Terror on the Way

by Ron Finch

  Friday, October 20th

  “I CALLED YOU TOGETHER for two reasons,” said Chief Petrovic, opening a special meeting at 3:30 that afternoon. “I’ve just completed arrangements with George Manners for the meeting that is to take place regarding the ongoing thefts from the furniture factories. Murphy Furniture has a large meeting room in their factory on Conway Ave. I expect all of you to attend that meeting next Tuesday at nine.”

  Chief Petrovic cleared his throat and proceeded, “The second purpose of this afternoon’s meeting is to discuss any information you may have turned up regarding these thefts. I need to be able to say something at the meeting that shows that our investigation is well underway. And that means I want a report from each of you.”

  “I’m not sure how much information we have for you, sir,” said Cst. Smith.

  “I don’t consider that a report, Cst. Smith,” said the chief, noticeably annoyed. “I’m well aware that the public has no sympathy for the people running the furniture factories. But I also know that theft is a crime, and that the police must do everything they can to catch the offenders; otherwise, the number of offenders increases.”

  “Sorry, sir,” said Cst. Smith. “I didn’t intend to upset you. I’m just suggesting it could be slim pickings.” Before the chief could be further upset, Cst. Smith added, “I do have a little information.” He smiled and said, “My buddy Proofie has seen some evidence that the thefts are really happening.”

  “Proofie is not very reliable,” said the chief. “His mind is so muddled with alcohol most of the time, it’s difficult for him to understand anything.”

  “Well, he was sure important to us when we were trying to solve the murder of Louise Carter, back in 1928,” said Cst. Smith, sticking up for Proofie.

  “Okay, he did help us that time,” acknowledged the chief. “But when you talked to him, did he give you any concrete information about the theft of stolen furniture, or stolen supplies?”

  “He told me there are at least three people in town who have nicer end tables and cedar chests than they can afford,” said Cst. Smith.

  “That helps a little bit,” said the chief, mulling it over. “From what Proofie said, we can assume that at least some of the people in town are receiving some of the stolen goods. If we can get the names of those people, we can visit them and put some pressure on them to tell us who they got the goods from. Anyone else?”

  “I don’t have much to report, sir,” I said, “except that my wife told me that her mom told her about an older neighbour who has always wanted a good drop leaf table. She’s never been able to afford one, but now she has a very nice drop leaf table in her dining room.”

  “A potential lead,” said the chief. “Do you have any information to contribute, Cst. Jarvis?”

  “I don’t know whether this makes any sense,” said Cst. Jay Jarvis, “but a friend of mine told me that when he was visiting relatives in Chatham on the weekend there was a guy selling furniture out of the back of a truck. He thinks it was furniture made in Chaseford.”

  “That’s interesting,” said the chief. “That means it’s not just local. Whatever is going on is a little more sophisticated if it’s being distributed out of the area.”

  “I heard something like that too,” said Cst. Herman. “My cousin, who lives in London, said there’s a house you can go to where you can buy some nice walnut boards for a really good price. My cousin does a lot of woodworking and makes small furniture, so he was interested.”

  The chief looked around the table and said, “I wasn’t optimistic, but you did turn up some leads, and we do have a place to start. Good work.”

  WALKING HOME FROM MY parents’ house at 200 Durham Street, Georgie and I had quite a chat.

  “It was great to be invited out to supper,” said Georgie. “Your Granny Watson is such a great cook.”

  “It was good to see Ralph,” I said. “It was the first time I’ve really had a chance to have a long talk with him since he got back from Zanesville.”

  “What kind of season did he have?” said Georgie.

  “He told me that the Cleveland scout, Tom Barker, told him he was really impressed with his season. Barker told Ralph that they knew he would be an above-average third baseman when they signed him. His fielding was even better than they thought it might be; but they were really delighted to see that his hitting improved as the season went on. Ralph ended the season with a batting average of .298.”

  “I helped your mom and Granny with the dishes,” said Georgie. “Your mom’s not sure she liked her 17-year-old son spending the entire summer away from home. She said she put up with it because your dad and Ralph are so crazy about baseball. But she’s bound and bent that Ralph will have a successful grade 13 year.”

  I chuckled. “Ralph got a letter from the Cleveland organization last Thursday and he still hasn’t shown it to mom. The Indians want him to report to the New Orleans Pelicans, their Class A ball team, next May. It’s quite a promotion, and my dad is thrilled, but he’s afraid to say anything to my mom, too. You and I can just sit on the sidelines and watch what happens.”

  When we got home, we plunked ourselves down on the sofa and turned on the radio. We were just in time to hear the next episode in the life of Betty and Bob on CBS Radio.

  Once the show ended, Georgie turned to me and said, “Have you talked to Walter yet about those terrible dreams you’re having?”

  “No, but I should.”

  “Now might be a good time.”

  I shut my eyes and concentrated; and just like that, I was in contact with Walter. Georgie was ready with her pencil and notebook to transcribe the conversation. When I communicate with an essence, I’ve always repeated out loud both the thoughts I was sending, and the thoughts I was receiving, so that Georgie could write them down. This was a very important process. It meant I didn’t have to try to remember everything I was receiving. And sometimes Georgie would note on her pad an important question that I should be asking, which allowed her to take part. The other benefit was that, after the conversation, I was able to examine the details, which sometimes lead to other ideas.

  “I was wondering if you would contact me, Joel,” was the message I received from Walter. “I have been vaguely uneasy. I think I’m receiving a signal, but it’s so weak I can’t be certain. It’s not a pleasant signal. It’s a strange mixture of pain and horror and glee. It upsets me enough that I’ve been trying to connect to the sender.”

  “I think I’m receiving the same signal you’re getting,” I sent back to him. “But I’m receiving it when I’m asleep, in the form of a vivid and frightening dream.”

  “That’s quite possible,” sent Walter. “You have more power to send a signal than any essence I know; and because you’re asleep, your ability to receive a signal may be increased.”

  “How often are you getting this signal?” I asked.

  “There is always a very weak underlying signal. Or at least most of the time. But perhaps you haven’t noticed it,” Walter replied. “But there have been huge spikes in the signal that are very disturbing. The first one occurred about the middle of July. The other large spikes occurred in mid-August, mid-September, and just this past Monday night; or rather, early Tuesday morning.”

  “I think they’re causing me to have terrible nightmares,” I sent. “I’m scaring Georgie right out of bed. Do you have any idea where the source is?”

  “I don’t,” sent Walter. “But I think the signal is getting a little stronger. Either because the source is getting stronger, or because the source is getting closer to us.”

  Georgie did not look pleased with this information.

  Tuesday, October 24th

  THE LARGE MEETING ROOM at Murphy Furniture had a small stage at the front. In the middle of the stage was a table with five chairs lined up along one side so that the people on stage could face the rest of us, who were seated down in front.

  Chief Petrovic was sitting on stage, at one end of the table.
I assumed that the other four men were the owners – or representing the owners – of the four furniture factories in town.

  Constables Jake Smith, Peter Herman, Jay Jarvis, and I were seated in the second row, dressed in our police uniforms. Aside from the five men on stage, there were probably another twenty-five to thirty people in attendance. One was a reporter from the local paper.

  I hadn’t seen any notice of the meeting in the Chaseford newspaper, and I hadn’t seen any notices posted anywhere in town, so I assumed the meeting was only for those who had been invited. I knew a few of the other people in the crowd and realized that all of them were employed by the furniture makers.

  At 9 o’clock, the man seated in the middle chair behind the table on stage stood and introduced himself.

  “My name is George Manners,” he said. “I am part owner and VP of The Murphy Furniture Company. I have called this meeting because a serious problem is threatening the survival of the furniture industry in Chaseford.”

  He was interrupted by a shout from the back of the room. “The problems are all sitting on the stage.”

  There was a murmur of agreement.

  Chief Petrovic had warned us ahead of time that there could be people at the meeting who would be disruptive. He’d told us that, since it was a private meeting, we should be ready to escort those without invitations out of the room, and out of the building.

  Mr. Manners remained calm. “This is a private business meeting,” he said. “If you do not have an invitation, you are not welcome.”

  At a look from Chief Petrovic, Cst. Smith and Cst. Jarvis stood up and walked toward the back of the room. Before they could get there, the door to the meeting room slammed shut and footsteps could be heard running down the hall.

  “Not everyone is happy, and I can understand that,” Mr. Manners continued. “It hasn’t been that long since we had all the serious labour problems; and many people are still angry about that. But that’s not why I called today’s meeting. But before I forget, I had better introduce the other people on stage with me.”

  He introduced Ezekiel Pomfrey, Bruce Cherry, and Robert Ament, the other three managers of the local furniture factories, and then introduced Chief Petrovic.

  “There is a threat to our local furniture industry that I would like to discuss today, and that is theft. Over the past few months, the theft of small furniture pieces, including side tables, drop leaf tables, cedar chests, cocktail tables, coffee tables, and other small, easily portable items, combined with the theft of materials and stains, has become very significant. This past month, the thefts were so rampant that not one of the four local furniture companies has made a profit.”

  The other three businessmen seated at the table were nodding gravely as Mr. Manners spoke. One of them raised his hand at this point and said, “If I may, I would like to make a statement.”

  Ezekiel Pomfrey, an elderly man who had shrunk to a height of five-foot-four, stood up. He was a little unsteady on his feet, but he had a surprisingly strong voice despite his small stature.

  “My great-grandparents,” he began, “were among the first settlers of this town. My grandfather, Benjamin Pomfrey, started a small furniture company called Chaseford Imperial Furniture when he was a young man, many years ago. He believed in this town because of the good people in it.

  “I do not believe for one minute that these thefts have anything to do with the labour unrest we recently experienced. People need a decent wage in order to live.”

  His voice grew stronger. “What we’re looking at here is a significant crime involving a number of people who are breaking the law. Times are difficult now, I know, because of the depression; but if all our factories shut down because a few thieves want an easy life the rest of us will suffer terribly. We must all work together, despite our feelings, to solve this problem.”

  Everyone stood and applauded, including the other people at the table on stage. Mr. Pomfrey sat down.

  “I would now like to introduce Chief Petrovic,” said Mr. Manners.

  The chief stood and began by saying, “Mr. Pomfrey has given us an inspirational speech. We all respect him because of everything he’s done for the town, and, because once again, he’s made it very obvious that there’s a difference between right and wrong.

  “My job, with the help of my constables, is to uphold the law.” At this point, the chief asked us to stand. “I want to assure everyone that that will be done. We have already launched an investigation, and we already know that the stolen furniture, and the stolen supplies, are not only being sold locally, but as far away as Chatham.”

  He turned and looked at the reporter and said, “It’s your job as a reporter to present this crisis in a way that will encourage the public to help us. The public needs to know that, if they are contacted by anybody who wants to sell them stolen goods produced in our town, they are threatening the jobs of their neighbours. Getting even doesn’t work if you destroy yourself in the process.”

  The chief sat down and once again there was a standing ovation.

  Friday, October 27th

  “IT’S TIME FOR AN UPDATE on the furniture theft investigation,” said the chief. “I talked to George Manners after the meeting Wednesday morning. He told me that, starting today, all companies would be instituting stricter policies to ensure the security of their factories and increasing surveillance on the entries to their properties.

  “After the last shift leaves the factory, the watchman checks all the windows and doors to make certain they are secure. The watchman is now also required to write down the time that he completed this check. He must sign his name beside the time he noted.

  “Every company has made, or is making, their gated entrances much more secure. Every factory will now have a guardhouse located at the entry, and a guard will be in or near that guardhouse 24 hours a day.”

  Chief Petrovic paused and looked at us. “I think the companies are doing everything they can to make their factories secure. Perhaps their increased vigilance will go a long way toward solving the problem. I hope it does.

  “But even if the problem ends with the introduction of new procedures, we still have thieves to catch. That’s what I want us to focus on. Have any of you found out any additional information or heard any enlightening comments?”

  “I have the name and address of that older woman who, according to her neighbours, has a new drop leaf table,” I said. “If I were to visit her, perhaps I could find out how she obtained it.”

  “That’s a good idea, Joel. I want you to follow up on that,” said the chief.

  “I have names and addresses for those people Proofie told me about,” said Cst. Smith.

  “Good,” said the chief. “You have some leads I want you to follow up on as well.”

  “Just a suggestion, sir,” said Cst. Herman. “I thought the story in the newspaper was excellent.”

  “It was well done,” agreed the chief, interrupting him, “but do you have a point to make?”

  “I do,” said Cst. Herman. “The newspaper editor did a first-rate job quoting you and Mr. Pomfrey in a way that clearly stated the danger to everyone of turning a blind eye to criminal activity of any kind in our town.”

  “I know,” said the chief. “What’s your point?”

  “Well, yesterday, after that story came out, I know from listening to people on the street, and in my neighbourhood, that there are suddenly an awful lot more people who understand the danger of abetting criminal activity,” said Cst. Herman. “There’s been a lot of ill will in this town because of the strike early in the summer, but the newspaper editorial has been able to dispel some of that. So, I think we should wait a week before confronting local people about stolen goods they may have in their possession.”

  Chief Petrovic was listening now.

  “I think there should be another article in the paper asking our local citizens for help. It could be suggested that any furniture or supplies that did not belong to them could be returne
d to the police station with no questions asked. I think we should also make a plea for any information the public can give us. Let them know it would be very helpful and much appreciated. I think we need to give people time to think about it. To weigh up the pros and cons. I’ll bet you most people will return the items.

  “That way, when we start questioning people, we won’t be picking on the ones we shouldn’t be picking on. We’ll only be going after those who need to be investigated.”

  “That’s a long speech, Constable,” said Chief Petrovic. “And it makes a lot of sense. I’ll need to talk to George Manners first, to make certain the furniture companies are comfortable with this approach.”

  “I think it’s a really good idea,” I said. “Thanks for speaking out, Peter.”

  “Okay, I don’t want any of you questioning anyone until I give you the go-ahead, then,” said the chief. “I also wanted to let you know that I have contacted the London Police and the Chatham Police and told them to be on the lookout for stolen furniture or supplies. That’s it. Meeting over.”

  Friday, November 3rd

  “I SAVED MY HALLOWEEN story for this morning’s meeting,” said Chief Petrovic. “I was too angry earlier in the week to talk about it.

  “Early Wednesday morning, just after 2 o’clock, my wife shook me awake and said, ‘The phone’s ringing. You’d better answer it. It’s Halloween night, so I know it’s a call for you.’

  “I answered the phone and a voice said, ‘There’s a bunch of cows in the middle of town, Chief. They could be a traffic problem tomorrow. Thought I should phone. I’m a concerned citizen.

  “It sounded like a young concerned citizen, so I thought: I’ll just roll over and go back to sleep. Less than ten minutes later, the phone rang again. This time there was an angry voice on the other end of the line. ‘Chief, it’s Andy Wigginson. I’m sorry to bother you, but someone has rustled my cattle.’