A Stranger Death (Ch 8)

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Chapter 8

Sarah went straight over to the farm and found Darren working in the barn. His brother Peter was there helping him to clean up. Peter is said to be autistic. He is quite an overly active boy who is always running around, so much so that Darren sometimes has a hard time keeping up with him. Although he can talk, Peter doesn't respond much when people talk to him, except for Sarah. He somehow finds Sarah to be different from other people and is more receptive to her than any of his other family members. After Darren and Sarah had kissed, and Sarah had greeted Peter, she told Darren what she had been up to and put her problem to him.

"I don't think I mentioned it the other day, but just after mum found the body and before the police arrived, I noticed her doing something to the body. How she could bear to touch it, I don't know, but I couldn't see what she was doing from my bedroom window. Just after that I saw her go into the shed and wondered what she was up to. With all the police activity going on, I completely forgot all about it. Until this morning, that is. I was lying in bed reading when the memory suddenly flashed into my mind again. I waited for her to go to work and then went into the shed to see if I could find out what she had been doing. It took me a while, but eventually I found this box on a shelf."

Sarah showed Darren the box, opening it so that he could see what was inside it.
"Wow," said Darren, "they look as though they could be worth something, especially that pocket watch. I remember my grandfather having one something like that. When he passed away, Dad had it valued, and although I don't know what the value of it was, I know Dad was quite surprised. He didn't sell it, of course, but apparently he needed the value for insurance purposes."

"Yes, but what can I do with them? They should go to the police, but if I do that, I'll drop mum right in it. I don't want to keep them in my room in case mum finds them - she'd go ape if she knew I'd taken them. Can I leave them here with you?"

"Yes. I can find somewhere to hide them for the time being." This was a load off of Sarah's mind. She had been dreading what her mother might do if she found her with the box.

"Have you heard any more from the police since they discovered the guy had been poisoned?" asked Darren.

"No," replied Sarah, "nothing at all. It seems to have gone very quiet. Seems strange to me. Mum mentioned that there was a pile of dirt in the middle of the vegetable patch as though someone had been digging there, but no-one has been around to look into it."

"Perhaps we could take a look ourselves," said Darren, "and try to find out why, or what he was looking for."

"I don't know Darren. What about if we're discovered? The police haven't taped the area off as a crime scene, but, all the same, I don't think they'd be very pleased if they knew what we were doing."

Darren reasoned with Sarah. "The property belongs to your family and, as you say, it is not a crime scene, so why shouldn't we dig it up?"

"Well alright, but we'll have to do it tomorrow when everyone else is at work. If anyone else sees us, they'll want to know what we are doing and why. Can you be over at my place for around 11-o'clock? Make sure Mum's car has gone before you arrive. I'd hate you to bump into her and cause her to wonder who you are and what you are doing there. Could be very difficult to explain."

"Yes, no problem," said Darren, "I'll get over to you as soon after 11 as I can."

Chapter 9 will be posted tomorrow. Follow me to make sure that you don't miss an episode.