Time capsule holds deadly predictions

David Rosenfelt’s “Without Warning” proves that even picture-pretty places like Wilton, Maine, must deal with some terrible crimes.

Before becoming chief of police, Jake Robbins was an MP. During his tour in Afghanistan, he helped rescue several wounded soldiers. His actions saved many lives, and Jake received some serious wounds himself. Many considered him a hero, but he remembers those he could not save.

Right now, he is dealing with the damage done when a nearby dam burst. One of the washouts has occurred near the site where the city’s time capsule was buried four years ago. Obviously, it must be dug up and buried somewhere else. No big deal, until they discover human remains buried with the capsule.

They open the capsule and find the original 19 predictions about the world in 50 years, plus additional predictions written as riddles. The first one says, “Mrs. Chief will die … at the hand of her lover?”

Stunned, Jake knows this must refer to his late wife, Jenny. Jenny had been murdered about eight months after the capsule was buried. The only suspect was Roger Hagel. He and Jenny had been having an affair, and she’d recently broken it off. Roger admitted the affair, but he swore he’d never hurt Jenny. Sadly, he was killed only months after entering prison.

Jake and Jenny had once been close friends with Roger and Katie Hagel. Now Katie has taken back her maiden name and is running her family’s newspaper. Their respective positions put them in contact quite often, and while Jake realizes that he has strong feelings for Katie, he isn’t about to act on them after the past they shared.

Suddenly, Jake and Katie are forced to work out a way for her to get the news she needs to print and allow him to keep some things under wraps.

The second riddle refers to a terrible fire where several people died. The next prediction comes true when George Meyerson dies in a car crash. It is obvious now that Roger Hagel was innocent as he claimed. Jenny’s death and all that followed have been carefully thought out and planned by someone who knows all about Jake Robbins.

He’s not comfortable being the only connection between the victims, but there’s little he can do when all the circumstantial evidence points at him as the killer. When one hints that someone from the paper might be next, Jake warns head writer Matt Higgins. Higgins laughs it off until his date steps into his door and is shot dead by a booby trap gun. As he puts the pieces of evidence together, Jake realizes he needs a bit more help and makes a deal with the FBI.

Whoever is behind these killings has a long memory and a strong need for revenge, and Jake has a couple of possible names at the top of his suspect list. When Katie goes missing, Jake knows he must act fast. He turns the case over to the FBI and heads out of Wilton. Following clues and a fine-tuned hunch, Jake tracks down the former fiancee of his first suspect. She swears that the man is dead, but her comments offer him another avenue to explore.

Jake is only slightly surprised to get a call from a middle-aged woman who swears she has seen the “dead” man Jake is after and gives him a pretty good description of where he might be hiding. Jake may not be a big city cop, but he’s given plenty of thought to who might be setting him up as a murderer. While he sets his trap to free Katie and catch the real killer, Jake has the foresight to keep the FBI informed so that they can tie up any loose ends. Now he just has to hope that the timing is perfect as he steps into the killer’s snare.

AT A GLANCE
BOOK:
“Without Warning”
AUTHOR: David Rosenfelt
PUBLISHER: Minatour Books
PUBLISHED: March 25, 2014
PAGES: 302

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