so far. Starting with Mrs Hedstrom’s uncle.’
‘Okay.’
‘Lonsdale Hedstrom,’ said Jesse, ‘was Big Lonnie Hedstrom. A Sydney bank robber and standover man who originally came from Maitland. He did time for assault police and whatever. But managed to get away with all the bank jobs.’
‘Like Muswellbrook,’ said Mick.
‘Exactly. Except he came to a sticky end in Victoria in 1926, when he robbed the Bank of Bendigo with a Melbourne criminal called Frank Westblade. They got away with the bank robbery, but Big Lonnie disappeared. And not long after, Westblade was seen throwing money around like there was no tomorrow. Although it was never proved, Westblade murdered Big Lonnie and took his share of the money.’
‘And got away with it,’ said Mick.
‘Sort of,’ nodded Jesse. ‘Till Frank also disappeared in mysterious circumstances. Along with the rest of the money.’
‘That’d be Melbourne,’ said Mick.
‘Yes,’ agreed Jesse. ‘So in my opinion, after robbing the bank in Muswellbrook, Big Lonnie’s left the car at his sister’s place and removed the number plates, thinking of using it again sometime with another set of plates. The twobriefcases probably had no money in them. So he’s just left them in the car. He was probably going to dump them when he came back and things had cooled down.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Mick. ‘Why do you think he left the pages out of the newspaper in the car?’ he asked Jesse.
‘I reckon ego,’ she replied.
‘Ego?’
Jesse nodded. ‘Yeah. All crims like to skite about what they’ve got away with. Big Lonnie’s probably figured on showing that to some of his crim mates later on.’
‘Right.’ Mick took a sip of bourbon. ‘Okay. We’ve got the car and that sorted out. But where does this Nikola Tesla come into it?’
Jesse opened her bag and took out a sheet of paper. ‘Mick. Read this. I got it off the internet. It’s from the Chicago Tribune in 1935. It’ll explain a few things quicker than I can.’
‘Okay.’ Mick put his drink down, took the sheet of paper and unfolded it.
Below a fuzzy photograph of a thin-faced old man wearing a tie was a caption saying Nikola Tesla, noted inventor, 78 , was a headline that read: TESLA AT 78 BARES NEW DEATH BEAM. INVENTION POWERFUL ENOUGH TO DESTROY 10,000 PLANES 250 MILES AWAY. SCIENTIST IN INTERVIEW, TELLS OF APPARATUS THAT HE SAYS KILLS WITHOUT TRACE.
Nikola Tesla, father of modern methods of generation and distribution of electrical energy, who was 78 years old yesterday, announced a new invention, or inventions, which he considered the most important of the 700 made by him so far. He has perfected a method and apparatus, Dr Tesla said yesterday in an interview at the Hotel New Yorker, which will send concentrated beams of particles through the free air of such tremendous energy that they will bring down a fleet of 10,000 enemy planes at a distance of 250 miles from a defending nation’s border and will cause armies of millions to drop dead in their tracks.
Mick read the page again then handed it back to Jesse. ‘Tesla said this in 1937?’
Jesse took the sheet of paper, folded it and returned it to her bag. ‘Yes he did.’
‘No wonder that bloke said he’d make a good mad scientist in a movie. He sounds like a war-crazy nut.’
‘Actually, he was a pacifist,’ said Jesse. ‘He hatedwar. But they did base Lex Luthor the mad scientist in the old Superman comics on him.’
‘I remember Lex,’ said Mick. ‘Didn’t he live in a fortress in Antarctica?’
‘I don’t know. But Tesla lived in New York most of the time.’
‘Did you find out much in the diary, besides what I told you?’ asked Mick.
‘Sort of. But I’m going to have to read it all again. The handwriting’s hard to understand and some of it’s in a kind of code. But between the diary and everything else, I’ll tell you as much as I can.’
‘Go on,’ said Mick.
‘Well, Schuyler Brunton was a Canadian
‘Okay.’
‘Lonsdale Hedstrom,’ said Jesse, ‘was Big Lonnie Hedstrom. A Sydney bank robber and standover man who originally came from Maitland. He did time for assault police and whatever. But managed to get away with all the bank jobs.’
‘Like Muswellbrook,’ said Mick.
‘Exactly. Except he came to a sticky end in Victoria in 1926, when he robbed the Bank of Bendigo with a Melbourne criminal called Frank Westblade. They got away with the bank robbery, but Big Lonnie disappeared. And not long after, Westblade was seen throwing money around like there was no tomorrow. Although it was never proved, Westblade murdered Big Lonnie and took his share of the money.’
‘And got away with it,’ said Mick.
‘Sort of,’ nodded Jesse. ‘Till Frank also disappeared in mysterious circumstances. Along with the rest of the money.’
‘That’d be Melbourne,’ said Mick.
‘Yes,’ agreed Jesse. ‘So in my opinion, after robbing the bank in Muswellbrook, Big Lonnie’s left the car at his sister’s place and removed the number plates, thinking of using it again sometime with another set of plates. The twobriefcases probably had no money in them. So he’s just left them in the car. He was probably going to dump them when he came back and things had cooled down.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Mick. ‘Why do you think he left the pages out of the newspaper in the car?’ he asked Jesse.
‘I reckon ego,’ she replied.
‘Ego?’
Jesse nodded. ‘Yeah. All crims like to skite about what they’ve got away with. Big Lonnie’s probably figured on showing that to some of his crim mates later on.’
‘Right.’ Mick took a sip of bourbon. ‘Okay. We’ve got the car and that sorted out. But where does this Nikola Tesla come into it?’
Jesse opened her bag and took out a sheet of paper. ‘Mick. Read this. I got it off the internet. It’s from the Chicago Tribune in 1935. It’ll explain a few things quicker than I can.’
‘Okay.’ Mick put his drink down, took the sheet of paper and unfolded it.
Below a fuzzy photograph of a thin-faced old man wearing a tie was a caption saying Nikola Tesla, noted inventor, 78 , was a headline that read: TESLA AT 78 BARES NEW DEATH BEAM. INVENTION POWERFUL ENOUGH TO DESTROY 10,000 PLANES 250 MILES AWAY. SCIENTIST IN INTERVIEW, TELLS OF APPARATUS THAT HE SAYS KILLS WITHOUT TRACE.
Nikola Tesla, father of modern methods of generation and distribution of electrical energy, who was 78 years old yesterday, announced a new invention, or inventions, which he considered the most important of the 700 made by him so far. He has perfected a method and apparatus, Dr Tesla said yesterday in an interview at the Hotel New Yorker, which will send concentrated beams of particles through the free air of such tremendous energy that they will bring down a fleet of 10,000 enemy planes at a distance of 250 miles from a defending nation’s border and will cause armies of millions to drop dead in their tracks.
Mick read the page again then handed it back to Jesse. ‘Tesla said this in 1937?’
Jesse took the sheet of paper, folded it and returned it to her bag. ‘Yes he did.’
‘No wonder that bloke said he’d make a good mad scientist in a movie. He sounds like a war-crazy nut.’
‘Actually, he was a pacifist,’ said Jesse. ‘He hatedwar. But they did base Lex Luthor the mad scientist in the old Superman comics on him.’
‘I remember Lex,’ said Mick. ‘Didn’t he live in a fortress in Antarctica?’
‘I don’t know. But Tesla lived in New York most of the time.’
‘Did you find out much in the diary, besides what I told you?’ asked Mick.
‘Sort of. But I’m going to have to read it all again. The handwriting’s hard to understand and some of it’s in a kind of code. But between the diary and everything else, I’ll tell you as much as I can.’
‘Go on,’ said Mick.
‘Well, Schuyler Brunton was a Canadian
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