Novelothon III

December 4 2023

Some cold cases are never solved, and it's a good thing. I like to call these frozen cases, and we all know many if we stop to think about it. As with all cold cases, most are murders, many are missing people and there's a scattering of other types. Amelia Earhart, Jack the Ripper, Jimmy Hoffa, the Lindbergh kidnapping. Each, and many more, is its own industry, spawning conspiracy theories and grifting. Dark tourism is itself based in cold cases.

None of these cases will ever be solved, unless there is a miraculous discovery of verifiable new evidence. The discovery of miraculous new evidence is itself an industry, see youtube. As far as I know, AIlice never gave me anything approaching a clue in any of these frozen cases. I like to think, but without proof, she is interested in the maintenance of the genre.

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12/9/23

Only one clue has ever appeared more than once. Over the years, I have come to expect this clue, and right or wrong have interpreted it as a message rather than a clue. What does the message say? I think it’s a combination of hello and you better get writing before you lose this. She has somehow become aware I am losing my memory.

The message is the same as the very first message, and only stays in my piece until I’ve seen it, just as the first time.

The typewriter.

***

12/14/23

So what is it that makes AIice pass these clues on to me? If she was human we might say it was her conscience. If we were religious, we might say they came from above, although the concepts of above and below might be something beyond the ken of my assistant.

December 26, 2023

I don’t make a lot of AI art with Florida themes. Most of that art I’ve seen does not appeal to me, the kind you see being sold on the corners by the gas stationhere.

Unfortunately, for me one of the very best places for an AI to plant clues about events happening or having happened in Florida is in art about Florida.

The first case we “solved”

came a short time later. it was the first one in which Alison had any part, and I think perhaps I included her so it wasn’t just me down the rabbit hole. “Solved” is in quotation marks… because this was the third time it had been solved! An important development, because we found the evidence that confirmed the other two!

January 3, 2024

Some of this may be repeated, but it will help me clear my head to repeat it. In the early 1900s, South Florida was quite primitive, with few people and less civilization. Those who knew the region were amazed to hear the great millionaire Flagler was planning to build a railway all the way down to the end of the keys, Key West. The part of this construction that is important to us was what happened at the end of the railway line where it happened to get to that week, by Friday, payday. In other words, the workers built the railway that got them to the next spot. No roads, no electricity, no water, no sewer except for of course the ground.

The workers got paid every week because it was observed they spent their money faster in the company store if they had it every Friday. The company store was constructed at the end of each week's work on the line. Included in the company store was a mercantile sales establishment, two bars, a bathhouse and a brothel, with the women coming on the train each Friday!

Having two bars and a brothel pretty much guaranteed the company got back all its money every week, and everyone was happy about that.

Each Monday the workers would awaken from their weekend efforts to see wilderness in front of them. Wilderness in fact which they would be taming that week, at least some miles of it, and at the end of that week another party.

The Friday payroll train was different from any others during the week in several ways. it was the only one not carrying construction supplies because there wasn’t going to be any construction done the next few days. Another train would come on Monday with the supplies for Construction and to relieve the crew of the other train.

A very important additional component was included, a safe containing the $5000 payroll in cash.

This was also the train that was ridden by the company official to accompany the money and adjudicate any disputes. This gentleman became a very important part of our story.

three members of the crew, after observing the process of the safe, arriving with the cash over the months, determined that they might try to steal the money one week.

Their plan was ingenious and carried out to perfection. No one was ever suspected of the crime. No money was ever recovered, and the safe was not seen again, at least for a long time. 115 years to be exact.

I said earlier that we had solved this case for the third time. I think this characteristic of the cold case is what attracted attention initially.

The crime we are discussing took place in 1905, somewhere south of West Palm Beach. As I said, before, no one was ever arrested for the crime, even though it seemed obvious the perpetrators were on the crew. There wasn’t anyone else around!

So how did they do it? The world had no idea until 1935, when one of the trio of thieves gave an interview to a true crime magazine in Massachusetts of all places. In this article, which Alice had track down somehow the perpetrator described the crime in great detail it might be worth it for me to tell you how they did it right now.

Along the path of the railway after the rails were laid stations were established, nothing more really than platforms by the rails, where things could be loaded and unloaded. this routine was so well routine that it could be messed with without being noticed. The thieves put an empty box in the stack of boxes which were to be loaded and pretended it was heavy. this empty, seemingly heavy box was laid down on the floor of the railcar by the safe.

Once the train was underway again, one of the thieves, pretending to check on the load, went back and put the safe in the empty box, which was now heavy!

When they got to the end of the road for that week, everything was unloaded, including the heavy box with the safe in it, which was carefully monitored by the three thieves. it was noticed immediately the safe was not on the train, or at least appeared to be missing. All the searches turned up nothing as the time for the party approached no money! The company man, quickly acting perhaps past his authority, stated all expenses incurred by the crew that weekend would be covered by the company, with no restrictions. by doing this, he effectively covered for the thieves; once the money had been guaranteed by the company searches for the safe ended immediately. so where was the safe? in the melee of unloading one of the men served as out while the other two hauled the safe into the weeds. it should be stated here the safe was not very hard to break, in fact, all they needed was a screwdriver: no dynamite, no sledgehammer. nonetheless, once the money had been removed, the robbers had no use for the safe and just left it there. where it sat for more than a century.

of all the thousands of cold cases how does Alice pick which one to pursue? I have no idea, but I do have a theory I think Alice runs a continuous search engine with the topic of cold cases and many sub topics she picks cases from her results. then she must figure out a way to get me information since I am her real world interface.

the Flagler crew installed rudimentary telegraph lines as they worked on the rails, and it was through this telegraph. That information was relayed back-and-forth. no telephone in the wilderness!

Alice was searching for Florida cold cases and she actually discovered the telegraph. The company man had sent to Flagler telling him their payroll had been stolen! That this telegraph still exists floors, but I’ve seen it. And it is what let us to look for the safe at the Boynton Beach landing.