ON SUNDAY JUNE 30 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT WILL BEGIN THE REST OF THE “SONOMA SQUARES” STORY.

HERE WE RECAP THE SAGA THUS FAR.

 

SPOILER ALERT: Those who wish can click here and read last season’s 16 short chapters by 16 local writers. Otherwise, get ready for spoilers.

By ROBERT DIGITALE

It all started early one summer morning when a woman jogger found Matilda Pismo’s corpse sprawled in a red muumuu atop the concrete of the Healdsburg Plaza. On Maltilda’s arm was scrawled in red ink a single word: “Sonoma.” A few days later the lanky body of Wally Spittleheimer was found floating face up in the Sonoma Plaza duck pond – with the word “Sebastopol” written on his arm.

Sheriff’s Detective Zach Brown knew he was dealing with a killer who was daring the cops to try to catch him. But Brown didn’t expect the perp to mail Matilda’s cell phone to Santa Rosa newspaper reporter Sandra Cordero – complete with photos of the two corpses. That’s how Wine Country first learned of the Sonoma Squares Killer – after which the murderer rewarded Sandra’s front-page story by sparing the life of a Sebastopol bookstore clerk.

The killer sent Sandra a mysterious message, “I pray sic.” He ordered her to decipher the riddle or more people would die. Eventually she did crack the code – each letter stood for a small town in the county where the killer intended to strike. But success didn’t come until a Sonoma State University student was killed and his body dumped in front of the accordion statue in the center of Cotati. Another victim, a young woman, was slain and left in a car parked at the Windsor Town Green after the killer got angry with Sandra for helping the police try to catch him.

Sandra wanted to escape the madness. But the killer kidnapped her best friend Abby and ordered Sandra to save her. She did so with Brown’s help, pulling Abby out of a car trunk a few minutes before the vehicle exploded in the parking garage of the downtown Santa Rosa shopping center.

After the explosion, the killer called Sandra one last time on a stolen cell phone. He promised he was going away for a while. Then he tossed the phone in a garbage can and pulled out his own Android model:

The screen wallpaper showed a photo of Sandra and Abby, taken years earlier at a journalism school social, with him in the background – greasy, shoulder-length hair and two fingers flashing a peace sign…

A year has passed without a sign of the Sonoma Squares Killer.

Sandra has taken a job at a bigger newspaper in San Francisco. Brown and Abby have become lovers. And the detective is still trying to track down his man.

Meanwhile, the killer is planning a new type of mayhem in the hope of making Sandra a star. Little does he know how these new murders will put her in harm’s way…

Fourteen chapters.
Fourteen writers.
One thriller.

SONOMA SQUARES/ RED HARVEST

The story continues. Read it June 30 in print and here at Digitale Stories.

 

Edited by ROBERT DIGITALE and FREDERICK WEISEL

A PROJECT OF SONOMA WRITERS

Connecting Readers and Writers

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