Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / July 30, 1953, edition 1 / Page 10
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SECTION TWO— I ~ 11 . " 11 ■»"»' 1 11 'III I !l>» in 1 11. 1 1, uI. 1.-I lull. 11l Miiiiijl Death Among The Dunes Introducing Dr. Mordacai Wescott, investigator, who solves the problem at Dune House, down among the sand-dunes on the coast of North Carolina. By WILBORNE HARRELL ★ A Chowan Herald Fiction Story. ' ' "" "■ 111 WHAT HAS HAPPENED, Dr. Mordacai Wescott is an ec centric detective who is very of ten extremely unconventional and unorthodox in his methods of de duction. He relies more on char acter analysis and the psychologi cal aspects of a case, of which he was a master and which had brought him fame, than on the varied police techniques of modern scientific deduction that have been developed. (But Wescott could, and often did, employ scientific methods when necessary.) His po lice associates were very often disgusted with his methods, and his closest friend, Jimmy Ma guire, newspaperman, was often embarrassed with Wescott’s seem ingly slip-shod procedure. But both his enemies and his friends conceded one point: Wescott nev er failed to “get his man.” So when Josiah Fentress, weal thy sportsman, was murdered and his w'ife, Octavia Fentress, was accused of the crime, Wescott, with his uncanny perspicacity, in stantly perceives that she was not guilty; henceforth he acted on the assumption of her innocence. And to add a bizarre and definitely a Wescottonian touch to the crime, Wescott sees in a woman’s dimple a possible “clue” to the murderer and proceeds to solve the mystery. Chapter Five (Conclusion) “You’ll pardon me, gentlemen,” greeted Captain Wayne, “if I go about my duties; night is approach ing and the routine of a lighthouse, you know, is inexorable. You may ac company me if you wish—interesting sight. You wish to talk over the ghastly tragedy, I presume?” “Thank you. Captain, we shall ac- ' cept your kind invitation. We Climb these stairs, I suppose, around and around up into the tower? You lead, j Jimmy, and I will follow . . . This is going to be quite a climb. 1 “Yes Captain, we wish to talk over the crime with you. You evinced a ' lively interest in it this afternoon, . coming over on the boat, and I rather ’ hoped that between the two of us, or ‘ rather three counting in Jimmy here * —he’s with me, you understand—we might clarify a few dark spots and . throw a little light on the case. You ’ seem to be very well acquainted with Josiah Fentress: you knew him before ' you came here? Yes, you mentioned ' that this afternoon. And you have ' not held this post very long; you took charge at the recent death of the J former keeper? . . . Whew! This is ; some climb.” And Wescott interpolat- ■ ed his rambling talk with dahs at his perspiring forehead. 1 Up . . . Up . . . Landing . . . Around . . . Up . . . Up . . . Landing . . . I looked down as we approached the top, a rid the foreshortened ■ perspective presented a distc-teA fu turistic view of the tower’s interior I caught myself comparing it', < —•’zy appearance to the affair at Dune House, which was surely a muddled, crazy patchwork tangle. “You can get an excellent view of the sea and the beach from the bal cony out there, gentlemen”, said Cap tain Wayne motioning to a small door that gave onto a balcony that eifcled the light. We had reached the final landing, and while Captain Wayne proceeded about the mysteries of his | task, Wescott and I stepped out of; the little door. “I’ll join you short j V,” the Captain called out to us. It was dusk, but there was still SCHENLEY Blended Whiskey, 86 Proof. The straight kies in this product are 5 years or mere old. 35% straight whiskey, 65% grain neutral spirits, 15 % straight whiskey 5 years old. 10 % straight whiskey 6 years old, 10% straight Hjlfflu whiskey 7 years old. Schenley Distributors, Inc., New York, N. Y. J iw),. * slljn Page Two light enough to discern objects on the ground below and to make out vessels far out to sea. The beach stretched out before us like a gigantic carpet, and Dune House stood dwarfed to doll house dimensions. Lights twinkled cheerily from its windows, but I knew there was no happiness there tonight. “A peaceful scene, Jimmy, a peace ful scene,” sighed Wescott. I glanced sharply around; it was uncanny at times how Wescott could parallel my thoughts with an appro priate remark. “Yeah?” I said. “It looks peaceful enough. I just wish it was as peaceful as it looks.” Wescott applied a match to a stogy. “It will be; make no mistake about that, Jimmy.” Taking my cue from Wescott, I lit a cigarette, and inhaling deeply glanced moodily about me. “I am beginning to have my doubts about that,” I said. “If something doesn’t break pretty soon it’s curtains for Oc tavia Fentress. If Crosby ever gets his bracelets on her, it’ll be a devil of a job getting them off.” Spoke a suave voice at my elbow, “I agree with you heartily, my friend. But there’ll be no handcuffs on Oc tavia Fentress.” It was Captain Wayne speaking, and as I started in my surprise I saw an ugly little au tomatic in his hand, pointed unwaver ing at Wescott and me. “Don’t move,” he went on smoothly, “You see, I have you covered.” Then throwing back his head he laughed. With a quick twist of his hand he reversed the gun and holding it out, butt forward, bow ed deeply. “Allow me, Dr. Wescott,” he said, “to present you with the gun that killed Josiah Fentress. Your stupid police were not even efficient enough to check up on that fact. They found a recently fired gun in the immediate vicinity of the crime, and as the bul let taken from the body of the mur dered man was of the same calibre, i they jumped to conclusions: the mur- 1 der gun! Ah, such efficiency.” He bowed again, sweepingly, grace fully. “At your service, the bene factor of mankind, the man who in infinite wisdom removed from this < avle of tears the obnoxious person of ! Josiah Fentress, Captain Ross . Wayne.” Wescott cooly returned the bow and , in the faintly sardonic tone affected i by Captain Wayne, said, “It is indeed ] a pleasure to make the acquaintance 1 of the esteemed Captain Ross Wayne. ; Also accept my profound gratitude for ; the graciousness with which you ac cept the situation. I thought Jimmy and I would have a little trouble with you.” I don’t know what I thought; in fact for a moment I didn’t think anything. The swiftness of it all had left my mind a blank. “Dr. Wescott, I am not going to ask you how you suspected me; my confes- l sion is sufficient recognition of your jpa GRIFFIN’S 4 FOOD THE CHOWAN HERALD, EDENTON, N. C., THURSDAY, JULY SO, 1953. ■' -•' '. ■ mb i” ". 'gsggygeg ! ability.” Wayne’s tone had changed; ; the sardonic overtones had been sup -1 planted by a serious earnestness that , lent sincerity to his words. I really be gan liking the man. “And now the i time has come for me to give you the truth. I’ll try to tell it in as few . words as possible ... It is getting rather chilly—but it must be finished here.” Had I realized the significance i of Wayne’s last words and foreseen their outcome . . . In the intermittent flashes from the - powerful lamp within the lighthouse, i Captain Wayne began speaking. “Oc tavia Fentress and I are brother and sister, a younger sister, I’m the older. Our parents are dead, and I rather looked upon myself as her protector. She has always looked up to me; even as a little child she would obey me in preference of her parents. I loved ; her; she loved me. “She grew up and she was no lon ger a little girl. Then Fentress came ! into her life. They fell in love and eventually they were married.” Here Wayne’s voice lowered and took on a steely, brittle quality. “I have al ready, this afternoon in the boat, touched upon what a scoundrel he proved to be. He literally brought hell into her life. There was no hap piness for her. The love, the romance, the glamour that she had a right to expect in marriage became as gall and wormwood to her sensitive girlish •soul. “Her love for Fentress died. Then Crane came. Fentress saw, and knew how things stood between them. That infuriated him. I think he would have eventually killed Crane and Critavia. I did not become fully aware of all this, you understand, until a few weeks ago. “It reached a crisis yesterday. My little Octavia tried to take h,er own life. Do you understand how intol erable things had become, Dr. Wes cott? But that fiend incarnate, Fen tress, got the gun away from her and CHRISTIAN CHURCH SERVICES Services at the First Christian Church have been announced as fol lows by the pastor, the Rev. E. C. Alexander: Bible School, Sunday morning at 10 o’clock; morning service at 11 o’clocx; evening service at 7:80 o’clock. Wed nesday Evening Bible Class meets at 7:30 o’clock. Everyone is welcome to young people’s meeting at 6:30 P. M.; all services. * cEfrf/rtfy mu// | i lj| moo/e/o/ |§J // abo/g/ 3 I great new j Chevrolet A y/vi station 31 uiagons You’ll find everything you want in these new Chevrolet Station Wagons, including flashing performance, a sub- stantial gain in gasoline economy, and even Power J6||||l Steering* if you like. Station Wagons, Convertibles, Coupes or Sedans-Chevrolet offers you more models than ever in the loweSt-priced line in the low-price, field. Come , \ in, pick your favorite and pocket your savings! * Optioned at extra cost Combination of Powerglide automatic transmission and H5-h.p. “ Blue-Flame" engine available on “Two-Ten” Handyman and die ' Townsman only. Power Steering avail able on all models. ' -1 B. B. H. MOTOR COMPANY *YOUK FRIENDLY CHEVROLET DEALER m and Oakum Streets , , g e " to "» N C - I hid it. He acted on the principal that the best way to hide an object is not jto hide it at all. That was the gun 'the police found plastered with Oc tavia’s fingerprints, and as it had re cently been fired—ergot the murder weapon. “I committed a grave error in not securing and permanently disposing of that gun. But you can’t expect an amateur murderer to think of every thing.” He flashed a smile that brought his dimple into prominence. “You see, I have had very little prac tice. I acted on impulse. I shot Fentress “without counting the cost— I mean to Octavia,” he hastily amend ed. “I wasn’t thinking of myself. “I shot Fentress from one of these tower windows. His window was open, the rest of the party had gone down the beach on a moonlight picnic, and he was sitting there in his shirt sleeves, working. God, it was too easy. “I counted op the fact that it was not known around here that I was Mrs. Fentress’s brother, to keep me in the background. A lighthouse keeper can’t hobnob with millionaires, can he ? Octavia tried to get me over to her parties, but I refused. - “But Octavia, with a woman’s in tuition, jumped to the truth. She knew I had shot Fentress, and loyal little girl that she is, she clammed up. Os ■ course, that made it look bad for her. And when she confessed to the crime, I knew then I would have to give my self up.” He looked earnestly at Wes- ( cott. “You don’t believe I would let I her suffer for what I had done; do* you?” “No,” said Wescott, simply. “And let me tell you, Captain Ross Wayne, I consider it an honor to have known you. Although what you have done is outside the laws of organized so ciety, and as its agent I am not to condone such, if I had been in your place and Octavia Fentress had been my sister, I would have shot Josiah Fentress with little compunction.” “God bless you,” said Wayne, and he and Wescott grasped hands silent ly. It was an eerie tableau, those two standing there, the half-light bringing them out in strong relief like deeply etched copper. So engrossed was I in the scene that I was not prepared for what fol lowed. Captain Wayne quickly placed his P£ST CONTfiOI RATS • ROACHES - MICE • <LIES ; hand in his pocket and drew forth a ; pendent object from which the light i Struck sparks of fire, and held it out to Wescott. I caught a quick glimpse • of it as it passed hands. It was a ■ Croix de Guerre, the medal of bravery issued by the Fhench government. J ; jumped to a hasty conclusion that ’ Captain Wayne had serived with the French Foreign Legion—hence the “Captain”. “Take this,” said the Captain. “Give it to Octavia—it’s something to remember me by. Tell her I hope she and Crane find much happiness to gether.” And quickly he sprang to the rail, poised an instant, and was over. Down . . . down . . . down . . . a twisting, turning, tangled mass of humanity, hurtling downward to its death. Came a dull thud ... a silence so pregnant that for a full minute Wescott and I stood transfixed to the rail. • Wescott slowly brought up the hand that held the symbol of courage, twinkling in tiny points of darting brilliance. He gazed at it, steadily, fixedly, then turning to me, he said softly, almost reverently, “Jimmy, there dies a brave man.” Then briskly, I “Come, Jimmy, the affair of Dune | House is finished. There is other work | in the world that needs to be done— COOKS BIG MEALS auitMicduxUhf. _____..lN SMALLEST SPACE I k’ L Ci •'ll m. -A. MODEL SDD-30 Gives you greater cooking capacity than most full size ranges. Fully automatic oven, 7 heat surface units, built-in lighting, handy appliance oudets and a score of other features makes the Bendix Budget 30 an outstanding value in a /vg modern, automadc electric range. GENEROUS TRADE-INS v ShuHx Horn* Appßoneos, Dtv. AVCO Mfg. Corp., South Bond, hd. K. L. 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The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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July 30, 1953, edition 1
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