Brownstonelit's Blog

Woke up this morning at 4:12 A.M. with a whisper in my ear…

“Be careful what you think, be careful what you do… the new cycle for the next nine begins today.”

12/21/10

Today is the 21st of December. Charley implied today would be significant and while there has been rain, there have been no lightening strikes. At least not literally, but then the significance may just be something more subtle. Like… maybe something I conjectured today that might turn out in the end to be more fact than fiction.

But before we leap that far ahead, my dear children… I need for Grim to riddle me this? Why would he- the Grim Reaper- hand a piece of paper with Jessica’s last name on it to another man who reads it, then folds it and tucks it inside his pocket? A man who worked in law enforcement- a man who had a history of beating women and boozing it up? A man who should not have had any reason to be with Grim… other than for nefarious reasons? A man who was there throughout the entire investigation process of Charley’s murder? A man near Route 44?

A man who would have driven a car that resembled the description of a law enforcement car that night at the gun exchange between G, the red-headed go to man and the shooter? A car who had a sticker on the back that read UST41? Hmmmmmm….

A man who has a history of beating woman gets Jessica’s last name from Grim. Shortly thereafter, Jessica is beaten to death and the matter of her pregnancy no longer an issue. Why is there an association between Jessica and the attorney???

Here’s another riddle:
What did the Governor of Georgia in 1966 and the female victim Jessica have in common?

12/20/10

Hazel begins to speak…
Long have I waited for her to come to the plate and it was well worth the wait. Yesterday was well spent in between the rumpled pages of her journal. So much is revealed when you are patient and can keep catalog of all events. Thank you Hazel… for being so incredible in your record keeping. Your due diligence to find your husband’s murderers will pay off in dividends. I am only sorry that I could not have met you in life- as you strike me as a woman of considerable substance. I should have liked to have been there for you in those years. I could have helped, if only to have shared your passion for resolution. That being said… do not be a stranger longer. Your words have power too and I feed from them as do I from Charley’s 8X10 upon my writing desk.
Now… let’s move on. So we have confirmation on many things and new intrigue on others. I got a big thumb’s up (metaphorically) on my Maxwell epiphany. Which by the way will remain a cherished and humorous memory for me for a long time. How he must have delighted in my ignorance and then my moment of discovery! You are a funny guy Charley… a funny guy. Thanks for the laugh. Moving away from there- remember yesterday and for several days how I have wondered about those who came to Charley’s house late in the night- actually early morning of his death? Well, I have done so with good reason. Now I have numbers to go with names- trains, train routes…why would it have been so necessary for this person to be there?

Compassion? Maybe… but in that town- at that time- on that night- compassion would have been spelled “CONSPRACY”. Oh my… how many more were complacent in this? It damn near boggles the mind how many were involved in the cover up of this man’s murder! Hell… it damn near boggles the mind that that many people were involved directly in the murder itself- if you want to know the truth. So tell me mister conductor… what route begins with the number 3… and ends with Charley’s death? Hmmmmm….???

The short barrel 38 that belonged to Charley- the one that Hazel could not find anywhere in the house- the bedroom to be exact… suddenly turns up in the hands of G- the alleged mistress and causation for this great suicide event… and no one bothers to check to see if this gun has been fired? Well, that’s what the area supervisor answered when Hazel demanded to know why this woman (G) was in possession of a gun she said Charley had given her. Imagine… Charley giving away a loaded gun of his to a woman he is supposedly having an affair with? A gun- of his- in the hands of a violent… unstable woman who slept with how many men??

Forgetting the cardinal rule of murder?

Most murders are committed for 1 of 3 reasons:

A woman!

Money!

And… a woman!!!!!!!!!!!

So how stupid were they? Hmmmmm….. She (Hazel) asked that and many other point blank questions that could not be answered by those in authority- either directly or most times even at all.

When I ask about the 38- Hazel directs me to page 32 of her journal. She is right on the money and so I read this page over and over and feel her pain anew.

Let’s look at other questions this poor woman begged to be answered:

Q: Is it true they were to be married in December?
A: That is what we understand G to have said.

Q: Had he made any arrangements about a divorce?
A: None that we were able to find.

Q: Is it true that they met in _________’s apartment?
A: ___________cannot swear that they did. He leaves his key outside on the air conditioner when he is not home. He has never seen them there, but…

Q: Where are all these clothes that she (G) supposedly gave him?
A: There were two shirts- in a drawer in his office. __________ took them home with him. He figured you did not want them.

Q: Why in heavens name would _________ want them?
A: He just took them. Mrs. _____________ (G) said that she wanted them back and told me again to get the 38 pistol back.

Q: I told Mr. H___________ that I had better not hear about that pistol again. Then I asked him if it had been fired and he told me there had been no reason to test it.

And it continues…..

Q: Which shot was fired first?
A: The shot under the chin?

Q: Where was he when this happened?
A: By the front tire.

(Pay particular attention to these statements!!! I shall explain in a minute why.)

Q: Was there any blood there?
A: No…

Why? Because dead men don’t bleed- that’s why!! It could not have been the first shot and any idiot with half a brain would have known that. So why was everyone so duped? Or was it more duplicity than duped?? With that statement alone- right there she had a homicide confirmed for her by the very ATTD agent who was in charge of the investigation. Not to mention if the victim is found 12-15 feet in front of his car- lying face down with the gun under his belly and another shot through his head from behind and upward of his right ear…and you claim it is suicide and he is alone… how the hell do you know he shot himself first at the front right tire????
Dah?

This is not rocket science my friend… this is bull! And there is more, but it will keep till tomorrow.

For now let me just say…
“That’ll do pig… that’ll do…”

12/19/10

I have spent the day rereading Hazel’s journal. There is so much information there yet for me to mine. Names and dates… people who appeared and what they said or did not say about that night and the months of events that led up to it. It is more who played the heavier roles in Hazel’s life after and what happened because, in spite or to these individuals after Charley’s murder that tells the story better than the events leading up to it.

But let’s go back for a moment to the Chief of Police of Moultrie one month before Charley was murdered. Hazel said Charley had told her about the article in the Moultrie paper- about the Police Chief laying newspaper out all over the floor, then sitting in a rocker and then supposedly shot himself in the head. Charley told Hazel if something like that ever happened to him, rest assured it was not suicide and that she should have it investigated.

Let’s look again at a conversation she had with one of Charley’s superiors who talked about the bag with things Charley had purchased from the local pawn shop- the Morris Pawn Shop. A conversation in which this supervisor stated that they had never found the bag of goods that he had purchased on the 6th of October. How do I know what Charley purchased on October 6th, 1966 just 3 days before he was murdered??? Because the receipt was still in his wallet 44 years after and it continues to be a source of concern. This supervisor told Hazel if they ever found it- something in that bag was his and he wanted it back! When she asked what item it was- he refused to tell her… but I think I know. Because this same item has been an issue of contention for 4 decades. It was a focal point in one of the trials. This item must be very important, because Charley has talked about this receipt a lot lately- given clues as to what might have been circled on it or transferred by imprint onto it that I should check for under strong light. Something in that receipt has more information than surface meaning.

Both his immediate and area supervisors were from Moultrie. Route 44 is in Moultrie… His partner had an apartment in Moultrie before he moved to Valdosta- an apartment that housed, undercover agents, wild parties and illegal gambling. There is some connection between Charley’s death, this bag from Morris Pawn Shop, the supervisor and this Route 44 that runs through there that has Charley still bothered 44 years after. My charge is to divine what that is.

As December 17th brought some recognizable and yet a multitude of not so recognizable information…I would ask that you be patient. December 21st also is supposed to be a day of significance and while I still trust Charley… my lack of marginal divinity on the 17th has left me wanting. I have never experienced lack of faith in this matter before, but I have been shaken in several core matters as of late and so question more my intuitivism- than the possible information that may have by-passed me and streamed either to others involved… or information more implied than actual, that I somehow missed.

Take Maxwell for instance. The name was right there and I missed it till I approached the information from another way.

There are many thing presented in the journal that do not add up properly. Why would a key prison official be so unsettled by this? Was the last inmate assigned to the Covington construction project Carlos? Our mystery prison worker who was incarcerated for murder who kept tabs on Charley’s whereabouts that last two weeks of his leave? And who was the other person in the courthouse, besides _______ at the time who was so fond of G, when others may have shunned her? Was he perhaps connected to this somehow? There is a receipt with his name in Charley’s wallet also. Is this important?

Then there is the itemized bill from an attorney… the names are endless, but very helpful!

There is a connection to Atlanta at the time…a political figure which flew to Valdosta from Atlanta the day after Charley was murdered? Who might that have been and why? That question… I believe I already know the answer to. Perhaps a good family friend of yours Grim? Or… maybe the go to guy for the local law? Hmmmmmm… So, who is this other attorney tied to Jessica? One whose name I already know perhaps? One who had a history of unfaithfulness to his wife? One who was close to one of the men there that night when Charley was killed? One who 44 years later said he knew the truth and warned me not to dig deeper? Saw the evidence… but who kept that secret?

It would fit, you know. That’s what happens when you lay down with dogs Jessica my dear… you get fleas! Too bad one dog got upset about it enough to want you dead. Thus… the bloody shovel and the body left decaying in the heat. But since she had told Charley and then went missing… it got a little scary for all involved. What did he know? Who had he told?

I have many questions still and as this is the season of good cheer and some feedback from others rather necessary, I am not optimistic that all will be answered before the remainder of the holiday rush has passed. And so my friends… silence for a time may be the better answer. Hindsight is 20/20 and I have read and seen much this day that tells me some of the peripheral clues I may have glossed over before, may not have been so peripheral at all.

December 21st is known as the shortest day of the year- the Winter Solstice. But for those who commit murder and then sweat each day after fearing others will find out the reality of their sins- it will also be the longest night of the year. How appropriate that the lunar eclipse will be full that day? Perhaps then real light will be able to shine on this case, unobstructed by all things that have been allowed thus far to distract from the truth.

IN Hazel’s journal it talks about that night. About who came and what was said… who came after and what they did. I know now who ran the trains NW out of Valdosta… and that same person was at Charley’s house the night he was murdered! Is there a correlation? Hazel mentions that the truck with the raw materials that ATTD was trailing from out of state to Athens the night he was on stand by with Paul, may have been tied to the “information” Charley had been working on earlier that week. Said it would have been the biggest bust that had ever seen if they could get to it… OMG… I know now what else was happening that night!

This thing just gets bigger and bigger… and bigger and bigger and bigger…
Oh my God, Charley… how many people wanted you dead???

12/18/10

My disappointment spreads.
While there were in deed many shifting of directions on the 17th- they all came through the umbrella of my job. Dramatic shifts being thrust upon me in my programming- unorthodox and unplanned directions, which I am still pondering and trying to digest without regurgitation Herculean effort…but as for the case… I am now quite flummoxed.

Charley has never mentioned a date as significant and then not followed through with some sort of revelation. Now, as I said- if it had been a generic sensitivity to this date- then buddy he was right on the ball, because I was ambushed by my superior-my job description is all over the map at this point and my frustrations at an all time high.

And so I wonder…
Was the misinterpretation mine? Did R misinterpret? Further more… do the dead get angry at us?

Maybe Charley did not like my e-enactment of days ago. Maybe he did not wish for me to speculate so close to home. Maybe my mentioning G and her dismissal of his affections brought about too much angst. Or maybe… maybe my obsessions over my job and finances of late have obfuscated the more intuitive fingerlings I usually receive when in a much calmer state. If so, then the error is mine Charley and I do so apologize for being less the vessel than needed.

In spite of all the wonderful achievements and accolades received thus far… in spite of the release of my novel and the great networking system that has resulted… in spite of going back to school and working hard to get straight A’s…in spite of the incredible- if not phenomenal advances made in this case since January last…it has been a most difficult season. Hell, who am I kidding? It has been a changeling year, pure plain and simple and I am doing my best to crawl out from under its heady weight. My saving grace has been this case- this incorporeal relationship- this absolute immersion of soul and intellect and the opportunity of diversion it has afforded me.

So now what Charley? Now what?

You hold up 4 fingers… 4 fingers.
You obsess about your wedding band and Grim’s inability to remove it. I know about G. I know about B and D. I know about the shooter…H. I know who the MOT is and I understand the numbers 19, 1545, 1510…
I have walked through your description of the murder a hundred times. I know where and when- I know how and who…

I know about Jessica and Roxanne- the four in flannel… the evidence… the ballistics… the evidence… the MOT… the evidence.

Unless something has transpired within the respective agencies unknownst to me as of today… I continue to wait with bated breath. I sit something in the pictures Charley? Did you see something I did not? Can you tell R what it is??? Was it something from my dream the other night? Something slumber has hidden from my conscious world?

Break the veil Charley- tear through and tell me what it is I am meant to look for now. I sit another girl? Another victim??? Who is Maxwell Charley? Who is he?????????
I need you Charley- I need you to help tie the ends together. By the way… I keep one of those single coffee bags with me at all times. It’s M……..

Holy s_____. I just answered my own question!!!!! Stream of conscious writing is amazing!!! I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. It was right in front of me and I totally missed it’s meaning! OMG…. damn boy! You’re good!!!!!! How could I have been so stupid??

I love you Charley… I freakin love you!!!! What a sense of humor… you rascal. Mrs. Olson will be so proud of you!!!

I’m still laughing…. and now I’m going to make myself a cup of coffee. Jesus Charley… you crack me up!
Have an awesome day!

12/16/10
I woke with my hands balled into a fist and teeth clenched… something in a dream.
Something about being taken, being shown… something did not happen the way I thought. They were clarifying something for me. It felt like it was behind a grocery store- wooden pallets and garbage cans…metal doors… loading docks. Several men and a women.

I was there and yet only as voyeur. What was happening- what was it they were trying to share?

Tomorrow is December 17th, 2010. What is it that will happen? What information will I receive? What is the huge shift in the focus of this case? We all know what happened the last time Charley gave me a date… remember? That’s when I found out Roxanne’s last name and Jessica was introduced to me! Perhaps Grim is ready to confess all… or maybe someone else who can no longer live with what they have done. The hours will continue to tick away and in just another 24, we may finally know why he continues to hold up the four fingers and mark the calendars.
Can you hear it, Grim?
Tick… tick… tick… tick…

12/14/10

I feel as though I should be looking in other directions for answers and yet my compass continues to point in the same direction as before…

Surrounded by photos of those I love and cherish… those who have moved on, I ask them to guide me. On Sunday Charley holds up 4 fingers… he keeps repeating the number 4- over and over. Now, all this could be in representation of the “4 in flannel”… or it could be his way of reminding me of the date, December 17th when he tells me there will be a big shift in this case.

He also tells me what I thought about this case on Thanksgiving is correct- that I am right on. He tells me that Jessica is tied to an attorney- that she may have been pregnant. That Charley may have known that along with everything else. He reminds me that December 21st is also significant… he begs that I must be patient. That all is working out, that I must wait while final details are being worked out elsewhere.

Route 44…
Does this have something to do with the railroad? The hut, the lockbox or the state agent that used to live out there??? I must look into his history and divine if there is something I missed there. Hazel’s journal may hold information I need. I will review that again and see what else comes through.

I am still awed at the fact that Grim felt he had the right to try and remove Charley’s wedding ring. That he did so at the request of G and the four in flannel- in an attempt to set up the affair/suicide theory. So they could cover their tracks and get rid of any trail that might lead to them back to the bodies of Jessica and Roxanne.

They bait- he follows. First they demand the evidence and when he refuses, they begin to beat him. The shooter begins to wave his gun back and forth in bravado…threatening to play his favorite game with Charley’s head; Russian Roulette. Charley realizes things are not what he thought and G laughs at his ignorance. The shooter cocks the trigger and places it near Charley temple. “Tell us- tell us, damn it… or I pull the trigger and splatter your brains across the asphalt” he yells into the night. “Don’t be a fool Covington- she never loved you, you fool. Give it to us… now. We know you have it!” the shooter employs as he rubs the barrel of the gun just above Charley’s right ear. “There are two bullets… really want to play this game with me?” he asks and spins the barrel one more time for effect.

Charley looks into G’s eyes. There is nothing there- he asks her to explain what went wrong. Why she was doing this- he has an ad in his wallet for a two bedroom house not far from there. He promises her he was going to leave- he asks her to give him more time… just a little more time. The shooter hits him in the back of the head with the butt of the gun.

“Shut up and listen…” he spits into Charley’s ear. G speaks, asking again where the MOT is. The shooter waves his gun again for punctuation and Charley brushes him aside as inconsequential- as though he should stop playing with sharp objects and go sit in his room and think about what he has done. This is between him and G- nobody else. He moves towards G to gauge her insincerity, but then everything changes. G nods her head to the others. They grab him from behind and force him up against the car hood and the front right tire. She gets in his face- demanding cooperation. Telling him he meant nothing to her. That he was a stupid man who got his shorts and his heart confused. That he never had a chance with her- that it was all just a game to get him where they wanted him…alone… late at night…on an empty road…without help. They demanded he give them the MOT. Told him what they would do if he did not comply.

He stalls- looking to G for understanding. How could she do this? How could she be one of them? G tells him she was pregnant- but then follows it by saying she had a miscarriage. But it never mattered- it wasn’t his kid anyway. Charley reels from the revelation and buckles under the shooters hold. They demand the MOT- Charley struggles, refuses to tell them anything- he calls their bluff. The shooter gets cocky- screams and yells. Charley still refuses to tell them anything. They threaten one more time, he calls their bluff again with silence and the shooter gets an itchy trigger finger- he threatens and then in his anger his finger slips forward and he blows Charley’s head off. As the victim slumps beside the front right tire, chaos ensues. Stunned- they all eye one another. The shooter kicks at Charley and when he does not move- they panic.

The shooter begins cursing and yelling at him in frustration. The other’s yell and fight- the shooter f___’d up- he screams obscenities at Charley for dying before they could get the information out of them they needed. He rummages through the car- searching frantically for the MOT. It is not there. It is not anywhere. They run their bloody fingers through their hair and plot. They make a call… they have a meeting. They hide evidence… they manipulate the scene with blessings by higher ups.

Then it begins… the rain and the cover up that has lasted 44 years.

The trail will lead to MOT…the trail will lead to MOT.
Merry Christmas Grim.

12/13/10

I sail into this week cautious of what lies ahead. I can feel the clouds brewing something and I am uncertain which way the winds will blow when this is all done. I know that Charley is helping and so I must trust that what will come to pass is for the greater good in this case. As to all things personal… I can only hope that the token snow and sentimental hours spent last evening are a positive reflection of what is to come. This is the time where I must direct my energies towards finding closure for Charley and putting all of his angst to rest so that he might move on. I still wait to hear from Hazel and hope that at some point, she will make known her understanding of things. I do not know how Jessica and Roxanne feel about moving forward…I hope that they are in a space where they can afford to accept my help. I understand if they are not ready and will learn to appreciate there is timing on both sides of the veil. I will write later of things I have learned and things I still question.

Until later then…

It is just before 5 and I just got back in from taking the dogs out for a walk with my husband. Suffice it to say- I am grateful! The clouds were dancing in the wind… snowflakes were hustling about the lamp posts, leaving their dust here and there and I could not have been more thankful for the nod from heaven.

Thank you for this small bit of magic!