Free Moonlight Murder on Lovers' Lane by Katherine Ramsland

Chapter 1: Cries in the Night
    I’ve often driven past a place in New Brunswick, New Jersey, that once was a secret lovers’ lane. Back in the 1920s, a married minister and his mistress used to meet there. One September evening, someone followed them. A shot rang out, a woman screamed, and there were three more shots. The lovers were dead. Their killer posed the bodies to ensure that whoever discovered them would know exactly why they had to die.
    Investigators thought the case would be “a cinch” to solve, and there were plenty of suspects. But it turns out that many more secrets surrounded these two than anyone realized, so plenty of hurdles were placed in the way. Every lead was a labyrinth.
    The double homicide of the minister and the choir singer launched a sensational trial, to which The New York Times devoted more print than to any murder case before it. Renowned journalists crowded in for a salacious story. Some have speculated that the sordid tale even inspired parts of The Great Gatsby .
    Because the case remains unsolved, it presents an enduring mystery like that of Lizzie Borden or Jack the Ripper. Even today, inquisitive people revisit the story to rethink suspects and evidence.
    Which brings us to an enticing item that has never been considered before. It was in plain sight all along and it implicates a suspect who might have eluded arrest due to ignorance back then about a specific type of motive.
    So, let’s see how this tragic tale unfolded. You can decide for yourself if this new discovery is a clincher.
    It was a brisk but sunny Saturday morning on September 16 in 1922. Fifteen-year-old Pearl Bahmer had a date with Raymond Schneider, 23. They had argued the evening before, and Pearl had stomped off. Now she hoped to restore the romance.
    Around mid-morning, they set off for a walk around their neighborhood. They left the busy Easton Avenue, with its trolley and touring cars, to find an isolated spot near the abandoned Phillips farm on De Russey’s Lane. Hand in hand, talking softly, they proceeded down the dirt road toward a driveway on their left and turned on to it. This took them over a low embankment and onto a weedy path.
    De Russey’s Lane
    Near a small crabapple tree, Pearl saw something odd. It looked as if someone had dumped a pile of clothing there. No, it looked like someone was actually sleeping there, with his hat over his face. He lay next to another lump of clothing that looked like a dress. Pearl pointed.
    “Look over there,” she said to Raymond. “Are those people asleep?”
    They ventured closer. A gold watch lay on the ground, but she didn’t touch it. Pearl and Raymond stopped and stared. The two people, lying side by side, weren’t breathing. They weren’t moving. They lay face-up, and the woman was staring up at the sky.
    Pearl swallowed. This didn’t seem right. They shouldn’t be here, not like this. But she could hear the flies buzzing, and she could see for herself that these two were beyond help.
    They were dead.

Chapter 2: The Bodies
    Pearl and Raymond turned and raced back to Easton Avenue. They approached the home of Edward Stryker to ask someone there to phone the police. They could hardly believe they’d seen a dead body, let alone two!
    Patrolman Edward Garrigan and Officer James Curran soon arrived. Pearl and Raymond led them to the scene, but Garrigan stopped them at the embankment.
    He could see the bodies stretched out near the crabapple tree. Their stillness was eerie. Both were stiff and had drawn flies, so it was clear to him that they’d been there a while. It was hard to ignore the odor of death.
    Garrigan and Curran moved closer. Both victims lay on their backs, with their feet pointed toward the tree.

    Bodies of victims
    The female, an adult woman, wore a blue dress with red polka dots, black silk stockings and brown Oxfords. Her blue velvet hat lay to the right of her body and a gold wedding band shone bright on her finger.
    The man was