Mystery 101: Deadly History

Amy and Travis accompany Graham to Ithaca, New York upon the discovery that Graham's much younger brother, Alastair Winslow, a Rockwell College History professor with who Graham admits he was not as close as he would now want, has gone missing, a bullet casing and what was determined to be Al's blood evident in Al's house. They will eventually learn that Al had been left a threatening note of an unknown nature posted on his office door which probably is related to his disappearance. Sheriff Harry Ridgeway, the lead police investigator, welcomes both the Winslows and Travis' assistance in the investigation. Much like this case being a Winslow family endeavor, that family which Graham and Amy do include Travis, they will all learn beyond evidence that Al is still alive, that he had his hands in many different family situations. There is his work family which includes ex-wife Professor Carmela Rhee, protégé Professor Mark Lyons, and TA Lucy Harding, which beyond the divorce has the issue of what seems to be a pending charge to college's ethics board filed by Carmela against Al, and Al's late payment of the sizable divorce settlement to Carmela, money which Al apparently did not have. There is the pro bono tutoring Al was doing for student Janey Sullivan organized by her father, Frank Sullivan, a "businessman" who is suspected to be a violent and controlling mob boss, although Janey's mother, Sinead Sullivan, seemed more interested in what happened with Janey than Frank. And Al was apparently doing some consulting work for the Kent family on the history of Kent Lake Lodge, the resort where Amy, Travis and Graham are staying, that work which only a handful of people knew about.—Huggo