CHAPTER 10

Kicking off her black high heels, Rose folded her legs under her as she sat down and switched on the TV, hoping it would take her mind far away from the funeral she had just attended.

Emmaline’s funeral was held in the oldest church in South Hampton. Both her daughters had given testimony to the wonderful mother she had been. Among the funeral guests were various friends, acquaintances and family. All mourning the loss of a wonderful woman who had been taken too soon, too cruel.

Rose had spent the week helping Priss and Jane pack up Emmaline’s house, a painful but necessary task that had been completed whilst sharing happy memories of Emmaline’s life along with mourning for her death.

Every evening when she had returned to her own house alone, Rose couldn’t help but feel lonely waiting for Cole. She had found herself at random times over the past week wondering about him. Where he was, what he was doing and although it bothered her, who he was with. Rose knew she probably wouldn’t be seeing him soon again. If she was him she would avoid the Hamptons as long as possible, only she didn’t have anywhere else to go.

Detective Vanguard had refused to take her calls all week so Rose still had no idea how the investigation was going. She had hoped all week that they would have answers by the time they said their final goodbyes to Emmaline, but that hadn’t happened.

The familiar jingle of the local news broadcast caught Rose’s attention. It felt to Rose as if the female reporter was looking straight at her through the screen as she notified the viewers of another suspicious murder in a small gated community in South Hampton.

“Not only did the murder occur in the same neighborhood but sources say the cause of death is similar to that of the recently deceased Emmaline Richards who was found murdered in her home last Saturday.”

Rose felt fear claw up her spine, its sharp nails scratching at the grief still raw from Emmaline’s funeral.

Another woman. Another murder in their neighborhood. If the cause of death was the same, she was strangled as well.

As the facts started to add up Rose felt her heart start to gallop at the reality of the situation. A murderer was either targeting their neighborhood or living among them.

She stood up, slipped on her heels, grabbed her handbag and headed for the front door. There was no way she was just going to sit back and wait for the police to realize this was serious. How many people had to die before they started looking for answers? She was going to find answers herself.

She pulled up to the guard house next to the gate at the entrance of their gated community. Slamming the door behind her she walked with purpose towards the open door.

There were two steel desks standing in the middle of the small room with chairs around it. In the corner there was a coffee machine and a small fridge. Schedules were marked out on a white board against a white wall; against the opposite wall was a detailed map of the estate, marking Emmaline’s house with a big red cross. Rose noticed another red cross on the board and turned to the men for answers.

Three men were sitting around the table and another was busy making coffee in the corner. None of them seemed phased by her arrival.

“Hello.” Rose said rather irritably since no one acknowledged her.

The three men around the table grunted before returning to their card game. The man standing by the coffee machine took a sip of his coffee and moved towards her.

He was in his early fifties, once black hair was cropped close to his head and generously peppered with white hair. His small brown eyes were kind as he walked towards Rose. He was tall and well built for a man his age, obviously a man who either had a wife taking good care of him or he did it himself.

“Excuse their manners M’am. How can I help you?” He said kindly to Rose as he led her outside.

Rose exhaled sharply. “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have come but I can’t just do nothing.”

His brown eyes took in Rose’s attire. “You’ve just come from the funeral of Mrs. Richards?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Mike Standerton miss; if you tell me why you came I’ll try my best to help you.”

Rose smiled at his kindness. “Thanks Mike, I’m Rose Adler. I just don’t know what to do. I found her you see. Emmaline, last Saturday I found her. And now I’ve just come from her funeral to find out there was another murder yesterday?”

Mike took Rose’s hand and led her to a small bench behind the office and sat down next to her. “I’m really sorry about Mrs. Richards. I’ve heard what they’re saying and it's down right horrible that something like that happened right here under our noses and now it happened again. Late yesterday afternoon we were notified of another murder.” Guilt and grief shone in his eyes.

Rose’s eyes widened. “So it is true? Do you know where?”

“A couple of blocks south of Mrs. Richards.” Mike said sighing heavily. No doubt the murders weighted heavily on him as well, Rose thought as she watched his hands clench and unclench. Rose could imagine that a murder in their community would shine a bad light on the security detail.

Rose recalled the other red cross on the map and sat up straight. “We can’t just wait for the police Mike, I don’t even know if they’re doing anything. But we can’t just wait. I’m going to try and figure some of this out on my own.”

“No wait a minute Rose, if there's some guy around murdering women I really don’t think it’s a good idea for you to poke around.” Concern laced his voice.

Tired of being told not to get involved, Rose narrowed her eyes. “And what do you expect me to do. Just sit back and hope the cops get him? I’m done doing that. I just buried a friend and her family doesn’t even know why their mother had to die. So I’m going to tell you why I came here in the first place. I wanted to find out if you guys noticed anyone strange maybe visiting or someone that recently moved in. Someone that might be capable of this?”

Mike shook his head sadly. “Rose we open the gate and close the gate. If they’ve got an access card that goes with living here, they get to enter. We can’t do much more than that. Even though we’re a small community it might take the police some time to talk to everyone. We’ve just got to be patient.”

Knowing she wasn’t going to get anywhere Rose stood up and brushed imaginary lint from her black pencil skirt, more from habit than for need. “Thanks for your time Mike. Do me a favor, if you hear of anything or see anything suspicious please let me know?”

Mike nodded. “I will Rose, but please be careful. Keep your doors locked and windows closed until the cops catch this guy.”

Rose smiled sadly. “It’s a shame that we have to be careful. Isn’t that why we have secured gated communities?”

With that she shook her head and returned to her car. She didn’t drive straight home, she circled the neighborhood keeping an eye out for anyone that seemed out of place. Between the mothers pushing prams, joggers and people just out for a walk Rose knew it was close to impossible to spot a murderer from driving around and eventually she headed home. She hoped Priss and Jane had left before they found out about the other murder. She had helped them pack up the last things yesterday. They had planned to leave straight after the funeral; Rose could only hope they had stuck to their plan.