Deadly Spirits by E. Michael Helms

Author:E. Michael Helms
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Epicenter Press
Published: 2017-01-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Monday morning I dropped Henry off at Kate’s and drove to Parkersville. I intended to find out what I could about a supposed decades-old rape and murder that might or might not have happened at the fire tower north of town. I’d struck out over the weekend researching the Independent’s on-line archives.

Once again I struck out, thanks to a huge fire back in 1980 that destroyed most of the Parkersville Independent’s archives up to that year. There was no mention of any rape or murder near the tower in the more recent archives. If it existed, the info I was after was in the ash heap.

Hoping my drive wouldn’t be a total waste, I resorted to plan B. The same young man, Carlos Cheevers, who’d given me the bad news about the earlier archives, brightened up my morning when he pointed to what looked like a big does-it-all office machine with a keyboard and flat-screen monitor. It was a digital microfilm reader, he explained, and sat down to search for Parkersville U’s foundation and donations. After a few minutes, Carlos pulled a couple of CDs from a filing cabinet and loaded one into the machine.

A minute later, bull’s eye! There was a staff photo of several men and women, including the future president, Samuel Wells, alongside local businessman and city councilman, Harold Broder. Big smiles all around, with dignitaries wearing hardhats and hefting shovels at the official ground-breaking ceremony for Broder Hall. Another photo showed a smiling Broder, flanked by Wells and Franklin Harris, a local banker and Chair of the Parkersville University Board of Trustees. Broder and Harris were shaking hands as the McDonald’s magnate handed Harris an oversized check for a cool one million bucks.

The brief accompanying story stated that the university planned to open its doors for the spring 2010 semester. Other donors, all unnamed alumni, had also made generous contributions to ensure that the city of Parkersville’s long-time dream of having its own four-year university would soon become a reality. Further searching turned up a few minor stories and photos as construction progressed, but no mention of any of the other donors’ names. I found that odd. For whatever reason, all but Broder seemed to want to avoid the spotlight. I thanked Carlos for his help and the printouts, and stepped out into the hot, humid mid-June air.

After leaving the Independent, I stopped at a Hardee’s near the edge of town. It was too early for the lunch menu, so I bought a steak biscuit and coffee and sat down with today’s newspaper, which I’d already scanned at home. As I flipped through the local/state section, an advertisement caught my eye for the Commerce Bank of Parkersville. The PU groundbreaking article had mentioned Franklin Harris as the CEO of Commerce Bank at the time. I jotted down the number on a business card and dialed it.

“I’d like to speak to Mr. Franklin Harris,” I said to a woman who identified herself as Marlene.

“May I ask who’s calling?” Her voice was courteous but cautious, like I’d spoken some forbidden word.

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