First to Fall (6 page)

‘Ma took it worse than everyone else. She started to hate me. She told me I’d ruined the last chance we had at happiness. She stopped talking to me and just drank all day and did drugs all night. She was a mess. I didn’t know what to do, so in desperation I turned to Father West. I hadn’t been to church in a long time; I was too ashamed to face everyone there. But Father West, he reached out to me and offered me kindness that only someone close to God could. I had no choice but to tell him about Ma.’

Brandy held her head in her hands, her fingers digging into her scalp.

‘You have to understand, Mr.Connelly, I could not cope with her any more. She was going to die!’

‘I understand, Brandy. So what did Father West do?’

‘He took her away. Her problems were so bad that she had to be sanctioned. I tried to visit her a couple of times but she always refused to see me. Then, the last time I went, they said she had been discharged. I’ve no idea where she went. Apparently she met another addict in there and went to live with him. I kept hoping her anger would subside and she would come see me, or at least write, but she never has. I’ve no idea where she is to this day.’

She sat up again and sighed deeply, her face pained with regret.

‘So it was just me, in the trailer. I got a job at the florist, helping arrange flowers and that. I kept myself to myself. I felt that everyone always kept me at a safe distance, by now everyone knew about Ma’s troubles and I think that they assumed I was trouble too. I had no friends, no family. It was a lonely time. I met Brandon just after I’d turned seventeen. I couldn’t believe it when he started talking to me. He was the local hero, I felt like the local whore. He was so handsome and popular, he took me to parties and because I was with him people started to talk to me more.’

‘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 about 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

B
RANDON
W
HITE
– O
UR
S
HINING
K
NIGHT
, 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.

L
ITTLE
M
ISS
S
CHEMING
S
TAR
, 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.