I go see the Cabin (A16)

I arrive at the station, the deadlines of this incident pressing down on me heavily. Bill Taba has made himself a fresh pot of coffee, the aroma spreading throughout the office. He begins, 

“We’ve found the exact address of the Lafferty family cabin. A crew is going out there this morning to do a search, and we’re joining them”.  

“We’ll be looking for fingerprints, and anything suspicious over there as well” I reply. 

“Exactly. Saddle up, it’s going to be another long day”, Bill responds. 

___

As expected, the cabin looks like no one has been there for a long while. The trim on the outside of the house has experienced the wear and tear of the weather. Some portions are nearly falling off. We walk in through the unlocked front door. The floorboards are old, and greet us with creaking sounds as we walk. It is an unusual looking place, the closest signs of life being the old appliances lying around. There is an old butter churn in the kitchen, wooden bowls, and spoons. A laundry washboard and bucket sit in a small room beside a close liner. These are things that haven’t been used in decades, I don’t suppose anyone has been living like this. 

“Those are some old pioneer tools, isn’t that right Jeb”, Bill expresses. 

“Yeah, very odd”, I responded. 

We delegate a team to track for fingerprints. Meanwhile, Bill and I head upstairs. It is a very narrow and steep climb. There are a couple of bedrooms, with a very minimal dresser. I can see Bill carefully opening one of the drawers from the other side of the room. 

“Hey Jeb, come and check this out”, he says. 

“What is it?”, I ask. 

In the drawer, there is a journal entitled ‘Teachings of the School of the Prophets’ … Bill open’s it up, and a piece of paper falls out. The words ‘Render Inexistant’ are written at the top. Underneath the title there is a list of names. Brenda and Erica Lafferty’s names are third and fourth on the list, and followed by others. My jaw drops … Their killing was meticulously planned. The rest of the journal seems to be handwritten journal entries in an old English writing style, they are signed at the bottom Ron & Dan Lafferty. 

*Next (A17)