HitH: Chapter 5 - Up in the Air (IC)

[Tabs]

Tabs: I would dearly like to see it--I'm a pilot myself."

   ..."or if that isn't possible, a tour of the airfield would be wonderful."

[Mort]

Mr. Greenlee looked delighted. "A pilot, you say? Why I've never seen such a thing. A lovely young lady like yourself?  A pilot? You must be from Texas, Miss! I'd be happy to give you a tour of our airfield." Greenlee waited for Tabs to finish her tea and gather her things, then he offered her his arm and led her out the door. As they exited, he could be heard asking, "How did you end up with that nasty shiner on your head?"

____________________

With Greenlee gone, Clark looked around expectantly. "So, what's this mystery all about then?" he asked, looking greedily from face to face.

[rdanhenry]

The Major lowers his voice, not wanting any more outside attention. "You know how strange some of Mr. Smith's habits are. If he had a past, though, nothing that could not be accounted for by personal eccentricity, I admit. However, the man is using a false identity. That is still merely suspicious, with possible innocent explanations."

Major Lofton makes another look around to assure there are no more eavesdroppers ready to interrupt, before continuing, "As I mentioned, today Smith's truck rammed the car this group was using, and they have uncovered a number of troubling facts related to Mr. Smith, but I think I should let one of them tell that story."

[philjun]

Seamus jumps in as the major finishes talking and gives him a cautious look: "I am afraid that there's not that much more to tell. Except that Mr. Smith seems to be talented at recovering artifacts from crashed airplanes and have a knack of hitting people with that big brown truck of his." Seamus pauses and looks eagerly at Clark: "But what about these voodoo stories that Greenlee talked about? Could you tell us a bit more about that?"

[Tabs]

Mr. Greenlee looked delighted. "A pilot, you say? Why I've never seen such a thing. A lovely young lady like yourself?  A pilot? You must be from Texas, Miss! I'd be happy to give you a tour of our airfield." Greenlee waited for Tabs to finish her tea and gather her things, then he offered her his arm and led her out the door. As they exited, he could be heard asking, "How did you end up with that nasty shiner on your head?"

   Tabs answers, obviously pretending to be angry.
   "Texas? I'm a Rhode Islander--and fiercely proud to be one, too. Not one of your southern softies! You, Mr. Greenlee, may address me as Ms. Barclay." She laughs. "No! Tabitha will do nicely, and I can call you 'Big John'?"
   "Yes--I'm a pilot. I thank my lucky stars, or rather, I thank my father's money." 
   She holds on to "Big John's" arm tightly. "My friends and I were involved in a car crash just down the road from the airfield. Luckily Major Lofton came to our rescue. The crash was caused deliberately, you know--by a hit-and-run driver of a brown truck. I hope the police catch the culprit."
   

[David68]

"But what about these voodoo stories that Greenlee talked about? Could you tell us a bit more about that?"

Kirk adds: "Maybe a story about the disappearance of Joyce Armstrong would be interesting in our case. The person that we are trying to find had bought an altimeter from a pawnshop in Camden which we think was brought there by Wilbur Smith and this altimeter has been identified as belonging to Joyce Armstrong, a pilote who disappeared a few years ago in England and like him, his plane was never found. How is it possible that an altimeter from a missing plane in England arrives here? The fact that this young man, Dumont from Elisabeth City, disappeared a week ago after being seen for the last time with the same Wilbur Smith, adds to the mystery."

[Mort]

The Major lowers his voice, not wanting any more outside attention. "You know how strange some of Mr. Smith's habits are. If he had a past, though, nothing that could not be accounted for by personal eccentricity, I admit. However, the man is using a false identity. That is still merely suspicious, with possible innocent explanations . . ."

Clark listened to this and the rest of the Major's explanation with interest. The man was clearly hooked. He nodded in agreement at various points and snorted at others. In Clark's mind, there were no innocent explanations. This was a nefarious plot of some sort. But it wasn't the Major's talk of false identities that brought Clark truly alive.

"But what about these voodoo stories that Greenlee talked about? Could you tell us a bit more about that?"

Clark rolled his eyes. To him the stories were not voodoo. They were the real truth that no one would see. He opened his mouth, about to launch into a long diatribe about all kinds of things when Kirk interrupted.

Kirk adds: "Maybe a story about the disappearance of Joyce Armstrong . . . "

That was all he needed to hear. Clark nearly came out of his seat at the mention of Joyce-Armstrong. His face turned red with excitement, and his mouth gaped open. "I knew it! I knew there was more! Help me up!" he said excitedly, waving his arms for help. As soon as Clark was on his feet . . . "Follow me!"

Clark led the others across the airfield to his private workshop at the far end. Once everyone had piled into the small metal building and Clark had locked the door, he began to speak quickly and quietly. All the while, he systematically worked to clear off a shelf at the back of the workshop.

"No one knows what Joyce-Armstrong was up to, but he was up to more than just trying to break an altitude record. There have been rumors floating about for years that there is a Joyce-Armstrong journal out there, that it was found in the wreckage of his plane, and that it was spirited out of the England by a small band of "interested men." I have, through means that I cannot reveal, come into possession of what I believe to be a fragment of the Joyce-Armstrong journal. Just a few pieces of one or two pages. If Smith has genuine wreckage from the final and presumably fatal Joyce-Armstrong crash, then perhaps he has the rest of the journal as well."

The shelf now clear, Clark turned to face the others. They could see a small safe in the wall behind the shelf that had been hidden by all the junk. "Joyce-Armstrong was up there . . ." He looked up toward the sky and pointed. Quickly Clark opened the safe and produced a yellow folder. He opened it up on the workbench at the center of the room. Clipped to the folder were three long and torn strips of journal paper that had been written on in pencil in a hasty but careful script. Clark stood by silently waiting for everyone to read the contents.



"Up there," Clark said, pointing again " . . . hunting for something."

__________________

"Texas? I'm a Rhode Islander--and fiercely proud to be one, too. Not one of your southern softies! You, Mr. Greenlee, may address me as Ms. Barclay." She laughs. "No! Tabitha will do nicely, and I can call you 'Big John'?"
   "Yes--I'm a pilot. I thank my lucky stars, or rather, I thank my father's money." 
   She holds on to "Big John's" arm tightly. "My friends and I were involved in a car crash just down the road from the airfield. Luckily Major Lofton came to our rescue. The crash was caused deliberately, you know--by a hit-and-run driver of a brown truck. I hope the police catch the culprit."

"What an awful story," Greenlee said, "You think Mr. Smith was involved in that? That seems so unlike him. He's practically a recluse around here, not a villain. What could be the motive?"

While Greenlee and Tabs talked, he gave her a tour of the airfield. They walked across the road to the field that held the private hangars. A rusty metal box at the back of the field was where he stopped. "That's Smith's hangar." It didn't look very impenetrable, but it did have a lock on the only door.

[rdanhenry]

"Well," says the Major, "that certainly puts a different face on things. If this document is genuine -- I don't suppose anyone has a known sample of Joyce-Armstrong's penmanship handy for comparison? -- he certainly believed his problems were something other than mechanical. Something up there is potentially hostile, or else something at those altitudes has an effect on the brain. Or possibly Joyce-Armstrong was hallucinating for other reasons, but it seems likelier that his situation would share a common cause with the other failed high-altitude flights."

[David68]

Kirk remains silent at first and listens with great interest, looking at the others from time to time as to show his surprise.

After reading the torn text, he frowns and asks: "Why do you think this was really written by Joyce Armstrong?"

[Tabs]

"What an awful story," Greenlee said, "You think Mr. Smith was involved in that? That seems so unlike him. He's practically a recluse around here, not a villain. What could be the motive?"

   "Today has not been a good one so far!
   "Hmmm, that is interesting what you say about Mr. Smith. I wonder if-- I wonder if it was him driving?--we only saw a brown truck.
   "My friends and I are searching for Mr. Dumont Jr. He went missing after buying an altimeter from a pawn shop in Camden. The pawn shop get their 'aeronautical' items from Mr. Smith.... So you see, Big John, that Mr. Smith is the reason why we are here."

While Greenlee and Tabs talked, he gave her a tour of the airfield. They walked across the road to the field that held the private hangars. A rusty metal box at the back of the field was where he stopped. "That's Smith's hangar." It didn't look very impenetrable, but it did have a lock on the only door.

   "It's locked!
   "Can we--I mean you, really--ask around to find out if Mr. Smith has been seen today?"

[Mort]

"I don't suppose anyone has a known sample of Joyce-Armstrong's penmanship handy for comparison?"

"I don't," confessed Clark, "But I can assure you it is genuine. My sources are of the highest quality and reliability."

After reading the torn text, he frowns and asks: "Why do you think this was really written by Joyce Armstrong?"

"I think those three fragments might not all be from the same page. There may be pages in between. But whatever it was that Joyce-Armstrong found up there in the sky, he went back for it, looking for proof . . . and well armed . . . and he still ended up crashing apparently. I say 'apparently.' How he ended up, no one knew until now, I guess. If you say Smith has some of Joyce-Armstrong's aircraft parts, that pretty much seals the deal. He crashed somewhere."

Clark pulled out a small printed directory. It said "Yearbook" on the front in a simple font. Clark opened it up on the workbench. It was filled with pictures of people and planes from the airfield. Clark found Wilbur Smith's picture and his plane. It was a candid photo. Smith was not looking at the camera. Clark put his finger down onto the plane in the photo and mumbled, "What are you up to?"

__________________

"It's locked!
"Can we--I mean you, really--ask around to find out if Mr. Smith has been seen today?"

Big John grinned. "We'll, old Clark would be the best one to ask about anyone's comings and goings around here. Smith didn't fly this morning, but I think he was here. Bob Taggert at the fuel depot might know. People tend to park over there out of the way. You want to go ask him? Or head back and ask Clark?"

[Tabs]

   "Let's go talk with Bob Taggert."

[philjun]

Seamus takes a photograph of the fragments displayed by Clark. He then looks at the old man and says quietly: "Mr. Clarke... Do you have any idea about what it was that Joyce-Armstrong found in the skies?"

[David68]

Clark found Wilbur Smith's picture and his plane. It was a candid photo. Smith was not looking at the camera. Clark put his finger down onto the plane in the photo and mumbled, "What are you up to?"

Kirk looks at the picture of Wilbur Smith then looks at Seamus and Felix. "That guy... he was on one of the pictures we saw in the library! ... one of the pictures with Joyce Armstrong!"

[rdanhenry]

"Germans?" mutters Major Lofton.

Then as Kirk speaks up, his attention shifts focus, and he asks, "Really? Do you remember anything else about the picture?"

[philjun]

"I remember this guy as well!" Seamus exclaims, "but I can't quite tell you where I have seen him before. Perhaps you are right, Kirk, that he appeared in the pictures we found at the library. But as far as I remember, we only found a newspaper clipping with a picture of Joyce-Armstrong and a picture of a plane similar to the one flown by Joyce-Armstrong. Am I missing something here, or are you telling us that this man (Seamus points at the picture of Smith) is in fact Joyce-Armstrong?"

[David68]

Kirk explains: "I don't remember exactly where I saw the picture. It must have been either in one of the journals I researched, or perhaps in the newspaper article Seamus found about the missing pilot. I am quite sure that Wilbur Smith and Joyce Armstrong were in the same picture."

[Mort]

   "Let's go talk with Bob Taggert."

Big John casually strolled with Tabs across the airfield again, back toward the fuel depot to ask Bob Taggert if he has seen Wilbur Smith that morning. The fuel depot was a small, fenced-in area with a little shack that stood as the "guard post" at the gate. Taggert, a bald man with a thick mustache, waved as soon as he saw Big John. Big John waved back and approached Taggert. After introductions were made, Big John casually inquired about Mr. Smith.

"He was here this morning," Taggert said. "Got here very early . . . before I did. My guess was he flew out before sunrise. He had the plane back in the hangar by mid-morning. He and that kid worked on it for a few hours and then left. I didn't talk to them, but they were here."
___________________

"Mr. Clarke... Do you have any idea about what it was that Joyce-Armstrong found in the skies?"

Clark just shrugged. "I don't know, but whatever he was up to . . . it was dangerous, dangerous to him and dangerous enough that folks didn't want that journal getting around."

[rdanhenry]

Major Lofton sinks into introspection again for a few seconds before saying, "The Germans could be up there. Airplanes couldn't stay up long enough to be the kind of presence this text suggests, but if an airship could reach those altitudes, it could stay indefinitely, save for the need to resupply. The Germans had and have good engineers and are as familiar with dirigibles as anyone. I'd say they'd have the best chance of achieving it. It's just a theory... more of a guess, really, but I've more than enough reason to conclude that Smith is hiding something which may be relevant to national defense."

Rising, he continues, "Smith may have been serving as an agent for some time, identifying flights into record altitudes so that they could be intercepted. I'm prepared to open his hanger and search it and his plane as a matter of national security. It will be on my responsibility and I will answer to my superiors if need be. Mr. Clark, I would welcome your aid in inspecting the aircraft, but I understand if you feel uncomfortable involving yourself in this matter further. Between myself and Miss Barclay, I believe we can conduct a competent examination."

[philjun]

Seamus looks at the major with a faint smile: "I am all for breaking and entering, but the story with the Germans seems highly unlikely to me. Joyce-Armstrong clearly wanted hard proof because no one would believe his story if he couldn't produce any facts. Would that really be the case if all he saw was a German balloon?"