The Punjab/Pumpkin Patch Deaths
()
About this ebook
Professor Montana Dickerson is distraught and determined to seek justice when the body of one of her favorite students, an exchange student teacher from Great Britain, is discovered in a pumpkin patch near the western Pennsylvania Whitfield University campus. In her search for the killer, old ghosts and guilt are dredged up from Montana's own international experience in India thirty years earlier. In her search for clues, Montana is forced to suspect some of the people she knows and cares about the most. The shocking conclusion leaves Montana reeling and forces her to come to grips with her own past mistakes.
Saundra McKee
I am a retired educator. I taught in the public schools for 15 years and at the university level for 22 years. I love to travel the world. I enjoy politics, dogs, mysteries and water sports. I am a lay speaker in the United Methodist Church.
Read more from Saundra Mc Kee
A Confusing Drowning at the Riverfront Dog Park Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChristian Skits and Plays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeaths of the Solitude Missionaries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Final Solitude Death: An Amish Country Murder Mystery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Solitude Hollywood Death Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sea Shell Murder Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath Over A Solitude Election Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSchool Reform Can Be Murder Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Solitude Assassin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath in the Solitude Underground Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Curious Kidnapping at the Riverfront Dog Park Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath of a Solitude Gypsy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEscape from Solitude Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsManorville Methodist Speaks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Solitude Hit and Run Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Solitude Disappearance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSolitude Death: An Amish Country Murder Mystery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Solitude Christmas Miracle -5th in Series-Amish Country Murder Mysteries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Solitude Shadow Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Pickleball Death in the Time of COVID Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death of a Solitude African Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSolitude Slaying: An Amish Country Murder Mystery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Year of Mysterious Deaths at the Riverfront Dog Park Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath at a Solitude Sawmill Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSolitude Justice: An Amish Country Murder Mystery-4th in Amish Country Murder Mysteries Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath at a Solitude Wedding Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath at a Solitude Nuclear Waste Dump Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMurder, From Creepy to Bizarre: Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Solitude Kidnappings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSolitude Separations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Punjab/Pumpkin Patch Deaths
Related ebooks
Creator Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFeeding Ground Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChristmas Present Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI'll Be Seeing You Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSend More Tourists...the Last Ones Were Delicious Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSelected Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Firefighter Daddy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Deadly Diversions Four: the Agitated Pariah (Outcast) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKidnapped Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wild Side Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings1501 Parcher Place Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTo Love And Honor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Almost Perfect World: Legend of East Series Book 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrace Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Out of Darkness to Accepted Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHidden Instinct Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No Time to Cry: The Dawn Rochelle Series, Book Four Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Brookes' Miracle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLinda Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Restoration Of A Man: Four Historical Romance Novellas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrystal Bound Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Perfect Coed: Oak Grove Mysteries Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Athena’s Adventures Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Basketball, a Storm Drain, and a Choo Choo Train Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll I Want Is Him...: A Holiday Love Story, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Roommates Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLegacy Letters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSafe in His Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Maiden’S Hell Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWind Power and Ecology? (Nonlinear perturbations on non-standard statistics on large data bases) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Mystery For You
Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Short Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5None of This Is True: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Sleep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hallowe'en Party: Inspiration for the 20th Century Studios Major Motion Picture A Haunting in Venice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunting Party: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Club: A Reese's Book Club Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Flight: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kept Woman: A Will Trent Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5False Witness: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Daughter: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Under a Red Moon: A 1920s Bangalore Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Pharmacist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life We Bury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Murdery Mystery Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pieces of Her: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Staircase: Nancy Drew #2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dark Side: A Collection of Mysteries & Thrillers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Did I Kill You?: A Thriller Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Finlay Donovan Is Killing It: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dean Koontz: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Punjab/Pumpkin Patch Deaths
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Punjab/Pumpkin Patch Deaths - Saundra McKee
The Punjab/Pumpkin Patch Deaths by Sandy McKee
Published by Saundra McKee at Smashwords. Copyright 2011. Saundra McKee
This is a work of fiction. All persons and places and events are the product of the author’s imagination.
Chapter 1
India 1974
It was supposed to be a carefree time of study, tourism and renewal. The group of twenty Fulbright scholars was bright young teachers from Ohio and Indiana. Through a competitive process they’d been awarded an all expense paid trip to one of the world’s most fascinating countries. Most of the participants returned to their homes and families more globally minded, knowledgeable and anxious to share their new insights into an exotic and mysterious culture. But four of the participants would be haunted forever by the events that took place in the Punjab region of India in the summer of 1974.
Chapter 2
Pennsylvania 2004
Monday
The fall foliage was at its peak in western Pennsylvania. Festivals to honor pumpkins, apples and the harvest were at full swing. Life on the many campuses across the state was immersed in football, homecoming celebrations, making new friends and midterm exams.
Dr. Montana Dickerson set her pumpkin spice latte and cranberry scone on the only cleared space on her desk that was otherwise stacked with student essays, books and articles to review, notes from committee meetings, and unopened mail.
Montana’s graduate assistant, Greg Oliver who was finishing his Master’s Degree in school administration, appeared at her door before she could grab a bite of the still warm scone.
I’ve got those articles you wanted me to locate for you on assessment, Dr. Dickerson. I read them too. Interesting stuff. When you have a minute, I need to talk with you about my thesis.
Montana nodded, "Thanks so much for getting these to me so quickly. I have some things I wanted to check on before my grad class. I’m due at a meeting with the British students at nine, then have a class at ten. Could we meet around noon?’
Greg smiled, That will be good. My son was selling hoagies, so I’ll bring you one too. Have a good morning.
Montana finished her scone and checked her reflection in the mirror. At fifty four, she was still mistaken for someone in her thirties. Montana knew it was the luck of the gene pool and not an especially healthy lifestyle. She ran her fingers through her dark curly hair and put a bit of eyeliner on her deep set blue eyes. She grabbed a folder and headed over to the International House where many of the visiting students from around the world resided. For a small university, Whitfield had established a great reputation in the state for drawing students from across the globe. Montana worked in teacher education and was proud of the many opportunities she’d established for exchanges between future teachers. This morning she was meeting with a group of British students who were doing internships in area elementary, middle and high schools. After four weeks, they’d adjusted to the differences in educational philosophies and were beginning to relax in their placements. Montana also found herself in charge of helping the three young men and three young women learn about the surrounding region. So far, she’d taken them on weekend jaunts into New York City, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. She sensed that they’d begun to form their own friendships with other students and she could fade away in her tour guide role. The past weekend was homecoming, and the students had opted to stay on campus for the festivities. Today she planned to have them report on their school experiences and make plans to teach a unit to their pupils on some aspect of their own country.
She smiled at the group who was assembled in the conference room. They were dressed very professionally and had cups of coffee and tea from the local café in front of them and their notebooks were opened. Where’s Sheila? Did she overdo it this weekend?
Sheila’s roommate Dawn sat down her cup. I imagine she’ll be showing up shortly.
Dawn was a pale nervous young woman who always seemed anxious and uncertain.
Montana looked at her questioningly, Is she okay?
Dawn nodded, clearly being evasive.
Montana let it go and began a discussion of their school experiences. After a half hour, Montana said, Dawn, would you mind going to your room and checking up on Sheila. It’s not like her to not show up.
Dawn hesitated, May I speak with you privately, Dr. Dickerson?
The two women stepped out of the conference room and closed the door. Shelia didn’t come home last night. She’s been seeing a guy and has spent a few nights at his apartment, so I didn’t think much about it. But she’s never missed school or a meeting. I’m not sure what’s going on.
Montana felt a sense of panic. She had a twenty one year old daughter, Loren, who was spending the semester in Germany and worried about her only child constantly. Go back to your room and see if she’s come back. Does she have a cell phone or did she give you a number where you could reach her?
No mobile, no number,
said Dawn. I don’t even know who the guy is. She was pretty secretive about it. I figured she’d share when she was ready.
Montana went back into the conference room and asked the others if they heard from Shelia to notify her right away. She waited for Dawn to return, hoping for good news.
Dawn returned shaking