May Days: Conclusion
After Paul was in bed, I got online. Logged into Facebook to discover that I had been tagged in a photo by Erin.
Erin and I used to work together on the Eagle Eye. Now, she's a reporter for the Express---A professional, now. I checked the photo. It showed her holding up a black and white picture she'd found in the Express archives. The photo showed a dead man, lying on his back in the grass, wounds in his leg and hands.
Erin had been wondering what the hell the photo was from. It had been wedged in between pictures of kids riding bikes happily. Someone had suggested that I could probably figure it out.
Turn on the bat-signal.
I stopped by the newsroom the next day. Erin was there, and Wendy, one of the reporters. I said,"Hi, Erin. I'm here to see photos of dead guys."
"Oh, yeah, you gotta look at this." She dug through her file, and handed me the photo. "Here."
"What is this?" Wendy looked over. "Wow. That looks like the forties, at least. Not too long ago."
"No, it's too clear to be the 1800s," I agreed. "And this guy has zippers on his jacket. I'll have to look up when zippers were invented...."
Erin googled it immediately. "1893," she reported.
"So we know it's after that. Look, he has a stamp says 'US' on his holster....Looks like a leather holster. Some kind of duel?...."
"It's certainly odd," Wendy agreed.
"Can you e-mail me a scan of this?" I asked. "I can look into it at the library."
"Sure." Erin got on Bill's computer, and scanned it to me.
"I'm jealous," I said. "My scanner at work takes about twenty minutes."
Erin grinned. "Nothing but the best for the Express."
Later, on desk, I opened the e-mail with the subject Dead Guy Photo and looked it over. I pulled our "Murders" file and flipped through it.
I got online and searched "US Holster," and found a photo of an idenitcal holster. They'd been created in 1943, so I could safely rule out any murder before then. Zach looked over my shoulder.
"Being nosy," he said. "Whatcha doing?"
"Oh, you'll love this. Trying to identify this photo here...."
"Ew."
"Yeah, I know. I'll spare you any zooming in on the wounds. Check it out, though....Each hand, his leg...."
"This guy wasn't just shot in the chest, was he?"
"No, he was wounded multiple times," I agreed. "Looking for something that fits."
I kept digging through the file. I found the index card for Leo Held.
Leo Held. Huh.
1967. The timeframe fit. I pulled the Lock Haven History scrapbook and paged through, finding the articles on the Held murders. held had been a Hammermill Paper employee, and he'd gone off the deep end one day in 1967, shooting six co-workers before being shot by cops himself.
I found the line.
"...He suffered wounds in both hands, the right leg above the knee, and the left shoulder."
The wounds fit---They were exactly like the photo.
I called Erin, over at the Express.
"Erin? I got him. You have a photo of Leo Held."
"Who's Leo Held?"
I laughed. "I am sure every head in the newsroom just swung in your direction."
"....Yeah, they did."
"Leo Held was in 1967. He went on a rampage and shot six of his co-workers. I found the article; it describes exactly the wounds in the photo. That's him, when the cops took him into custody."
"Wow. I expected this to take you a few days, at least."
"Yeah, I'm a little surprised I got it this fast, too."
"Wow. I'm gonna have to look into this some more."
"I don't recommend running this in the cute old photo album column...."
"Oh, god, no."
"But at least we know now. Anything else I can do, give me a call."
Erin and I used to work together on the Eagle Eye. Now, she's a reporter for the Express---A professional, now. I checked the photo. It showed her holding up a black and white picture she'd found in the Express archives. The photo showed a dead man, lying on his back in the grass, wounds in his leg and hands.
Erin had been wondering what the hell the photo was from. It had been wedged in between pictures of kids riding bikes happily. Someone had suggested that I could probably figure it out.
Turn on the bat-signal.
I stopped by the newsroom the next day. Erin was there, and Wendy, one of the reporters. I said,"Hi, Erin. I'm here to see photos of dead guys."
"Oh, yeah, you gotta look at this." She dug through her file, and handed me the photo. "Here."
"What is this?" Wendy looked over. "Wow. That looks like the forties, at least. Not too long ago."
"No, it's too clear to be the 1800s," I agreed. "And this guy has zippers on his jacket. I'll have to look up when zippers were invented...."
Erin googled it immediately. "1893," she reported.
"So we know it's after that. Look, he has a stamp says 'US' on his holster....Looks like a leather holster. Some kind of duel?...."
"It's certainly odd," Wendy agreed.
"Can you e-mail me a scan of this?" I asked. "I can look into it at the library."
"Sure." Erin got on Bill's computer, and scanned it to me.
"I'm jealous," I said. "My scanner at work takes about twenty minutes."
Erin grinned. "Nothing but the best for the Express."
Later, on desk, I opened the e-mail with the subject Dead Guy Photo and looked it over. I pulled our "Murders" file and flipped through it.
I got online and searched "US Holster," and found a photo of an idenitcal holster. They'd been created in 1943, so I could safely rule out any murder before then. Zach looked over my shoulder.
"Being nosy," he said. "Whatcha doing?"
"Oh, you'll love this. Trying to identify this photo here...."
"Ew."
"Yeah, I know. I'll spare you any zooming in on the wounds. Check it out, though....Each hand, his leg...."
"This guy wasn't just shot in the chest, was he?"
"No, he was wounded multiple times," I agreed. "Looking for something that fits."
I kept digging through the file. I found the index card for Leo Held.
Leo Held. Huh.
1967. The timeframe fit. I pulled the Lock Haven History scrapbook and paged through, finding the articles on the Held murders. held had been a Hammermill Paper employee, and he'd gone off the deep end one day in 1967, shooting six co-workers before being shot by cops himself.
I found the line.
"...He suffered wounds in both hands, the right leg above the knee, and the left shoulder."
The wounds fit---They were exactly like the photo.
I called Erin, over at the Express.
"Erin? I got him. You have a photo of Leo Held."
"Who's Leo Held?"
I laughed. "I am sure every head in the newsroom just swung in your direction."
"....Yeah, they did."
"Leo Held was in 1967. He went on a rampage and shot six of his co-workers. I found the article; it describes exactly the wounds in the photo. That's him, when the cops took him into custody."
"Wow. I expected this to take you a few days, at least."
"Yeah, I'm a little surprised I got it this fast, too."
"Wow. I'm gonna have to look into this some more."
"I don't recommend running this in the cute old photo album column...."
"Oh, god, no."
"But at least we know now. Anything else I can do, give me a call."