C. M. Kornbluth by Takeoff

Author:Takeoff
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-11-21T23:06:35+00:00

EIGHT

The story on page four of Novak’s morning paper said:

SPACE SHIP ENGINEER

FOUND SHOT TO DEATH

AT ROCKET CLUB MEET

The soaring interplanetary dreams of 146 rocket-club members turned to nightmare at Slovak Sokol Hall last night when the body of engineer August

Clifton, trusted employee of the American Society for Space Flight, was found in a washroom of the hall as a meeting of the society was in full swing on the same floor. Assistant medical examiner Harry Morales said death apparently was caused by a head wound from a single .25-caliber bullet. A Belgian automatic of that caliber was found lying near Clifton’s right hand, with one shot fired according to Homicide Bureau Lieutenant C. F. Kahn.

The victim’s attractive blond wife Lilly, 35, was taken in a state of collapse to the Beverly Hills home of aircraft manufacturer Wilson Stuart by his daughter Amelia Stuart, a friend of the Cliftons and a member of the rocket club.

“The club secretary, Joel Friml, 26, said Clifton had been authorized to spend “sizable” sums of club money in the course of his work, which was to build a pioneer space ship that club members hoped would go to the Moon. Friml said he did not know of any irregularities in Clifton’s accounts but added that he will immediately audit club financial records for the past year with an eye to any bearing they may have on the death.

Other friends of Clifton said he was in good health but “moody” and “eccentric.”

Lieutenant Kahn said he will not comment until police fingerprint and ballistics experts have analyzed the evidence. An inquest will be held Wednesday morning.

The body was discovered by Dr. Michael Novak, 30, an engineer also employed by the club, when he slipped out of the meeting room during the showing of a movie. Novak immediately called in the aid of A.E.C. security agent J. W. Anheier, who was attending the meeting as a visitor. Anheier stood guard in the washroom to prevent evidence from being disturbed until police arrived. He later told reporters: “There is no security angle involved. It was just a coincidence that I happened to be there and Dr. Novak called on me.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.