Page 17
"If the wreck was a more recent date," Sheriff Blatter stated, "I would have, of course, suspected the possibility of illicit drug smuggling. However, we, of this office, have kept abreast of criminal trends in drug trafficking and do not feel that our vigilance has been in vain. We feel that, thanks to some yeoman service [at this point in his reading, Willie-B had to reach for a desk dictionary and look up yeoman. Satisfied with the public image, he reminded himself to buy Ted Barker a drink at the next Chamber of Commerce meeting] especially by Clara Pitts, our hard working secretary/receptionist, in mailing out literature to concerned citizens, that drug abuse in this county has little chance of corrupting the fine, upstanding, red-blooded American boys and girls we know as our children."
"On the other hand," Sheriff Blatter cautioned, "One can never be too suspicious. If you see anything unusual, please call our emergency phone number. After all, a plane apparently crashed. There is no record of this happening. This is a mystery that behooves [Willie-B reached for the dictionary once again] the members of this department's, and the public's, attention."
* * *
The article concluded that a search of the basement storage area, described as "a cross-indexed library of back issues," of the Cascade County Pioneer provided no further information, and that at press time, Jed Smith was not available for comment.
In an old wood frame building just down Main Street from Sheriff Blatter's modern offices, Editor Ted Barker was also enjoying reading a newspaper with a certain amount of pleasure. As a stringer for the Portland Oregonian, he enjoyed seeing his name in print as Ted Barker, Newswire Correspondent; Photos by Ted Barker.
Whereas a harried reporter in Los Angeles, or New York, dreamt of one day retiring to the gentle life of editing a country newspaper, Barker felt that the shadow of the legend painted upon the plate glass window which read "Since 1898," broadcast to different locations in the shop, depending on the angle of the sun, was his prison cell number. He had hopes that his submissions as a correspondent would bring him the chance to write of matters of world-wide consequence. He had visions of a big break leading to a Pulitzer Prize, and an offer of employment from a national newsmagazine.
Because of this ambition, Barker had listened to "Good old Boy" Willie-B's blatant bullshit, and then done a little "investigative reporting" on his own. Jed Smith, somehow, had eluded him at the feed store, bank, and post office. Ted had, however, cornered the husband of the county librarian, Jim Fullbright, a former flying enthusiast, who had supplied Barker with the basis for the following: