Three Seasons

Natalie Dvorak #20:

Detective-Sergeant Natalie Dvorak of the Vermont State Police says goodbye to her mother at a family funeral. Two of her friends attend the service to lend support, Chief Kate Billings of the Lake Dakib, Minnesota, Police and Lieutenant Cheryl Grant of the Burlington Police Department. After the funeral, the three “sisters of the badge” gather at Natalie’s home to share stories of police work during the past year. In “The Hard Freeze”, Kate tells the story of a body found frozen in lake ice that reopens a missing person case now ruled a homicide. The victim was a young handyman who seemed to be well-liked in the community. But popularity can breed resentment among certain individuals. Could that be enough to make someone kill? Cheryl’s problem in “Community Policing” is a rookie cop whom Cheryl tried to remove from the force. The veteran lieutenant and the young patrol officer clash over how to deal with a homeless man; when a wrongful death occurs, Cheryl takes charge of the investigation while her teenage son gets into trouble. Natalie tells her friends about “A Haunted Homicide” at an abandoned old house. Preparing to film a horror movie on location, the author of the original story spends the night at the house but turns up dead by morning. A producer, a director, the film’s leading lady, and a production assistant are all suspects, assuming a ghost didn’t commit the crime.