“THE DAY OF CALAMITY” – EXCERPT #4
A quiet cab ride brought me to the Wichita Carnegie Library. Such an austere building did not know what to do with the likes of Carla Duggan. She recently turned forty and had red hair Rita Hayworth would be jealous of to go along with the personality and verbal acuity of Martha Raye. She dressed conservatively for the most part but certainly was not readily identifiable as a research librarian by many folks. She would have fit in perfectly on the Fred Allen Show. However, her knowledge on a wealth of subjects made her an invaluable resource to both executives and educators. I could never learn much about her background as she was an immaculate storyteller. Truth and fiction blended in a dizzying array of anecdotes, most of which had details out of whack whenever she retold them. It was as though she were continually editing the story of her life.
A broad Irish smile grew upon her face as I walked in. I was always concerned she would break the silence with a loud welcome even though she never did. She leaned on the counter as I approached acting like I was Frank Sinatra and she a star-struck fan.
“Greetings, Tribe of Judah,” she said with great authority.
“Greetings, my Celtic imp.”
“What brings you to the Halls of Wisdom?”
“Helmut Sondergaard.” Usually, all it took was a name to set the conversation off like the Kentucky Derby.
“Danish. Emigrated a couple of years before the war. Went into business with Albert Whitman to form Whitson Import & Export. Died in 1943.” She would have been a natural on Winner Take All or Break the Bank.
“Anything unusual about his death?”
“Nothing in the papers.” I didn’t know what I was fishing for, but it was worth it to cast a line.
“And Whitman?”
“Until the business partnership, no mention of him in the Eagle or Beacon.”
Private detective Harold Bergman stood as a testament to his former life as a Wichita Kansas policeman. Having endured the brutalities of World War II, he carries a slight but noticeable limp, a constant reminder of the battles fought on distant shores. As a Jew, his identity is woven into the very fabric of his being, but he cannot fulfill his father’s wishes that he become a rabbi, and instead faces a world where the laws of God and the laws of man don’t make sense, taking it upon himself to find the Truth and perhaps himself.
Harold finds himself entangled in the lives of a spoiled daughter, and the wayward husband of a devout colored woman. Their cases take Harold on a perilous journey into the depths of a dark underworld, where shadows dance with malicious intent and faith emerges as his sole weapon. Failure to wield it will usher in a day of calamity.
“The Day of Calamity” , The Wichita Chronicles Volume 1 will be released on November 29, 2023.
