Sometimes the most powerful moments at an author event aren’t planned. In a tiny Illinois town, one quiet voice in the back of the room changed everything.
I pulled into Gridley, Illinois as the sun set, looking for a quick bite for dinner. In a town of 1,400, with 1 stoplight, dinner would have to wait. Next to the stoplight was the town library, where I had been invited to speak about my new book 25 Frozen, 1 Thawed highlighting cold cases in the Midwest.
One of the cases I profiled from the book was a chapter titled “A Twin Always Knows.” It detailed the murder of real estate agent Sherry Lewis in Decatur, Illinois in 1994. Her twin sister is Terry. The two were incredibly close, and spoke numerous times each day. When Terry could not reach Sherry on that awful day, she sensed something was wrong. Sherry’s body was found later that day on the kitchen floor of a house she had been showing to a prospective buyer.
The case went cold, and 30 years later I was standing in Gridley telling people to keep it alive, when a woman in the back of the room stood up and raised her hand.
“Yes ma’am,” I asked.
“Hi,” she said in a quiet voice. “I just wanted to thank you for coming and keeping Sherry’s story alive.”
“You’re welcome,” I said.
When I finished speaking, I signed books for the crowd. The last woman in line was the lady with the quiet voice.
“Thank you for coming,” I told her as I grabbed a book. “Who do I make this out to?”
“Just make it out to me,” she said.
We looked at each other, and it appeared she had been crying.
“My name is Terry..........”
If you’re drawn to real cases, unanswered questions, and the relentless pursuit of truth, 25 Frozen, 1 Thawed belongs on your shelf.
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