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The older woman with the badly dyed red hair and matching red spectacles barely raised her head as the thin man in the grey suit approached her desk.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Stewart.” The thin man said, reading the plaque on the desk.
Raising her head from the litany of paperwork sprawled on her desk, she pushed the rim of her glasses up on her face to get a better look at the thin man standing before her. Dressed in a dark grey suit with a mixed match yellow and black striped tie. His hair was thinning on top of his head, and his face was gaunt and pale.
She ascertained the gentleman before her was not a local resident of Cape May but rather someone who did not get out much. Judging by the lack of color on his face and the cheap suit, he was probably an attorney.
“Can I help you, sir?” Carrie Stewart asked.
The man pulled his credentials from his jacket pocket and flipped them open. The picture was too far away to get a positive identification, but the bright blue lettering was unmistakable. F.B.I.
“I’m Special Agent Wyatt Tennant. Federal Bureau of Investigation. I was hoping to speak to the Chief of Police.” Officer Tennant said, closing his credentials.
“Do you have an appointment?” Carrie asked.
“No, I was passing through on a separate case, and after months of playing phone, tag decided to take a chance and stop in. I hope it’s not too much of an inconvenience.”
“What’s this in reference to, sir?” Carrie Stewart asked.
“It’s about the Grim Reaper murders from last year,” Wyatt replied.
“One second. I’ll see if Chief McNamara is available.” Carrie said, picking up her telephone and pushing a button before covering her mouth and speaking into the receiver just low enough so Agent Tennant could not hear her voice. When she was finished speaking, she hung up the phone and placed the receiver down.
“You are in luck. The Chief has a few minutes to spare to speak with you. He’s in with his new wife. Lucky for you, he just returned from his honeymoon yesterday. If you showed you up any earlier than today, you might have missed him. He’s through that door on your left. Just knock before you go in.” Carrie Stewart instructed, pointing to the door.
Agent Wyatt Tennant approached the door and knocked as instructed by the secretary and heard a voice say to come in from behind the door. Walking through the doorway, Wyatt was met halfway inside by Chief John McNamara, his wife, a blonde was sitting on top of his desk.
“Chief John McNamara.” McNamara said introducing himself. Getting up and shaking Agent Tennant’s hand, Chief John McNamara towered over the skinny, balding FBI agent in physical size.
“This is my wife, Jennifer McNamara. I wasn’t expecting any visitors this morning. We just returned from our honeymoon, so please excuse the informality of this meeting.” McNamara said as Jennifer waved while remaining seated on the corner of the desk.
“Is there a chance I could speak to you privately?” Agent Tennant asked, looking away from Jennifer.
“Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of my wife. I don’t hold secrets from her. So please sit. Can I offer you some coffee or water?” McNamara asked, resuming his seat behind the desk while Jennifer continued sitting on the corner.
“No, thank you. I just had breakfast at Uncle Bill’s Pancake House a few minutes ago.” Agent Tennant replied.
“You are here about the Grim Reaper Murders and the former Chief of Police Clyde Browning. I thought we sent your office everything last year?” McNamara asked.
“You did send over the files, but I had just a few questions. My specialty with the Bureau is abnormal psychology, specifically serial killers, and their psychology. I assist in putting together a dossier of their background and look for indicative patterns into what motivated them.” Agent Tennant said.
“I follow you so far. What can I help you with?” McNamara asked.
“Well, asking around, I understand you shadowed Chief Browning for the days before his death and during the Grim Reaper investigation.” Agent Tennant asked.
“That’s correct. While Browning prepared for his upcoming retirement, I was learning on the job.” McNamara replied.
“That’s a subject I wanted to speak with you about. You mentioned Chief Browning’s pending retirement. Did he speak about retirement regularly, was he looking forward to his retirement, or was he upset about his retirement? I’m trying to gain some insight into the type of man Chief Browning was.”
“I would say he was in denial about his retirement. He hadn’t even started packing this office up. He was still working and had his hands in the day-to-day operations until he was relieved of duty.” McNamara answered.
“But if I’m not mistaken, on the night he committed suicide on top of the Cape May Lighthouse, his car was found parked a few blocks away near the boardwalk loaded with suitcases and gym bags containing his clothes and some personal items. If he wasn’t planning on leaving, why pack everything up into the back of his car?” Agent Tennant asked.
“I’m afraid that’s beyond my role as Chief of Police to speculate about what is going on inside the mind of a murderer Agent Tennant,” McNamara replied.
“Exactly right. Let’s talk about the mind of the murderer. In this case, you have a man, a law-abiding man who, as far as we know, had no history of killing people or breaking any laws for almost sixty years. Then all of a sudden, he snaps and creates a persona with which he kills several well-known associates, including his friend Anthony Biaggi. It doesn’t make any sense.” Agent Tennant said.
“If you ask me, he was paranoid. There are several statements from the Officer’s involved in this case, particularly the Cape May Sheriff’s Office, about his propensity to want to control the investigation. I believe he lost control of his life when he lost the town's confidence as Chief, and I was slated to take his place. The suicide note found in his home printed on his computer indicated as much.” McNamara said.
“I’m glad you brought that up. If, as you say, Chief Browning despised losing his office, why not go after the current town council responsible for ousting him. In fact, why not take it out on the man set to replace him. You. Why not come after you? As the Grim Reaper, he would have been absolved of any wrongdoing and potentially allowed to continue as Chief of Police until another replacement was selected.” Agent Tennant speculated.
“Do you really think he may have considered murdering me? I had never considered that a possibility until now.” McNamara said, turning to his wife, feigning concern.
“Thank goodness he didn’t come after you,” Jennifer said, placing her hand on her chest. “You saw what that brute did to poor Dr. McDonough.”
“Another question. During the inventory of Browning’s personal effects, a set of keys and a padlock were found inside his jacket pocket. Did your office ever find out what these keys or the padlock belonged to? I checked the keys with the padlocks used to secure the chain around his neck and to the railing on top of the lighthouse, but none of the keys would work to open them. Were any keys to those padlocks ever recovered?”
“No, the padlock had to be sawed off so the chain could be removed from his charred remains. Regarding the padlock in his jacket pocket, I think we all assumed it was another set he brought with him.” McNamara replied.
“One last thing, off the record.” Agent Tennant said.
“Of course.” Chief McNamara said, nodding his head in assent.
“Are you satisfied with the outcome of the investigation?” Agent Tennant asked.
“It is the official position of the Cape May County Police Department and my opinion that Chief Browning was the Grim Reaper killer. His suicide note and the fact the murders ceased following his death offer conclusive evidence of this. Also, he was the first on the scene during several of the murders and offered no alibi’s for any of the time these murders were committed.” Chief McNamara said.
“What about an accomplice? According to your report, when Anthony Biaggi was discovered inside the metal bull cauldron, you subdued the parade float driver, and another suspect eluded Chief Browning.” Agent Tennant asked.
“I’ve thought a lot about the day of the parade. It was the driver’s statement he was hired anonymously via a personal advertisement. I suspect Chief Browning hired the person pretending to be the Grim Reaper and deliberately let them escape. All the security cameras in the parking lot were disabled, again indicating to the Police Department someone with insider knowledge of where those cameras were placed. So, anticipating the actor's escape during the parade, Browning disabled the cameras ahead of time.” Chief McNamara suggested.
“And the person hired to be the Grim Reaper that day, what of him?” Agent Tennant asked.
“Gone with the wind. Realizing the mistake they made in accepting the job, that person disappeared.” Chief McNamara said.
“That’s some heavy conjecture. It is, therefore, possible the Grim Reaper got away on the day of the parade and that Browning was subsequently murdered and then framed.” Agent Tennant said.
“I don’t believe so. Again, the position of the Cape May Police Department is the case is closed and that Chief Browning was the Grim Reaper. Unless you have any evidence to the contrary.” Chief McNamara said.
“No, I don’t have evidence to the contrary. Thank you for the interview. I may hang around Cape May and do some independent research and interviews for the file. Congratulations again on your wedding.” Agent Tennant said, closing his notepad and standing up.
Chief McNamara stood up also and shook Agent Tennant’s hand from across the desk. “If you need anything else regarding this investigation, please let my office know, and we will be more than happy to assist.”
Heading for the office door, Tennant stopped and turned toward Jennifer, still sitting on the desk. “How long did you two know each other before deciding to get married?”
“A little over a year. We actually met during the Grim Reaper murders investigation. Sometimes it seems like we have known each other since childhood, though.” Jennifer said, smiling.
Tennant nodded his head and exchanged smiles. “Well, congratulations again.” He said before exiting the office and closing the door behind him.
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RESUMING HIS SEAT BESIDE his new bride, McNamara rubbed her leg.
“He knows Clyde Browning isn’t the Grim Reaper. We should get ahead of this.” Jennifer Martin said.
“Don’t do anything reckless. He doesn’t have anything. He’s asking questions no one has the answers to. We are safe. Eliminating him would only draw the ire of every Law Enforcement Agency down here. It’s best to forget the whole episode and begin our new life together as husband and wife, with our new baby on the way.” McNamara said, rubbing her belly.
“You aren’t worried then?” Jennifer asked taking his hand in hers on top of her pregnant stomach.
“No. The Grim Reaper murders are in the past. Clyde Browning and his role in murdering the former town council will live on in documentaries, books, and podcasts for years. You better get used to people running around asking questions. But in the end, that’s all it will ever add up to is questions and theories coming from crackpots and you tube experts.
“People love a good ending, and right now Clyde Browning is the knot on the bow of a perfectly good ending. The perfect patsy. The Grim Reaper murders will forever add to the lore and mystery of Cape May’s history long after we are gone and forgotten.” McNamara said before kissing his wife.
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THE END.
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
THANK YOU FOR READING The Cape May Murders. Please follow me and sign up for my free newsletter at Christophermichaelblake.com. Many of the places detailed in this work are real places, so please visit them if you visit Cape May. Unfortunately, though there is no actual Biaggi's currently in Cape May, New Jersey. However, the Nor'easter referenced as occurring in 1962 is a real event that devasted Cape May.
In researching this novella, I referred to Jospeh G. Burcher & Robert Kenselaar's book Remembering South Cape May: The Jersey Shore town that vanished into the sea and Joe J. Jordan's illustrated book Cape May Point: The Illustrated History: 1875 to Present. Both books do an excellent job of detailing the history of Cape May and come highly recommended.
If you enjoyed reading the Cape May Murders and want to share your experience, please leave a review on Amazon or on Good Reads as this helps indie authors find an audience.
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