Lie Down in Green Pastures by Debbie Viguié Read Free Book Online

the entire cult just vanished. Poof! No one knows what happened to them. There are endless theories, some more plausible than others."
    "Like what?" Cindy asked.
    "Vigilante justice is a popular one, but it seems far more likely that the cult actually migrated, south perhaps."
    "I've lived here for a few years and I've never heard that story."
    Gerald shrugged. "Most people don't like to talk about it, but the rumors are there. Every couple of years a treasure hunter goes looking since it's rumored that much of the group's wealth was converted to gold and jewels and kept with them."
    "Fascinating. I can see the allure," she said.
    He smiled. "So can I. Who wouldn't want to stumble upon that kind of find?"
    He finished his soda and put the glass down on the table."Okay, returning from the distant past to the recent past. Are you ready to continue?"
    "Just about. Who else are you interviewing?"
    "I'm planning on speaking with the detectives on this case when they have a minute to squeeze me into their very busy schedules. I don't blame them. I would put bringing killers to justice above discussing solved cases with a writer any day."
    "You miss it?"
    "Does it show? Actually, I miss the thrill of solving a riddle, of figuring out who did it. I don't miss the trauma of seeing what people are capable of doing to each other and the pressure to find killers before they escape."
    "Hence, you write the books you do. Solved any riddles?"
    "I think I've got the Lizzie Borden case solved, but I'm keeping that one to myself," he said with a wink.
    Cindy laughed and shook her head.
    "So, hopefully I can speak with the detectives who worked your case soon."
    "You should also talk to Jeremiah."
    "I would love to. Unfortunately when I approached you I also approached him and was told in no uncertain terms that he would give no interview. I was also strongly urged not to use his name or the name of the synagogue. He was very adamant about it."
    "Why?"
    "Many people value their privacy. I can't blame them for that. Being in the public eye changes things. Plus, people cope in different ways. Some people find it helps to talk things out.Others feel a deep need to repress stressful events."
    She didn't see Jeremiah as the repressing type. Besides, he had spoken of the events with her since they had happened.She had noticed, though, that he wasn't necessarily fond of being in the spotlight.
    "Okay, so what do you want to know now?" she asked.
    He asked her more questions that she interspersed with a few of her own. It turned out that Gerald Wilson was a fascinating man with amazing stories from his time as a forensics investigator. After the interview was finally concluded it was dinnertime and he treated her to a meal at the nicer of the two restaurants at the hotel.
    He regaled her with stories of his cases and also of the things he had discovered traveling around the country to research his books. When she finally left the hotel and made it home it was just past ten.
    Cindy got ready for bed, but found that she was still too wound up to sleep. She hopped on the internet and tried looking up the cult Gerald had mentioned. Unfortunately there wasn't much information, even less as it turned out, than he had already given her.
    She sighed. I guess that's one mystery I won't be solving. She sat back in her chair.
    Then, of course, there was still the mystery of what had happened to Dr. Tanner. She thought about the conversation she had overheard in the pub the night before. She did a search on Max Diamond. Well over a million hits came back.
    She tried again, searching for "Max Diamond controversy."A quarter of a million hits. "Well, Mr. Diamond, you must be one interesting character."
    She tried again, replacing the word controversy with the word scandal, and was gratified when ten thousand hits came back. She skimmed the first three pages. Everything seemed to be linked to one of his accountants embezzling money. Hardly what she was looking