Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Feb. 18, 1960, edition 1 / Page 9
Part of The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
SECTION TWO IML WESCOTT SOLVES The Case of I High Murder I by Wllborne Harrell I A CHOWAN HERALD FICTION STORY “Fasten your seatt-beHts.” the which was private investigator loudspeaker blared. “Fasten your extraordinary. seat-belts, please. We’re doming in for a landing.” !| Dr. Wescott shook me awake.! “Huh?” My eyes were drug ged with steep. * “Fasten your seat-belt, Jim my," said Dr. Wescott "We're! landing.” ! 1 rubbed my eyes and glanced about me, slowly becoming! aware of my surroundings., Wei were aboard a huge airliner at! the .termination of one of Dr.i) Westcott’s innumerable trips in| the course of his business— j FRIGIDAIR* AITNORUin sraviot I At'THORIZKD FACTORY ~ swmnt Lilli I FOR AU. I FR2GIDAIRE ft FRODIVTS P RALPH E. PARRISH, INC. I .MONK 2421 - KBRNTOX ■4~"> ■ I# HELPFUL INVESTMENT SERVICES APPRAISALS QUOTATIONS ... || SECURITIES ANALYSIS ..FRIENDLY GUIDANCE || Coll our Representative In ifoi* Aiwa ||| Carolina Securities 1 « n- 2W5W.EdenSt. t 'Snxsbnents tor (yft# PHONE 2466 ||| Members Micfwetf StoA Ewchonge CHAKLOTTI • RALEI6H • Mtwsoeecirr .. , ,v, .. x-- Kl | . \ ’ s’- - ' ' . I jHH .... '' “TREATING MY POTATO SEED PIECES WITH ORTHOCIDE* IS A MUST” Potato grower Lyndon Hallock says: “We never know how long we have to keep our potato seed pieces after cutting. That’s why treating them with ORTHOCIDE 10 Dust is a ‘must’ practice. It’s inexpensive insurance against rot during storage as well as giving excellent disease protection while the seed piece is in the ground.” ORTHOCIDE (captan) protects potato oaad pitcts from seed rot and damp-off at planting time. Ain, aNmyw to cat piacoa ia advance as planting without costly t (OMTHOQ lUlpiag the World Crow Bettor vo ««o. o.o* m.oA* mo moioama. m tu »coo«n. km ai—cws mo omoom ko« wan CIUTWRit "|H| HiWnlr Vitim . rrrfttf— t ~• P. O. Bo* 576, Columbia. So. Carolina Martell McGee Howard Wilson GdUNnsKC Greenvffle, N. C. Phone \ THE CHOWAN HERALD With the exception of the! !|buzring of the liner by a light-! | plane, which had caused the pi lot to dive sharply to avoid a ! collision, the trip had proved II uneventful J I was here because in my ca-j ; parity as a crime reporter I had! | come to know Wescott well. I We'd become very good friends, land since I wrote up all of his leases, what could be more logi j cal and natural than for me Ito accompany him on his many j investigations. So, in the course ;j of a long association I had earn ed a certain measure of publicity ’as Dr. Wescott K s Boswell, man ■ Friday and Dr. Watson, and the i| official chronicler of his cases ! Frankly. I enjoyed basking in j the reflected light of Dr. Wes cott’s fame. Dr. Wescott busted himself j stuffing his briefcase with the ! papers on which he had been I working during the flight. He jj = glanced across the aisle at a ' fellow-passenger, who, still | asleep, apparently hadn’t heard | the loudspeaker, j Zipping his briefcase shut, l Wescott said, “Wake up Mr. Abernathy, Jimmy. And help him with his seat-belt. This is his first flight, and he is not familiar with flight routine.” I leaned over 'and patted Mr. Abernathy on the shoulder. “Wake up, Mr. Abernathy, we’re touching down in a few minutes —here, let me help you with your seat-belt. You see. it’s all over now —there was nothing to, be afraid of.” Mr. Abernathy was morbidly afraid of planes— so he'd told Wescott—it was al most a phobia with him. But Mr. Abernathy slept on. I placed my hand on his! shoulder and began to shake 1 him, but the pressure of my hand started him falling away from me. Like an inert ragdoll he fell slowly over on the seat, and then rolled to the floor. Too startled to do or say any- 1 thing. I merely gaped foolishly' at him as he lay quietly at myi feet. It had ail happened so quickly none of the other pas senger’s had noticed Mr. Aber nathy’s fall, but Wescott, al ways alert, caught the move ment. He quietly stepped over, pushed me to one side, and knelt down by the fallen man. He felt for a heartbeat, and then grasping Mr. Abernathy’s wrist felt for the pulse. After a mo ment, Dr. Wescott straightened his tall frame; somberly he look- I ed down at the prone Mr. Aber ! nathy. He turned to me and placing his hand on my shoulder, said, “Get a grip on yourself, Jimmy. This man is dead.” Later, at police headquarters, Wescott and Lieutenant Crosby were in earnest conversation. At the moment, Wescott was pacing the floor with his hands in his pockets, thinking out loud. That was the way he liked to talk when he had a case on his mind. Crosby was seated at his desk, playing with a pencil, and wearing a worried crease between his eyes. “But, Morde cai,” he said, “the medical ex aminer thoroughly examined Abernathy before they removed him from the plane, and defi nitely and positively stated the cause of death was a heart at tack. No bullet wounds, no knife wounds, no poison, no nothing—and you come in here, and calmly state the man was murdered! Can you prove that?” Wescott stopped in mid-stride, removed his hands from his poc-j kets, pulled up a chair and sat, down at the desk, facing Cros- 1 by. “No,” he said slowly and thoughtfully, “but I have an interesting story to tell that will start you thinking, start that police nose of yours to itching. If you do a little in vestigating I think you will come to the same conclusion I have —that Abernathy was mur- --schenleu tESERVE | *OSO PINT $095 • J FIFTH Iflf ~T|h I Jchcnkij I j \'^SsEHV^jL> |Bj mu wmm a. m.i.* vbm wsnv bsmk • s Mi.» Nm sww **•* | dered. And if you get that far, j you’ll find your proof.” ; “Go on,” said Crosby, “I’m , listening.” After lighting a cigarette with exasperating deliberation. Dr. Wescott continued. “There are , more ways of committing mur-| r jder than by conventional and • | orthodox methods. Abernathy ■ .was the victim of a very unor ij thodox but also a very clever • ■ murderer.” He snuffed the ash < from his cigarette, said, “Aber ; nathy and I became friendly on : the plane trip. The man evi dently led a lonely life and he opened up to me, patently pleased to have an understand ing ear into which he could pour 1 his troubles. It seems that 1 ■ Abernathy was in business with a partner named Blessingham, and it was not a very happy partnership. Blessingham was continually taking advantage of ! Abernathy’s easy-going nature to j ■ the extent that he, Blessingham,! was gaining practically the com plete control of the business. Abernathy finally woke up to the unpleasant fact that Bless j ingham was trying to freeze him | | out entirely. 1 “Now,” said Wescott, straight-1 ening in his chair and dragging on his cigarette, “the plot thick ens. Os course, Abernathy did not tell me this part in detail, j for he was unaware of the mur der plot. But I read between the lines, and this is how it stacks up: Blessingham, aware of Abernathy’s heart condition and his morbid fear of air-j planes, cooked up a business trip for Abernathy, and some- ] how persuaded him to go by 1 air. Blessingham impressed upon him the trip was urgent and ab- j solutely necessary. So—Aber-, j nathy boarded a olane forthe 1 J first time in his life.” Dr. Wescott paused, and Him-; ing to me. said. “Jimmy, iv-j member when our plane was buzzed by a lightolanc. so close ! the pilot went into a steep dive! to avoid a collision? It was the sudden shock of the plane’s dive that killed Abernathy. He thought we were going to crash, j and the shock was too much forj his heart.” . Then Wescott, turning back to Crosby, added his final clincher to the story. “I have learned, Crosbv, that B'essmcham was an ace pilot in World War II and: in Korea, and he owned a Cess na 140, the same* tvpe plane, that did the buzzing. Remem ber, it took expert flying to pull a stunt like that. And I am convinced that Blessingham was C^666 | use {|sso) I HEATING OIL ■ • automatic delivery scrvico CALL 2319 Harrell Oil Co. West Water Street ifr ‘ jA&xM ' '\ v . , ( 'JPf' 5 ; ■ '-■■>.Jfay.. ■.■■■ SAVE FOR AN OBJECTIVE MARRIAGE-FOR INSTANCE . . . the bride for her trousseau, the groom for some of that cash he’ll need. A savings objective marriage, a Home, education, travel, retirement, money in the bank is the spark that will keep you depositing ivith enthusiasm week after week. Pick yours now. And pick this friendly and cons client hauK in which to save. EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA 3% Interest Paid On Savings Accounts. MEMBER FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION DEPOSITS INSURED TO SIMM Thursday. February 18, 1960. , EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA the pilot of that plane ttbc plane that did the buzzing.” Dr. Wescott stood up. unwind ing his tall frame. “If you will do a little investigating, Crosby, you’ll find your proof. And you will discover that Abernathy was deliberately, cold-bloodedly and premeditatively murdered. And Blessingham is vour killer." Clayton Ward Dies After Long Illness Clayton M. Ward. 62. died Fri day afternoon at 2:15 o'clock a: j his home at Tvner after an ill ness of two years. He was a native of Chowan-County, a vet erai of World War 1 and a member of the Center Hill Baptist Church. Surviving are his wife. Mrs. Lessie B. Ward: four sons, Ray mond M. Ward cf Suffolk. C. M. Ward. Jr . of Georgetown. S. C.. Robert G. Ward of Belvidero and Charles B Ward of Newport News: three daughters. Mrs, W. F. Farmer of Edenton. a: d f .. my troubles were over...” ijJL hih on vacation in K.eii (it n n it mi »» a\ tali red tar uatr weeks. W iten I Hind '-than;'. H » > covered by Hlite (row tn\ troubles ware over. I wottlii >. cypress ntx appro. ration to. Hospital ( trie A '*.»/ 4 Service rendered to me'and.in\ 'atnitx c r -r. , „ • - -C’ j; ! T Blue Cross protection is available to any N’ortn Cat/vI-tv* >*".'• dent, in reasonably good health, regardless o'! Jt£<-. X'; today for your family. WILLIAM P>. GARDNER P. O. Box 548. Edenton Tfeteotan* 55a. ®4&t Misses Bartsaiua Am® ansd Luaia Faye Wand. at ibsswe. and a breather, J. Ward off Tv tree. Funeral services were- ibelKt at Gentier HuMl Baptist Ohwcvfe: Suai ! day affenwwaro at 2:3S® ! with tibe pastor. tSs* Kw. ry Napier, wWacaattai®.. Rucmi was in She Watt® Sanuißy venale tery at Tyner. I Falibeat'ers awe J. F Waw«L i Paul Wand. Qanewoe Ward C an ■ roy Denry, AuMjafe SSmiWty afcJ j Emmett Jones. TRY A HERALD CLASSIFIED ■ Don’t La? —I»sy Olag isntisJs say '"waasSjaiß?* .... 'best ftp* cx-er psatf'' ... 'best tooth past* tan* asaa-tt#*
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 18, 1960, edition 1
9
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75