Bruce Bradley

The Seeds of Darkness Bruce Bradley

SOMETHING IS KILLING THE PEOPLE OF CALISTOGA... Calistoga, California--population 5,000--a popular tourist destination located in the most beautiful part of the Napa Valley, a place where people still go to bed at night with their doors unlocked. At least, they used to ... When private investigator Sam Bass is hired to look into the savage murder of a young woman, he has no idea of where it will take him. It's a frustrating case, months old and with few leads. Then more bodies are found, and the trail seems to lead back to Sam, himself... FROM "THE SEEDS OF DARKNESS"-- The field where Lori Deyes' body had been found was now planted to cabernet franc. Jay Herndon explained exactly how and where he found the body. Sam measured out thirteen feet. A row of grapes grew there now. He tried to imagine how it must have been; freshly tilled dirt, undisturbed save for where she lay. Lori Deyes had not been a large woman. With her internal organs gone she weighed less than one hundred-pounds. Still, one hundred pounds of limp, dead weight is never easy to wrestle with. Whoever had killed Lori had carried her a half-mile and thrown her thirteen feet out into the field. Sam wondered how far he could throw one-hundred pounds. Ten feet, maybe, he thought. Not thirteen. No way. And why had they done it here? They killed Lori a full half-mile from this spot, then carried her here. Sam looked around. What was so special about this particular place? They had to carry her down Zinfandel Lane and across Zinfandel Bridge. Anyone driving would have seen them. Friday night at midnight was not an un-reasonable time for traffic, even out here. What were they trying to say by doing this? Sam's eyes searched the area around him in all directions, looking for answers. He found none.