Chapter 48
All Over The News
(Ó
2010)
Late January, 2040
Boca Raton, Florida
When you would first see her, you would never guess that Melonie Church was eighty-eight years of age. Melonie had taken excellent care of herself with a proper diet and exercise since her early twenties, and her lifelong commitment to it has always paid off a thousand fold. First of all, she looked as if she were in her sixties, and if you ever saw how active she still is, you would declare she was even younger.
She walked independently without the assistance of a cane or walker, which was something she was always proud of. She resides in an up scale gated retirement community in Boca Raton, Florida and has so now for almost twenty-five years, since her late husband, John, and she moved there from upper New York State.
She is still as active as she ever was, and that also made her look younger. She still exercised everyday. She still had a sparkle in her hazel eyes, and they stood out with her once blond hair that was now a pure silver, however the natural wave it had since her youth never went away.
There was a main drive that went through the center of her gated community, connecting the east gate with the west. Outside the east gate there was a strip mall which had a drug store, grocery store, ice cream parlor, a diner, coffee house, along with some other various ethnic restaurants. Melonie still would walk the distance on the sidewalk whenever she needed “just a few things” from the stores. She refused to drive unnecessarily.
She was this way when playing golf also. She still played three times a week, and refused to use a golf cart.
It was still early in the evening, and Melonie was relaxing with her three best friends and “golfing buddies” Esther, Ruth, and Delores. Melonie had christened the four of them as “Hell’s Grannies”, after a skit she once saw as a young girl by her favorite comedy group, Monty Python’s Flying Circus. In Melonie’s home, on the screened in porch of her back yard, she had on the wall a framed poster of the famous English comedy group dressed in their costumes as “Hell’s Grannies”. The reason for this was that Esther, Ruth, and Delores were as active as she was, and would run circles around the other retirees who were twenty years younger than they.
The “Hell’s Grannies” had somewhat of a reputation all over their retirement community. Tonight for instance was their night together to play cards. However, while most men and women their age were content at playing bridge or cribbage, the “Hell’s Grannies” got together to play poker, blackjack, and Texas Hold-em. They played for cash and they played aggressively. Everyone in the community knew the risk of joining them in their card games, because they would then join forces to take the outsiders cash, then split the booty between the four of them.
The ladies were playing a hand of Five Card Draw outside in the screened-in porch of Melonie’s home. It was a warm Florida evening and the tropical breeze coming off from the Atlantic some five miles away made a relaxing noise through the palm trees. However, Melonie was at that moment far from feeling relaxed, because she had to use all her will to look calm and to do her best to not let on to the other ladies that at that moment she held three aces and two kings in her hand.
Delores had folded early, and after two bets and two raises, Esther then folded. It was now a two way battle between Melonie and Ruth, with two more match of the bets and two more raises. Right as Ruth said “call” the Internet phone began to ring. Melonie ignored it because she knew that Erica would answer it.
Erica was a live-in helper that Melonie and her family hired two years ago. She was a pretty blond girl of twenty and a junior at the nearby branch of the University of Miami. In exchange for a room, board and a cash salary, Erica had to help Melonie keep house, run errands, and basically be there for company and for any emergencies. Melonie loved Erica like a grand-daughter and liked the company of a young girl around. It was how she kept up with what was in for the latest trends, and Erica liked hearing stories of how life was back in the “old days.”
Melonie showed her full house to Ruth, and as the ladies gave out a small uproar, Melonie heard as Erica answered the internet phone. In a few seconds Erica was at the sliding door that led from the TV den to the porch to see as Melonie was sweeping seventy dollars worth of dollar bills and change towards her.
“Mrs. Church?” Erica said.
“Yes Erica dear,” she answered with a smile on her face as she organized her new found bounty, “what is it?”
“It’s your grandson in Michigan on the net phone for you.”
“Luke?” She asked in a surprised tone.
“Yes ma’am, do you want to take it here in the den?”
“Sure sweetie, besides I should let Ruth recover from the pounding I just gave her.” She said as she gave a snide smile towards Ruth, “Martini’s ladies?”
They all gave a combined “Yes”, and then stood from the table and entered the den. There was a bar directly from the door and Esther went there to make a round of martinis for the group.
The kitchen was also attached to the den where the counter top separated the den area from the it. On top of the counter was the internet phone. Melonie strolled to the counter and turned on the screen, there was the smiling face of her grandson Luke who lived in Michigan. Luke was now in his thirties and was an engineer with one of the major auto makers working on the Hydrogen powered automobiles.
“Hi ya Grandma!” Luke said as he saw the face of his grandmother appear on his screen in Michigan.
“Why Luke dear,” Melonie said as she stood at the counter, “this is such a nice surprise.” The other ladies sat at the bar chatting while Melonie had her visit. “What’s up with you honey? How’s Lauren and the boys?”
“Oh everyone’s just fine grandma.” He answered, then he suddenly had an expression of concern come over his face, “Listen grandma, something strange is going on up here and I want to ask you about a couple of things okay?”
“Something strange? Nobody is sick or anything?” She asked now concerned herself.
“No, no, Grandma. I’m sorry to scare ya, no nothing like that.” Luke said reassuring her, “It’s just something we all saw and heard about on the news tonight.”
“And what is that dear?”
“Grandma, what was your maiden name?” Luke asked inquisitively.
“My maiden name?” Melonie said with a puzzled tone and expression, “Why, my maiden name was Smedley sweetie.”
“It was Smedley?” He asked.
“Yes dear, Smedley.” She answered with a small laugh, “Horrid isn’t it? I hated it when I was a young girl. It sounded like a name you would give to a basset hound.”
She saw him give her back a smile, and then he turned to his wife who was off screen and she heard him say to her, “It was Smedley.” Then she heard Luke’s wife Lauren whisper the next question to him. He turned back to the screen and asked Melonie, “And you grew up in Ypsilanti?”
“Yes dear I did, but we all called it “Ypsi-tuckey” back then.” She said with another small laugh.
“You went to Ypsilanti High School then?” He asked quickly.
“Yes, dear. Ypsilanti High Braves.” She said with a smile, “Go Purple and Gold. I’m afraid though that I may be the only surviving member of the class of 1969 though.”
“1969!?” Luke said, then Melonie saw him speak to Lauren again saying, “She was in the class of 1969.”
“Luke dear,” Melonie said with a tone of puzzlement, “what is this all about?”
“Grandma, did you know a boy back then by the name of Brent?” Luke asked, and as he did he saw the smile on his grandmothers face immediately drop, and her hand came up to her throat. “What was the last name honey?” He asked his wife, “Lyle? Yes Lyle. Grandma, did you know a boy named Brent Lyle?”
Melonie gasped and brought both her hands to her mouth. She felt all the blood rush out from her head, and then fill in again. Luke now saw as his grandmothers eyes filled with tears and began to stream down her face. Esther, Delores, and Ruth now became quiet as they became aware of their friends distress. They watched as Melonie slumped onto a stool that was directly behind her. All three ladies came to her side. Erica, who was at that moment emptying the dishwasher, noticed that something was wrong and joined them.
“What’s the matter Mel?” Ruth asked, “Is some thing wrong?”
Melonie indeed knew Brent Lyle, it was the shock of someone else saying his name to her and speaking of him … after seventy years. “What is this about Luke?” She asked as her throat was tightening.
“Then you did know him?” He asked.
“Yes dear.” Melonie sniffed, “He was my first love, my high school sweetheart. What is it Luke? What is this all about?” She now started to cry.
“Grandma, then it is you they’re talking about on the news here.” Luke said, “Give me a couple of seconds, I’ll send this news report to you to see for yourself on your net phone.” Luke now saw as his grandmother was crying harder, “Is Erica around?”
“I’m right here Mr. Church!” Erica said as she started to hold Melonie to comfort her.
Luke saw Erica on his screen and said, “Erica, do me a favor and call my mom. Tell her to get over there.” He looked down and he then hit a button on his keyboard, “There Grandma, there, take a look at that.”
“I call her right now Mr. Church.” Erica then said. Luke saw her then step off-screen.
Esther, Ruth and Delores now gathered around their friend as on icon appeared on the screen of the net phone. Melonie’s hands were trembling so, that Ruth had to set up the computer phone to play the news story that Luke had just sent.
“What is it Mel? What is this?” Ruth asked.
“I don’t know yet,” she said, “go ahead, play it.”
Ruth then hit the proper commands to play the news story, all women now had their eyes glued to the small screen. When it first opened a blue page first came on showing the call letters for the News Channel in Detroit. Then two news anchors sitting at a desk appeared, a man and a woman. Below them were the words “70 YEAR OLD MURDER MYSTERY SOLVED?” They sat and watched the following:
MALE ANCHOR: “Good evening. A seventy year old murder mystery appears to have solved in the city of Ypsilanti tonight.”
FEMALE ANCHOR: “That’s right Larry, News Channel own Carol Cowan has the story of a mystery whose ending is as mysterious as it’s beginning. Carol?”
The screen now showed a red headed woman in her thirties standing outside of a building with a sign that said “CITY OF YPSILANTI POLICE” with the word “LIVE” in the upper left corner.
CAROL COWAN: “To say the word mysterious is a real understatement in this story Ann, but let me get you the details the best way that I can because this gets somewhat complicated. Ypsilanti Police chief Alice Driggs held a news conference this morning.”
The screen now showed a silver haired woman in a police uniform standing at a podium.
CAROL COWAN: “Chief Driggs announced that the 1969 murder of Thomas J. Lyle,” (an old picture of a heavyset man with his hair combed back with boot cut sideburns briefly was shown with the name ‘THOMAS LYLE’ at the bottom briefly appeared on the screen, Melonie gasped when she saw it.) “appears to have been solved. Chief Driggs reported that one week ago she received via messenger a package from Paris, France. Inside this package was,” (the screen now showed Carol Cowan holding up a book), “this book, titled ‘ON TWO FRONTS’. It was written by a Mr. Logan I. Morrow. There was also a typed twenty page letter from Mr. Morrow, where he states that he was really,” (Then the picture of a young man appeared, below it read the caption ‘BRENT MICHAEL LYLE’. Melonie let out a cry.), “Brent Michael Lyle, the son of Thomas Lyle, who in 1969 was the only suspect in the murder of his father.”
The screen then showed Chief Alice Driggs at the podium.
CHIEF DRIGGS: “In the statement Mr. Morrow confesses to be Brent Michael Lyle. Mr. Morrow, and just to keep this from getting confusing, we will keep referring to him as Mr. Morrow, admits to causing the death of his father, but states that it was in self defense. Mr. Morrow explains that he came home from his job, and upon his arrival home that his father was already at home and extremely intoxicated. Mr. Lyle, believed that his son may have had a large amount of money hidden in the home because of an upcoming high school senior trip that Mr. Morrow’s class was taking to Europe that year.”
Melonie continued to cry as she watched.
CHIEF DRIGGS: “When confronted by his father about this money, Mr. Morrow states that he would not admit that he did indeed have a large amount of money saved for this trip. Mr. Lyle then attacked his son, threatening to kill him if he did not produce the money. Mr. Morrow states that he was first attacked physically by his father, and Mr. Morrow then struck his father in order to keep him away. Mr. Lyle then produced an aluminum baseball bat that he had previously hidden behind a chair. Mr. Lyle swung the bat three times at Mr. Morrow, but missed. There was a struggle and Mr. Morrow struck his father, both men went to the floor and that is when Mr. Morrow says he lost all control, and struck his father repeatedly.”
The screen then showed Carol Cowen.
CAROL COWEN: “Chief Driggs then goes on to state that Thomas Lyle was an alcoholic and an abusive father. Old police records from that era show many run ins with police by Mr. Lyle due to his alcoholism. Chief Driggs went on to say that she personally investigated this series of events by looking at all the records, files, and accounts of the death of Thomas Lyle. And all statements from Mr. Morrow seem to collaborate with his version of the story.”
Melonie was now nodding “yes” with her hand covering her mouth with tears streaming down her face and over her fingers. The screen returned to show Alice Driggs.
CHIEF DRIGGS: “Mr. Lyle’s old toxicology report shows a large alcohol content, even for the length of time from his death, to when his body was discovered five days later. There were fourteen empty beer cans in the trash, and the baseball bat had only Mr. Lyle’s fingerprints on them.”
Then a voice of a reporter came from the back.
VOICE: “If it was self defense, then why did he choose to run?”
Melonie leaned forward to hear the answer.
CHIEF DRIGGS: “Mr. Morrow explains this. He states that you must realize that this was a different time, it was after all 1969. Mr. Morrow had just turned eighteen years of age. He just took the life his father. Mr. Morrow states , and these are his words, ‘I knew that I faced at least twenty years in prison for manslaughter alone, if I went to prison, I believed that I would die there. I had a girlfriend at that time, and I was planning to marry her. I knew that it would not be fair to her to have her wait for me to serve any amount of sentence. I knew that if I survived prison, that I would not have anything to offer her afterwards, and I believed that if I did indeed go to the state penitentiary in Jackson Michigan, that a boy my age would either end up dead, or have things done to him to make him wish he were. I could not put my girlfriend through any ordeal like that, so I decided that my best option for her and myself was for me to disappear completely.’”
The screen then went back to Carol Cowen.
CAROL COWAN: “And disappear he did. Within a couple of hours after causing the death of his father, Mr. Morrow left his home, entered Canada, traveled to Toronto, and there caught a flight to Paris, where once there, he then enlisted into the French Foreign Legion, where he served honorably for seventeen years with the elite Deep Reconnaissance Commandoes, achieving to the rank of Sergeant-Chef. After his discharge from the Legion he, and this is something rather ironic Ann and Larry, Mr. Morrow then served in the French National Police.”
VOICE OF ANN: “He was a police officer?!”
CAROL COWAN: “Precisely! He was with the department which dealt with organized crime and narcotics trafficking in France and Europe.”
VOICE OF LARRY: “Unbelievable.”
CAROL COWAN: “That also is an understatement Larry. The more I work on this story, the more twists come up. If you look at your screen now you will see an old archive film of the day Mr. Lyle’s body was discovered.”
The screen then showed and old news film from 1969, and when Melonie saw it, she let out a cry of, “Oh my God!” There was a black and white footage that showed Melonie at seventeen years of age, she was being held by her father, leaning against his car.
“My Lord!” Exclaimed Ruth, “Mel, is that you?” Melonie nodded “yes”.
CAROL COWAN: The young girl you see there was the girlfriend of Mr. Morrow. Her father was the one who called police that day that led to the discovery of the body of Thomas Lyle. In the statement that was sent to Chief Driggs, Mr. Morrow wrote an apology to her family.”
The screen then cut back to Alice Driggs, again Melonie and her friends leaned to hear the words.
CHIEF DRIGGS: “Mr. Morrow says, and again these are his words. ‘To the family of Melonie Smedley, I have no idea if she has ever mentioned me to any of you. If she has, I would like to apologize to all of you for any heartache and torment that my actions have caused her. I left my life there because I loved her, and I couldn’t ask her to go through the circumstances that I previously mentioned because of my actions. She was a beautiful girl, inside and out, who deserved a good life, and what I did destroyed any chance of me giving her one. I have always hoped that she had found a good man to make up for all the anguish that I had caused her. If she did, then he was a better man than I would ever be. I ask your forgiveness’.”
Chief Driggs was then seen wiping a tear from her eye. Melonie was now sobbing. The screen then went back to Carol Cowan.
CAROL COWAN: “This story is still developing Ann and Larry. Chief Driggs also informed us that another package from Mr. Morrow arrived at the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. It turns out that Mr. Morrow had family there from his mother’s side. His mother died when he was very young and is in fact buried not too far from here in Ypsilanti. Apparently Mr. Morrow’s mother, Tara Lyle, was half Sioux Native American and Mr. Morrow has supplied funds to have his mothers remains exhumed and as he states, ‘returned to the land of our forefathers’.”
VOICE OF ANN: “Will there be any attempt to bring Mr. Morrow back to the United States Carol?”
CAROL COWAN: “Well that will be an impossibility Ann. Logan Morrow passed away some six months ago. These statements and books were sent here by his attorney in Paris, following Mr. Morrow’s instructions in his will.” Carol Cowan held up the book in her hand. “I was lucky enough to find a copy of Mr. Morrow’s book in the library at the University of Michigan. They have been kind enough to let be borrow it so that I can continue my research of this story. That’s it for now Ann and Larry. Back to you in the studio.”
The screen went back to Ann and Larry.
LARRY: “Unbelievable. We will of course keep you up to date on any developments to this amazing story. In other news tonight - - -”
The screen went blank. The only sound in the room was that of Melonie’s crying.
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