Master Plan

Once, the state police veteran was sure his wife, Marge, would never meet the woman with whom he had had a very short love affair; it was over in a matter of weeks, but not before a child was conceived. He had been wrong, though...not only did they meet, they became friends.

Being of a reminiscing mindset, he recalled his very first meeting with his daughter, by then a young woman in her early 20s. It was a grisly murder in the nearby town of Maple Grove Junction that had initially pulled the pair together, and it was through his daughter, Lizzie, that Marge met her mother, Millie Tidman. Like-minded in many ways, the two women quickly established a bond. These days, the two unlikely friends might not actually see each other every week, but they talked that often; there was always news to share.

Disturbing his reverie, Marge called in from the kitchen, "Hey Mitch, I was just talking to Millie. She says to expect a call from Lizzie. Her and Freddie are having another baby…she’s two months along." Finally appearing in the doorway, she concluded, "Act surprised, of course, because it’s their news, but you know Millie and a good story!"

"I do," Mitch answered. Grinning broadly, he chided her, "You aren’t any better, honey." His smile faded when he thought of something else. Indirectly, his daughter met her husband, Fred Moss, because of the ghastly crime he had only just recalled.

In the days before the crime, Lizzie and her friend, Gloria Baines, were guests at a bed and breakfast inn, as were Arnie Kotkin and his life partner, Barnaby Moss, who was Fred’s older brother. It seemed natural that the four young people, all close in age, would become acquainted; what seemed unnatural was to think one of them might be brutally slain.

By the time Mitch met his daughter, Gloria Baines was dead and everyone at the inn was a suspect, since the murder took place right outside the back door. When Mitch interrogated Lizzie, she knew she was talking to her father, having seen his picture long before she saw him, but he had no idea he was speaking to his only child.

On the day after the murder, she appeared at his door accompanied by Barn and Arnie; after she revealed her true identity, they revealed their theory about the killer’s identity and were later proven correct.

It took them a couple more years, but Barn and Arnie finally moved up to Vermont from the condo they owned in Lawton, New York’s Belle Harbor section. Once settled, they successfully played matchmaker to Lizzie and Fred and also dabbled in crime solving.

Most likely Mitch would never admit it to them, or to Maple Grove Junction’s resident state trooper, Russ Johnson, but he believed that Arnie’s quick grasp of nearly every situation, coupled with Barn’s natural ability to tie so-so evidence up with seemingly inconsequential facts, made them valuable assets; he was glad to hear their theories, no matter how much he might grumble, because they were generally right.

He could think of only once when Russ solved a case before they did; Carson Wright, missing for roughly two weeks, was presumed dead, but found to be alive when Russ chanced to see him on the street.

At that moment Mitch had no way to know that more trouble was brewing in Maple Grove Junction.