The Canyon Creek Murders

*Chapter 5*

"Ok, so that's the station covered," Sheriff Shanahan declared. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to shoot off and speak to someone down at the diner." He turned away but then paused after only a couple of steps. "Unless....," he added, appearing to form an idea. "You fancy coming along to check it out? Maybe meet one or two of the locals?" he finally suggested.

"Actually, that sounds great," Sam smiled. "It's been a long day and it would be nice to grab a bite to eat before heading over to the trailer for the night.”

"Sounds good to me," Barry agreed.

"Do you know what? That would be perfect indeed," Sheriff Shanahan responded pointing a finger in Barry's direction. "I'm not sure if I should be telling you this but Missus Shanahan has been beating herself up over what to cook for dinner tonight. Not knowing what you can or can't eat and what not. So, if I tell her you're eating at the diner, hopefully that should help her relax a little and then I'm sure later this evening she'll pick your brains over what sort of things you like or don’t like and then probably have something ready for tomorrow. She doesn’t get a lot of visitors, so she’s looking forward to your stay." Barry began to blush slightly at this.

"She really needn't worry too much. But that sounds wonderful. I shall look forward to it," he finally responded with a somewhat embarrassed kind of smile. Sam gave him a nod of approval as they both turned and followed the Sheriff out of the station.

"Now, I'm not sure how hungry you guys are but if they have any left I highly recommend Ethan’s chocolate brownies. Oh my, I've no idea how he does it but they are incredible. I think they're his grandma's old recipe or something," the Sheriff added as he opened the car doors. "But yeah wow! They are kind of legendary around these parts."

"I'll take you up on that" Barry answered as he stepped into the back of the car and fastened his seatbelt.

"I have to say that was rather good," Sam claimed as he cleared the last morsel of food from his plate.

"Yeah, I'm enjoying this too," Barry agreed still tucking into his. "Looking forward to that brownie though!" he added wide-eyed.

"Unfortunately, you might have to get them to go," came the voice as Sheriff Shanahan approached the table. "We've got something back at the station and I think you guys are going to want to see this."

Sam closed his eyes and grunted slightly as the Sheriff, spotting that Barry was still eating, headed over to speak to the diner’s owner who then appeared shortly afterward with two polystyrene boxes.

"Here we go, detectives. Two chocolate brownies to go," he announced, placing the two boxes onto the table where Sam and Barry were sitting. "And may I just say welcome to the Creek and good luck with your endeavors. What's been happening up there in the canyon has had everyone around here on edge, so I hope you figure this one out sooner rather than later.”

"Thank you," Sam said, offering a smile as Barry finished off the last of his dinner. "And thank you for the food as well. Very enjoyable. I've no doubt we will be returning very soon."

"Very happy to hear it. I'm Ethan, pleased to meet you." Sam and Barry both shook his hand and introduced themselves before following Sheriff Shanahan back out towards the car.

Back at the station, Deputy Miller was waiting, where he immediately introduced the three of them to a Mr. Winters, a tourist who had been on vacation nearby. He explained how he, and several of his colleagues, had taken a hot air balloon trip through the canyon the previous day, during which they had taken several photographs and video footage to commemorate the trip. Once they had returned back to their base, they had reviewed the footage they had taken and were horrified to discover what appeared to be a human hand lying on the ground next to a group of rocks.

"Ok, may we take a look?" Sam asked.

"Sure. No problem," Mr. Winters replied, stepping forward and holding out a tablet. He pressed play and the video began. A few seconds into the clip, he paused it. "Tricky to see it from here, but if I zoom in," he explained, swiping his finger and thumb over the screen. "Here we go," he added as the offending appendage became clear for all to see.

"Wow yes, that's pretty undeniable," Sam told him. "And this tablet is the item you shot the footage on?" Sam asked him.

"It is, yes. And we haven't edited any of it at all yet. As soon as we saw it, we reported it straight away," the tourist replied.

"Ok, great, thank you. You did the right thing," Sam told him with a nod. "Can we get a copy of this please?" Sam added, glancing in the direction of both the Sheriff and the deputy.

"Already done," Deputy Miller answered. "It's on my pc at the moment but it won't take a minute to transfer it over."

Sam turned his attention back toward Mr. Winters. "Thank you, sir, that's brilliant. Now, I'm not suggesting you will not do it by any means, but if by any chance you do see anything else out of place, please don't hesitate to call me," Sam told him, handing him his business card. With a nod, the tourist took the car and left, leaving the four officers standing in silence as the holidaymaker left the station.

"So, do we have any ideas as to where this could be?" Sam asked.

"At the moment, I'd have to say no, but once we've reviewed the rest of the footage, we may have a chance of getting a rough idea. We know where the balloons take off from so we may be able to track its flight from there, and probably narrow down the location depending on the elevation of the balloon. Shots like that mean you weren’t at the highest degree it could be. But the more footage there is, the more chance we have of finding a location," the Sheriff told him. "But that is a job for tomorrow. Right now, I think we need to get you two settled for the night."

"Yeah," Sam sighed. "So much for going over the files huh? Straight into the deep end," he added jokingly, looking towards Barry who cringed slightly but looked generally unmoved by it all.