The Canyon Creek Murders

*Chapter 4*

The car journey continued for another hour or so, seemingly heading further and further into the wilderness. Both Sam and Barry were now beginning to get the feeling that the main bulk of civilization was really being left behind. "Ok, so, Detective Johnson you're staying at the Belmont trailer park I believe? So, if we head there first, I can drop you off and then head back into Canyon Creek to meet up with the Sheriff where he can then take Detective Coulson home," Deputy Miller suggested.

"Well actually if it’s ok with you I’d prefer to head straight into Canyon Creek first. I'd like to have a look around the station if possible and it'd be great to meet the Sheriff and get everything set and ready to go so we can really get stuck into everything first thing tomorrow morning. Oh, and please, call me Sam."

"No problem at all. In fact, it makes things easier for me really, so Canyon Creek is then. Won't be long now. And likewise, call me Harrison".

"I'm Barry," came the voice from the back seat. "And for the record, I agree with you. The scenery IS even better."

"Told you, didn't I?" Harrison beamed with joy, adjusting the rear-view mirror so he could make eye contact with his passenger. "We're a little out of the way for some people but we love it here. And let's face it, where else do you get a view like that?" he continued, extending his arm across the windscreen and spreading his hand over the horizon. "Wait until you see the sunrise and sunsets here. Now that is a sight to behold."

"Sounds great. Will look forward to checking that out." Barry answered enthusiastically, gazing out of the side window while the deputy readjusted his mirror back into its normal driving position once more.

After a long winding bend in the road, one or two buildings finally began to appear. "Here we go gentlemen, welcome to Canyon Creek," Harrison announced proudly. The guys could feel one or two inquisitive eyes upon them as the car parked up. "Let's go see if the Sherriff’s in shall we?" Harrison suggested as he opened the driver’s door and exited the vehicle. Sam and Barry followed suit with the sense of watching eyes growing even stronger as they made their way into the local police station.

“Is that a bad feeling?” Barry asked Sam as they followed Harrison. Sam could only shrug. So far, it was still leaps and bounds better than his previous case.

"Afternoon Sheriff, I've got detectives Johnson and Coulson here to meet you," Harrison announced as the man at his desk was just hanging up the phone.

"Oh, fantastic. Wait I thought you were going to the trailer park first?" he asked with a slight frown.

"We were but Detective Johnson wanted to have a look around here first."

"No problem," the Sheriff smiled. "I only suggested that because I thought you would be tired from the journey and wanting to rest up a little."

"Well, yes that would be nice but there's plenty of time for that tonight. I figured there were still a couple of work hours left for today, so we'd be better off spending them getting to know the surroundings and getting everything set up and ready to go in the morning rather than waste any time tomorrow," Sam explained.

"Well, I can't knock that now, can I? Absolutely delighted to hear it. And very happy to have you guys here. This one’s a little beyond our means to be honest so it’s great to have someone with some experience of this kind of thing," the Sherriff told them as he stood and shook both of the detectives by the hand. "Now you'll have to forgive us for the space. There's usually only the two of us in here which is fine but with four it may get a little cramped so apologies in advance for that but needs sharing I guess.”

"No problem," Sam replied casting a glance at his new temporary office.

"Unfortunately, at the moment we've only got the one computer terminal for you guys," Sherriff Shanahan continued. "We were hoping to have had the second one in by now but there was a slight hold-up in the delivery. As you may have spotted, on the way in we are a little remote out here and sometimes things do take a little longer than they possibly should but hopefully, it should be here by the end of the week. In the meantime, you are welcome to use either my or Deputy Miller’s stations if either of us is not around."

"Thank you. I'm sure we'll manage one way or another," Sam responded politely but, in his mind, he was beginning to form his first doubts about the situation. It wasn't a major problem, but they knew a week ago that two of them were coming. If they weren't able to arrange something as simple as a computer terminal, then what kind of problems were he and Barry going to face when they were eventually trying to obtain something more complicated? Something like forensic analysis of evidence or something equally as challenging but far more time-sensitive and possibly even critical to the case.

The Sherriff continued to show the two detectives around, taking them down a short corridor to a room with a key-coded lock on it. "This is where we keep all the files for all of our cases," he explained. "Now the code for the door gets reset every now and again but we will, of course, keep you both up to date on that. This is the current pass code," he told them, handing them both a small piece of paper with a five-digit code on it. The tour then carried on further with Sherriff Shanahan showing them a single interview room and a couple of holding cells before finding themselves at another door with a large padlock on it. "And finally, this is our evidence room," he said. "Now this door must remain locked at all times. The key to which is kept in a locked drawer in my desk and must be signed to be withdrawn. Everybody happy? Any questions?" The Sherriff concluded.

'So, what am I supposed to do if I need urgent access to a piece of evidence and you're not around?' Sam thought to himself, although not wanting to upset anyone before they even began work properly, he managed to keep quiet for the time being. One glance over towards Barry; however, who had remained unusually quiet since they had arrived, also told him that he too was having thoughts and reservations about the current set up.