Shauna

Somewhere On The East Coast Of New England

I committed myself to this case. Nobody is paying me to work it, and I think I should explain that my kind of curiosity is necessary for anyone who wants to get into this line of work. When I first started, I could not afford to work for free, but here is a chance to solve a series of vicious murders but also to be a pain in the ass to three different police departments and maybe the F.B.I.

You have to have fun at your job. It's also good to be doing something while waiting for the Ministry of State Security, the Russian Federal Security Service, An Organized Crime syndicate in New York, a Mexican Drug Cartel, and the trailer park's H.O.A. to take a shot at me.

This morning, Tango and I have a lot to think about. The wonder pooch and I are sitting on the wall looking east over the ocean. Eve is at home preparing for a day at The Cardinal and The Jack. 

Eve and I have been discussing the three related murders, and we are a little astounded that a "press shitstorm" has not started yet.

Most police departments will not start shouting "serial killer" too early. I'm sure that all three departments are under advisement from the F.B.I. Based on the little bit I know, a substantial profile must be already developed about who they are looking for.

The longer the killer is comfortable, the easier it will be to smoke him out. If the killer thrives on publicity, he is not getting any yet. This must be driving him nuts.

He goes online daily and checks each jurisdiction where the murders occurred for ongoing news. 

He is being met with radio silence.

He is being electronically hunted by now.

Here is what I learned about the victims after visiting the college all three attended. 

I sat in the library and looked at all the relevant yearbooks.

Later that day I bought copies online and I got free delivery.

Homer Ficus Abernathy College has been in Boston since the 1800s, and until 1990, it was exclusively a women's college. It is well known for producing top-notch teachers, and even today, the top majors are education and special education.

The three murder victims were all at the school at the same time.  I looked each one up and saw their photos. All three graduated.

The first murder victim in Exeter, Shauna Vasillios, graduated from HFAC in 1992. She was from Watertown, Massachusetts, and the college yearbook listed her as active in the B.A. club (Business Administration) Computers, The Red Sox Fan Club, and the Student Activities Society. 

The photo shows a beautiful girl with a big smile. She looks confident, intelligent, and ready to tackle the world of education.

I read her obituary online and learned she came from a big Greek Orthodox family. She married in 1996, had one daughter, and divorced in 2000. Her husband was not listed in her obituary, which, in most cases, is a sign of family strife. Her only daughter Cassie is due with what would have been Shauna's first grandchild.

Tango and I hit the road.

Paulies Pool Hall And Pawn Shop - Lynn, Massachusetts

Finding Shauna's ex-husband was easy. He proclaims himself to be retired and supports himself by playing pool. The reality is that, yes, he does play a lot of pool, but his income is derived from monthly Social Security Disability checks resulting from an industrial accident that has impaired his cognitive abilities.

I know where he plays pool and what he looks like.

Since I am not a cop, I have to squeeze him gently in a sideways sort of way.

You know, investigate him without letting him know I am investigating him.

I bought time at a table and waited for Jimmie T. Lujakson to arrive.

I racked the balls and broke them, sending them in different directions without sinking anything. I started sinking the easy ones, and I was just about to tap in another low ball when Lujakson walked in. 

It's time to look good, but not that good.

I dropped the low ball on the side and left a good leave to get another. It was an easy shot, and I made it, but I did it without the swagger or the greasy confidence that a really good pool player displays.

I dropped one more, then missed a moderately easy shot.

It was then that Lujackson walked up to me. "Hey, want a game?"

"I got forty on me, but I can only stake 20. I gotta buy diapers, I'mTroy. Troy Manolo."

"I'm Jimmie" "might as well get the day started for $20.00. 

"Nice to meet you, Jimmie."

"I lost $100 dollars of the wife's money last night on the freaking Red Sox game, and I'm trying to get back in good with her," I said.

"The Diapers are for my kid; otherwise, I would have played for forty."

Jimmie broke, and I determined that he wasn't half bad as a pool player, but he was prone to "bad leaves," and he was not patient. He wanted to get paid and move on.

"I had a wife," Jimmie said. "I got a grandkid coming soon."

"Hey, congratulations! "You must be excited! I'm a little jealous."

"I'll be lucky if I ever see my grandkid," Jimmie said. Then he went on, "My daughter is an exact copy of my ex, and she treats me like shit." 

"That's too bad, Jimmie: Marriage is a tough game to win."

We played some more, and I decided to push my game up and see if I could squeeze Mr. Tight Lips."

"Did your ex hit you up for alimony and child support?"

" I always paid child support, well almost always, and the judge said I owed alimony, but I got out of that when I got hit in the head with a steel plate at the Bath Iron Works."

"The wife was using the courts to get that money out of my check, but that ain't gonna happen now that she dead."

"She died?" I asked

I lost the game to Jimmie, but I gained a lot of information in a half hour. It seems I beat the cops to him.

He is a suspect.