John Macgougan

Secrets of the Innocent John Macgougan

It has been ten years since Ashley Burnett's murder shocked the residents of Bluewater County. She was set to graduate high school, a star centre for her high school girls' hockey team, the Sacred Heart Beavers.




After a gruelling investigation into the murder of his close friend, Ethan Pickett, Charlie Beach was physically and emotionally exhausted. He was set to take time off, to supervise the installation of his pool, catch a couple of classic films at the Capital Theatre, and just hang out.




Fiona Burnett was a grieving mother looking for justice. She had waited all day at Ruby's Downtown Grille and Bar for the chance to convince Charlie to look into the murder of her daughter, a ten-year-old cold case with no new evidence, no DNA or forensic evidence collected at the scene, and no witnesses. Charlie figured it didn't get much colder than that.




Charlie was reluctant, but wasn't the kind of person to turn down a grieving mother. He agreed to give it a couple of days. If he saw something in the case file that he could work, he'd take the case. If not, Fiona would have to agree that he was out.




What Charlie found was a sloppy and incomplete initial investigation by a now retired PWPD detective named Ken Cropper. Over the course of two days, Charlie opened up new angles, theories and motives, developing a list of suspects that were worth questioning. Over coffee with Fiona, with enough to go on, Charlie agreed to take the case.




Charlie was the kind of PI that believed in justice for all. No matter what he had to do, no matter how ugly it got-and it looked like it was going to get ugly-Charlie was going to find Ashley's killer and give her mother the justice she deserved.