Winston Cooper strode into the Sheriff’s office, waving a newspaper in one hand. A glance at the wall clock confirmed that he was on time. Grand-dad Radnor Cooper came in at six in the morning, took a break for lunch, and was there until five, when he vanished for dinner. Gramps expected Winston to appear by eleven, and work until well after dark, spending much of his time typing reports.
Radnor looked up from his desk, waved, and called out: “Early today? It’s only ten.” Winston held up the office copy of the Phoenix Newspaper. The headline read “Blasted Heath Explorers Dead!”
The article underneath read
“James Whitesides and Aaron Levy of Prescott, Arizona boldly rose to the center of the Heath, the Sea of Glass. They were expected back the same day. They did not return. Courageous aerial reconnaissance by Aviator Cornelius Polk and Charles Grigsby, Major, Air Observation Corps, on board a Curtis Oriole belonging to Phoenix International Airways of Phoenix, Arizona, found their bodies and their mules, one of which had also died. Four incarcerees from Phoenix State prison volunteered to recover the bodies and rescue the mules. The incarcerees are now under observation in the prison hospital, and hope for reductions in their current very long sentences.
“Whitesides and Levy were hired by Karl Eisenhower of Honest Ike’s Gems, Prescott, Arizona to recover mineral samples. They took rigorous precautions against breathing any poisonous dust, precautions that apparently proved inadequate. We understand that many samples were recovered. The State Attorney has filed a claim on several steel boxes labeled ‘rocks’, claiming that they are evidence for an unspecified crime. Litigation is expected.
“The Governor claims that the deaths were due to heat exhaustion. He plans to prove that there is no danger in the Heath by setting up camp well inside its boundary, remaining a few days and returning. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Public Health Department warns curiosity seekers, of which there are many now filling Phoenix hotels, to stay clear of the Heath, until any danger is understood.”
“Interesting,” Radnor said. “We lucked out. Not my jurisdiction. Phoenix Sheriff, that Gates fellow, gets to investigate. Mystery death, no known cause? Was it murder? Where did the Heath come from?”
