Chapelwood (The Borden Dispatches #2)(23)
Another vicious attack occurred last night sometime after 9:00 p.m. and prior to midnight, when at least one assailant—possibly two or more—leaped from an alley. Struck down were railway worker Will Conway and laundress Betsey Frye as they were walking home from seeing The Hound of the Baskervilles at the Cherry Street Playhouse. Both victims were murdered by a heavy blade, presumably that of an axe. Although Conway was a white man, he was walking the town with Frye, a darkie from the Scratch Ankle neighborhood, and there was much talk of disappointment and disgust. Whether or not a man should face violent death for his preferences, the events have frightened the city afresh.
ANOTHER HATCHET VICTIM
Independent Press September 12, 1921
For the second time this month, a young couple has been assaulted—perhaps by the fiend “Harry the Hacker,” or possibly by several assailants, as reports are not yet clear. At some point before midnight last night, Melinda Hayes and Travis Foster were violently attacked as they walked together on Third Street. Melinda, a negress who worked for a Jew’s shop in the Five Points neighborhood, was killed. Travis, a plumber’s apprentice, was alleged by his family to be merely a concerned friend who was no doubt walking her home. Whether or not this is the case, he survived the attack, though he is not yet available to present his side of events. He remains in the hospital.
There are several others, but they all read more or less the same. The earlier ones imply that the previous victims of “Harry” tended to be immigrant shop owners or workers . . . and for some reason, the later victims were often mixed couples. One must wonder if the original Harry hasn’t left, died, or become imprisoned—and some local fiend has picked up where he left off, targeting an unpopular segment of the population.
It is difficult to infer from the articles that too much police power has been directed toward finding the murderer. It’s a sensational case, to be sure, and the press is clearly quite delighted to have the bloody fodder for headlines . . . but so long as the hacker sticks to the negroes and Italians, the deaths are more a curiosity than a concern. A curiosity, and a means to line the newspaper coffers.
I’ve seen it before.
? ? ?
There’s other excitement in the Southern city, too. In particular, there’s been an election that sounds like a terrible deal for almost everyone, and the papers don’t even pretend that it wasn’t produced by the Ku Klux Klan. If anything, they seem downright proud of that organization’s sponsorship, as if the rightful order has finally been restored, and now all can return to normal; but then again, this distasteful glee could be a matter of self-preservation, everyone hailing the new regime before anyone can fall prey to it.
I can’t help but judge them, anyway.
? ? ?
The most recent news out of Alabama comes smaller in scale, but makes for equally grand headlines—or revolting ones, as the case may be.
Apart from the axe murders and the local election, some terrible maniac has murdered a priest, shot him dead on the steps of his own church. I’ll be the first to admit I was raised with a bit of bias against the Catholics—though I’ve overcome a measure of that, as I’ve learned more about the faith and its intricacies; but even prior to my awakening in that regard, I surely would’ve frowned upon anyone taking aim at a minister purely for his cassock.
Sadly, that seems to be the case here, if the papers can be believed. The killer was angry about his daughter’s recent elopement with a member of the priest’s flock. What a horrible reason to shoot someone, as if any decent god gives a damn how he’s worshipped, so long as it’s directed heavenward with love? What foul deity is summoned with bigotry and rage? I wouldn’t want to guess.
If there are indecent gods, then maybe this “minister” serves one of them instead.
Did I mention that part? It comes up again and again in the clippings. The killer professes to be a Methodist, so I know he’s a filthy liar and no friend of the faithful. I know too many fine Methodists, and while they might not prefer a Catholic neighbor, they’d fiercely protect any man with a gun unjustly aimed in his direction.
Minister, my hind leg.
STEPHENSON TRIAL DELAYED
Birmingham Sun September 23, 1921
Edwin Stephenson is eager to demonstrate his innocence before the courts, but due to the recent elections, his trial has been pushed back to next week—when a prosecuting attorney can be assigned by incoming commission president Nathaniel Barrett. Although former president George Ward showed significant interest in prosecuting immediately, his failure to secure the election means that this is no longer his decision. In the interest of justice, this is likely for the best. It’s well known that Ward was an Episcopalian, and if that was not enough to confirm his papist leanings, he installed the (now dismissed) police chief Martin Eagan—a confirmed Catholic.
Could any true justice be found for Stephenson, a respected Methodist minister, when the whole of the city government was allied against him? It seems unlikely. But now that the new administration has assumed control, this poor man has a fair opportunity to see his case heard and understood by a jury of his peers, rather than a select group of unsympathetic men with more compassion for a member of the Vatican elite who’d betrayed the public trust.
A member of the Vatican elite? They’re speaking of a small-city priest, for pity’s sake. His only betrayal of public trust was to perform a wedding for a pair of adults who wished to be thusly joined. It’s not as if he mounted a secret campaign to steal and baptize Protestant children. I assume.