Emerging Writers. Three Mile Road, Sheridan, Wyoming

Three Mile Road, Sheridan, Wyoming 

Episode 11

Staring at the old photograph, Taylor exclaimed, “Oh yes, it’s Rockefeller Center at Christmas!”

“Not being anywhere near as smart as you Taylor, one would have to believe that woman in the picture is his wife that was killed and not an old girl friend or a family member. People tend to hold most tightly to those things that make them bitter and that would be his wife’s death.”

“The newspaper clipping seems like from an old company paper or trade paper, wouldn’t you say?”

“I don’t know about that one, but maybe because the type doesn’t seem like a regular newspaper, but then again it’s so old, who knows?”

“No names, no pictures, just a story about portfolio rebalancing.”

“You said the woman told you he was an investment banker, so does that make sense? Would he need to save that, he should have known all about that.”

“Yep, agreed. Not much to go on at all.”

“Did you talk to Bailey? He’s been in that town as long as Merton had been I think. Maybe if you show him the picture, the clipping, he might know something. Maybe Merton told the widow the stories behind them? Interesting case you got there.

“I’d like to help you some more, but Daisy will be home in a minute and I best straighten up the place or I won’t hear the end of it. Good luck Andy.” And with that Andy was left to wonder what the photograph and the clipping were trying to tell him. He decided to pay Mrs. Greenfield another visit.

“Mrs. Greenfield, it’s Sheriff Taylor. Do you have a few minutes?”

“Of course, Sheriff. Let me just put this watering can down. I have so many plants it takes me hours to tend to them. There now, what can I do for you today?”

“In the paper documents you gave me was an old photo and a newspaper clipping. Did Merton ever tell you the stories behind them by any chance?”

“The newspaper clipping was something that he carried with him his whole life. His grandfather had written it for the retirement community where he lived and it had inspired Merton to make his living in the investment world.

“The photograph shows his wife near the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. She had met him there after work and they were going to see the tree and then have some dinner. Seems it’s a big deal there during the Christmas season. He told me they never made it to dinner as she was killed shortly after the picture was taken. The falling snow had made the busy streets treacherous and a drunk driver skidded and came up on the sidewalk, plowing into Merton and his wife. Merton tried to shield his wife, to no avail. She was dead and he would never walk again.”

Taylor had hit pay dirt. Now he could be reasonably certain that Merton was originally from the New York City area. He had suspected that, since the Cartsons who owned the Merton house were from Scarsdale, New York, just north of the City itself. The date was still unknown, but it was a fatal accident on a snowy day during the Christmas season. Perhaps even one of his clerks could find something with that lead. After he asked them to try, Taylor headed out to talk with Denton as the pulled up screen and missing curtain were issues as yet still unresolved.

Read earlier episodes of Three Mile Road, Sheridan, Wyoming

Let’s Start at the Beginning, Episode 1
Putting Up With the Wait, Episode 2
Not Sitting Well, Episode 3
Not Exactly, Episode 4
More and More Curious, Episode 5
Not His Real Name, I Suppose, Episode 6
No Cakewalk, Episode 7
What the New Day Brings, Episode 8
The Case Takes on Some Life, Episode 9
A Picture’s Worth 1000 Words, Episode 10
Hitting Pay Dirt (This one)