

  Aiden was too far away to be able to hear Clyde’s response. The receptionist lowered her tone.

  ‘I think it is something to do with Brandon, he must be a lawyer or something.’ More silence as she nodded whilst her boss responded. At last she put the phone down and flashed her Barbie smile at Aiden once again.

  ‘He says that you can go right through. His office is just across the lumber yard, you can’t miss it.’ Aiden thanked her and stepped back out into his heat. He was beginning to thoroughly regret wearing a suit.

  Avalon Pine was clearly a successful business. The lumber yard was bustling, as various burly men in T-shirts and jeans carried huge planks of wood here and there. Aiden could make out what appeared to be a warehouse; the huge open doors revealed garden sheds in various stages of production. Across the large yard was another pine log cabin, identical to the one he had just been in. As he got closer he could make out the sign on the door: Clyde White, Site Manager. He knocked twice.

  ‘Come in,’ came a voice from within. Aiden pushed open the door and was greeted with refreshing cold air, yet there were no fans in sight. Th
is was an air-conditioned building, another indication of Clyde White’s success.

  Inside there was large desk, with two leather chairs opposite it. The walls were lined with framed photographs and newspaper clippings. Aiden immediately recognised Brandon in a number of them.

  Clyde White was immaculately dressed. He wore a crisp white shirt and grey trousers. His black hair was streaked with silver and his face was heavily lined, yet he was strikingly handsome. He was what Isla would refer to as a ‘silver fox’, meaning that he was a very attractive older man. Beneath the shirt, it was clear that he was in good shape. Aiden felt slightly intimated as he held out his hand and introduced himself.

  ‘Do take a seat,’ Clyde instructed him. He had the same chiselled jaw and pale blue eyes as his son.

  ‘Thank you for agreeing to see me,’ Aiden began. ‘I work for Cope and May Solicitors at Law. I am currently representing Brandy White, and as part of my investigations into the case, I am eager to learn more about your son, Brandon.’ At the mention of his son, Clyde White seemed to age ten years.

  ‘That is, only if it is not too painful to talk about,’ Aiden added, starting to wonder if it had been a bad idea to come and see Mr. White.

  ‘No, Mr. Connelly, I am always more than happy to talk about my son. He was a truly wonderful young man, an inspiration.’

  ‘Of course.’ Father West’s cryptic warning to tread carefully lingered in his mind. He knew that if he was going to get any useful information about Brandon from his father he needed to gain his trust first.