The World of Myth Magazine

The mystery is resolved at the end of chapter 86. The reader has not learned the name of the guilty party. There is an Author's Solution immediately following chapter 86 explaining the clues and identifying the guilty party. You are invited to solve the mystery on your own before reading the Author's Solution. Finally, there is Chapter 87 to wrap things up and an Epilogue to end the story. DO NOT read the Author's Solution until you have determined who your main suspect is!

Coleman children at the 1961 Christmas Eve family gathering and the June, 2008 family reunion, (with spouses):

Robert Coleman IV – Robert the third's oldest son and brother of Tim. 64 years old, a retired state and county judge in Pulaski County, Missouri. Widowed since 2002, no children.

Tim Coleman – 60 years old and a retired insurance executive. Lives with wife Catherine in Overland Park, Kansas. Two children, one son and one daughter.

Janelle Coleman Burdick – younger sister of Robert and Tim. 58 years old, lives in Topeka, Kansas with her second husband, Larry. Administrative assistant to a Baptist minister, will soon retire. No children.

Leann Coleman Edgmon – 53 years old, a freelance artist and lives in Oklahoma City with her husband, Jack. No children.

Michael Coleman – Born in 1952, currently vice president of a bank in north Dallas, Texas. Divorced in 1991, never remarried. No children.

James Coleman, Jr. – 55 years old, born in 1954. Currently living in St. Louis, Missouri with wife Peggy. One daughter, Ashley. Owns and operates a small electrical company.

Stephanie Coleman – the youngest of the Coleman children at age 52. Lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Never married, no children and has been an elementary school teacher for over 25 years.

John Coleman loved spending Christmas Eve in his parent's home. This was a time for him and his two brothers to be together with their families and celebrate Christmas a few hours early. This was a special time for the entire Coleman family. As he watched the children noisily unwrap the many gifts which were exchanged, he thought of his parents. They were quite elderly now and no one knew how many more of these happy Christmas Eve gatherings they had left to enjoy.

At this hour, all was right in John's world. He was indeed full of good cheer and more than a small amount of his dear friend and liquid companion, Jack Daniels. This was truly, for him, the best time of the year. John had never been and never would be as happy and at peace as he was on these memorable Christmas Eves.

As often happens in life, harsh reality intruded upon John's perfect moment. A sense of dark foreboding overtook him as he viewed one of the children commit a despicable act. It happened so quickly that he almost missed it and, for many years afterward, would tell himself it was the whiskey that caused him to make more of what he had seen than a mean–spirited children's prank would normally merit. Still – the dark premonition would stay with him for the rest of his life.

In the noisy din of merrymaking, one of the children purposefully stomped hard on the hand of a smaller relation, bruising three fingers and eliciting a painful cry. An evil smile quickly crossed the face of the offending party, quickly to disappear back into the face of childish innocence. Perhaps because the Christmas Spirit himself was present with the Coleman family that night, the child with the painful bruises did not suffer a fracture or broken bone. The incident was quickly forgiven and forgotten, but it would haunt John for the rest of his days.

John passed away in 2006 at the age of 86, outliving his parents and both brothers. Had he lived a little longer, perhaps he could have said or done something to keep the tragic events of 2008 from happening.

This is doubtful. But, we will never know.

May, 2008: Historic Overland Park, Kansas sits just over the state borderline from Kansas City, Missouri. Before retiring from a 37 year career in the insurance industry earlier this year, on every working day Tim drove the 17 mile trip into downtown Kansas City and back to his home in Overland Park. This was one of the many things about working for a living he did not miss.

For some odd reason, the thought of the daily round trip to his former downtown office was going through his mind on this beautiful 2008 Memorial Day. The Kansas City metro area sat just far enough to the north to be very unpredictable weather wise, especially this time of year. It could be very hot or unseasonably cool. As Tim stood on the outside deck of the spacious home he and Cathy had lived in for almost thirty years, his attention turned to how hot it was standing over the grill on this uncomfortable 94 degree afternoon. As Tim closely watched the hamburgers and hot dogs he was preparing for this evening's outside family gathering, his thoughts turned next to the events he and Cathy planned for this summer.

Cathy's birthday is on August 20 and Tim knew it was a date he could never forget if he wished for the Coleman household to remain peaceful. His wife would be 60 years of age this year and they would take a combination retirement and birthday trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. Cathy's people immigrated to the young United States of America in the late 1700s and she had always wanted to visit her ancestral home. Not only that, but Cathy had been told by several friends that Edinburgh was the most gothic city in Europe and she wished to see it firsthand.

But, Tim smiled to himself as he finished cooking the meats and turned off the grill. Before the August trip to Europe, there was a Coleman family reunion he and Cathy would host here in their home. When he retired shortly after his 60th birthday in early February, the milestone occasion rudely reminded Tim that he and his siblings and cousins, known as the “Coleman Kids” since the late 1950s, were growing no younger. So, he and Cathy decided to invite his brother, sister, four cousins and spouses to a family reunion over the July 4th weekend. Perhaps feeling the same emotion as Tim, they all eagerly accepted the invitation. It had been many years since they were all together.

But tonight, Tim and Cathy's children and their families would join them for a Memorial Day outdoor picnic. July 4 and the August trip were only a few short weeks away. On this blazing hot holiday that the old–timers referred to as “Decoration Day,” Tim was a very blessed and happy man.

The Coleman Kids were very close when children and all looked forward to the July 4th weekend at Tim's home in Overland Park. Tim, as the host and organizer of the event, looked forward to it to a greater degree than did the others. He was the most family oriented of the Coleman kids and it was no surprise to any of them that it was Tim who conceived of the upcoming reunion. He worked very hard to make it a reality.

Tim was born to Robert and Wanda Coleman on a snowy, blustery day in North Kansas City, Kansas on February 2, 1948. He was the younger brother of Robert IV and the older brother of his sister Janelle. Tim was a congenial person with a pleasing personality. These traits had stood him in good stead during his many years in the insurance industry and even before then, as he was a poor student when in high school and college. The good will and benefit of the doubt bestowed upon him by teachers and professors pulled him through when a less likeable student would have easily flunked out.

Tim was a nice looking man, although you would not say he was Hollywood handsome. At age 60, he was a slightly overweight man of average height with wavy blonde hair now giving way to the whiteness of encroaching old age. A neatly trimmed Van Dyke beard accentuated his outgoing personality.

Tim and the beautiful Catherine MacInnes, (Tim always claimed his wife reminded him of the film star Jane Seymour), were married immediately after finishing college. Wedding bells rang for them on the terribly hot summer day of June 17, 1970 in downtown Kansas City. They spent their entire lives in the Kansas City area, although both had traveled extensively in their respective careers, (Cathy being a sales representative for a cosmetics company before retiring in 2003 on her 55th birthday). Tim and Cathy were blessed with two children. Tim, Jr., 35, followed his father into the insurance business. Daughter Andrea (Dee, as she was called), 30, was a stay at home mom and taught piano lessons to supplement her family's income. Tim had done well – very well – in insurance and rose to high position in the ranks of Midwestern Assurance, reaching the senior vice–president level four years before retirement. His lump sum pension payment was very generous and overnight Tim became what he never dreamed he would become; a millionaire, although by the standards of the very wealthy he would be considered nouveau riche and very much a “low end” person of means. Tim often thought of this and chuckled. He didn't care if he was low end or not as long as financial concerns were a thing of the past.

As stated earlier, at the beginning of the summer of 2008, Tim was a very happy and contented man. Indeed, there was no reason for him to be anything else. There would never again be any financial worries. He and Cathy enjoyed excellent health, as did his children and grandchildren. They had everything they needed and most of what they wanted. There were few worries and an exciting summer lay just ahead.

Life was good; maybe a little bit too good. That would change dramatically in a few weeks' time.

When Tim saw that July the 4th was on a Friday this year, He and Cathy determined this was the best time for them to host the reunion. The plan was for some of their guests to arrive Wednesday, July 2 the others the next day, Thursday. The reunion would last through Sunday night, July 5. Some of the guests would leave then and the others on Monday morning. Cathy privately worried that five days plus of Tim's extended family may be a bit much but she realized he had not spent any quality time at all with them in over 40 years. Besides, their house was huge and could comfortably host a large party.

Tim and Cathy sent the invitations out in early April and all had been quickly and eagerly accepted. Less than a week passed before Cathy knew she would have nine guests to play hostess to in a little less than three months' time. The extremely thorough Cathy wrote the guest list on the same day she placed her and Tim's 2007 federal income tax return in the mail, April 14. (Cathy prided herself on being smarter than those who have to hurry and wait in long lines at the post office on the 15th). Below is the guest list as typed by Cathy:

Counting her and Tim, there would be 11 persons present for the July 4 weekend reunion. Of course, Tim, Jr., Dee and their respective families would be included to a lesser degree but Cathy was counting those who would be staying under her roof. Cathy always thought it odd that, of the seven Coleman kids, only Tim and his cousin James (Jim) Jr. had children. There were only three of them. Two of them were Tim Jr. and Dee. Jim's 28 year old daughter Ashley was their only distant cousin. Through the years Tim had been closer to his brother and sister than cousins, but still they had not seen each other often. Since Tim's childhood, the Coleman family had not been close knit and Cathy wondered if this was not a partial reason why their children's generation totaled only three in number. From her perspective, family and children did not seem to be a high priority with them. Indeed, the MacInnes clan often wondered about the people their Catherine had married into; people who saw each other only at funerals and weddings. But, Cathy smiled to herself as she recalled it was her husband who was reaching out to the family and now something good would happen. She felt happy that she could be a part of it.

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