The Players:
Chaz Whitherspoon, tennis pro
Burney Johnson, burn victim/stunt man
Seamus O'Hearne, former IRA/current bootlegger
Plans are set into motion when Chaz receives a letter from the Dodge Bros, Attornies at Law from Gamwell. The lawyers are hoping Chaz can help them locate their client, Mr. Arthur Cornthwaite. Somewhat perplexed as to why he received the letter, Chaz gathers his friends Seamus and Burney and they set out for Gamwell.
The trio arrive at Gamwell just before noon and head straight for the Dodge Bros' offices. There they are greeted by one of the brothers, Walter Dodge, a timid mouse of a man. Walter tells them about Mr. Cornthwaite and his disappearance from society. Having been missing for about a month and without telling anyone of his plans, the lawyers want to know that their client is safe. However, if something should to have befallen Mr. Cornthwaite, they would like proof so they can execute Mr. Cornthwaite's final wishes.
Chaz agrees to help out but not before he gets some answers. He wants to know how the lawyers got his name and why they think Arthur Cornthwaite knew him. Walter tells him that while they were trying to find information on Mr. Cornthwaite's whereabouts, they ran across Chaz Whitherspoon's name and Cornthwaite had described him as a man of great honor and discretion.
Chaz still has no idea how Cornthwaite knows him. And he never will. (That's more due to my failing as a first time keeper.)
Walter gives Chaz and Seamus access to Cornthwaite's ledgers and accounts, where they discover that Cornthwaite's finances have lots of zeroes in them. Burney is currently doing donuts in the town square while flipping off all of the townies. Jerk.
As they pored over the books, they discovered that Cornthwaite had planned a large scale expedition to South America in 1923, but oddly enough, Cornthwaite was the only one that had booked passage back home. In the month before his disappearance, Cornthwaite had ordered a large dump truck filled with salt to be delivered to his home. The lawyers were never able to ask their client about this order so it was never filled. Rich people can be eccentric was Walter's explanation.
Walter offered to let the guys stay at the Fitzgerald Manse during their investigation but they were very adamant about not staying there. "Well, if you change your mind, the offer's still standing. I'll call our local boarding house and get you fine gents set up."
With that, they headed out onto a fact-finding mission. First stop was the sheriff's office.
Sheriff Walt Whitby had no time for these jokers, never looking up from the typewriter as he spoke to them. They came in asking all these questions about the "missing" Arthur Cornthwaite. The man's got money and he doesn't need anyone permission to drop everything and go traipsing through some jungle. The whole thing was ridiculous. The team could tell that the sheriff did not like them so they decided to go on their way but not before the sheriff asked them about their whereabouts for the night before. Despite not even being in town, the sheriff insisted that they provide witnesses until Chaz was able to persuade him of their innocence.
The sheriff opened up a bit more after that. He still thought that Cornthwaite was out having fun somewhere. He confessed to stopping by the house and having a little look around, but with no signs of foul play, the sheriff left it at that. Whitby's revulsion towards the Fitzgerald Manse was evident to all present, and when pr eased, he admitted that he thought the Fitzgerald Manse was a blight upon Gamwell and that the whole thing should be torn down. He had some history with the place. With regards to where they were the night before, the sheriff told them that Seb Watkin's prize horse had gone missing during the evening. Neither Seb or his dogs heard anything during the night. The horse just seemed to vanish.
He also told them that some Gamwell citizens thought the Fitzgerald Manse was cursed. Just because a couple of murders happen at a home doesn't mean the place is cursed.
As they exited the sheriff's office, Seamus had to bid his comrades farewell, as a bootlegging emergency had come up and he had to take the nearest train back to New York. At least he left the car.
The trio now turned duo visited the library when they learned that Cornthwaite had donated a sizable amount of books on the subjects of archeology and anthropology to the library and that most of them were in storage. Burney also attempted to woo the attractive librarian, Mrs. Susan Artwell, but not even his fat wallet could sway her from her husband. Burney's face was also a problem.
Done with the library, Burney proposed that they split up. Burney would investigate the missing horse while Chaz talked to the local news rag, the Gamwell Gazette. Did Burney know where Seb Watkins lives? No he didn't, so he popped back into the sheriff's office to ask. Still annoyed, Sheriff Whitby told him that the Watkins household is next to the Fitzgerald Manse, about 40 minutes outside of town. Well shit. A defeated Burney went to rejoin his companion.
The editor of the Gamwell Gazette, Stan Artemis, greeted them as they entered the small and cluttered office. After the two told them why they were in town, Stan tried pumping them for information about the missing millionaire. If Chaz or Burney noticed, they didn't let on. They didn't find out too much information about Cornthwaite, only that he was big into charity events and donating this and that. "You're welcome to talk to the reporter that wrote the article but he's out walked the beat. Deadlines are coming up!" Stan said. When asked if they could find old articles about the Fitzgerald Manse, Stan happily obliged them. Unfortunately neither one of them were making any progress until Burney convinced Stan to help them out a bit.
This led them to an article about the Curwen family murders in May of 1895. Mrs. Gloria Curwen and her three children were found brutally murdered and the father, Arthur Curwen, was missing. It was heavily insinuated that Arthur Curwen was the murderer, but he was never found. After rereading the article, Chaz noticed the name of the deputy that had found the bodies: Deputy Whitby, now the town sheriff.
Now they're wondering if they should ask the sheriff about the Curwens or if they should just press on to the Fitzgerald Manse.
We shall see.
No comments:
Post a Comment