The Mystery of Tate Buchen

Part4

It was the fourth week in July and the murder of Tate Buchen had become a frenzied news story that brought a lot of attention to the village. It was no longer news that he had previously worked on Ambrose’s farm and that they had had an altercation. That much had been released and everyone had internally concluded that Ambrose was the killer.

It wasn’t far from the truth but there was a lot of things they didn’t know and Ambrose had no intention of saying more than he already had.

As he sat in the cell of the jail he had been assigned to, he thought about Lexie and what he had been told. He knew Lexie had been visited by the cops and was a person of interest but he had no idea what Lexie had told them or what he was planning to do next.

Prison was a pain. It was the waiting for the inevitable that made it so hard. Not knowing what is going on around you and outside made the wait a torture. For all he knew, he could be on his way to the electric chair or whatever method of execution that the state of Kentucky used. He wondered if the death penalty had been outlawed.

Lexie was a good man. Young, odd and very introverted but a good man. Ambrose thought of that night they had buried the body together. He didn’t have to help him but he did….begrudgingly but he did it anyway. That was nice. Someone you could count on when the going gets tough. But Ambrose wasn’t sure about how much pressure Lexie could take especially if his freedom was on the line. Would he maintain their agreement of silence or break and spill the beans?

He had intentionally left out certain details to make sure that Lexie wouldn't be implicated and when he told his story, he could be honest about not knowing those details. Afterall, this was his, Ambrose's, mess and it wasn't fair to destroy Lexie's life because of it.

"I wonder if I'll ever be forgiven," he thought to himself. Would people understand why he had done what he had done? Could a small town like this ever recover if they knew what he knew about Tate Buchen?